August Vilella (b. 1986, Spain) is a self-taught painter who creates oil paintings that open dialogue with contemporary and classical art. Working in the Surrealist automatism method, he creates without any previous sketches or ideas. Each painting has a unique psychical opening and meaning that reflect the subconscious mind.

1. When did you start painting?

This year marks exactly 10 years since I started painting. So it is a very special year for me in many different ways. They have been wonderful years in which many of my dreams have come true. I still remember my first brush strokes... I felt that a world was opening up to me. The first time I felt the paintbrush caressing the canvas, I felt that I would dedicate the rest of my life to it. It was an instant connection. Love at first sight. I believe that painting and I were predestined to meet in this life, because it is a medium from which, although I never received any academic training, I was able to express myself and create paintings from day one.

This year marks exactly 10 years since I started painting. So it is a very special year for me in many different ways. [...] The first time I felt the paintbrush caressing the canvas, I felt that I would dedicate the rest of my life to it. It was an instant connection.

In this way, I found at home what I usually denominate as intuitive surrealism... which making an analogy I could also name Jazz-pictorial, a style by which I start working directly on the canvas with the paint without using previous ideas or sketches, giving free rein to my subconscious without knowing what the final result is going to be... this process, however, results not only in a figurative work of a dreamlike character, but also in an elaborated one. This is because I use a very detailed and refined process, working with many layers and blasting both oil and varnish, as well as playing with light and shadow. With this we see a remarkable contrast or fusion of, on the one hand the more classical techniques used by the masters in Europe, and on the other hand a totally intuitive process with an ultra-contemporary theme.

2. There is a story about when you were working at the Sagrada Familia and a woman came to talk to you and her words changed your life. Could you tell us more about this interesting event?

At the time I was working in the Sagrada Familia temple of Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona, Spain, before becoming a professional artist. At that time I felt somewhat lost in life... Apart from my daily work at that time I had started to dedicate myself to painting as an amateur, I had two music groups and I was writing a book on philosophy among other hobbies. I felt that I could not cope with everything and I needed to take a different direction in my life urgently.

One day at work, among the thousands of tourists we were receiving, I saw a woman who kept looking at me from a distance. When she came closer she asked me, intrigued, if by any chance my name was August and if I painted. When I answered yes, she began to cry and hug me. She told me that she had just arrived that morning from Austria to visit but due to the terrible fear of flying she spent the night with the computer and by some strange coincidence she ended up on my Facebook profile where she saw my works which made her feel relaxed and with whom she felt a very deep connection. The funny thing is that at that time I had no profile, website or blog as an artist or painter on the internet. I had never shared my art anywhere. I had only posted occasional photos of my work on my personal Facebook profile which was only seen by my friends and family... so the chances of that lady finding me were almost nonexistent.

One day at work, among the thousands of tourists we were receiving, I saw a woman who kept looking at me from a distance. When she came closer she asked me, intrigued, if by any chance my name was August and if I painted. When I answered yes, she began to cry and hug me

Therefore, in addition to the fact that she had no idea that I was from Barcelona, much less worked in La Sagrada Familia, our encounter couldn't be a coincidence. According to her it was a predestined meeting in which she felt like a tool of the universe that had been sent to push my dream... between tears she told me that I had to make the most important decision of my life. So I went to talk to my boss and quit that steady job, I also spoke to both music groups to quit at the same time, and I decided to stop writing my book. I focused completely on my painting, I created a profile, a website and a portfolio which I started to send around the world until I was accepted for an artistic residency in Japan for 3 months where I managed to sell my first work, win the award for best international artist at the Tokyo International Art Fair and from where my artistic career took off until today.

3. Besides being a painter, you are very passionate about literature and music, how have these different artistic disciplines contributed and helped you to create your body of work?

