CERCLE 1

33 S ince its creation in1986, theVilaCasas Foundation–created by the pharmaceutics businessman Antoni Vila Casas– has aimed to promote contemporary artists born or resident in Catalonia. One of its lines of work in this area is the annual an- nouncement of its painting, photography and sculpture prizes in an act that also permits the Foundation to further enrich its art fund and collections. Thewinners in their various areas not only receive a considerable cash prize, but they receive a fabu- lousexhibition inoneof theFoundation’s threemuseums, either in the Can Framismuseum, specialised in painting; CanMario, in sculpture; or theSolterraPalace, dedicated tophotography. This isaprize that focussesalternatelyoneachof thedisciplines, which in itsmost recent edition in2016 featuredpainting, and waswonby JordiDíazAlamà (Granollers, 1986), a figurativear- tists qualified inFineArt from theUniversity of Barcelonawho later trained at the Florence Academy of Art (Italy). In recent years, hehasnevermissedanopportunity to trainalongside the best artists despite his youth (he has spent periods with Gui- llermoMuñoz Vera, OddNerdrum andAntónioLópez, amongst others), all of which has borne fruit with a noteworthy selecti- onof prizes and recognition for hiswork (the Figurativas 2011 prize, organised by the Foundation for Arts and Artists, the LI International Ynglada-Guillot Prize for Drawing, organised by theSant JordiRoyal CatalanAcademy forFineArts,Medal in the 29thBMWpaintingcompetitionand finalist in the International ARCSalon2015competition, organisedby theArtRenewalCen- tredigital platform). He laments the sorry state academicism is currently in and its irreparable consequences this is having on contemporary art. Perhaps for this reason three years ago Díaz Alamà decided to createhisownschool, theBarcelonaAcademyofArt. Specialised in teachingdrawing, painting, sculpture anddigital art, its base is classic, traditional and realistmethods. L'arquitectura, com l'art, hademantenir-sevinculad Seu/Sede/Seat ofMuseoCanFramis. FundacióVila-Casas Vila Casas Foundation 2016Painting Prizewinner You’ve just won an important painting prize, although it’s not the only oneyouhave. Is it important foranartist toenter theirwork fordifferent prizes? For me it is. It’s important for an artist to get his work out there. It’s another way to come into contact with an audience that is interested in art. All promotion is good and provides opportunities. In a compe- tition, the important things are not only the cash prize, but the public recognitionand theopportunityof beingexhibitedandbeing seen.My career as apainter started theday that oneofmyworkswas chosen in the Figurativas ‘09 competition. From then on, lots of galleries started toget incontactwithmeand I started toearnmy livingasapainter. Thereare somewho say thatwinningaprizeor earning recognitionhas done themmoreharm thangood, is this so inyour case? Sometimes it happens, but it’s important to knowwhere you’re ente- ringandwhat you’reentering. Aboveall theawardingof aprize should notbeanend in itself, but ratheranotherrecognition thatwhatyouare doing is good andpopular, so that you keepproducing and improving. Youcan stagnate if you think that you’vedone it all. It seems that now artists are appearing all over the place, but it’s not often that they have proper training. Many of thosewho call themselves self-taught might not know how little such a declaration helps them... What doyou think? You can be a self-taught artist and at the same time get very good re- sultsonyourownmerit. Itdependsoneachperson’scharacterandabi- lities. I still defendhaving a good trainingbase that allows you tohave control andbroadcatalogue tocreateyourwork from. In a recent interview in LLEI D’ART, Donald Kuspit affirmed that an un- trainedartist isa fault in the system - doyouagree? Havingdecent trainingdoesnot guarantee that you’ll beabetterartist. Again, itdependsoneachperson’sabilities. It’s justas true that thebest training does not guarantee an artist’s success. Youhave to remember that therehavebeenartists thatwouldneverhavebeen important and unique just because they came through an academy. There’s not just one valid path. Even so, and depending on the type of art the artists wants to depict, I believe that good training really helps things along andhelps anartist togetmuch further.Withgood foundations, apain- tercan thenbemoreconsciousof the liberties theyare takingand, even more importantly,why theycanafford them. Is therea lackof goodartists today? Idon’t thinkso.Thereareverygoodartists todaywithavarietyofstyles anddifferentprocesses.Weare inaveryrich,multi-disciplinaryperiod. Inyour school you surroundyourselfwithyoungpeople that takeartvery seriously. If I asked you to be as critical as possible, how do you see the newgenerationof artists that youyourself belong to? Heartening. Figurative art with no profession is doomed to fail, and for this reason it’s important that the students trainwellwithadecent base. Then theyhave to takeover fromwhat they’ve learnedand take it toanother levelofuniquecreationof theirown, searching foracontem- porary languageappropriate toour time. Do you think that New Figuration has evolved in a significant way from its timidbeginnings in themiddleof the last centuryuntil now? Obviously. Times change, aesthetics and concepts change, and also in- terest inwhat todepictwithapictorialor figurativesculptural language changes too. Where is yourartistic focusat themoment? My focus varies depending onwhatmy painting interests are. I really like to experiment and paint critical, timely themes, always trying to innovateand trying tocreatecontemporarypainting.