Image via Complex Original
One look at Yago Hortal's paintings will have you wanting to pick up a brush immediately. While his work might look like a few simple strokes of neon colors, there's much more depth and planning that goes into his pieces, which altogether form series of paintings that have evolved significantly since he started in 2006.
We talked to Yago about his favorite pieces, some of which were painted in Berlin in 2011 and others which were painted in Barcelona in 2012 and 2013. He tells us that "they represent everything related to paint but also an important part of my life. We grow up at the same time, and that allows me to see these works as a diary of life. I see my memories through them, because they are part of me."
Enjoy this installment in our ongoing series: Portfolio Review: Yago Hortal Shares the Concepts Behind His Technicolor Painterly Paintings.
SP37
"SP37 belongs to a different family than SP36 and KL49. It is a family where my interest is focused on big brush strokes. I made my own two-meter brush to paint this kind of canvas, and I would like to make a bigger one soon."
SP36
"I divide my paintings into different families, and this painting belongs to the same family of KL49. To work in families (a term coined by Juan Uslé) means somehow to work in an open series. I mean, in 2020, I could paint a piece related to an old work from 2008, because I'm still looking for the same things, and I really can't avoid it."
SP31
"Under this thick layer of paint on SP31 was an almost perfect color stain. I decided to paint over it, and finally I covered it all. Sometimes it's good to take a risk to find better things. Now it looks better. My father calls this painting 'The ant' because of the dark stain."
SP30
"SP30 has lot of information in it, but with it, a great balance. It is really difficult to find this point."
SP27
"SP27 is the result of never giving up. I've learned many things from my mistakes, and this painting is a big example of that. Tis is also one of my favorite pieces ever."
SP7 and SP8
"SP7 + SP8 are two paintings that, to me, are almost inseparable. I like to show them together, because they fit perfectly with one another. Somehow SP8 is a zoom of SP7, or at least that's how I see it."
KL49
"KL49 is the first of a series of 3 paintings where the premise was to paint them in just one or two takes. Finally I painted it in two."
KL44
"KL44 is one of the first big canvases where I tried to paint just one big brush stroke. I wanted to give value to that gesture more than other times."
KL37 and KL38
"KL37 + KL38 These are the paintings that you paint almost without thinking, but after some time you rediscover them, and many new things come to your mind. I always try to learn when I discover something (correct or wrong, doesn't matter)."
KL30
"KL30 is one of my favorite paintings. It is kind of a badge for me, because it has plenty of the most important things that, to me, a good painting should have."
View 3
"View 3 is another view of the exhibition where I set up 5 small paintings all together. I like to join different paintings, because usually if they fit good together, I learn many things from their relationship."
View 2
"View 2 is one of the views of my last solo show at Galería Senda in 2013. It was the first exhibition where I mixed paintings from both Berlin and Barcelona."
View 1 - SP10
"View 1 - SP10 is one of my first paintings where the paint overflows the canvas. The 'cream' looks like it's going to eat the canvas, but also the canvas looks like it's chasing away the cream. We don't know who is gonna eat the other one first."
