What makes Alejandro Rubio’s paintings unforgettable is their exuberant, vivid color. His palette reveals his South American roots combined with the clear light so unique in the Bay Area. Alejandro Rubio’s flat, abstract, kaleidoscope-fractured landscapes evoke Diebenkorn and Thiebaud. The Islands series has a dreamlike quality. It is irresistible to imagine what it would be like to live on one of them, although they have no inhabitants. Alejandro grew up under a military dictatorship in Uruguay in a family that deeply valued the arts. Alejandro has been an active member of the Northern California contemporary art community, showing often in group shows, and he was honored with a career retrospective by Pence Gallery in Davis in 2021. His work has been recognized by influential curators, writers, and gallerists including DeWitt Cheng, Danielle Fox, Rene de Guzman, Carrie Lederer, Renny Pritikin, and Marianna Stark.