My
academic beginning in the field of drawing dates back to 1985 when, at the age
of 16, I had a comic art course at Joso
Comic School of Barcelona. From these
studies I was chosen in a selection to join a team of three artists, and for
eight years we worked as apprentices in the studio of the renowned illustrator
and cartoonist Fernando Fernandez. During this period (1986-1994) I drew a few
hundred comic book pages and several collections of book's illustrations for
children and adolescents.
The next 4 years I dedicate to work independently as an
illustrator for several advertising agencies and film production, videogames
until beginning my studies of illustration at the School Llotja in Barcelona. I
abandoned these studies in 1998 to focus my training in the profession of street artist. Then I
take a course on cartoons and start working for a producer, but soon I leave it
to dedicate myself intensively to learning the natural portrait. So, for a year
and a half, I paint live models at the Artistic cercle St. Lluc, where I won
the 1st prize of young painting in 2001, and at the Royal Artistic Circle of
Barcelona; until in 2002 I successfully pass the tests to obtain a license to
work as a artist at Las Ramblas.
During
the first years of work at "La Rambla" I feel the need to investigate
other techniques in order to improve the quality and speed of my portraits,
which means that I produce a large amount of still lifes, figures and
landscapes wich I sell at the Villa del Arte gallery in Barcelona.
Simultaneously, I make two exhibitions in Collioure (France) and win two awards
of quick painting in Catalonia. Moreover, my professional research leads me to
make portraits in the streets of Heidelberg (Germany) in 2008, at which time I feel
the need to return to the field of the caricature in order to explore faster
and more versatile resources.
In parallel with my work as a visual artist, during all this time I also work to find meaning in the artistic fact beyond mere street vending. Thus, from 2004 to 2009 I was the president of the Rambla's Association of Painters, which motivated me to start my higher studies in Communication at the UOC and to take part in various seminars, courses and conferences linked to the culture and social management. In addition, in 2010 I helped found the International Union of Street Artists. In 2010 and 2011 I worked for two seasons as a cartoonist at a theme park in Japan on Spanish culture (Parque España). From there, thanks to the skills acquired in communication, I coordinate the participation of the artists of La Rambla in the campaign "Por ser niñas" in favor of the NGO "Plan" and help organize the celebration of the 1st STREET ARTS FESTIVAL OF LA RAMBLA.
Lately I have been consolidating my ties with Southeast Asia. In 2012 I worked in Malaysia drawing cartoons in two art galleries and a tourist complex, where I carried out the project "GLOBAL ART, a Guide to workspaces and cultural projects for artists in transit" of which I write the first chapter.In the meantime, in Barcelona, I am getting more and more involved in the district cultural policies in order to improve the working conditions of street artists. All this without stopping traveling, since 2015 in Cambodia, during the winter periods in order to explore new markets, draw alliances and develop projects in complicity with other cultures.
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