Certainly, because of the intuitive process of my work we can see the influences of my past passions in it, in this case literature could be reflected in the philosophical or metaphorical sense of many of my works as well as their multiple readings. In the case of music, we can perhaps see it in the melancholy that is transmitted in the look of the characters. However, all these are mere assumptions, since it is a process in which I play such a small role, it is difficult to decipher the real origin of the reason for the existence of the elements that appear. In a certain way it is a mystery that gives it part of its charm and beauty.

4. In April this year, you'll have a solo exhibition in our New York gallery. Are you excited about this exhibition? Can you tell us some aspects that will surround the exhibition?

Yes, I am very excited about this exhibition. Although I have had many exhibitions in the United States, this will be my first solo exhibition in New York, so I will be presenting a very special series of iconic paintings that I have carefully prepared during these months. In fact I will travel in person to New York for the opening on the 25th to introduce and explain my work and style exclusively to those attending the event. It will be a unique event and a very exclusive selection of paintings that I am looking forward to sharing with my American public.

This will be my first solo exhibition in New York, so I will be presenting a very special series of iconic paintings that I have carefully prepared during these months

5. You always talk about the influence that surrealism and its pictorial techniques have had on your work. How did you arrive at this intuitive and automatic approach of painting?

As I mentioned before, I arrived at my surrealistic-intuitive painting method by myself, in fact I had already been applying the same method when composing music or writing, so I was already familiar to work in a spontaneous way, and without a script or preconceived ideas. When I start working directly on the canvas, I lose control of the brush and it begins to emerge some very peculiar characters and iconographies without any reason... at the same time, my subconscious being an important co-pilot of this process, my experiences, as well as all the elements that surround my life have a role or print in my work. All this makes each work unique and unrepeatable.

Curiously enough, I would like to point out that I use the same intuitive method in my daily life... Most of the important decisions I have made in my life were not due to strong thinking, but rather to hunches and intuitions.

6. As a painter, what other influences do you draw upon, aside from surrealism?

I am not really influenced by other styles or artists. Those who know me well probably know that I am not very interested in visiting exhibitions or museums. I have always liked to create more than to observe. My real influence is nature and above all life itself with all its beauty and mysteries. Everything that surrounds me has an influence on my soul and consequently on my work, for example, since I live in Japan, as I am in much closer contact with nature, its elements have become much more present in my work. Some new ones have even appeared, such as insects. I am a channel through which the reality I contemplate filters through and the result is a work that, not being conditioned by my desire, has an open meaning and interpretation. Consequently, whenever someone asks me about the meaning of my work for me, I always answer that what is really important is what it means to him/her.

As I often say in my shows: - "I do not choose the characters in my works, but they choose me in a way... And it is precisely when we eliminate the artist's will regarding his creation that each painting becomes a work of the world and for the world, a work in which all people can see themselves reflected and, above all, a work with a proper life that wishes to be seen, unveiled and felt..."

"I do not choose the characters in my works, but they choose me in a way..."

7. Despite the organic nature of your creative process, will there be a cohesive theme or any form of conceptual poetry binding your works together?

As you correctly point out, being the result of an intuitive painting method, despite not having a "thematic" link, they await a link of a more spiritual nature beyond aesthetics. Each work is a world, a story, a life... unique and unrepeatable in itself. The narrative is a blank score that the viewer must fill in with his or her own notes when viewing the work in order to create his or her own personal symphony. For me the paintings are like mirrors in which the viewer sees himself reflected in a metaphysical, philosophical and dreamlike language. I do not intend to communicate something specific with my work, what I intend is that through my work people communicate with themselves on a deeper and more spiritual level.

For me the paintings are like mirrors in which the viewer sees himself reflected in a metaphysical, philosophical and dreamlike language

8. In your paintings you usually depict characters with big eyes, in the middle of an apparently deserted landscape. What do these characters represent? Who are they?

