Chiara Aluigi in Co(ro)n(a)versation with Eduardo Ralita
Imagery curtesy of Eduardo Ralita.
Our contributor, Chiara Aluigi, had the pleasure to interview Eduardo Ralita, a Spanish artist based in Cambodia who gained the full trust of the online collector base by taking Burri and Millares’ artistic techniques to the next level.
CA: From Spain to Cambodia ... Could you tell us a bit more about your journey as an artist?
ER: I have had the good fortune of a free, self-determining and somewhat wild life, and to be able to work and live in various countries across Europe and Asia, from a Barcelona base I come back to now and then. Over the years my artistic technique has evolved and transformed, with each new location adding an extra layer of meaning and or materiality. A few years ago, since my reconnection with my Mediterranean roots, I have been working on what is now a distinct original body of informalist work on paper and burlap.
With my recent relocation to Cambodia, I am living the excitement of discovering a completely new environment and I have enough space to produce larger works. There is red sand in Kampot and olive green, grey, brown and ochre sandstones in Siem Reap, that I am mixing with linseed oil and turpentine. Cambodia is offering me a new range of natural and earthly pigments to experiment with next.
CA: Nowadays Instagram has become a “validator” for contemporary artists, attempting to assume the role that used to be exclusive of cultural institutions. “If an artist reaches a substantial number of followers on the platform, he can start to be considered as an established artist rather than an emergent”... Would you agree with such a claim? And, could you tell us about your experience as an artist on the platform?
ER: I think the terms emerging and established, even the term artist, are frequently used lightly, without substance or content, in many different fields and in many ways that are difficult to understand. And I certainly do not think that Instagram validates art, or that the number of followers one has is a measurable indicator to entering the history of art. It is the work itself, its importance and quality that matters most. Instagram, and digital reproduction of material painting like mine, cannot communicate the presence of the work.
On the other hand, Instagram is a very useful tool to reach out to audiences that would otherwise not know about your work. Albeit digitally, I am aware that many people have discovered my practice since I opened an Instagram account a few years ago and many others will in the future. This is only good, and I am very grateful for the opportunities offered by the platform.
CA: Are you represented by a gallery or do you sell your works without being represented by an art dealer?
ER: Painting is for me an obsessive compulsion rather than a commercial activity. But I do of course sell works, sometimes directly in my studio, sometimes online via saatchiart.
It is always a pleasant surprise when someone out of nowhere likes a work so much that is willing to pay for it without first viewing and experiencing it. My paintings are highly textured and layered and this is not easy to appreciate digitally, even with high-resolution shots. In addition to that, my works are also not cheap and not really a decorative item. So, when an unknown collector makes an offer for a work in these circumstances it demonstrates a strong trust and recognition of the work and therefore an injection of encouragement to continue to sacrifice my time and money in painting. And, fingers crossed, no one has so far returned a work purchased online!
CA: I really like one of your work currently on sale on Saatchi Art, Venetian Red ER17. The colour and the media remind of the Italian artist Alberto Burri. Is there any artist that you consider as a model? From where do you take inspiration for your works?
Imagery curtesy of Eduardo Ralita.
ER: Venetian Red is painted over a previous black landscape which is why it has such a unique hypnotizing deepness. With its pieces of cloth attached to the surface the piece is indeed reminiscent of Alberto Burri, who used burlap in a very raw, crude and expressive way. Manolo Millares added a fluid layer of paint to burlap. Both Burri and Millares are a constant source of inspiration and of new ideas to experiment with. You can easily see my work as a continuation of this art povera and expressive painting tradition to which I add folding, tearing and tying of the surfaces before painting, and once painted breaking into the finished surface, using knives and ropes to add tension to compositions, and painting over again and again to increase the thickness of the surface, the depth, and the drama of feeling all of this work pulsating before you in the finished work.
Anselm Kiefer is also a strong indirect influence. I aspire to reach the majesty of his work and, one day, to produce similar giant works in order to shock the viewer with a strong emotional impact. My latest Burlap Flowers take on one of his themes: the spiritual salvation of humanity through art, represented by life (burlap flowers) growing on dead and silent landscapes. I think that symbolism and spirituality are essential components of art.
I like to paint on various burlaps at a time in a deliberate attempt to make coherent collections of work, within a period of time, to create a kind of musical composition that unites very distinct works under a common atmosphere. So instead of repeating myself over time, I limit this repetition to a series of paintings and move onto the next series with new components.
CA: We are currently living in difficult times due to the covid19. Which, in your opinion, should be the response of contemporary artists to this troubled circumstance?
ER: In these strange Covid-19 circumstances, everyone everywhere has a duty to protect themselves and others. This tragedy may ironically be good for society in an age of individual vanity inflated. Artists can give their contribution by recording and responding to these times as journalists. They should elevate knowledge, culture and art as values to be nurtured from every member of society, while they keep working every day in order to improve and show the results they have obtained once this nightmare will come to an end.
Imagery curtesy of Eduardo Ralita.
If you want to see more works by Eduardo, please see https://www.saatchiart.com/eduardoralita and follow @eduardoralita.
Gracias Eduardo!
Chiara Aluigi
Contributor, MADE IN BED