Pichi Avo Art

“Pichi Avo – a street art of URBAN ICONOMITHOLOGY”

by Martin Loosvelt

Pichi Avo Art - Vicar Wall - Almeria - Spain

PichiAvo – Vicar Wall – Almeria – Spain

Pichi Avo Art Approach

Staring at the mural works in the Pichi Avo Art, one thing draws my attention is the way they have pictured classical figures within a modern patchwork of shadows and colours. The surrealistic colours give a new coat of paint to some classical Greek mythological figures.

Pichi Avo Art

Art Madrid 2020 – On the right collaboration with Julio Anaya Cabanding (Gallery: Plastic Murs)

Far from self-centeredness

With their vision s combined, Spanish duo Pichi and Avo started their common artistic journey in 2007. Quickly got noticed in their home city Valencia, Spain. In 2011, they painted the works ‘Cuerpos’ in one of the most popular Valencian museum MUVIM (Museo Valenciano de Ilustración y Modernidad). Back then, although the visual identity had not yet come to fruition, their skills and collaboration had synchronized. Recent years, the iconic wave of surrealism has reached the rest of Europe. They toured around major European cities such as London in 2015.

Pichi Avo Art

Art Madrid 2020

Pichi Avo Art

Mythological figures

Through magnificent wall-sized artwork, familiar classical figures met symbolic contemporary icons within structured lines and shapes. They invite the viewers to experience street art with a new sensation. Sometimes, the splash of colors added a violent resonance of the torments and sorrows. It seemed to animate these mythological figures (Vicar Wall). On other occasions, the warm tonality of the picture invites us to share the dream s of a child (“Derecho a la diversion y al Juego”).

Pichi Avo Art

PichiAvo – graffitistreet – Urban Karites (detail)

Pichi Avo Art

PichiAvo – Vicar Wall – Almería

Pichi Avo Art

PichiAvo – graffitistreet – Aphrodite of walls (detail)

Pichi Avo Art

PichiAvo – Werchter – Belgium

Valencian street artists

Thanks to the diversity of their work, it’s hard not to feel touched contemplating their artwork on the many streets of Valencia. Whether it is about ideological conflicts or social issues (“No mas niños soldados”/ “No menores en conflictos belicos”), it always reminds us of dream s and beautiful moments of life. Even when illustrating a cliché (“Huevo o Gallina”), Pichi Avo managed to leave us with a fresh picture.

Mashing-up

The Pichi Avo Art uses a quite traditional now trendy recipe, the mash-up, that brings out a new sensation and blends it with something we knew, and something unexpected.

Pichi Avo Art

Gaeta – Fondi – Italy

 

Pichi Avo Art

Pichi Avo Art  – Mislastas – Valencia

Pichi Avo on Instagram

Since they went International, they kept being cool-headed and they are mentioning every artist, designer of craftsman they are working with. They are embracing the art market but with this specific Valencian touch that makes not being sell-out artists. Prints, reproduction of sculptures, big promotion during events are made with style. So they are engaging quite well with their audience as you can see on their Instagram account.

Pichi Avo Art
PichiAvo – GraffitiArt – Lliria – Valencia – 2014

Pichi Avo interview

The best way to know about them is indeed from an Interview. Here an extract from the Spanish article here.

Urban Art Festivals

-Pichi: Without a doubt, they are very necessary for the urban artist, but it is also true that there is a bit of controversy because there are people who take advantage of it, they say that it is a festival to do personal commissions. This is the order of the day. Let’s be careful and ask each other why they cheat you. On the other hand, well done, it is undeniable that it is necessary, it is the publicity that the urban artist needs.

Opportunities

-Avo: It has given us the opportunity to work in spaces that we could never have reached. When a project comes to us, we try to analyze it as much as possible, think about what we can contribute and what it brings us at an artistic level. He made us very well known, for example, when we did the container project, in the first important festival we went to. Until then we had never painted on a large scale.

Pichi Avo Art

Lesson learned last 10 years

-Avo: We have come to the conclusion that we do not have to lose our artistic roots, although with more experience. This has made us feel more comfortable with art.
-Pichi: During these ten years I have realized that one should not forget to train. There is a change of mentality: a contemporary artist is a team. That was difficult for me to assimilate, but it is necessary. No artist today is alone.

The art that inspires theirs

-Pichi: From Damian Hirst, Rothko, Ai Wei Wei to classical artists …
-Avo: We like everything. All artistic work must be contextualized in its historical moment and valued as such. Our works are obviously inspired by classic graffiti, from Dondi to Crash, and Greek classics. Although it is not reflected in the work, we learn a lot from other artists.
-Pichi: Even how they work in his studio, not just his work.
-Avo: We are not doctors at all, we are constant students.