Adrián Pérez Vázquez, aka Manomatic, born in Palos de la Frontera, a cozy Andalusian town on the southwestern coast of Spain. He started painting at the age of 16, but chose a career in the field of communications due to family pressure – more often than not, the parents prefer their children to have a serious day job.
At school, he learnt the art of image, sound and graphic design, then worked as a technician for a local TV station. The studies and work couldn’t keep him there, he decided to go back to where his heart belongs.
Photos courtesy of the artist:
His pseudonym ‘Manomatic’ questions our relation with the destructive automatism of our day-to-day lives, the convention and routine. Man o Matic is a creative automate, born from the American machinery.
Born from Warhol and definitely Post-Pop, we could link his work to the Obey’s. Being a street artist for him was obviously the only choice, in order to transmit his messages to the people.
At the first glance, he seduces us with figurative realism to trap the ones who casually pass by, and propagates his message: the blind happiness in our society today. Being happy with high morale becomes political correct.
David – Huelva, 2015
Huelva, a city next to the place of his birth, is where his creative journey took its first step. He made the town his outdoor museum. He knows every single wall in the city by heart and which one to match the message he wants to transmit.
With the expansion of social media, the blind happiness effect goes viral. These subjects he captured are organic, lively and concrete, mostly portraits or human bodies. We can relate him to Pichi&Avo, but his style is more eclectic and diverse. Perhaps lacking a strong recognisable visual identity is the reason he has not received the success he deserves.
His art is in adequation with our fast paced prêt-à-porter society. Spray painting is a fast technique. His inspirations mostly come from the Internet. At first, he was taking photos with his camera, but soon realised that efficiency was an important factor in the creative process. Running against time, he had to be more efficient to create.
Saluting to its home artist, the city of Huelva organised a solo exhibition SelfieL (from selfie – fiel: accurate and loyal in Spanish). it consists of a series of hyper-realistic spray-painted portraits. Among them, the artist creates a symbolic use of black and blue to convey a reflection of the construction of personal identity. He brings the discussion on the difficulties in finding oneself in our digital society today, in which we are so deeply immersed.
Hipotécate tú – 2016
Palace – Huelva, 2016
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