Flora, Fauna, and Furniture

AITOR LAJARIN-ENCINA

JANUARY 30 – APRIL 4, 2026

Opening Reception & Dialogue: Friday, January 30 | 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Artist’s Dialogue: 6:00 – 6:30 PM

Pentimenti presents Flora, Fauna, and Furniture a solo exhibition marking Aitor Lajarin-Encina’s Philadelphia debut, including a collaborative project with Vox Populi members on view in our Project Room.

Aitor Lajarin-Encina’s paintings engage in dialogue with global histories of painting and popular image-making traditions, drawing from sources as varied as Baroque art, Constructivism, satirical cartoons, and video games. They function as visual poems, inviting viewers into moments of existential suspense that spark philosophical reflections on life and relationships between people, objects, and the environment.

At first glance, Aitor’s playful, cartoony, oneiric acrylic-on-canvas paintings appear figurative and tightly composed, relying heavily on narrative tension and visual appeal. They unfold as dreamlike tableaux populated by recurring iconographic elements: human figures, horses, celestial bodies, domestic furniture and objects, clothing, parks, cityscapes, plants, and everyday items. Beneath this apparently flat appearance, the surface opens into multiple layers rich with texture—drips, splatters, bumps, and accidents—carefully constructed and physically present in his work.

Lajarin-Encina approaches art as an immediate and intuitive experience, emphasizing its poetic intensity and emotional resonance rather than hidden or symbolic meanings. At the same time, the work offers a critique of a world designed by humans to be “user-friendly,” while simultaneously estranging people from the natural mysteries and wonders of the world.

Aitor Lajarin-Encina received a BFA in Painting from the University of the Basque Country and an MFA in Visual Arts from the University of California. He has exhibited at Heritage Square Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Casa Museo Orozco, Guadalajara, Mexico; Artium Museum, Spain; Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX; Prahova International Biennial, Ploiesti, Romania; Bilbao Arte Foundation, Bilbao, Spain; and Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO; among others.

He has participated in numerous residencies, including the UCROSS Foundation Residency Fellowship; GlogauAIR; Facebook Artist in Residence; and the Basque Government Grant Artist Residency. He received grants from the Basque Government Production Grant; ARTIUM Museum Research Grant Project; INJUVE (Spanish Government); and Centro Cultural Montehermoso. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Artium Museum of Contemporary Art, Spain; and Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Spain, and more.

For all inquiries, please contact us at [email protected] or +1 (215) 625-9990.

ADDITIONAL EVENTS | Old City Gallery Walk / First Friday: Friday, February 6, March 6,

and April 3, from 5 PM to 8 PM

HOURS: Tuesday – Friday, 10 AM – 5 PM; Saturday, 12 – 5 PM; or by appointment.

Free and open to the public.

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