only shadows know / exhibiton artist statement / Nov 2025 · Jan 2026

Only Shadows Know explores the fragile and elusive nature of memory through a series of abstract paintings constructed entirely in black. The works capture fragments, traces, and echoes of moments that exist between presence and absence, between clarity and forgetting, between reality and imagination.

Black is both my medium and my metaphor. These paintings navigate the spaces where memories disintegrate, dissolve and fade, reflecting the emotional landscape of loss and the passage of time. Echoing the haunting atmosphere of The Cure’s album Seventeen Seconds, my work unfolds as a visual narrative of slow unravelling. Through acts of layering and fragmenting the pieces slowly shift into compositions of black strokes, overlapped shapes, and silent spaces. These paintings speak of what is lost before it can be remembered.

Through abstraction and black monochrome, Only Shadows Know invites viewers into a contemplative space where absence holds meaning and the unseen begins to take form.

Between light and dark, between presence and absence, there is a place only shadows know.

artist statement

My work explores spaces and moments that are visually forgotten, physically undefinable, misunderstood and fragmented in memory. These topographically imprecise, out-of-focus and unrecorded experiences share a non-specific quality, yet they appear strangely familiar. They are non-places and non-experiences from my existence which refuse representation by avoiding visual description and verbal explanation.

By layering organic and impulsive black mark-making with fragmented geometric shapes, nervous charcoal lines, thick acrylic paint, dirt, and liquid gestures, I offer traces of intimate moments in time and space. This process reflects my fascination with the act of creation and the conflict that arises between my impulsive nature and the strong, controlling force of my personal self. I draw from the vast and unknown space of my internal landscape, responding to the colourless and unclear non-places of my mind. These ambiguous pieces serve as records of a process marked by the absence of definable meaning, allowing me to explore and get lost in these undefined territories.

Embracing an unplanned approach, my hand initially takes control, compulsively making obsessive and spontaneous marks. Then, guided by a simple intent to respond to these initial impulses, I seek balance until the image emerges, true to my unique visual language.

With pieces that are aesthetically self-sufficient and expressive of my creative process, my work presents and offers incompleteness. These works allow multiple interpretations and invite the viewer to bridge the gap between themselves and my work by finding personal connections with the ambiguous spaces I create.

bio

Originally from Spain, Beñat Olaberria is a London-based abstract painter with an MA in Fine Art from the City and Guilds of London Art School. His practice explores the unknown territories of the mind through a non-impressionistic, non-narrative, and non-reductive approach. Like an unplanned walk, he constructs layered abstract compositions by responding to his initial nervous and impulsive marks, seeking balance through his visual logic and personal language.

Beñat’s work is held in private collections across the UK, Europe, Asia, Canada, and the USA. He has presented solo exhibitions in Spain, including Sin Tapujos, Barcelona, 2019; Etxetik, Donostia-San Sebastián, 2025; and Only Shadows Know, Barcelona, 2025; in Switzerland, Ex Materia, Concis, 2019, and Peaueme, Grandson, 2022; and in the UK, One Night Stand, London, 2019; A Room Without Windows, Tunbridge Wells, 2020; and Site Indeterminate, London, 2022.

Group exhibitions include Unplanned Walk, Madrid, 2022; Abstract, Taipei, 2023; Let It Bleed, Menorca, 2023; Quartet, Shanghai, 2023; Divergence, London, 2024; Golden Age, Taipei, 2024; and White Jade, Taipei, 2025. He has also participated in international art fairs such as AAF Amsterdam, 2019 and 2025; AAF London, 2021; Volta Basel, 2021; Art Taipei, 2022; JingArt Beijing, 2024; Art Taichung, 2024; Lapada London, 2025; and AAF Brussels, 2026.