Juan de la Rica (b. 1979) is a Spanish visual artist based in Bilbao. He received his BFA from the University of the Basque Country in 2007 and has since developed an international exhibition career across Europe and the United States.

His work spans portraits, still lifes, and mythological or religious scenes, though these subjects are consistently reinterpreted through a contemporary and experimental visual language. In his recent practice, de la Rica has increasingly focused on the female figure, using it as a starting point for exploring how bodies define and occupy space within the composition.

Across both paintings and works on paper, his process reveals a dynamic relationship between study and final image. Preliminary drawings—often executed in colored pencil—function as intimate investigations of form and gesture, capturing the transition from spontaneous mark-making to resolved composition. This dialogue between immediacy and construction is central to his studio practice.

Formally, his paintings are built from synthetic shapes, strong chromatic contrasts, and a deliberately flat pictorial space. The result is a bold and visually striking language that often carries a playful, pop-inspired energy. At the same time, this vivid surface is counterbalanced by a subtle tension, where proportions may be stretched or compressed and forms interact in ways that create an underlying sense of ambiguity.

Rather than presenting fixed narratives, de la Rica’s work emphasizes relationships - between bodies and forms, image and perception. His practice ultimately reflects an ongoing interest in how representation can be both visually seductive and conceptually open-ended.