Carlos Arriaga - Visions of the Urban Soul

Carlos Arriaga is an artist whose life has been shaped by constant movement, travel and reinvention. His training spans Madrid, New York and London, cities that shaped his sensibility and love for urban landscapes.

From a young age he dedicated himself to photography, working for magazines, advertising agencies and traveling across more than 30 countries. In parallel, he studied painting and classical drawing, but it was not until 2015 that he discovered what would become his hallmark: oil painting over black-and-white photographs.

This hybrid technique unites the clarity of photography with the expressiveness of painting, creating works that transcend mere representation, turning urban spaces into emotional and symbolic landscapes.

Since 1995, Arriaga has realized large-scale oil works, often reinterpreting his own photographs. What makes his work unique is the decision to print black-and-white photos on canvas or suitable supports, then repaint them using grisaille and veladura techniques: first building composition, light and shadow in monochrome, then adding layer upon layer of translucent oil colors to produce vibrant textures, depth and emotional resonance.

This process reflects a deep philosophical commitment: to see the city not just as architecture, but as memory; not just as structure, but as an emotional archive. For Arriaga, each photograph-painting is more than a picture, it is a meditation on time, identity and the ever-changing soul of human spaces.

Cities, Memory and Transformation

Arriaga often describes himself not as tied to a single city, though Madrid is his birthplace, but as a global urban soul shaped by New York, London, and many other cities he has visited.

That lack of rootedness becomes a creative force: each city becomes material, memory, inspiration. Through his art, he seeks to “recreate” urban spaces: not as they are, but as they could be, reimagined, reinvented, transformed.

In his vision, the city is one of man’s greatest inventions, but also one that needs reevaluation. His work challenges us to see cities as living, breathing entities: full of history, possibility, contradiction, and always open to metamorphosis.

Art for a Changing World

In times of climate change, urban crisis, mass migration, and identity shifts, Arriaga’s work speaks deeply to the present. His cities aren’t static; they are memories, fantasies, warnings, hopes.

His hybrid technique reminds us that reality is not fixed, it can be reinterpreted. His reimagined cityscapes challenge us: what if cities could breathe differently? What if architecture could reflect our longing for memory, belonging, and reconnection with nature?

In a world where we’re constantly reshaping our environments, Arriaga’s art becomes a mirror, but also a window. A reminder that transformation does not always mean destruction: sometimes, it means rebirth.