Any Madrilenian has come across, whether he knows it or not, with a mural of the King of Ruin. This urban artist defines his work as “pop-punk”, the first for his pictorial style and the second for his messages that invite reflection and questioning of the established. Now he is one of the collaborators of the new project of The Style Outlets, REstart, an invitation to the restart of a new era in which fashion and art go hand in hand. Each center welcomes a ‘Resident’, as they call it themselves, that is, an urban artist who has created live murals and exclusive works for the occasion. “For me it has been an important opportunity, from The Style Outlets they have allowed me to explore new ideas that I had not had time to put into practice”, explains S Moda El rey dela Ruina. «Although I have worked in a gallery and with important collections, I am used to working in an art circuit underground, in public spaces and on the fringes of the circuits of more institutional art, creating and taking advantage of all the opportunities to let myself be seen, and teach what I do in the most unexpected places. This action fits perfectly into that dynamic.
Why and how did you start painting murals?
It is difficult to say because I am from a neighborhood where there has always been a lot of graffiti and I was very influenced by the hip hop culture of the early 90s. As a child I would walk through the places where I knew there was graffiti and used the remains of cans of spray that I was to practice imitating the paintings that I saw. Some time later I studied Fine Arts and took my first steps in gallery art, but it was frustrating for me, it is a very competitive world and sometimes something snob, where it is difficult to contact the final public and where there is some self-censorship. However, urban art gives you more freedom, it allows you to go and look for the public in the street, to be seen by people of all ages and social strata with or without interest in art, this gives you a feedback very rich and complete, which is also completed with the use of social networks, where you can see people’s reaction in real time.
▪Why do you think urban art is necessary in cities?
It is not only necessary, it is inevitable. Although there is a larger commercial circuit around this phenomenon, it is actually a spontaneous and popular expression. The walls, the public space, have been a forum, a communication channel since humanity exists. Visual communication was there in prehistoric caves, it was in Roman cities, in Paris on May 68, in 15M and in all our streets today. And that is urban art, an increasingly intricate communication system that evolves and combines with influences from graffiti, the languages of protest and gallery art. It is necessary because it defines us as a city, it is necessary because it is inevitable.
Your works always have a social and political component. How is your creative process when it comes to capturing your messages?
With my works I seek to generate a conversation through my personal vision of society, iconic images and even acidic or poetic messages. I am inspired by practically everything that surrounds me, although poetry and politics are indeed two of the themes that mobilize me to shape my creations. I recognize that as a general rule I improvise a lot, even when I already have a previous idea in mind, because I trust the process and it is during the performance of the work that the idea fully matures.
How has this collaboration with The Style Outlets been? What would you highlight of it?
I have designed several actions with their help: from interventions in the signage and signage of the center adapting the geometries and colors that I usually use in my creations, to a sculptural and mural intervention. And we do not rule out doing some more, we are working on a performance to fill (even more) the center with color. The idea is to create an immersive feeling, as if the entire mall were the work of art and as you walk through the corridors you are walking inside a work of art. With the sculptures and murals I have tried to communicate an explosion of color, movement and dynamism. There is no specific message but everything falls within the motto [RE] START YOUR LIFE. A very spring concept. It is in this season that everything blooms. It is a rebirth. An idea in a very positive tone that aims to spread joy to everyone in this time that we have to live.
What are you working on right now?
In addition to continuing to create for The Style Outlets, I am working on a very interesting collaboration with the NGO “Acción contra el Hambre” and together with several artists we are going to design a solidarity tableware to raise funds. Besides, I am working on an exhibition and a commemorative mural in Livorno, Italy.
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