In 2012 I completed a degree in Fine Arts at the University Complutense in Madrid, and this was followed by a highly successful
year studying at the University of Fine Arts in Athens, where I was proud to receive full marks by the faculty for each of my pieces of work.
As a multidisciplinary artist, I combine many different skills and techniques in order to create thought provoking work, regularly
returning to sculptural work, deconstructing everyday objects to transmit clear and direct messages, without losing the beauty of the object itself. Projects which cause consternation, cast doubt, prick the conscience and add humour are my main objectives. In short, work which provokes thought as well as having an aesthetic appeal.
My career, thus far, has been in working both as an individual and in collective groups and provides ample opportunity to see the
range of my ability. As a founder member of the artistic group 19:36, and in parallel with Allgoodstock Productions, the need for me to create has always been apparent, whether it has been in the form of audiovisual work or in more conventional media such as pen and ink, acrylics or in animation and documentaries. The examples of work are many and varied, demonstrating my wide range of interests and skills.
My ambition has always been to provoke thought as well as appeal to ones aesthetic senses. By producing work which makes
the observer question is both satisfying and rewarding. Seeing the reaction by people to my work provides me with a sense of accomplishment and if it should act as a catalyst for change, whether it be in one of attitudes or deeds, then I feel I have achieved my objective. Using humour is one of my strengths. I believe that in order to effect change it is not always necessary to shock, humour however has the capacity to bring about thought and possibly, change.
Whilst in Athens in 2012, I had the wonderful opportunity of observing at first hand the works of antiquity and I have used skills
learned at the University of Fine Arts in Athens to help me produce new works. Whilst at the University, I also gave a short lecture on the subject of Street Art which was popular with students. In my work I like to provide a social commentary on life as ordinary people experience it and my work is often inspired by political themes. One such theme was the economic collapse in Greece in 2012. The Willkommen Project was an opportunity for me to express my dismay at the economic situation faced by the Greek people. Small ‘Willkommen’ rugs were designed and produced to give the Greek people the opportunity to look ironically at the part the German Government played in its economic downfall and literally ‘walk’ on the German government as they have ‘walked on’ the Greek people. Placing them at the entrance to Government Ministry buildings and at the entrances to banks ensured that it was the Germans as well as those in power that the Greek people found to be culpable.
I would say that my main influences have been those who have taught me to look critically, question and follow my ideals. Developing
critical thought is essential to the human spirit and looking at the world through the eyes of others is the way to understanding the world in which we live. I have been influenced and inspired by many, whether they are writers, composers, artists both traditional and modern and philosophers, for example; José Luis Sampedro, Eduardo Galeano, Chaman & Black Jackets, Fernando Meirelles, Jaume Plensa, Roa, Boa Mistura, JR, Blu Elgatoconmoscas, El Enigma de La Fruta and many more.
Street Art
If
the eyes can´t see it, the poverty doesn´t exist
According to data provided by international
NGOs, and European institutions, Spain, in 2014, was ranked second for Infant poverty and recorded the highest rates of truancy from school in the European Union.
This project came about in response to the
situation and provides a human face for the data. Using children’s building blocks, the works were exhibited in various places throughout Madrid, transmitting the message from the children to adults. The concept was developed by David De Pablos in conjunction with the artists known as Miedo a Todo.
Technical Description
• Cubes of card, 10x10x10cm
• Acrylic spray paint
• Audiovisual display of the work.
http://youtu.be/ziQ25ZSyhAQ
Willkommen
In 2012 Greece was in full economic, political and social crisis, the streets had an air of apathy and resignation.
Greek democracy seemed to have lost its ability to act and the country was in the hands of the IMF, La Troika and the German government. So, the Willkomen project was born, street art written in German, demonstrating more than a touch of irony, in the form of welcome mats distributed throughout Athens at the doors of the culprits: banks, and government ministries who had evidently lost their autonomy. Technical Description
• Rugs of smooth carpet 120x40cm
• Blue & beige colour
• Stencil text
• Audiovisual presentation
http://vimeo.com/allgoodstock/willkommen
The Thieves
of
Madrid
The title of this work plays with the title of the Madrid transport system
´Consorcio de Transportes Publicos´, using the same official typeface and size. The work,´Consorcio de Ladrones de Madrid´, was created in response to a disproportionate rise the cost of public transport and was positioned at the entrances to various Madrid Metro stations. Technical description
• Aluminium plates, 25x40cm
• Stencilled text
• Audiovisual presentation
http://vimeo.com/allgoodstock/cladrones
Inaugurate Algo
This work is an ironic answer to the corruption and opportunism by
the political classes and increasingly oppressive laws in present-day Spain. By drawing back the curtain and revealing the plaque behind, it is possible for members of the public to symbolically inaugurate plaques in open spaces throughout the city of Madrid. Technical description
• Aluminium plates, 25x40cm
• Stencilled text
• Audiovisual presentation
http://vimeo.com/allgoodstock/inauguratealgo
For Sale
This is a work which denounces property speculation in the city
of Madrid. The work consists of a number of bird boxes presented as apartments for sale with adverts offering them for sale or rent. The bird boxes were hung on trees throughout the city and priced according to the respective district and presented in an estate agency ´catalogue´. They were accompanied by floor plans, the price and situation of each ´home´.
Technical Description
• 20 wooden bird boxes 20x16cm
• Stencil text
• Catalogue;35 pages printed in A5 colour including photos and
plans of the houses.
Lego Story
An urban installation in which the artistic collective
19:36 reappeared in the streets of Madrid following a year´s interlude. Technical Details
•Plaques containing the name of the collective
made of what pieces of Lego.
