OSCAR VILLALÓN

Young Chilean-Spanish painter who has developed much of his artistic career in Spain and these days he visits Chile to present his art called "New Realism". Citoyens 102.5 FM, spoke with Oscar Villalon to learn about his work, his connection with the hyper-realistic plastic arts in Europe and his new world view of the Chile he left behind..

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To understand what the New Realism is, Villalon explains that it is a new style of approaches and perspectives of what is real: "We, the artists, are open to the world around us and the idea is to shorten the separation between art and life, creating an art with materials taken from everyday life.”

The objective of the New Realism for this plastic artist, "is not only the image, it is to have a language, a discourse. To write something with more objective codes and that the exhibitions are as gestural as possible with texture, details and sharpness, "said Villalon.

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The painting that our guest creates is characterized by bringing the art closer to what is real, to real life; an example of such is the urban paintings he has portrayed in the subway car, where even the finest details are appreciated: pillars, doors and people. Looking at it seems to be a very clear photograph with depth of field, the detail is key, "I am developing the composition with a voyeuristic look, where they look at us. I'm interested in that, that they look at us, "explains the artist.

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“Retrato de piloto (Portrait of a pilot) shows a metallic trunk with pilot's implements, the figure is worked from the conceptual point of view: "my paintings are installations and, in this case, it was a challenge, I had to define to myself what is a pilot. From the beginning the composition is born, get to a military airbase and to work with the characteristic elements of a pilot and to get out of the common canons.

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Works related to the Bodegones, which according to the author are based on death, where life does not accumulate itself, the objects portrayed in the painting were current and now lost their validity, it is like freezing the moment. Another example of this is the painting called Libertango, where a black model smokes sitting in an armchair looking towards a forgotten time. "This painting has a lot to do with the time I was tangled with Piazzolla. Although my painting is modern, I still have classic structures, "said Villalon.

When asked how his journey in Spain has been with his art, the artist comments that "coming from Chile and developing realism is very difficult, because I come from a school where slides were the main instrument and coming to a world where they studied and continue to study in museums is very different. But it is stimulating and I do not see it as a disadvantage, "he said.

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When the artist arrived in Spain, the "New Realism" had returned with more force and its main pillar was the Chilean painter Claudio Bravo, considered the most realistic artist of the 20th century. In recent years, a New Realism has been generated, more young artists arrive and in there, Oscar Villalon becomes part of them. In addition, he is the Founder and co-Director of the Arte DV Painting Academy in Madrid and the artistic project "Decinti & Villalon", together with the Chilean-Italian artist Alejandro Decinti. They created an instructional space in Madrid specialized in diffusion of classical and contemporary artistic techniques within the aesthetic framework of figuration and the artistic promotion of their students. Since 2007 he has directed the international project "Outdoors Painting Course" that has been developed in Tuscany, Rome and Sicily.

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When talking about Villalon’s next steps, he tells us that last June "Internationale Kunstausstellung NordArt 2016" was inaugurated, where they summoned painters from all over the world and he was selected together with his partner painter, "we had very good criticism, but the Chilean media did not respond, next year there will be changes to the FTAA (Free Trade Area of ​​the Americas) and we were invited as painters to represent Chile in this field. Finally, I have a more personal invitation at the Isla Negra museum and we are in talks, "Villalon added.

Villalon is preparing his new solo exhibition in Berlin, which is related to the urban theme, in fact it is his most important stage as a creator: "painting is a more complex subject, I prefer to see it and create it as a composer". The artist invites Chileans to visit his website to get to know his works: www.oscarvillalon.com

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Verónica Araya

Radio Journalist at University of Chile