I guess that their characteristic big eyes might be due to the fact that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, and through them we can express any kind of emotion. That is why many of my characters do not require more facial features, since only through their eyes we can establish a deep communicative and emotional bond with them. Their eyes are a kind of portal between our earthly world and the oneiric and spiritual world. I respect who they are... it is a mystery even to me. Why don't you try to ask them yourselves when you saw them directly?

I guess that their characteristic big eyes might be due to the fact that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, and through them we can express any kind of emotion.

9. You were born and raised in Barcelona, but why did you move to Tokyo, where you currently live and work? Do you find big cultural differences between the two cities?

I moved to Tokyo basically for three reasons. The first one lies in the fact that most of my managers, galleries, collectors and shows are in Asia. So it was much more comfortable for me to live in Japan since I could coordinate my career much more effectively from there. On the other hand Japan is a special country that had always attracted me and I thought that starting to live in a new country would also inspire me for my art. Finally, I came to Tokyo in 2020 for one month for 2 exhibitions that were postponed because of the Covid pandemic. Then my manager in Japan proposed me to sponsor me to get the papers to live in Tokyo and I accepted immediately. It was a very unexpected and impulsive decision, since I arrived in Japan with a suitcase to stay for a month and suddenly I was living permanently.

On the one hand, Japan is already another planet in itself. The cultural differences between Barcelona and Tokyo are obviously infinite... customs, food, respect, discipline, mentality, perseverance...etc. A book could be written about it, but these differences make each place more beautiful in itself. In the same way that in painting, it doesn't matter what color we put on the canvas, since it will always end up being determined by the color we put next to it. The same happens in life: beauty and happiness reside in contrast... when I go back to Barcelona I enjoy every meal and experience as if it were the first time... just as I do when I go back to Japan.

10. What are the aspects of Tokyo that most appeal to you?

Yes, I feel very comfortable. I live in a typical two-story traditional Japanese house with tatami mats in all the rooms, garden and in a central but relaxed area. On the second floor I have set up my painting studio. Tokyo, despite being a very big city is at the same time very safe, quiet, people are polite and respect each other's space, so it is ideal for artists because you can be constantly focused on your inner world. It also has thousands of stimulations... it's a paradise for the senses. In Tokyo I found a lot of inspiration from nature, which is very present everywhere, even in the middle of the city. In addition the seasons are very marked and beautiful, we have snow in winter, cherry blossoms in spring, in summer a great variety of animals and insects, and in autumn beautiful colors. I find all this especially inspiring for my art.

it's a paradise for the senses. In Tokyo I found a lot of inspiration from nature, which is very present everywhere, even in the middle of the city

11. How do you see yourself in 10 years?

I don't usually focus on the long term because I already have many new big and exciting projects in the coming years. Each passing year thousands of opportunities open up that seemed unimaginable years ago. I want to grow more and more as an artist and that my art grows with me towards new unimaginable goals. I look forward to the future with illusion and hope. Since I have dedicated myself to art every year has been better than the previous one, so I simply want to throw myself headlong into the future, a future that I know will hold many surprises for me. I would like to expand my art beyond the fairs, galleries and museums... I want to create a world around my art to be able to reach all the people. Although I must confess that in a way I feel that it is not me who carries my art, but it is my art that carries me... all these big-eyed characters have invited me to travel around the globe to unlikely places and have made me meet amazing people.

I feel that it is not me who carries my art, but it is my art that carries me... all these big-eyed characters have invited me to travel around the globe to unlikely places and have made me meet amazing people

I once heard someone say the best and at the same time the simplest definition of "art" I have ever heard: "- Art is the ability to make the invisible visible". In my case it has not only been like that, but it has also been making the impossible possible. Art has been like a runaway horse that has led me to live unforgettable experiences intensely and that takes me through the plains of time towards new unknown and unexpected horizons. I certainly don't know where I will be in 10 years because today I no longer see absolutely nothing as impossible... art has opened the world for me and I just want to immerse myself in it and let myself go... I am sure that it will take me to the best of ports... it always has.