SC Gallery
C/ Cortes 4, Bilbao, Spain
October 7 – November 25 2011
SC Gallery invited me to Bilbao to paint a mural for the BLV-art festival and to set-up a show in their gallery. This festival took place in Bilbao la Vieja neighborhood. I called the show Eredu which means “model” or “pattern” in Basque. My idea was to showcase different works all made using varying techniques that together highlight a common and characteristic pattern. The artworks presented were: four photographic enlargements of illegal paintings I had done in the street during my stay in Bilbao, mounted on dibond; five confetti and double sided tape compositions on Super-Alfa paper; thirty 10×15 cm documentation pictures of the mural I painted in Urazurrutia street #20; two prints out of my new Confetti edition and a painting on the rounded wall inside the gallery.
If you are interested in purchasing any of these pieces, please contact the gallery: www.scgallery.es
Delimbo
Calle Pérez Galdós nº 1, Sevilla, Spain
May 14th – July 15th 2010
The Reticula exhibition is the study of a union between calculated geometric forms and uncontrolled factors such as wear caused by spontaneous actions produced by pedestrians. Through experiments in the streets of Seville, I observed how these external factors were affecting the works installed in the street while at the same time influencing the results that would be presented in the gallery.
If you are interested in purchasing any of the pieces, please contact the gallery: www.delimbo.com
I developed two experiments:
1 – Script 1.1
2 – Carteles Desgarrados (Torn Posters)
The SCRIPT project (see Script 1.0) consists of murals painted by following a set of predefined rules determined by the artist. Thus, the development of the work is done in an uncontrolled manner and the end result is unexpected.
In this way, the artist is a spectator in his own artwork, and can be surprised by the outcome.
To run the script in Sevilla, I drew a grid on the wall where, according to the results obtained, the lines would be drawn. Each line depended on four elements:
1 – A horizontal coordinate (a letter)
2 – A vertical coordinate (a number)
3 – A color
4 – A direction (an arrow)
For example: E, 7, yellow, vertical upward.
I decided to leave the choice (though unconscious) of these four elements to the pedestrians. I stapled sheets of paper arranged in four groups (one for each item) in the street. Each group made a sort of mini-notebook from which the leaves could be torn. In this manner the combinations that defined the lines of the mural were formed on there own. I walked around the city to record the state of the papers between four and six times a day. I only wrote down the codes generated on a site where at least one paper had been torn. Each time a new combination was generated, I wrote it down in a notebook in the order in which it was seen. The day before the opening, we reviewed all the combinations and painted each line in the order in which it was documented.
The experiment lasted five days and 19 lines were painted.
(Click on the picture to enlarge.)
I returned to the Pubblico project but this time with more refined designs, as an homage to both Jacques Villeglé and Daniel Buren. Like the previous project in Milan, once the posters were plastered, I only allowed myself to observe and decide when it was time to retrieve them. Of the 15 sets of posters that were pasted, 8 were recovered and exhibited in the gallery. Some took less than 12 hours to be modified and others more than 5 days.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Set #1
Calle Santa Paula 22
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 00h59
Recovered: 11/05/2010 at 14h40
Set #2
Calle San Luis 7
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 01h06
Recovered: 11/05/2010 at 14h08
Set #3
Calle San Luis 18
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 01h13
Disappearance documented: 10/05/2010 at 11h49
Set #4
Calle San Luis 28
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 01h18
Last seen: 15/05/2010 at 17h46
Set #5
Calle San Luis 40
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 01h32
Disappearance documented: 13/05/2010 at 14h13
Set #6
Plaza Santa isabel 3
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 01h39
Recovered: 11/05/2010 at 14h17
Set #7
Plaza de la Alameda 94
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 22h12
Disappearance documented: 11/05/2010 at 18h26
Set #8
Plaza de la Alameda
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 22h52
Recovered: 11/05/2010 at 13h34
Set #9
Plaza de la Alameda
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 23h03
Disappearance documented: 11/05/2010 at 13h41
Set #10
Calle Belen 1
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 23h16
Last seen: 16/05/2010 at 13h36
Set #11
Calle Peris Mencheta 4
Posted: 10/05/2010 at 23h31
Recovered: 11/05/2010 at 01h51
Set #12
Calle Cruz Verde 4
Posted: 11/05/2010 at 00h49
Recovered: 12/05/2010 at 16h49
Set #13
Calle Cruz Verde 10
Posted: 11/05/2010 at 00h55
Recovered: 12/05/2010 at 16h32
Set #14
Calle Correduría 46
Posted: 11/05/2010 at 01h03
Last seen: 15/05/2010 at 23h56
Set #15
Calle Churruca 5
Posted: 11/05/2010 at 01h10
Recovered: 13/05/2010 at 16h56
Thanks to Laura, Seleka, Victoire, Rorro and Axel.
