Xevi Solà Serra was born in Santa Coloma de Farners, Spain in 1969. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at University of Barcelona in 2007. Xevi Solà Serra's paintings have a kind of "hidden violence" with women from the neighborhood, farmyard families, police officers, strong men, strange behaviors, and unnatural events all coinciding in the courtyard of their homes. The seemingly safe and warm home is a breeding ground for crime, and each work is like a film report of a key plot, with a small and delicate tension, as if something is about to happen. Xevi Solà Serra is like Hitchcock who uses soft and bright tones in his horror films, makes use of various off-beat elements in his scenes and tells the story directly from the images with point of view editing, thus raising the scare factor.
Xevi Solà Serra's painting is inspired by a very specific and eclectic work experience, as previous work both as a photographer and as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital influenced his style and subject matter. Carl Gustav Jung's shadow archetypes, Sigmund Freud's ego, self, and superego all point to the non-moral desires of human nature, the repressed, unspeakable evil that can be found beneath the exterior of a seemingly good girl. Xevi Solà Serra gives his characters absurd personalities, as playful characters may be more in tune with human nature and may be more suited to strange happenings because no one would suspect them. In addition, the visual contrast between the strong and the weak is an important element in the works: saintly woman/fierce man, strong/weak, tall & fat/short & skinny, and ecstasy/despair. The strong conflict increases the visual intensity, creates dramatic tension, and in turn expresses the hidden storm of ice that takes shape inside the characters, where reside a loneliness and sorrow that cannot be understood.
Hitchcock said: "If you don't have a guilty conscience in your bones, watching my films will give you some. " Xevi Solà Serra portrays these strange people and uncanny elements through a subjective lens, calling on our inner subconscious and encouraging is to feel the unspeakable joy and recognition between the characters and the self.
Xevi Solà Serra's work has been exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions at Voltz Clarke Gallery, New York (2022); Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona (2022); Galeria Montez, Frankfurt (2019); Galeria Inox, Rio de Janeiro (2018); Tokonoma Galerie, Paris (2017); YIRI ARTS, Taipei (2016), and Olot Art's Museum, Olot (2009). Group exhibitions at MANA, Jersey City (2017); Galleri Ramfjord, Oslo (2017); Galleri Oxholm, Copenhague (2016), and Magic beans Contemporary Art Gallery, Berlin (2016). His work is held in University of Barcelona and Eileen S. Kamisnsky Family Foundation collections.