Today I am talking with Luis Flores, an integral Venezuelan artist who shares a little about several artistic works he develops and part of his experience. Enjoy it!
Astrid: What artistic work have you developed throughout your life?
Luis: I define myself as a collector of trades, I studied literature mention History of Art at ULA Mérida, I love reading, but I always sought to investigate more than the knowledge that was in books, and at that moment I discovered one of my trades, audiovisual media, I started like everything writing, loading cables, editing video and making animations. I always thought as a student of letters that literary grammar is closely linked to audiovisual grammar, there I met many brothers who then based on practice, shorts, feature films and workshops held at the EMA, I empowered myself with this magical tool. Then I belonged to a creative office, called the Creative Command where I learned several plastic trades with a group of herman@s where visual, graphic and plastic research was the motive law, of that, my second university. There I met mural painting, graphic design, and screen printing; Trades to which I dedicate my livelihood currently, and my life since I love to practice, study and investigate daily all those plastic trades that feed my soul.
Astrid: What branch of art do you identify with the most?
Luis: I really do not have a favorite plastic job, I am addicted to adrenaline and being in front of a wall about to paint, in front of the frame with the squeeze in my hand, or capturing moments with my camera and making them eternal are actions that fill me without equal, although I always prefer that moment of painting a wall and listening to the diverse opinions of the people who pass, to be able to see the life produced by a plastic action such as muralism, which overcomes conventional spaces and galleries to take them to the street, paraphrasing the great Mexican muralist Siqueiros.
Astrid: Can you relate photography to painting and achieve an artistic fusion?
Luis: I’m always the one who photographs the walls. The action of photographing and generating audiovisual materials when we painted walls in the Creative Command was my first proposal and work, therefore painting and photographing what you paint is a way to preserve your plastic action over time, since the mural has a period of life, according to the use of quality materials, about 3 to 5 years… The photograph will last much longer. In addition, always when designing a wall I usually work with photographs of my authorship or other authors to make the proposal of the sketch of the mural.
Astrid: Have you participated in events, exhibitions, forums, nationwide? Tell us about that and what artistic work you participated with.
Luis: Yes, of course, I have participated in various forums, festivals and events, I remember the Karupana national event, mural art festival held in Cumaná, the Caracas large-scale mural festival, where we painted a building 41 meters high, with the muralist brigade of the Creative Command, we were invited to Colombia where we participated in the Mimap X muralism and public art meeting held in Soracá, Boyacá Province, Colombia. I currently give classes and workshops of mural painting, to high-risk communities, thanks to the efforts of some national and international organizations. We recently participated in the plastic intervention of the Cacique Guacaipuro highway with Multiarte Shamaniko, and the Yekuana tribe headed by the muralist brigade NativXs.
For the audiovisual part I have 2 micro documentaries that participated in the 1st International Symposium of Anthropology of Venezuela.
Astrid: Are you an independent artist or do you develop within a crew or collective?
Luis: My plastic research has always been tied to the collective, my personal research is very mixed with the voyeur theme. Works and drawings inspired by photographs that I like on social networks, but I also make life in the muralist brigade NativXs currently, where we have a screen printing workshop that we are reactivating. This belongs to the cultural nucleus Nativa Crea, space for plastic creation and the meeting of the commons.
Astrid: What personal message do you try to project when you express yourself artistically?
Luis: Talking about the meta message of our plastic work beyond an accurate and sincere desire to bring art to the street, to sensitize people, to captivate their attention when they pass through a work made by these humble hands and take it out of its reality so that it lives a pleasant, aesthetic experience, is the objective of every street artist in the world…
Astrid: Tell us about your silkscreen printing way.
Luis: This question is good, because to make screen printing you only require one thing, patience, hahahahahahahahajajajaja and stamping the proofs is something that excites me entirely.
Astrid: What social impact do you think your work as an artist can have?
Luis: The social impact is to become ambassadors of color and life, in front of a city and society where concrete gray and inhumanity predominate, we seek to evoke that factual encounter between color and humanity, that I feel is my work, and the work that each artist before society, remind us of the beauty of being human.
Astrid: Between digital and manual tools, which is more comfortable for you?
Luis: Anyone, whether painting, screen printing, editing audiovisuals and making animations is something that captivates and excites me more.
Astrid: Would you do this for the rest of your life?
Luis: Until my turn comes to transcend… hahaha!
Thanks to Luis for allowing us to know about his wonderful work.
I invite you to follow him on his social networks.
Social media:
Instagram:@luifloresdelgado