• Audiovisual documenting the creative process
http://vimeo.com/allgoodstock/legostory
Instalations and
Sculpture
Recycle Farm
An installation of different sculptures decorating
a children´s play-space at a fair/celebration dedicated to young people in Madrid. All the sculptures represented animals. Technical Description
• Acrylic paint on recycled card
• Different recycled matherials
• Variable dimensions.
Political Shortsightedness
This installation recreates
the Snellen test, widely used by opticians,
to
provoke
regarding
social
thought
injustice
and
political corruption in Spain. This interactive work invites participants to engage in questions of justice and asks the reader to query the motives and behaviour of politicians and their mandate to change laws. Those able to read the test and understand its message within the first three lines have not succumbed to the political shortsightedness. Technical Description
• Political Shortsightedness Test-matt aluminium frame 50x35cm,
glass, adhesive letters, fluorescent tubes 220V 6W T5 interior.
• Brochure; 13 pages, A5 coloured paper.
• Summary; A3 coloured print and framed.
Choose
your
Player
Following information from Amnesty International, there are still more than 25 countries worldwide who recruit children as soldiers to serve in
their wars. The work shows the child soldiers encarcerated within empty television screens in the manner of modern video games. Technical Description: 9 vintage televisions whose screen has been substituted by carton. Drawings in various medium.
Exhibitions And Collective Projects
Donner Une Vie
19:36 Collective exposition.
This exhibition was presented at the Enviroment Week festival in Montpellier (France) May 2012.
Different works denote animals in danger of extinction and show the natural world being devoured by modernity. Also some works talk about pollution, deforestation and other related topics. The works took as their theme car fresheners, joining together the notion of the natural world, providing a fresh ambience for the car, which itself is a polluter of the natural world. Each member of the group had made 4 car fresheners. Technical Description
• Mixed media on card
• Dimensions 35 cm high.
If
the eyes can´t see it, the problems doesn´t exist
A joint exhibition by David De Pablos and Miedo a Todo at Casa de los Jacintos, Madrid. These works are distinctive in that they
use various media and techniques in order to act as a social commentary on political issues in present day Spain. The feeling of anger accompanied by impotence experienced by the ordinary Spanish worker is evident in the work.
Diogenes In The House
This collective exhibition is brought about using the theme of the Diogenes Syndrome, an illness in which the sufferer lives with disorder and
in squalor. Objects which have been discarded or have been broken and lost their value are recovered and again given a value. The Collective found a parallel with art, showing that art has the capacity to give value to discarded objects found in the street and can be transformed into works of art. The exhibition took place at Freedonia Gallery in Madrid. From September untill October 2011. Technical Description:
• Different works in different sizes and techniques. The whole exhibition was composed as a living room.
Multiviral Campaign
David Gonzales De Pablos along with 4 other artists formed
the collective 19:36 and since 2010 have worked on various exhibitions, expositions and projects. To introduce the public to its work, the collective constructed a viral campaign using different social media as well as more traditional forms such as mounting live exhibitions. Postcards with historic curiosities related to the name of the collective, were sent to different places or persons like galleries, curators, university teachers. Also place mats were set at the Fine Arts School cafeteria in Madrid, so everyone ate with it.
Technical Description:
• 100 Printed Postcards. In A6 size.
• 200 Printed Place mats.
¿Sabías qué, 1.936 pesetas solo son 11,64 euros?
¿Sabías qué, el puente de San Francisco, en California, fue inaugurado en 1936?
“Puesto que esto no puede contradecirse, es necesario que os apacigüeis, y que nada hagáis precipitadamente”.
¿Sabías qué, el día 19 de abril de 2011 el sol salió en Madrid a las 6: 19 y se puso a las 19: 36?
¿Sabías qué, con estas zapatillas, el atleta afroamericano Jesse Owens ganó cuatro Oros olímpicos en los juegos organizados por Adolf Hitler en 1936?
¿Sabías qué, en 1936 y gracias a los humanos, se extinguieron los Tigres de Tasmania?
Illustration and
Drawing
Law
for the Security of Citizens.
This series of drawings were
inspired by a law recently passed by the Spanish parliament with the sole approval of the conservative Partido Popular. This law limits the civil rights of the citizen, increasing the power of the government and its security forces. The pictures are in three groups, the first that of repression of the past, instruments of modern repression and instruments of the fight of citizens against the repression and violence of the security forces. Technical Description
• 9 drawings 18 x 24cm in ink
and kraft paper.
•1drawing 35 x50 cm in and
kraft paper.
Animal
liberation
Draw
Animal Liberation Draw is the name of the project
which encompasses a great number of works related to the rights of the animal, ecology and the care of ecosystems. This major work consists of digital designs, recordings, illustrations, paintings and watercolours. All have the same objective, that of calling attention to the precarious situation in which the animal kingdom finds itself as a consequence of human behaviour. Some of these works formed part of another exposition noted in an appendix found at the end of this dossier.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Appendix 1 Designed for ´La Cooperativa Agro-Ecologica Germinando´, 2014 2 Work exhibited at the following galleries: - “Franqueados.014”, Madrid “ 2014 - “ArtEcologico” Madrid 2013 - “A3” Athens 2012. 3 Work shown at the following exhibition: - “A3” Athens School of Fine Arts 2012. 4 Work published in the first edition of the on-line magazine La Charca, April 2014. 5 Work published in the first edition of the on-line magazine La Charca, April 2014 and also exhibited in ´Franqueados. 014, Madrid, 2014 6 Work exhibited in ´Diogenes in the House´, Madrid 2011.