Aitor Saraiba
Aitor Saraiba
Aitor Saraiba graduated in fine art in Cuenca. He’s always loved painting and telling stories.
So far he’s done this through small publications and desktop publishing, and in his exhibits at Mad is Mad, Galería Fúcares and La Fresh Gallery, amongst others. And also in his projects for the White Night festival in Madrid, MUSAC and the Thyssen Art Museum.
He likes heavy metal and Nicanor Parra.
He likes living in Madrid, but life has taught him that he has no fixed abode.
Resume
Aitor Saraiba
Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, 1983
Vive y trabaja en/Lives and works in: donde puede/wherever he can.
Formación Académica/Education
2006
Licenciado en Bellas Artes, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca.
Exposiciones Individuales/Solo Exhibitions
2011
10 años pintando la mona, BLOLaboratorio, Talavera de la Reina.
El orden ha sido vencido, La Fresh Gallery, Madrid.
2010
Lo hice por vosotros, El Camarote, Ciudad Real.
2009
La noche más larga del mundo, La Fresh Gallery, Madrid.
2008
Dibujos desde la casa del árbol, Galería Cubo Azul, León.
Dibujos, SalaDeProyectos, Galería Fúcares, Madrid.
2007
Son de aquí, Galería Fúcares, Almagro.
Yo maté a Superman, Galería Garco, Puebla, México.
Exposiciones Colectivas/Selected Group Exhibitions
2005
We can be heroes, The Link Gallery, Manchester, Inglaterra.
2004
Infanticidas, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca.
10 operaciones, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca.
Performances
2011
Cara de Libro, Sala de Exposiciones del Centro de Arte Joven, Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid.
2009
Sanar Santander, Programa Candidatura Ciudad Europea de la Cultura 2016, Santander.
Sanar Madrid, La Noche en Blanco, Madrid.
Dibujos Curativos, exposición Un no por respuesta, MUSAC, León; Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca; Espacio Abisal, Bilbao.
2008
Dibujos Curativos, La Fresh Gallery, Madrid.
Programas de vídeo/Film Festivals and Screenings
2009
Embrace, Frameline34, San Francisco, USA; Lesbian & Gay Seattle film festival, Seattle, USA.
Proyectos Cinematográficos/Film Projects
2011
LET ME KISS YOU, documental fotográfico sobre fans de Morrissey latinos en la ciudad de Los Ángeles. Becado por Espacio Contemporáneo Archivo de Toledo, ECAT, Toledo.
2010
Cuando los autobuses eran azules y blancos, documental sobre mi barrio para el Ayuntamiento de Talavera de la Reina, Proyecto URBAN y Feder.
2009
Recorridos, ARCO, Madrid.
Mural, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca.
Actividades Académicas/Academic Related Activities
2011
Curso “Interpretacionismo”, Museo Thyssen, Madrid.
Conferencia 10 años pintando la mona, Escuela de Artes de Talavera de la Reina.
2010
Curso “Un sueño un deseo”, Museo Thyssen, Madrid.
Curso “Sanar Santander”, Programa Candidatura Ciudad Europea de la Cultura 2016, Santander.
2009
Curso “Sanar Madrid” junto a Rafael Doctor, Acción “Sanar Madrid”, La Noche en Blanco, Madrid.
2007-2008
Cursos “Arte Contemporáneo”, “Arte Objeto” y “Proyectos y Procesos”. Universidad UNARTE, Puebla, México.
Publicaciones/Writings
El hijo del Legionario, Alicante, Ponent, 2011.
Miradas en el Museo Thyssen con Art Academy. Aitor Saraiba, Madrid, Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2011.
Querida quinceañera, Belle crö #6, Bilbao, Belle crö, 2010.
Heavy-Metal, edición numerada de 100 ejemplares. Autoedición, 2009.
El viaje más largo de mi vida, edición numerada de 100 ejemplares, Puebla (México), Galería Garco, 2007.
Un pony muerto, Cuenca, MIDE, 2005.
Tus ídolos favoritos, Cuenca, MIDE, 2004.
Becas y Premios/Awards and Grants
2011
LET ME KISS YOU, documental fotográfico sobre fans de Morrissey latinos en la ciudad de Los Ángeles. Becado por Espacio Contemporáneo Archivo de Toledo, ECAT, Toledo.
Contacto/Contact
( +34) 608 04 24 73
www.aitorsaraiba.com
aitorsaraiba@gmail.com
Questions
1. What made you choose art as a profession?
I didn’t choose it; it’s the only thing I know how to do.
2. How would you define your work?
I hate that question.
3. What subjects are you interested in?
Subjects that make people drop everything and go and live on the other side of the world. Subjects that mean there are people with a fire inside them and who want to see the world burn. I’m interested in fear and everything that lets you stop being afraid.
4. What resources – formal or otherwise – do you use in your work?
Rock, paper or scissors.
5. What relationship does your work have with reality? What are your raw materials?
My work is fairly autobiographical, but with time I’ve realised it has little to do with reality – when I used to think the opposite was true. It’s tough when it dawns on you.
My raw materials are paper and poetry.
6. What, according to you, is the point of art?
To heal.
7. How do you hope the public will receive your work? What audience are you aiming at?
I don’t expect anything. When I’m working on a piece I don’t usually think about it being on show. Then, when I see it hanging on a wall, I get quite embarrassed. That’s why I say it doesn’t matter, because if people ask me about it I go red and talk nonsense.
My work is aimed at people who want to see the world burn.
8. What qualifications have you got? What do you value most from your time in education?
I’m 28 and so far I’ve spent my life training and educating myself in a whole range of different things. From working on a piece to graduating in fine art.
It’s a very long formative period, but I think the part I value most of all were the breaks in between.
9. How would you define your current professional situation? And in the future?
Lots of work without getting paid. In the future, I hope to get paid more.
10. Many artists say it’s difficult to make a living from their work; how do economic considerations affect you when it comes to work? Do you think this has a bearing on your work?
Economics has always had a bearing on my work – that’s why the vast majority of my work comes straight from my notebook.
Economic considerations affect everything, not only when it comes to creating; if I can’t pay the electricity bill, that obviously affects the way I work. That doesn’t mean I stop creating, but it does have an impact. Just like a butterfly flapping its wings in India affects the wind in Peru. Artists in Spain don’t make a living from art; they just get by.
11. What do you look for or expect from your relationship with promoters and curators? What advantages and difficulties have you found with these relationships?
I don’t look for or expect anything. I just hope they like what I do.
The advantage is that sometimes they like my work; the disadvantages almost always involve communication issues.
12. What do you think sets the arts scene in Madrid apart from elsewhere? What would you say are its pluses and minuses?
Others look to capitalist countries that won’t lead us anywhere. That’s a plus and minus.
Interview
Images
