In-between Ibiza's latest presentations unveil the island's hidden dimensions - where blue becomes a language and coordinates replace titles - on view from 18th September to 31st October.

<a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/ibiza/the-oracle-of-talamanca-karimah-hassan-s-colour-drenched-dreamstate">The gallery's</a> end of season configuration operates on parallel tracks. Upstairs, two painters dissolve reality into colour and form. Downstairs, a photographer exposes the island's unmarked territories. These dual exhibitions serve as gentle provocations - questioning how we perceive place, process and the difference between looking and truly seeing.
Blue saturates the upstairs gallery, though neither <a href="https://www.instagram.com/malvinakanghughes/">Malvina Kang Hughes</a> nor <a href="https://www.instagram.com/willi.jean/">Jean Willi</a> set out to create a monochrome exhibition. Their abstractions emerge from something deeper - a threshold between visible and invisible, where painting becomes a practice of surrender rather than control.

Their abstractions emerge from something deeper - a threshold between visible and invisible, where painting becomes a practice of surrender rather than control.

Image credits: Andréani Atelier

Hughes carries her past into her painting practice. Her background in dance gives her work rhythm, whilst her writing experience taught her the power of silence. Painting combines both influences in what she calls a daily practice of stepping aside: "I like to get myself out of the road for the painting to arrive." It sounds mystical, but Hughes treats it as simple technique. She often works on several paintings at once, letting them rest between sessions, glancing at them as she moves through her studio until something clicks and she knows they're finished.
"Most of the time, I arrive to the canvas with nothing," she explains. Her paintings function as visual diary entries, transcribing "moments upon moments, of raw honesty, of love, of pain, of suffering." The emotional directness challenges viewers to meet the work at its own level of vulnerability.

"Most of the time, I arrive to the canvas with nothing " - Malvina Kang Hughes

Malvina Kang Hughes photographed by Andréani Atelier

Willi's abstractions emerged from different circumstances but similar surrender. What began as an unexpected stay on Ibiza in 1974 became a lifelong commitment to the island's northern reaches. Here he developed twin practices of painting and writing, both influenced by the area's contemplative pace. Five decades later, his minimalist works still carry traces of early calligraphic studies, though they've evolved towards something more essential.
"Working abstract allows me to proceed freely," Willi notes. His colour choices begin randomly, developing through intuitive responses to mood and moment. The process mirrors Hughes' approach &ndash; beginning without predetermined outcomes, trusting the work to reveal its own completion. "With painting, I love to leave it up to the viewer," he adds, acknowledging that successful abstraction requires active participation from both artist and audience.
The exhibition reveals blue as something beyond pigment &ndash; a state of mind made visible. Surrounded by Mediterranean endlessness, both artists find in blue a doorway to interior landscapes that resist verbal description. Their paintings emerge "out of the blue" in the most literal sense &ndash; unforced, unplanned, authentic.

Abstraction by Jean Willi (right) 

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/runesonneville/?hl=en">Rune Sonneville's</a> downstairs exhibition operates from opposite principles but similar intentions. Where Hughes and Willi explore interiority, Sonneville documents exteriors that escape mainstream attention. The 25-year-old Belgian photographer has visited Ibiza every summer since childhood, witnessing how nightlife narratives have overshadowed the island's deeper character. Her film photographs reveal Ibiza's hidden 80% &ndash; the landscapes that exist beyond party mythology. "Many people know Ibiza as a party paradise," Sonneville observes, "but with this edition of film photography, I want to challenge that perception."

Her film photographs reveal Ibiza's hidden 80% &ndash; the landscapes that exist beyond party mythology.

The series of photographs is identified only by their coordinates, acting as a quiet call to the viewer to wander the island's hidden corners. "It's an invitation, not a statement," Sonneville explains. "Only those truly drawn to the essence of these images will feel compelled to explore the location itself." Her coordinates function as selective filters, becoming treasure maps for those willing to trade convenience for discovery, leading to inland forests, northern coastlines, rural architecture and abandoned structures that comprise Ibiza's overlooked majority.

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/inbetweenibiza/?hl=en">In-between Ibiza's</a> dual exhibition acknowledges that revelation takes multiple forms. Hughes and Willi dive inward through paint and canvas, Sonneville explores outward through lens and film. Both approaches serve similar ends - revealing aspects of experience that surface observation misses.
All three artists understand that Ibiza's essential character exists in spaces between - between visible and invisible, known and unknown, popular and overlooked. Their work operates as an invitation to look beyond surface narratives towards something more substantial, more honest, more real.
'Out of the Blue' featuring Malvina Kang Hughes and Jean Willi, and 'Untitled Coordinates' by Rune Sonneville, now open through 31st October at <a href="https://www.inbetweenibiza.com">In-between Ibiza</a>.

Inner and Outer Worlds: In-between Ibiza's September Programme

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