Post by streetartplace on Sept 15, 2017 9:03:57 GMT
"La madre dell'artista" by Alaniz for Memorie Urbane 2017, in Terracina, Italy.
ALANIZ
is an Argentine artist, guest of Memorie Urbane 2017, from 6 to 11 September. His work focuses in Terracina. Alaniz's art pieces are available on our gallery, Street Art Place (www.streetartplace.com).
In the past few days we have reached him for a short interview.
Looking at your work I noticed that there are many oil paintings on canvas. Can you tell us when you started painting and what did trigger you to go from the canvas to the wall? What was the motivation that led you to paint on walls?
Actually it's the opposite, I started doing walls and then I changed to canvas work. In the beginning I was just interested on painting walls because I saw that walls where the best way to communicate a message and to share the work with the most people possible.
What are the themes you prefer to treat? What inspires you? How much of Argentina we can find in your work?
I think that my main subject are people, that's what inspired me, I believe we need to understand who we are to be able to understand the problems around us, that's for me a path to solve them. Argentina was the country where I grew and where I lived for the first time the social problematics and inequity that in different levels exists in the rest of the world.
Many of the subjects of your works are persons. How do you choose those "characters"?
Most of the characters I choose are people that I meet during my trip, many of the street artists out there working with people as their subject have a tendency to use their model just as a object to be copied, purely for esthetics, but the subject remains a mistery, I like to be in contact with them, tell their stories or at least have certain personal connection with them.
What strikes you of the humanity that surrounds you?
Everything, their beauty, their ugliness, their contradictions, I like to say that I love humans but not humanity. I think that as individuals each of us is definitely beautiful, precious beings, but we have certain difficulties in our way of interact as a total, our dynamics as society, as specie, need to be reviewed. Science have problem that we can still superate ourselves, that there are many theories that have been refuted and discoveries that have surpassed our understanding, it's about time to start realizing that we can also improve that way we treat each others, the way society works, equality is real and can be achieved, social fairness, eradication of hunger and poverty are possible, among other things, we have the elements to make a change.
In some of your works there are lights and colors that remind me of Goya. Which painters are models for you?
Every painter can influence your work if you open yourself to them, I guess that I have a few that inspired me in different moments of my life, Goya, Schiele, Caravaggio, Cezanne, Van Gogh, just to give a short list.
Returning to street art, is there an artist that most inspired or influenced you?
It's the same with street artists, there have been many influences and everytime I discover someone new that impacts me I can't help but feel slightly influenced by them. I guess my biggest inspiration is Blu, basically for his compromise.
Street art, unlike many other art languages, is offered to the public. To see a canvas the viewer has to choose to enter in a gallery or go to the museum. On the other hand murals arrive occasionally or unexpectedly to those who encounter them. What importance has the viewer to you? What emotions or feelings do you want to convey to him?
Well, the viewer is the receiver, and in the moment you choose to show your work, no matter if it's a canvas or a wall, the viewer become a part of your work, it's an artistic conversation that you have with them, and even though ideally your artwork shouldn't be influenced completely by others opinions, if you are gonna paint a wall in front of their houses, I believe you need to considerate the viewers opinions, you are entering their neighborhood, most of the time as a foreigner, so you better show some respect to them, I don't want to make someone's life miserable just because I don't pay attention to their opinions.
How much social or political criticism is present in your work?
I try to put a nice amount of criticism in my work, not always in such a direct way, but there will always be a little part of it.
In the past years, numerous street art-related festivals have been born in Italy, which have contributed to an ever broader range of artistic movements , Italian as well as international . This is the first time you are invited to a festival in Italy, what are your expections ? Do you already know what you want to realise in Terracina?
I have a few ideas but I also like to improvise once I'm there, to be influenced by the energy of the place.
Written By Simone Martoccia.