Pedro Hoz Captivates Madrid's CEART Museum with Surrealist Figures
‘Undivining Divinity’ is on view through June 30.
Pedro Hoz, represented by Villazan Gallery, is presenting a striking series of works at the CEART Museum in Madrid as part of an exhibition entitled Undivining Divinity. Blending traditional with contemporary art, Hoz is known for his surrealist, anthropomorphic figures and creations that captivate with their sensuality, humor and historical art references.
The artist’s fascination with delicate, minuscule objects is evident in his work, where he infuses memories from his past, reminiscent of medieval manuscript borders. These elements enrich his symbolic world, with eyes serving as ornamental jewelry for his anthropomorphic forms.
Highlighted pieces include “Retrato holandés formado por antropomorfos sin rostro” and “La Princesa Felicia,” which reference Flemish painting, and the still life “Sin título” (Untitled). Hoz expertly transforms human figures into organic forms, drawing inspiration from Picasso, Dadaism, and Surrealism.
Works like “Visión antes de morir” and “El gabinete” showcase a blend of characters in undefined spaces, evoking an underworld akin to Hieronymus Bosch. The exhibition features both canvases and drawings, reflecting on the essence of Hoz’s artistic journey with paper and pencil. The exhibition is on view through June 30, 2024. Head over to Villazan Gallery’s website for more information.
Read the full interview below to learn more.
Tell us about your background and creative upbringing.
I grew up in a fairly normal place, a small town in the south of Spain close to the city of
Malaga. As a kid I did what all the other kids did, played football, rode my bike around town
with my friends, spent time in nature with my dad who tried to teach me how to hunt (I never
enjoyed that part) and spent a lot of time with my family. I grew up in a fairly traditional family and art was never really important while growing up. My dad collected porn magazines and
as a kid I would always sneak to go through them, cut out the smallest of the illustrations and
stick them in secret spots around my bedroom and neighborhood. My mother always
mentions how as a kid I had some kind of obsession for tiny things, I would always have a
small toy in the palm of my hands. I have a memory of the first time I ever used a knife, I
found a bouncy ball in my sister’s room and I realized there was a little dinosaur stuck inside, so I ran straight to the kitchen, grabbed the biggest knife I found and cut right through it. The dinosaur inside was extremely small and I held on to it for a very long time, it became my favorite toy. That obsession with objects, collecting things and keeping them in safe places still resonates with me now and I feel like what I now do during my life is just an extension of those things I did as a kid.
Drawing was a big part of my childhood. Whenever I was sick my mom would take me to my
grandmother’s house, she had a little box filled with sharp colored pencils, she would sit me
on her lap and I would draw and draw for hours. The same way I always did it in school,
drawing was an escape to paying attention to my teachers and now painting has become my
way of escaping the world we live in and only participating in it whenever I feel like doing so.
When did you move into this studio? Tell us about your studio practice and art-making process.
I moved into this studio 3 years ago. I had my first exhibition in Malaga but I was living in the north of Spain and I had to drive all of my paintings so I left the big ones for the end. My house in Malaga at the moment couldn ́t fit those large canvases, so my grandfather gave
me the keys to this big and empty warehouse and I managed to complete the project in time.
I was supposed to stay here for only 2 weeks but for one reason or another I haven’t left
ever since.
I left my home at the age of 15, thinking I would never want to live here again, as it made me
feel trapped, but after those years living away from home, without my family, struggling to
survive and work on my own projects I realized how lucky I actually was to have a home and
a supporting family in Malaga.
What makes the Mediterranean special for your art?
I grew up listening to stories, my dad and my grandad are great storytellers, and they have
always made me appreciate the things that have had to happen for me to be here. I feel like
understanding your roots, understanding how the place your ancestors were born in and
how the circumstances they lived in affected their persona, their traditions, personalities is
something really important since it helps you understand yourself much more. The
Mediterranean is really special for me without a doubt, I feel like my art is born from a
mysterious place in my subconscious which is truly connected with that side of life we can’t
see or touch. And that magic is rooted directly with the nature and environment I surround
myself with every day. The color of the sky in Malaga is different to anywhere I’ve been, it
must be a mix of the dust particles from the sahara desert on the other side of the strait, the
luminosity of the clear skies and other things I can ́t name.
