Interview with Fernando Vicente

q) Please introduce yourself.

a)My name is Fernando Vicente, I’m 45 years old. I am an artist.

q) Where do you live and work?

a)I work in Madrid, Spain.

q) How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?

a) I like to work the body inside and out.

q) How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)Since I remember, as a child, I wanted to devote myself to painting.

q) What are your favourite art materials and why?

a)Always work with acrylic, it is fast and clean, I like to use as support materials, posters, and prints old.

q) What/who influences you most?

a)I have influences of art history, from Velazquez to Bacon.

q) Describe a typical day of art making for you.

a)I start very early, as a clerk, the difference is that I am going to the studio to have fun, the studio is a jumble of documents and materials for painting canvases, I like to think of something that chaos emerges something clean and tidy.

q) Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)An artistic career is a background career; I think it's better not to have goals of where to direct, but be clear about what they want to do in each moment, without realizing it after the years you see that your work has a stylistic coherence.

q) What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)I love the new figurative artists like Jenny Saville and John Currin.

q) How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)The physical process of painting is very fast in my case, but until the process of ideas can take years to mature.

q) Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?

a)I like to show the works, I think it is important produce the meeting with the public, so it is inevitable to do exhibitions in the gallery, but when ever showed at museum I show the work without sale and the communication occurs too and the work rest with you.

Anyway it is always something strange to get rid of the work

q) Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?

a)I always paint with music, is something that you get used to and miss when not at fault it is. I used to work with the radio, but when don’t find the music I like, I listen to old song of Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra, I also like the Cure, Tom Waits

q) Books?

a)Lolita (Nabokov),100 Years of Solitude (G.G. Marquez), Moby Dick (Herman Melville), 2666 (Bolaño)

q) What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?

a)I have no theory on this subject but I like the phrase attributed to Picasso “Inspiration exists, but has to find work”

q) What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?

a)Being with my family in the countryside.

q) Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?

a)My last exhibition Vanitas is the subject on which I work.

q) Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, and galleries do you prefer?

a)AAAAARte.com

I love the museums like El Prado, D'Orsay, The National Gallery and the MET.

q) Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.

a)Do you think painting is dead?

No, I really believe that is more alive than ever.

q) Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)Fight for their ideas, is a question of self-confidence and stress the face of adversity.

q) Where can we see more of your work online?

a) http://www.fernandovicente.es/

http://fernandovicentevanitas.blogspot.com/

http://fernandovicenteanatomias.blogspot.com/

http://fernandovicenteatlas.blogspot.com/

http://fernandovicenteblog.blogspot.com/

http://fernandovicentepinups.blogspot.com/