Benjamin Artola is a multidisciplinary Basque artist and teacher whose work is largely inspired by everyday life, the environment in which he evolves and the imprint of his local culture. For this artist, interpretation is born from observation and contemplation: Benjamin translates ocean, mountains, rivers, movements into living paintings that weave a personal language marked by a form of magic and escape. The works present at Colector navigate in this universe tinged with realism twisted by a chromatic solar fever.

Can you introduce us to the selection of your works available at Colector?

They are part of my series "Negua" (Winters in Euskara). I work most often with vinyl paint and sand. What connects my paintings is precisely that they are part of a world in motion, in the making. Simple and recurring motifs such as the sun, a dune, the horizon, an isolated sunset, a sail, a bridge, a podium..., allow me to express myself with very little. In the future, I would like to animate a large part of these paintings.

What would you like your works to inspire in those who discover them?

Everyone is free to see what they want/can. I personally try to slow down the pace, to purify the image, the painting. I also try to fix mirages, reminiscences. To make my personal culture universal. The horizon of the ocean often serves as a neutral ground for me to project visions. There is often a central element in my paintings, I think it is linked to my meditative practice, it gives a direction, an opening. To translate complex feelings, life experiences, the human is not always forced to be represented.

Who are your major artistic influences?

There are too many. One of my greatest artistic influences is my grandmother. I have accumulated many personal references to teach and also to guide me in my practice. But I always come back to my amatxi (grandmother in Basque). I have never laughed so much as when watching these orchestras of cats squinting in oil paint, or series of portraits of goats in clay.

Despite everything, as a "totem" artist I like to find for example the sunsets of Valloton, the animated films of Co Hoedeman, the brilliant titles of Gino De Dominicis, the paintings of Sistiaga (accompanied by the group Gaur), the short poems of Etel Adnan, the colored shots of Roberto Burle Marx, the word/image compositions of Baldessari. Around me I will mention Elorri Charriton, Maia Ibar, Julie Boucherat, Maiana Agorrody.

© Ignacio Barrios Martinez