Spain –
Antonio Laguna Cabezuelo is considered as one of the most versatile and expressive artists from Spain, having exhibited a number of his works throughout the country and claiming recognition for the same.
Emaho : Do you consider yourself a surrealist? A lot of your work seems to tell a story, but oftentimes is very cryptic. Do the creatures or characters you make have secret meanings?
No. I’d love to, but just I am a few minutes daily. There are no secrets in my work, usually I try to explain important things in the title of each work. But if it’s true that to understand some content you must know me personally.
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Emaho : Your street paintings almost grow out of the physical surfaces they are painted on; could you describe your creative process?
Each work is a different joy / challenge / experience, normally I think of what the place lacks or I need in it.
How did you make the jump from working on walls to working in a multi-dimensional space? (I’m thinking of your installation in the abandoned building in Madrid)
I love this type of intervention, but I only do when the places have enough of abandoned materials. If the conditions are optimal in that aspect, I work mechanically the place, because the materials tell me how to continue the work.
Emaho : Does the environment you work in influence the subjects you paint?
Absolutely, that’s makes reduce the invasive character of a classic mural and try to be part of the environment.
Rest of writer, 2009
Emaho : How was it different working in a gallery space for your show at Pretty Portal from working on the street?
Normally my work inside and outside is very similar in colors, forms and content. But for me is most complicated knows when a inside piece made in my taller is finished. Guess invades me the classical think form that this work pieces will speaks for me when I leave of life.
Emaho : A lot of your work deals with transformations and mutations. Do you find this type of subject lends itself to collaborating with other artists (like your piece with Xabier Xtrm)?
It is fundamental in the graffiti/street art interact with other artists from the beginning, so it’s usually easy work with other people, the most difficult is to find people with your same workflow.
Art & Culture Interviewed by Hilary Devaney
Art work by Antonio Laguna Cabezuelo
