Energy and movement translated into drawings by Alessandro Botto
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m Alessandro. I am an architect and industrial designer turned self taught artist. I was born in Peru and educated in New York, and moved to London a couple of years ago.
What/who inspires your work?
I love the relationship between order and disorder, chaos and beauty. I love to take chaotic ideas and make them beautiful. I scribble a lot, and I always discover something I like in the random, visceral and chaotic nature of scribbles, they are my main source of information.
Other inspirations include fashion - Marni, Sandra Backlund - I love the structure in her clothes, they are almost like buildings. I also love Alexander Mcqueen, the shoes particularly. I love marimekko’s print designs and fabrics. Also I take inspiration from architecture, cities, machinery and music. I use to translate into painting anything that gets me excited, anything that makes me go “wow”.
Do you have any favorite artists/photographers that inspires you?
Photographers: Andrea Klarin, Todd Selby, Tom Munro, Chenman, Yin Chao, and so many!
Artists: I like the classics, like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Henry Raeburn, Van Dyke and many many others, more contemporary great artists abound as well, I love Julie Mehretu, Nigel Cooke (his earlier work), Francesca di Mattio at the moment, and then there is Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, others more computerized like Eno Henze or Toby Ziegler.
What kind of art supplies/software do you use?
I use Golden and ARA acrylic on wood and canvas to make large scale paintings. I also do stop motion videos of the process of each painting, using my precious Mac and iMovie.
What are the stories behind your artwork?
It’s very spontaneous, so the stories can be anything really, I can be in the underground and see something or someone that really gets my creativity going. The execution is equally spontaneous, not knowing what the end result will be makes it fun.
The painting process is a very important aspect of my work. I am very interested in how a painting starts in sketch form, and how it ends, and the whole process in between. This is why I make a stop motion youtube video which tells the story of each painting, from stapling up the canvas, to showing how its being painting and coming to life, to its completion. It takes me about 2 to 3 weeks, sometimes more , to complete a painting.
How would you describe your style of painting? why did you choose to use it?
I don’t really describe my work, it either doesn’t come up in conversation, or I try to avoid it, and whenever I do try to describe it, I feel utterly pretentious. I feel that my work should be self-explanatory: You see it, and you like it, or not. But if pressed for a description, I just say “my paintings are big and swirly, and I try to pack them with energy and movement. I like them to look cool”
Do people understand exactly the same story you wanted to translated into painting?
Not really, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some people like to find meaning into art that perhaps is not there, and sometimes they describe my paintings much better than I ever could. Sometimes they go, “I see this, or I feel that, when I look at this particular painting of yours” and I go “yes yes yes!!! I didn’t even think about that!” some others, not at all.
Where do you promote and sell your paintings?
On my website, my blog. I also use Facebook to update my friends of what I am up to. I promote myself shamelessly! And I have to, because I am an independent artist, I don’t work with galleries, I organize, curate and promote all of my exhibitions.
For example in May 19, I have an exhibition is in Shoreditch, at 4 Wilkes Street, East London. I named it “Flux” (which means a state of constant change) because it is an exploration of movement and velocity through painting, and this is reinforce by a video installation that will be part of the exhibition, showing the processes of each painting, in this way, the paintings change, move and transform in each video.
Recommend some books and write how they inspired you and helped you to develop your artwork?
I hate to read, it really bores me. I like visual stimulation without the hassle of having to think. So as you can imagine, I love, and I mean love glossy magazines about architecture, fashion, art and anything related like Frieze, Art in America, Art Review, Vogue, Architecture.
What would be some tools that you would love to use but you’re currently not using?
I would like to turn my paintings into sculpture some day, and I would love to use steel, plaster, cardboard, wood, plastic, etc.
Wow that’s amazing and a real challenge. Why do you want to do this?
I would love to turn my paintings into sculpture because that’s the way I imagine them in the first place. To my paintings are 3 dimensional, I see them as a collection of objects in space that relate to each other harmoniously.
In your opinion, there is a tool that anyone should use it?
Yes!!! Masking tape is awesome! Along with the internet, it’s the best creation of the 20th century.
I use it a lot because it lets me isolate areas of a canvas that I am working on, and I can paint in that specific area without disturbing the surrounding elements. It is also very precise, and provides crisp edges and straight lines.
I use any generic brand, no one in particular, but if I were to give a tip: be careful with using very strong tapes, because they may strip paint away, you want to avoid that by using a tape that sticks well, but its adhesive is not too sticky.
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