The calmness and the slow life you find in the Mediterranean makes those who have
nervous and creative minds, develop a deep, nearly infinite inner world and way of seeing
things. Being bored is part of my life and the mediterranean allows me to get bored and look
into the nothingness and imagine my own reality.
Why do you like using shapes that look like both people and nature in your
paintings?
My subconscious mind avoids those really human processed objects and things, I feel like
the true beauty of existence is already out there, nature has all of those answers and we
must just open our eyes to appreciate it. As a painter I am aware of how much those things I
paint can shape my life, as if they were visual manifestations, so even when I am sad and
feeling low, I like to paint happy things, with bright colors and light. I guess I like to paint the things I find beautiful, and I find humans nearly divine creatures created by nature. (specially their asses).
How do you mix different art styles in your work while keeping your own style
strong?
I really don’t like to think about this, I feel like the more you think about having a style as an artist, the less likely you are to truly enjoy what you are doing. A lot of times a style is
attributed when following a certain procedure. No one taught me how to paint. All I make is simply the outcome of the best I can do at that moment.
Tell us more about how you make your sculptures and paintings. What steps
do you take?
My Paintings come from a whole range of outcomes and processes. I have always thought
that routine was the worst enemy of time so I don’t like to fall comfortably into following only one process. It is important for me to have fun with it and to play, therefore it is this constant changing thing where I explore different ways of layering, sometimes starting from the back, other from the front, sometimes from a sketch others go straight on the canvas, etc.
My sculptures in the other hand do carry a more structured process, where I start with an
idea on a sketch, from there I find what I like and I then sketch all of the possible angles in
which they can be seen, from this I teamed up with Jon Bismo, he is a great friend and 3d
designer who really understands the way I think and imagine my figures and we work hand
to hand in building these sculptures as renders in order to have a preview of them before we
send them to be printed with these 3d machines.
Finding a good provider has been a challenge, we were never happy with the ending results,
but the technology behind these machines nowadays is crazy and if you look well you can
find some really good materials out there. After they are printed I sometimes like adding
details by hand by combining resins and other materials and finishing them by painting them
by hand. Most of my paintings carry an exclusive sculpture ment for that specific piece, so It
is important for me that I can play and navigate in the most fluid and fast way possible with
this medium.
What do you enjoy the most about artists like Condo, Picasso, and Dalí? What’s cool about their art?
I feel like when you become an artist yourself, you stop seeing art the way it used to be. You
start understanding processes and other mental structures that only those who make
paintings can understand. What I like about these artists is seeing how they have built a
visual language which can nearly be infinite, and understanding how each painting is
connected in some way makes me realize how I can do it myself. Beyond this, I am not sure
what I love about these artists, but there is certainly something I connect with that keeps me
engaged, nearly obsessed with their work at all times.
When I first started painting I thought of them as geniuses, something close to gods, but now
that I am following their path, I realize they are just people that became obsessed with their
ideas and that felt the freedom to execute whatever it is they wanted to do for long periods of
time.
Why did you choose VLAB Gallery for your recent exhibition? What do you like
about showing your art there?
Before I met Pablo, I followed him for his taste of art. I think at that time we shared a lot of things in common as we simply connected well with each other. VLAB as a space is a clean
space that allows the viewer’s attention to focus on the paintings, and it is as simplified and
clean as possible. Also many of my friends live in Madrid, and being able to bring my work to
them and organizing cool events in the city is a blessing.
How do you want people to feel or think when they look at your paintings and sculptures together?
There is nothing specific I want them to feel, my art can resonate in many different ways and
perspectives depending on the person and the moment, but the way I perceive them when I
become the spectator of my work can vary from feelings that remind you of being a kid,
mixed with something intriguing, oneiric, sensual yet not sexual, like on some kind of limit.
I like work that makes an impactful first impression, but that later on it invites you to keep
looking and discovering new things, creatures and so on.
What projects are you currently working on?
I am now working on a handful of projects, the last months I’ve been working on my first
museum show in Madrid, where I have made some large scale sculptures and a whole
bunch of new things, I am working on some large scale paintings for an art fair in Saudi
Arabia, a group show in Hong Konh with some of my favorite artists of the moment, a 4
meter sculpture that will be installed in the biennale of cuba, and some other secret projects.
