What was Albert Pinya like, according to his friend: "He was a natural leader: he grabbed you, you wanted to be by his side"

PalmaToday's protagonist has a magnetism and personality that make him difficult to approach. He is as quick to approach people as he is to distance himself, as quick to dazzle and charm you as he is to weigh you down. A lifelong friend will tell us about him, one of those you start to relate to by kicking a ball around the schoolyard as the adolescent sun rises: one of those who know you so well that they are even a little afraid to talk about you. The protagonist is the artist Albert Pinya (Palma, 1985), and Francesc Becerra, whom he has known since kindergarten, brings us closer to his most unknown story: "Back then, Albert was already a very friendly person, although he also had an introverted side." Contradictions accompany us throughout these lines.

When his name is mentioned, the artist with dark, curly, chaotic hair, a beard, and sunglasses appears in our thoughts, right in the middle of our forehead. But there was a time when Albert Pinya didn't paint yet: "During those years, between 14 and 16, I have no memory of seeing him draw or paint. He was a very open and extroverted person, but he hadn't yet shown, at least not obviously, an artistic inclination," notes Francesc, who adds a detail: "He did really like poetry." And he adds even more: "Deep down, I think he would have liked to be a poet. When I turned eighteen, he gave me a poem, and I still keep it."

This impulse, he says, arrived around seventeen years old, when he went to Valencia to finish his Baccalaureate studies. There his artistic side began to awaken and he began the path towards Fine Arts in Barcelona. At one point, Albert decided to leave the degree and return to Palma: “He became a self-taught artist, he started experimenting and searching for his own language”.

In fact, Francesc says that some of the best moments he has experienced with him have been painting in the middle of nature. They would take their easels and set themselves up on the coast of Maioris, or at the Ufanes fountains if they had been flowing: “He would bring his materials and start painting. Sometimes he painted nude, or he would place the canvas under the water to see what effect it had. Experimenting, trying new things, and playing have always motivated him”.

The fact of leaving his degree and returning to Mallorca explains Albert's way of being quite well: a person who doesn't like rules or established forms. In his friend's words: “What interests him is discovering new ways of doing things”. As a young man, he already had a “disruptive character, with impetus, strength, and a lot of personality”. He was a natural leader: “His energy would grab you, you wanted to be by his side. He was, and still is, magnetic, overwhelming”. This character, which also boasts boundless sensitivity, makes him an intense person: “He dazzles you and makes you fall in love, but at the same time he can become suffocating. He has a very marked duality: he is introverted but also extroverted, shy but capable of moving forward without fear. I think he is aware of this way of being and, in a way, he plays with it”, admits his childhood friend.

Albert is the youngest of three siblings, and all his life he has been a very family-oriented person. The death of his father marked him deeply because they were very close: “They always watched Barça together!”, recalls Francesc. He is also very close to his mother. As for curiosities, Francesc says that Albert is “a very loveable person and with a certain taste, especially when he was younger, for programs like Salsa Rosa. When his energy was inexhaustible, they would do the tour of Mallorca's festivals, especially the “revival” ones that DJ Andreu Lladó used to do. Who knows if it is since those evenings, full of colored confetti in the town squares, that Albert Pinya has the ideal inspiration to do some DJ sets with an artistic name that is almost edible: El (nuevo) duque de la ensaimada. Enjoy!