Chechu Álava’s paintings are pearlescent. She sees her subjects, mostly female, through a mist or deepening fog, so that a naked young woman seems not yet coalesced into personhood, or the Romanov daughters appear to be disappearing into history. Ten years ago, Álava began painting portraits of women both eminent and mythic, and they are now gathered together in “Rebels.” Look for the ghostly immanences of Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt, Sylvia Plath, Colette, Marga Gil Roësset, Niki de Saint Phalle, Eva Hesse, Tina Modotti, Frida Kahlo, and Lee Miller. —L.J.

Chech Álava: Rebels
Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
Paseo del Prado, 8, 28014 Madrid, Spain
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