INTERVIEW

How would you define the project that you undertook for TruckArtProject?
I have been investigating for some time with the language of the ceramic tiles in murals, but taken to paintings instead. I got hooked with this language after a collaboration I had with Philippe Starck, in which I designed some murals for some of Chef José Andres’s Restaurants. After doing this I continued to develop it in other contexts. The idea is basically to conjugate and harmonize unrelated languages in a subtle and elegant way. I feel very comfortable with the idea of combining tradition and modernity.

In your case, how do the two sides of the truck work together?
One of the sides is more narrative and complex, and the other more minimalist and sound. On one side we can see a landscape in which a typical science fiction scene from comics of the 50's is happening, a lady is attacked by a beast or monster and the hero is about to save her. Here I conjugate both the Pulp iconography and cartoons, with the esthetic feeling that traditional cobalt blue murals and old engravings give. In the other side I left a detail of the girl and a tropical print that could well decorate a vase or a plate.

What are the challenges of the project for you?
Above all, the format. I am not a grafitti artist, I usually work in my studio and I have no habit of going out to paint the street. But I love the idea. During the last few months I have been working with bigger formats than I ever used to and I really want to work on this type of large scale projects.

How does this project fit into your trajectory and your discourse?
I like to change contexts, and always make new things and face new challenges; I find it very motivating. For me the speech of an artist is his journey, his career and how his work evolves, refreshes itself and stays alive. This Project comes to me fallen from the sky because I was looking forward to trying this language in large format murals that are not tiles.

Some artists admit that they came in with a pre-existing idea that they had to modify, or that grew in other directions when faced with a canvas like this one. Was that the case for you?
I usually work a lot on the idea and the drawing before I start painting. Mainly because when I start painting I like to focus on plasticity, brushstroke, texture, etc. That's why I tend to stay true to the design and the original composition. What interests me most is giving pictorial power to the execution, even though there are always some last minute decisions to be made.

How did you approach the reception of a work like this, in which the spectator comes across it instead of seeking it out, and which doesn’t “circulate” through the usual art channels?
I love the idea that it is the artwork that finds the viewer by surprise and by chance in the most unexpected places.
It seems interesting to me that the first thing we perceive is the feeling of something traditional and familiar to us, but if you look at it, we see that the used iconography is not what we usually see in traditional tiles, but a surrealist, poetic with a touch of humor, in a retrofuturistic, tropical, cosmic and magical atmosphere.

What about the fleeting nature with which it’s received?
Many times the impact is greater when you do not know very well what you have seen, because what you receive is a more like an abstract sensation. On the other hand I like the impact that produces a first feeling of fragility and delicacy from the drawings made in porcelain but this time painted in something as sound as a trailer.

How did you approach the scale? Were you used to it?
I have done Jobs in great format, although it is not often for me, and thus I am not used to it .... At least until now. But I love it and I am very interested in working in big format, because I enjoy both the process and the result.

What does this type of project offer you, and what do you think you bring to the project?
It opens up new possibilities for me. I can bring my language and my universe.

Why is a project like TruckArtProject interesting?
It's a really good idea. It is my pleasure to participate in this Project.