Misterpiro
Misterpiro is a visual/urban artist. A graduate of Madrid’s Complutense University, he currently lives in Madrid, and frequently travels due to his work. His artistic career has its origins in the streets as a graffiti writer, a discipline later complemented by watercolours, acrylic and water-based techniques in his studio. As an artist, he has successfully combined these two contrasting aspects, resulting in a unique, vibrant and colourful style, embracing a palette that goes from the hottest reds to the most electric turquoises. He brings the delicacy of watercolours to the street, where outdoor walls provide him with a new canvas that is far removed from the paper upon which he creates his most delicate works.
His technique is based upon improvisation, combining the aggressive quality of spray-paint and the delicacy of watercolours on various surfaces. The fluidity of the water and the volatility of the atmosphere fill his works with light and expression, creating a world that transports us from the figurative to complete abstraction.
Artist statement
My first contact with art was through graffiti, when I was eleven. I started out painting my first murals in Plasencia, my home town, without any artistic knowledge or training. Spray can in my hand, I grew as an artist, learning in the streets of Plasencia and experiencing first-hand the urban art movement that sprung up there in 2005. All this has made me who I am today. I also immersed myself in everything that was going on further afield, thanks to the magazines and fanzines I would buy at news-stands or download from the Internet, which was still in its early days. These publications allowed me to discover and learn from the work of big names like Suso33, Okuda, Spok and San, artists whose work I now see from up-close, often sharing ideas.
With the passing of the years, I began to drift away from graffiti. I started working from home, discovering new techniques and forms, a creative process that was much calmer. The result was small-scale works using more delicate materials such as pencils and watercolours, working on the medium of paper. It was a stark contrast to when I used to paint in the street.
However, while my previous work in the street initially led me to new forms and textures that were more delicate than those obtained using spray paint, my studio work also yearned for the force of graffiti. A force I could not replicate using watercolours. This was how I began to combine these two apparently contradictory worlds, and it was through this combination that I found myself. I gradually began to discover my own style: watercolour and traditional studio techniques, transported to public spaces on a large scale.
Moreover, my years studying graphic design at university gave me an instinctive dislike of using a computer to create works of art. Never again. I learned that to create something, I needed to touch the work, to get my hands dirty, to climb up scaffolding and ladders. Perhaps it is the influence of those years spent at university that makes me avoid anything that looks digital, like flat fills and straight and geometric lines.
I’ve always acted impulsively, allowing myself to be led by the medium. I’m happiest when I find obstacles in the space created by complications in the architecture of the place where I am working. I like to feel myself invading spaces naturally and organically, allowing myself to be led by my instinct and letting colours flow and connect with each other, creating ethereal atmospheres through fades and layers of colour. On occasions, this has led me to break my work down on other mediums such as plexiglass and painting on glass. I also like contrasts, the abundance of bright colours and light shapes, for my work to create agitation and calm.
As much as I hate flying, I am inspired by celestial landscapes and obsessed by the light of the sunset and its spectrum of colours, a recurring theme in my work. I am inspired by the light of Turner, the impressionism of Monet and the figurative work of Bacon, its distortion and ambiguity. But also the saturation and Baroque of Zimmermann, Rubens and Caravaggio, and the sculpture of Bernini.
In short, modifying spaces, working with colour and light, creating murals that are full of delicacy in noisy surroundings and works that are more saturated in calm spaces. Allowing myself to be led by chance and impulse but always paying attention to detail and aesthetics. Trying to make my work evoke a feeling more than a reflection.
