Nuria Mora

Often eclipsed by the shadow of Eltono, the ubiquous and restless artist with whom she shares many projects and Nuria Mora (www.nuriamora.com) and her work have a personality of their own. Lately it’s more frequent to see her embark on her own solo projects, while still collaborating with Tono on a regular basis amnd it was about time that, after knowing her for longer that Subaquatica exists, we had a chance to talk with her and feature her work on its own right in this website.

First a question we always ask to artists who do art in the streets, like yourself: why, when and how did you begin to do art in the street?

I started painting in the street in Madrid around the end of 99 with Eltono. The reason was that we wanted to reach a lot of people easily, whether they were sensitive or not to art in general. The rest of the reasons to paint in the streets I found out later one but at first that was my motivation.

I can imagine that no matter how exciting it might be because it’s also risky and demands a lot from you, maybe you don’t feel that need anymore now that you have your studio work and so on. Do you feel as motivated now as back then to do art out in the street or maybe you do it also because it’s an integrating part of your work as an artists?

Actuall I would say that the street is my studio. I don’t feel lazy at all when it comes to go out and paint. But truth is that now that I’m busy with many projects I do it less frequently. At the same time all the projects I do in let’s say a gallery or a Museum, have the street very present.

For those not so familiar with your work, like you mention, you always try that your projects relate to actions you’ve done in the street for that same project or in the past. Tell me a little bit how do you work with that duality between the outside and the inside space.

For me it makes no sense working on a project for a art space and not use the street as a reference. I’m very interested in the whole issue of the use of public and private space and the analysis and experimentation around the intersection of both places.

I find very interesting how your work has that conceptual component without forgetting the importance of the aesthetics

Both Tono and myself make a political use of the image because of its context, the city and because there’s an intervention of public affairs in our actions. I intend to invite to reflection and calm. I would like to be more questioning than afirmative. I think that this is where the strength of suggesting things comes from. With the aesthetics I start from a pre-defined geometrical structure that has infinite possible shapes because this sign adapts to the surface chosen for the action with a dialogue with the architecture that supports it. My objective is give value to the surface.

Another aspect in your career is the proximity to the world of fashion. I feel it shows in your artwork and it’s very clear when you use patterns that could very well be patterns made for stamping on fabric. I don’t know how intentional this is and maybe you can tell us a little bit about your relationship with that world.

Right now I don’t have much contact with the fashion industry besides some projects like the one I did for Loewe in Japan or designs for some T-Shirts, etc… The main reason for incorporating those patterns with flowers and geometrical shapes to my paintings is the need to transform painting into an experience through which I want to invite people to think about our relationship with time and space. Time because the repetition of a given pattern suggest a long duration of the time needed for its completion and space because through drawing on it I make the architectonic space where the viewer will projects his experiences and ideas my own. There’s also this crussade clearly against the industrialization of the artistic language which is very common nowadays, particularly among street artists.

Whatever happened with Kiricol, the brand of purses you had? I had the feeling people loved it!

I killed Kiricol before it would kill me! It was very sucsessful but a decision had to be taken. It was growing very quickly and it was still a brand where we would manufacture the purses by hand between my mother and myself, from the prototype to sales or the whole production. We realized that we couldn’t do all that ourselves. It led me to take the decision of not becoming a businesswoman and making all the changes we should have made such as not doing exactly the things that we felt like for economic reasons or producing in China. Besides I was having more and more projects as an artist and just decided to quit it.

For you, beyomd the fact that both are worlds with a creative component, is there a relationship between fashion and art that you want to explore?

After working with Gavina Ligas in the Jocomomola brand I realized I had learnt very much from her and that’s one of the reasons I started to include patterns to my paintings. But besides that experience I don’t see that much of a relationship between these two worlds for me. Fashion has a function and art doesn’t but there are many areas where the two meet and there’s a field in which a taylor and an artist could both feel at ease.

And then you have a side of your work closer to the illustration world when you use ink or watercolours but that’s a lesser known aspect of your work. Maybe you are not as interested in working in that field or maybe it just doesn’t fit the projects you usually do…

Maybe a little bit of both! But, see, that’s such a coincidence because I’m participating in an exhibition in New York organized by Michael De Feo with other street artists but with the idea of showing lesser known aspects of each one’s work and I’m contributing with three 1 x 1 m watercolors.

Much of your work can’t be understood without mentioning Eltono with whom you sign many projects and have been collaborating for many years now. How does each one’s role work in your joint projects and what do you accomplish with these project that you can’t when doing solo projects?

After so long working together although now we need to explore different projects separately we’ve found that we make a very good team and I don’t think that’s going to change. We want to continue doing things as “Eltono y Nuria”. There’s nothing established in the way we assume different roles. It’s usually a very natural and fluent form of collaboration where the ideas take form with contributions from both of us. Of course there are aspects in which each one is better at but on a conceptual level we are fully syncronized. Often, once the concept is defined the actual work is done without having to discuss or even talk to each other anymore. A clear example is our recent wall in Cordoba.

And again about your street activity, what changes do you see between now and when you started in Madrid and in general?

My painting has evolved because the medium, the city, changes and also because I find new ideas every time I travel. In Madrid there are less and less spaces to paint, specially downtown which is where I paint more often but I’m lucky enough to travel very much and around the world there are many nice people although there’s also a lot of groupies and wanabees. When I started there wasn’t that many people but now it looks so cool and people see if under a different perspective. There’s much “telegraffiti” and not much research and there’s many people with their blogs… well I think you know what I mean.

Now and before, there’s always been a great diversity of styles and techniques among street artists. Where do you see yourself in this sense?, What artists do you admire the most?

Ooouch!! What a question!! I do this because I need it and I couldn’t tell you where I see myself. Somebody else would have to say that. And I admire Johnny Cash and Maria Callas, Millie Jackson a Gordon Matta Clark, Andy Goldsworthy, mis friends from ref=”http://www.equipoplastico.com/” target=”_blank”>El equipo plástico and the people of El cartel including Mutis, Manu this guy’s cousin… I don’t know… Pepa Prieto is the bomb!! and Mister “Eltono” too.

What’s your experience in the world of art galleries and what shortcomings do you see in the world of the art establishment for your kind of work?

My introduction into this world was natural and casual. One day, painting in the street Tono Arean saw us and asked us “is this something?”, we replied “Yes, it is” and the following week he and Marta Moriarty sent us an e-mail about their new project for a new gallery, Vacio 9 and invited us to have a beer with them at the Cervecería Alemana in the Plaza de Santa Ana. We all liked each other and they offered us to work with their gallery. It’s been 5 or 6 years already and our participation in that world has been progressive and we haven’t found any problems because we have a really good relationship with our gallery owner.

What have you been doing lately?

Last thing was the projects with the signs in Berlin in august. In september I went to London to paint a mexican restaurant called “Wahaca”. Then we did the sculptures at Matadero and I just got back from Austria where I painted with the people from Tagtool on the Danubio bank and doing night missions with that nice little toy.

Any new projects you want to tell us about?

Next thing is the collective show in New York, another one in LA with El equipo plástico and in december I go to Argentina.

What project you would like to do but didn’t have the chance so far?

Big walls in Madrid!! There’s one in particular but also many other ideas.

Any other artists that you want to recommend?

Take a look at the webiste of my gallery Vacío 9. Most of the artists are great. My favourites are Julio Jara, José Luis Vicario and Cara Montoya.

November 4th, 2007 09:47pm Administrador