His new paintings are populated by enigmatic and ambiguous characters, both sweet and grotesque, floating against backgrounds that resemble an abandoned bleak landscape, evoking a metaphysical space-time that transcends the physical materiality of the canvas. In his work there are references to Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, or Ed Ruscha, but also to commedia dell'arte or the visual aesthetics of Disney and Pixar films, as well as to the famous American cartoons from the 1920s and 30s.

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For the Salzburger Kunstverein, Gabriel Abrantes is presenting an array of recent films and paintings that were also showcased at MAAT in Lisbon in 2020 (Programmed Melancholy, curated by Inês Grosso). An evening of his films for Sunset Kino also accompanies, as does his selected programme of screenings by James N. Kienitz Witkins.