Solo exhibitions
· Soul to Soul, Galería Kreisler (Madrid, 2019)
· Empathy, Gerhardt Braun Gallery (Palma de Mallorca, two-month residency in 2018)
· Through the Glass, Latidos Gallery, Hotel Emperador (Madrid, 2018)
· Golden Clouds, La Causa Galería (Madrid, 2017)
· Anuario, Espacio Bellearte (Cáceres, Spain, 2016)
· Cataclismo – IKB191 (Madrid, 2016)
· Fotografía introspectiva, Espacio BRUT (Madrid, 2015)
· Espasmos, Salon44 (Madrid, 2015)
· Mitología química, Mercado Central de Diseño (Madrid, 2015)
Group exhibitions and fairs
· Generación Y, Club Matador, commissioned by Enrique del Río (Madrid, September 2019)
· District 13 Art Fair 2019, Galería La Causa (Paris, September 2019)
· To the Teeth, Moanne Studio (Madrid, March 2019)
· Nigra Art Show, Nigra Studio (Madrid, February 2019)
· FLECHA Art Fair, Centro Comercial de Porto Pi (Palma de Mallorca, June 2018)
· One Gallery, Mulafest (Madrid, June 2016)
· Versus, Monkey Garage (Madrid, February 2016)
· The Sea Urchis[JK1] Container, Open Estudio (Jávea, Spain, August 2015)
· Beefeater Record Store, Espacio Ciento y Pico (Madrid, May 2015)
Murals, art festivals and art events
· Invited artist for the Rail Freight Forward Noah’s Train project (Intervention on rail container, Madrid, September 2019)
· Mural intervention for the Council of Rivas Vaciamadrid (Rivas Vaciamadrid, Spain, July 2019)
· Calle Lavapiés Festival (mural intervention, Madrid, May 2019)
· Wakana Festival (mural intervention, Benalup, Spain, May 2019)
· The New Allen (mural Intervention, New York, May 2019)
· Muro Crítico (mural intervention, Caminomorisco, Spain, April 2019)
· Benidorm Expone Festival (mural intervention, Benidorm, Spain, April 2018)
· Spotify Spain (office intervention, Madrid, March 2019)
· Cultura Inquieta (office intervention, Madrid, February 2019)
· Art in Motion, live painting on summer evenings for Caixa Fórum with Fundación Cuixart (Madrid, June 2018)
· Mural for Proyecto Panorama at the Naciones Unidas school (Cancún, Mexico, March 2018)
· Set design for national TV campaign for Nordic Mist (Madrid and Barcelona, 2018–2019)
· Entrance installation for Madcool Festival (Madrid, June 2018)
· Intervention at the head office of Meliá Hotels (Palma de Mallorca, April 2018)
· Collaboration with Etnia Barcelona for the national BeAnartist campaign (April 2018)
· Mural at Invasion Street Art Festival (Plasencia, Spain, December 2017)
· Mural at Wynwood Brewing, Art Basel (Miami, December 2017)
· Mural for the Nike brand space (Madrid, October 2017)
· Art for the Red Bull Batalla de Gallos (Madrid, September 2017)
· Intervention at the Aristocrazy store (Madrid, July 2017)
· Participating artist in the Muro Crítico project for the Council of Cáceres (Extremadura, Spain, June 2017 and 2018)
· Collaboration with Monocle (Madrid, June 2017)
· Customization of sneakers for Nike Spain for the futsal player Ricardinho (Madrid, June 2017)
· Editorial artwork director for El país S Moda, together with the photographer Rosa Copado (Madrid, May 2017)
· Mural at the University of the Balearic Islands for Mallorca Live Festival (Mallorca, April 2017)
· Mural for Daelim Museum (Seoul, South Korea, April 2017)
· Installation for the Sueños de Libertad Festival (Ibiza, April 2017)
· Guest artist for Paracia Footwear (intervention at the Hound Hotel, Busan, South Korea, April 2017)
· Intervention at Sol Meliá Calviá (Mallorca, March 2017)
· Art action at Hendricks and Liquitex for the Art Madrid fair (Madrid, February 2017)
· Guest artist intervention at the Plataforma PAC stand at the Arco fair (Madrid, February 2017)
· Collective project Cartelismo, with Plataforma de Arte Contemporáneo for the Estampa fair (Madrid, September 2016)
· Textile design collaboration for Clap Store (Madrid, July 2016)
· Collaboration with Factum Arte for the project A sky to Santa Isabel by artist Michael Biberstein at the church of Santa Isabel (Lisbon, April–June 2016)
· Textile designer at Pepe Jeans men’s design department (Madrid, January–April 2016)
· Live painting at MadCool Festival (Madrid, June 2016–2017)
· Intervention with Plataforma de Arte Contemporáneo and Royal Enfield for Mulafest (Madrid, June 2016)
· Intervention for LX Factory (Lisbon, May 2016–2018)
· Live painting at Primeiro Andar Club (Lisbon, April 2016)
· Intervention at Campo Boario Testaccio (Rome, February 2016)
· Urban art exhibition Cáceres European Capital of Culture 2016, organized by the Regional Government of Extremadura (Cáceres, Spain, 2016)
Prizes and awards
· Director of Invasion Street Art Festival, urban gallery project in Plasencia
· Selected for Forbes 30 Under 30 list of the most promising young entrepreneurs in Spain in 2018
· First prize in the Food and Street Art competition at the San Ildefonso Market (Madrid, July 2017)
Retorn a’lilla
Price on application
Misterpiro
Sa Foradada
Price on application
Misterpiro
Extremadura
2019
Misterpiro
Benalup Walls – Casas Viejas
2019
Misterpiro
Benidorm
2019
Misterpiro
