Artist name: ring
City of Birth: Calafell (Tarragona)
City of Choice: betwen Calafell and Barcelona
How many years have you been painting: around 10 years
Websites: hartos.ekosystem.org + www.fotolog.com/ring

Likes: colours
Dislikes: hate

What do you want to express at the time you are painting?
the face of simple life and happiness because we have too much stress and hard days. the simple things contains the beauty

What about your relationship with Barcelona?
there were two different faces of barcelona, before 2005 and after 2005.

before of the law, Barcelona got plenty of colour, the life in the street was so powerful. painting in the street, painting in many places, the interaction with the people, pasting posters and stickers, etc. After 2005, everything that you used to do, now it’s forbidden.

But I’m still painting in barcelona, maybe not colour pieces, but I’m still making tags, paste stickers, some silvers, painting inside squats..

Do you think there is a Barcelona style? What kind of particularity do you see on it? Has it got any parallels with the culture?
for me barcelona style is lots of styles living toghether, and all in good relation. for me, this style is more personal, not only letters, lots of characters, logos more artistic than it can be in other places

What do you think about the legal situation for painting in the streets of BCN? What changes can you see? What about the future?
the governement want to stop graffiti, but graffiti can’t be stop

now there are more vandal actions, than some years ago, more silver and black

I’m not sure, maybe they will make more laws against graffiti and more stronger, but vandal will increase more.

Where do you think is the street art capital now, if there is one?
south america is the place

What other places, or people do you enjoy most?
I like Berlin, because it’s full of graffiti, the governement cleans, but they paint more that it can be clean

Which kind of graffiti do you enjoy more? Which style do you enjoy the most?
I like the style of the west europe, Swedish graffiti, some french styles, brazilian… and Barcelona of course

What impact do you think the Internet has had on graffiti styles?
the people can copy more, everybody can be influenced by lots of styles.

before internet you only can see some magazines and the styles on your hood.

but in other hand, it can be better to make more open minded people, contact new people from other countries and travel more thanks to that. Internet is part of our life!

If graffiti is a fight for the freedom of expression…do you think every kind of graffiti is able to exist, or do you think some types are bad and inappropriate?
commercial graffiti should not exist

the rest of graffiti expressions are good, as more as posible is better, to make open minded people

As BCN has many books about the street art, what do you think about the people who don’t feel the movement and publish books, only for their own profit? Does this mean that the art you give to the street still pertains to you?
the art we give is for the city and for the people and for ourself.

if someone out of the movement take pictures of graffiti and then make a book of pictures, it’s not very good thing. but in the other hand, someone that knows the real movement can make a real book, with the feelings and the artists that are making good stuff.

I like the Doit Yourself zines, made by the writers for the writers.

What do you think is the soul of Barcelona street art if it has? Or is only shape and colour?
now street art is dead. only spray and tags, this have other names.

the movement of street art was the flow of the urban artists painting all over, pasting posters, stickers, etc. all was part of the movement.

now there is no spots to paint or to paste, because the cleaners buff all.

there are just a few spots, but the movement is dead.

Do you think the strict laws makes proliferate the products of urban artists? As they cannot be on the street, they have/must/need to be in galleries, commercial spots, or commercial brands?
yes, some of the urban artists from the street art movement, now are only painting canvas, making clothes, etc. they stop painting where they get famous.

a few others still paint outside the city and some others paint illegal stuff

What do you think about the future of Barcelona style?
graffiti vandal. we won’t see the golden years anymore

Can you tell us some interesting places to visit in Barcelona? What places do you enjoy most?
Gràcia, Ciutat Vella, Raval, Poblenou and the sea! I love this city!

Street Artist Interview - Ring was published by BCN Style. You can leave a response, or subscribe to bcnstyle