UVNT Public Art Program x LEXUS

Grip Face

Represented by LA BIBI (Mallorca)
Location: Alcalá Street with Gran Vía

Bio:

Grip Face is the alter ego of visual artist David Oliver (Palma de Mallorca, 1989). Among his main inspirations are eighties punk, Asian naïf art and the world of graffiti. His work bridges the gap between the physical and the virtual. A profound reflection on the role of the media helps him to understand our hunger for information (whether verified or not) and to dissect the concerns of a generation that values its virtual presence over its physical one.

About the artwork:

“The Shelter Is Loud In Your Head”, 2024

The work is an architectural construction that may remind us of a hut or a teepee. Inspired by the mobile and ephemeral constructions that are spread across multiple cultures, the piece reflects the return of ephemeral or mobile constructions and their relevance to the territory. The work is composed of an interior made up of 8 octagonal mirrors: each of these mirrors carries an accumulation of images that together generate an encrypted story. The holes where visitors will be reflected are not trivial; these mirrors are composed in such a way that each hole forces the viewer to redirect his gaze to the images that the artist decides. A mechanism similar to that of the algorithm, which often decides for oneself, thus losing -and increasingly so- the habit of investigating on one's own. This work puts on the table several concepts; the massive loss of attention and contemplation by the great social mass due to the excessive use of digital algorithms that cloud the mind of deliberate information is one of them. The artist himself has been working for years in relation to these ideas, focusing on how our digital avatar is empowered over our personal identity, which is consequently contaminated, making the relationship between the physical and the virtual liquid.

Chong Yan Chuah

Location: Matadero Square
From March 7th

The Chinese-Malaysian artist, architect and designer Chong Yan Chuah, born in 1992 in Selangor, Malaysia and residing between London and Kuala Lumpur, works mainly with the media of digital imaging, game art and installation art. Represented by Space Cowboys, his works are situated in the interstices between virtual reality and simulated space, fictional narratives and imagined bodies. They often dialogue with each other through mise-en-scène. The feelings, characters and otherworldly elements found in his digital works are the result of his playful approach to artistic creation, which seeks to experiment around the concept of the artist as an explorer who discovers and reveals the unknown.

About the artwork:

'There will be Dr@g0ns in my Future Dreams', 2024.

In the immersive realm of "There Will Be Dragons in My Future Dreams," artist, architect and designer Chong Yan Chuah invites us to soar through the virtual cosmos on the wings of the Cyber::Dragon.

At the center of this exhibition is this Cyber::Dragon, a digital incarnation of the Chinese dragon enriched with centuries-old stories and traditional symbolism. Chuah imagines here a dynamic fusion in which the Cyber::Dragon transcends its pixelated existence to become a living repository of collective memories and traditions. It serves as a fundamental bridge connecting the ancient past with an unexplored digital future. It is an experimental incursion into the temporal dimension that transcends the limitations of local cultures, ethnicities and spiritual identities. A society rich in future mythologies and potential artifacts, unburdened by the past. 

Cesc Abad

Represented by Gärna Art Gallery (Madrid)
Location: Red de San Luis / Gran Vía con Montera

Cesc Abad (Barcelona, 1973) is a multidisciplinary artist who has experimented with painting, ceramics, photography and even cinema. Interested in the plastic arts since he was young, at the age of 21 he took over the family business after the death of his father. From that moment on, he kept his passion for art a secret. He establishes a small workshop behind closed doors at the company's headquarters, to which only a few family members can have access. In 2016, after twenty years leading a double life, he decides to sell his companies and dedicate himself exclusively to art. Through his particular fusion of painting and sculpture he reflects on the passions, fears and hopes of human beings.

About the artwork:

'Monica', 2024

In Cesc Abad's sculpture, titled "Monica", the artist shows us a woman with multiple limbs, loaded with different objects and with a positive and empowered attitude. In the great tapestry of existence, the decisions we make are the threads that weave our story. Let us choose wisely, for in doing so, we honor our connection to nature and protect the beauty and wonder of the world for ourselves and future generations. It is all to be decided, to be rethought and to be enjoyed.

COOL SHIT

COOLSHIT
Location: Matadero Square

Cool Shit is a multidisciplinary artistic collective with a background in fine art, product design and spatial design. They generate impact by provoking an internal dialogue through the weird and wonderful, with the goal of generating a positive cultural impact through their artwork. Their mission is to fill the world with immersive experiences and playful public art and have collaborated with the likes of Bad Bunny or Peso Pluma and at the iconic Coachella festival.

About the work:

'The Eyes' 2021

Over the past two decades, people's attention and ability to concentrate have gradually diminished due to the increasing bombardment of information and communication technologies that demand their attention. The Eyes highlights the dispersion of attention in a lighthearted, colorful and playful installation. To create a sense of total immersion, the central and highly photogenic sculpture is accompanied by two custom augmented reality filters for Instagram and animated video projections with content mapping.

Oscar Abraham Pabón

Represented by Lab36 (Barcelona)
Location: Plaza de Callao

Óscar Abraham Pabón (San Juan de Colón, Venezuela, 1984) has lived in Barcelona since 2017. His artistic practice combines an interest in sculpture, philosophy and public spaces. For him, art is a field of research around everyday life. He has exhibited in galleries in the United States, Latin America and Europe, and his works can be found in numerous international collections. In 2019 he was awarded one of the Cisneros Fontanalas Art Foundation (CIFO) grants.

About the artwork:

‘Composición en línea’, 2024

It is a circle made of fragments of recycled bricks taken from construction sites and installed on transparent methacrylate sheets framing the urban landscape of Madrid. Fragments of bricks are shown as a constructive component par excellence of modern urbanism. The work raises the constructive materiality of the city in relation to the history of geometric abstract art. Using as a starting point the work of Piet Modrian (1872-1944) with the same title made in 1917.

The work has an organizing principle: to maintain the vertical and horizontal axes that are determined by the channels or axes of the same building material. The brick fragments become smaller as they approach the edge of the circle. The work shows the material with which most of the buildings framing the work itself are constructed. Behind the surface of many of the surrounding constructions we find clay in the form of bricks; a constructive component par excellence of modern urbanism.

The result is a dialogue with the present and past of the city, either of works already destroyed or to be built, it is the materiality of the city and its historical layers. In this work it becomes evident how the constructive processes have influenced a good part of the aesthetics of geometric abstract art and the city through its constructive materiality gives tools and resources to think about art and the city itself.