Antonio Ladrillo's new show Crash takes him an abstract new direction

We have long been fans of Antonio Ladrillo and his cheerful, colourful, character-based illustration – in fact so synonymous is the Barcelona-based maestro with a certain style of work that Ladrillo-esque (easy for you to say) is an instantly-understood designation among team It’s Nice That. But what’s this? He’s only gone and opened a new show in Mallorca gallery Louis 21 called Crash which consists of 40 small (9 × 10 cm) abstract paintings created on wood, broken and refashioned (hence the name of the exhibition).

The bright palette and sense of optimism that link the paintings proves that Ladrillo may have stripped back his best-known style but the essential DNA of what we love about his work is still there. Indivudually they’re interesting, collectively they’re fascinating.

Crash runs until June 10.