London has always been a key destination for Spanish artists, whether struggling to make a name for themselves in their native country, or simply seeking inspiration outside its borders. For the last few years, London has been brimming with talent “made in Spain”. And it’s in this context that SpainNow has emerged, a project that, since 2009, has been promoting and giving a voice to all of these Spanish artists now settled in London.
© Vanesa Cejudo
London has always been a key destination for Spanish artists, whether struggling to make a name for themselves in their native country, or simply seeking inspiration outside its borders. For the last few years, London has been brimming with talent “made in Spain”. And it’s in this context that SpainNow has emerged, a project that, since 2009, has been promoting and giving a voice to all of these Spanish artists now settled in London.
Last weekend we had the opportunity to see first-hand where and how some of them work. For two days, atthe Open Studio Weekend organised by SpainNow, they opened the doors of their studios to us, inviting us in for a closer encounter with their work. Hackney Wick, in east London, is home to Mother Studios, an independent not-for-profit organisation with a warehouse full of studios used by all kinds of artists. We went there and met up with four Spanish artists, all working in different fields ranging from painting to sound art.
The way Francisco Ortega and Miguel Cabeza share a studio at the warehouse, you’d almost say that they were a pair of brothers, and it’s true that there’s even a certain physical resemblance between them. “We’ve spent so much time together that bits of us must have rubbed off on one another. Even the way we paint is sort of similar”, they tell me, laughing. Ortega, who was born in Seville and moved to London nearly ten years ago, combines his work as an artist with a part-time job in the hotel trade. “It’s hard to live off your art, and lots of people might think that my paintings are ugly, but the fact is that the world is ugly. Sometimes I’m disgusted by it.” In his abstract work, Ortega captures this world, which for him is full of contradictions and chaos. One of his greatest influences is heavy metal, something that comes across clearly in his art. You might expect his work to be grey, but the truth is entirely the opposite: his paintings are full of life and colour, and show a subtle hint of organisation amidst the chaos. “The world disgusts me but I’m happy! That’s my contradiction.”
Cabeza, also from Seville, has spent the past five years combining his work as an artist with teaching. As a secondary school art teacher he tries to pass on his enthusiasm to his pupils. His work, more figurative, is obviously influenced by music and literature. For him, art is a means of self-expression. “I only paint to express something; I don’t do it to sell my work. Many people create things, without really saying anything and others unfortunately have no means of creating anything at all.”
In another of the studios, we met Adrián Navarro and Pablo A. Padilla. The pair have known each other since their university days, when they studied architecture together, although neither of them now works purely as an architect. Nonetheless, their studies gave them a new vision that they have succeeded in applying to their art. Padilla, a native of Madrid, is experimenting in the field of sound art. In his work, the artist uses sound as a tool to create a space, a scene that he calls a soundscape. These soundscapes are made up of other distorted sounds. According to Padilla, the idea is for each person to perceive these abstract works in their own way, thus creating new universes of sound.
Navarro connects the pictorial medium with perception, abstraction and architecture. His works consist of various layers that combine to create a sense of depth. The foreground depicts an artificial world, a net or web of dots that allows us to glimpse a background that is changeable and organic. Together, these elements build up a three-dimensional visual experience. “I’m interested in this duality, in the confrontation between the artificial and the organic.” His art, although abstract, is very symbolic, drawing analogies with the real world.
The two artists presented their new collaborative project for the Open Studio Weekend: Soundscapes, an audio-visual experience that perfectly combines their respective work, offering a never-ending immersive trip into Navarro’s work set to a soundscape created by Padilla and inspired by the painter’s work. “The movement and the soundscape bring the works to life,” explains Navarro.
A series of screenings was also organised for the Open Studio Weekend, including the audio-visual presentation on fashion curated by Noelia Terrón-Laya and a compilation of independent music videos by Nacho R. Piedra.
