He is young, spontaneous, very talented, and freedom flows through every inch of his being, but above all, of his work. Big color stains that overlap each other creating a glazed effect, random brush strokes that become abstract forms and color, a lot of color. Misterpiro (Plasencia, 1994) has managed to bring together under a unique work two opposing worlds that at the same time have been his main influences: the street and graffiti, which he practiced on the walls of his hometown since he was 11, and watercolor painting, with which he initiated his practice and experimentation on paper at home. Without any previous sketch or reference, the artist from Extremadura works spontaneously on any support, and moved by impulses he transfers enormous watercolor paints to walls (and to any format he finds: cars, sculptures or textiles) by using spray, acrylics and water. The centric Malasaña neighborhood in Madrid is one of his epicenters of action and you will easily find one of his artworks on the shutters and walls of stores and bars or inside hotel lobbies and restaurants, but also walls or private residences in Miami, Cancun, Seoul or New York. His latest work was painting the five floors of the new Levi’s store in Madrid and now he is preparing his next exhibition which he plans to open next year at Galería Kreisler, also in Madrid. We talk to him about his most personal world, the artistic evolution he has experimented this summer and the projects to come.
Your first memory of painting… I have a box where my mom collected all my paintings from when I was a child. I don’t have a clear specific memory of me painting during my childhood but when I open that box it’s like a diary and I go back in time.
The last thing you painted on the street… My last graffiti I did it in 2012 in a convent in Plasencia for an exhibition I had back then. But the last time I painted something just for the sake of it, without being work or anything, was outside the Fine Arts College in Madrid. The police kicked me out that time so I don’t have a photo of that piece.
Street or studio work? I normally enjoy better my work while I’m at the studio, I’m more relaxed, I can experiment, make mistakes… But even though the street is harder I find more rewarding to paint a mural outside. Sitting in front of it and seeing it finished is the best feeling.
Your fetish color? It can go by seasons, but I don’t really have it.
What’s your routine? I try to spend most of the day in the studio. Whatever I can introduce into my routine will be much better, otherwise I easily get distracted. Except for weekends, when I have my own routine that involves not going to the studio at all.
Who would you like to a collab with? With Super Future Kid. I feel very identified with her. I run from figurative art, but I see her work and I love it. I feel as if I were figurative, I feel reflected. Also Just Judit!
Super Future Kid
Just Judit
An artist you admire… Erwin Wurm.
A lesser-known artist to recommend… Sebastian Villabona, a Colombian artist based in Sweden. I really like geometry and he plays with it a lot. He also puts in some very interesting textures and organic backgrounds, I love the combination.
A pictorial style? I am very envious of people who do figuration but I am very happy and I feel super comfortable trying within abstraction.
The work you have enjoyed the most? I love cars and I got to join my two passions painting a Nissan at the Jarama circuit a month ago.
And the one you are feel the proudest? Painting the walls for Adda Gallery in Ibiza this summer. It was a moment when I started to transfer my work on paper to wall and it supposed a change in my way of painting murals. Sometimes I am not very happy with what I paint in the street and doing this one felt like a release for me. I liked that path, I found another dynamic of work.
A turning point in your career? About seven years ago when I was in Honduras and started painting with acrylic enamels. That was the first time I tried it. Also after painting Adda Gallery this summer I have changed the way of painting murals, the technique, and I’m very happy with it.
Your work in three words… Spontaneous and dynamic
And your personality? Exactly the same, I feel those two words fit me.
A city to paint… Lisbon has a special light and some very crazy constructions
A special place for you… Mallorca, specifically the Tramuntana area.
A book you’re reading? I just started “The invention of color” by Philip Ball. I am also with “Electroshock”, French Dj and music producer Laurent Garnier’s biography and about the history of techno and its entry in Europe, it’s great.
The last movie you’ve seen? “Offering to the Storm”, by Fernando González Molina.
Muro Crítico – Casa Cultura Alcuescar
A series? “Antidisturbios” has flipped me off. I’ve been consuming a lot of Spanish series lately. “Patria”, “La Veneno”…
What music inspires you? I put on a lot “Reverberation Radio”. I don’t usually play a specific artist, I go on MixCloud or NTS and especially look for DJ sessions, I like to see what they are doing. I love some electronic music jammed with some Brazilian rhythms, jazz…
Fundas de vinilo de Misterpiro
A museum or art center… The Anthropology Museum in Paris has a collection of crazy masks from all over the world, they have some from French Polynesia to blow your mind.
A special piece or art? The BMV M1 that Andy Warhol painted is my fetish piece. If I were very rich I would try to buy it (laughs).
El BMW pintado por Warhol
A wall… The artist Andy Dixon painted in Vancouver a wall that I love. Everything he’s doing is crazy, the collaboration in clothing with Versace, the bed linen…
Mural de Dixon en Vancouver
Pieza de su última colección para Versace
A bar where to find you? Nihao restaurant for sure, I miss going out for dinner there with all my friends.
A meal… My own tortilla de patatas.
What do you fear? I’m afraid of flying, planes scare me. Oh! And that something will happen to my hands.
Any fixations? Yes, I have plenty of them. For example, I can’t start working if I don’t have my studio clean. Sometimes I end up so tired that I can’t even paint!
What can’t you stand? When you’re sleeping and a mosquito passes by your ear, there’s nothing that gives me more anxiety. You have to turn on the light, you can’t find it…
Alone or accompanied? Accompanied.
How do you waste your time? I spend a lot of time looking for music and on discogs.com site looking for vinyl. Also in doing interior design and furniture that I don’t buy. Oh, and on Idealista site looking for apartments I will never move to.
A goal? To take my work into sculpture and be happy with it. I’m working on making three-dimensional works, with perspective and being able to make them tangible. Everything I paint is abstract so I want to investigate the correct forms, the materials…
Your ideal future… I still see myself in Madrid having my studio here. I don’t ask for more. Also I would like to see myself traveling more and doing more works outside of Spain.
What are you working on right now? I am preparing my next exhibition at Kreisler Gallery for March 2021. I also have an electronics and art project that has been cooking for some time now with La Causa Galería, both in Madrid.
A life mantra… The last one and I’m off.