Tampiquito, Monterrey, México
April – May 2009
Project curated by Nrmal and El Narval
Residency project:
From April 1st to May 26th 2009
Exhibition at La galería en el Taller Mecánico:
From May 21st to July 7th, Calle Plutarco Elias Calles #419, Colonia Tampiquito,
San Pedro, NL
I’ve been invited by Nrmal and El Narval to be the first artist to participate in Residencia Tampiquito, an artistic residency in a popular neighbourhood in San Pedro (Monterrey, Nuevo León, México). I lived and painted for two months in Tampiquito and at the end we opened an exhibition in a gallery to show the result of the residency.
I painted around 50 pieces on people’s houses, had a 10 years old best friend and assistant (because of the flu, the schools were closed so Javi my neighbors’ son was helping me to paint almost everyday!), had an incredible crew working with me sorting out photos, videos, press and BBQ’s and felt very sad when I had to go back home!
If by chance you are in Monterrey, download the map of the paintings here, print it and have a walk in the awesome Tampiquito neighbourhood!
One day while I was painting, an amazing cumbia was played from a huge pick-up parked next to me. I met the owner of the car, Raúl el Tamborín, and after offering me a couple of beers, he gave me the tape as a gift! Nrmal made a mixtape out of it so everybody can enjoy it: https://nrmal.net/blog/nrmal/residencia-tampiquito-mixtape!
The project had an incredible press coverage, you can check it here:
https://nrmal.net/arte/prensa-generada-por-residencia-tampiquito
Thanks to: Lucas (Nrmal) and Luis (El Narval), Lalo, Samuel Catherine, Screw, Huizar, Maf, Malo, Angel, Lara, Telma, Paco, the Briones Morales family, Ofimodul, all my friends that helped and all Tampiquito residents!
Direct links to the picture galleries:
1 – Paintings pictures
2 – Exhibition pictures
3 – Opening pictures
4 – Extra pictures
For the inside part of the residency, I worked on an installation, some prints and 4 wood replicas of paintings originally done in the street. With the great help of Screw, Huizar and Paco we built up the installation inspired in Tampiquito “do it yourself” architecture with typical elements we found around the neighborhood.
The replicas were made of wood and are life-size reproductions of paintings number 5, 28, 36 and 46.
More pictures on the Nrmal website:
Expo Residencia Tampiquito : Eltono
Y así nació la CUADRIMETRÍA!
Pictures are from Eduardo Hernandez (Nrmal.net), Samuel Catherine, Lucas, Luis, Telma and Eltono.
Cripta 747
Galleria Umberto I, int. 29 Porta Palazzo, Turin, Italy
February 2nd – March 15th 2009
The Cripta747 space is quite big, I was really impressed when I arrived there. I had some ideas for the show but they didn’t fit in that huge place (one room on the ground floor and five in the basement). I had the idea tu use confetti (“coriandoli” in Italian) when I saw a pack in the window of a paper shop in Porta Palazzo promoted with other material for the carnival. I decided to make different experiments putting together graffiti and confetti, illegal aggression and harmless party pieces of paper. For the opening I made two interactive pieces inside the gallery. To organize the space and present the works in a proper way, I made a path with plastic fruit boxes, the gallery is situated on the square where the Porta Palazzo market happens every day and it is the biggest outdoor market in Europe. Tons of material to re-use.
No use to say that during two weeks, the guys from Cripta747 and me had a lot of fun working on this project.
