Alberto Ortega Ventures Into the Twilight Zone

Take a moonlit stroll into the artist’s unsettling suburban worlds of the 1950s.

Spanish-born painter Alberto Ortega brings a sharp eye to the sprawling conformity of American suburban life. In a continuing series of panoramic scenes set in what appears to be some idyllic 1950s suburb, he uses the drama of deep twilight and a kind of disquieting simplification to create a sense of unease and foreboding. It’s as though an episode of “The Twilight Zone” was painted by Edward Hopper. 

“Painting the suburbs allows me to explore themes of conformity, loneliness, and the hidden dramas of everyday life,” Ortega says. “The 1950s setting—often considered the golden era of the suburbs—provides a nostalgic, yet eerie, backdrop that amplifies these themes.”

The sense of alienation in the scenes—the feeling of something familiar suddenly becoming strange—is powered, in part, by Ortega’s decision to base his oil paintings on models. Working on a 1/87 scale, he builds replicas of ’50s suburban architecture and street accoutrements, which he then assembles into elaborate tableaux. 

The ideas that emerge come to the artist in a variety of ways. “Sometimes I have a specific narrative or theme in mind that I want to explore using the miniature models,” he says. “Other times, my inspiration comes from capturing a particular tone or mood, focusing more on aesthetics.” He often draws inspiration from everyday observations—small details noticed during walks or while driving through his neighborhood. It could be items people leave outside, the transient nature of home ownership, or the subtle behaviors people exhibit outside their cars. “These moments spark ideas that find their way into my paintings,” Ortega says.

To learn more about the details and painting process behind Ortega’s works—and the inspiration that fuels his art—see the January/February 2025 issue of Artists Magazine.

About the Author

John A. Parks is a painter, a writer, and a member of the faculty at the School of  Visual Arts in New York City.

About the Artist

Alberto Ortega was born in Sevilla, Spain, in 1976 and earned an M.F.A. from the University of Sevilla. “At the time, it was a five-year program that was very traditional or old school compared to what an M.F.A. program looks like today,” he recalls. The artist eventually emigrated to the United States and made his home in Raleigh, N.C., where he has lived since 2008. He has exhibited his paintings widely in the United States, and his work has garnered many awards. His work was most recently exhibited in “Suburbia: Building the American Dream” at the Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, in Barcelona, Spain, and is represented by Arcadia Contemporary in New York City.