I made six experiments:
(As there is a lot of documentation, it’s better to click on the list below to see video and pictures of each one, then “back to top” to come back here)
1 – Biadesivo Installation
2 – Confetti Graffiti
3 – Train Tunel Mission
4 – Vitrina Action
5 – Kit Wall
6 – The BONUS Video!
Video:
Pictures:
This experiment was based on the idea to do something quite innocent (playing with confetti and wind) in a very hostile environment. It was nothing easy and we had to come back five times into the tunnel to achieve the plan. We could have done it more easily anywhere else but the idea was to do it a mission, to do it illegally and observe how all those factors which made it more difficult influenced the result of the experiment.
Video:
Pictures:
On the wall at the entrance of the basement, I nailed 50 Kit-Coriandoli to be sure that everyone had his own bag of confetti!
In the kit we of course put confetti and a little card with a simple “Eltono” design made with double face tape and with instructions on its back.
The ground floor of the gallery looks just like a pretty normal gallery with a big window-shop. That’s why I decided to present a “normal looking” work on that room so it could look like the exhibition is just there and nothing else, it was quite funny when people discovered that there were five more rooms downstairs with not so “normal looking” things happening down there!
The pieces shown in the room were made at the same time we did the sign on the window-shop, using the confettis that were falling and glue. I was totally stocked by this random result!
Video:
Pictures:
This video was hidden in the gallery somewhere at the end of the fruit boxes path.
I actually found one confetti in my bed in Madrid yesterday morning, two weeks after the opening!!! I can imagine that the same thing is happening to all the people who came to the opening, fantastic!
Pictures are from: Renato, Eugenio Grosso, Alex Tripo, Elisa, Walter and Eltono.
Grazie mille: Renato, Walter, Elisa, Tripoli, Toni, Giulia, Fran, CT, Kurz, Dem, Laure, Pier, B&B…
Rojo Art Space
Via Tortona, Milan, Italy
January 15th – February 28th 2009
In Pubblico project, the public is the protagonist of the work. The final result of the artworks will depend on the spectator. The experiment plays with the interactivity that exists in the street and wants to study how outer and uncontrolled factors can affect the works installed in the street. This way, the artist reflects on the sacred aspect of art leaving his creations to self-evolve and generating an uncertain final result.
Thanks to Lorenzo, Lucia and Lucía
PLAF – Autonomous Mechanisms
New York, U.S.A.
August – September 2008
Project in collaboration with MOMO
www.eltono.com/plaf
During August and September 2008, with my friend and artist MOMO, we have been setting up, without any kind of permission, kinetic sculptures in the New York waterways.
Plaf is a word for splash in both Spanish and French and relates to the on-going project that features kinetic sculptures that have been placed and fastened in several locations in the New York Waterways. Constructed from used materials, the work will be left to the elements as a way to explore the force and power of water that goes unused and unnoticed in New York City. Using the rivers water, wind, tides, and currents, the sculptures will shift and decay, leaving the work just as it is without comment on form or representation.
An indoor exhibition happened at the same time at the Anonymous Gallery.
You can find the complete documentation on the blog of the project: www.eltono.com/plaf
List of the installations we did during the project:
www.eltono.com/plaf/hallets-cove
www.eltono.com/plaf/thrash-islands
www.eltono.com/plaf/broadway-beach
www.eltono.com/plaf/east-river-state-park
www.eltono.com/plaf/gantry-plaza-state-park
www.eltono.com/plaf/plaf-maker
www.eltono.com/plaf/the-plaf-exhibition
Map of the project with the instalations locations: maps.google.com/maps/plaf
ROJO-Artspace
Barcelona, Spain
July 7th – August 8th 2008
To expose street art in a gallery is always delicate. Without the surrounding elements, the work usually loses its sense. In order to solve this problem, Eltono always tries to create a relation between the street and the gallery. For the exhibition Bermellón, the artist presents/displays collages of wood found in the streets of Barcelona which will use as the support to paint his Invertidos inspired by art originally made in the streets. The Invertidos paintings are inverted interpretations of original works that are in the public space, thus, the artist, works with the emptiness makes the reference to the original ono es, without reproducing or falsifying them and simultaneously questioning the limits of outdoor and indoor exhibitions.
Very special thanks to Sixe, to let me work in his studio!
