J Loca is a Barcelona based streetartist that has made a name for himself through the years. Originally from the neighbourhood El Raval, J Loca has been active since 1995, making human shaped animals and figures in his own unique way.

He has been with us for a long time and it was time he got his private show! After all, he has “credibilidad callejera” !

We had a record turn out and are so thankful that so many of you took the time to share the evening with us.

The black/white photos are taken by Arianoosh photography

Francisco de Pajaro “Art is Trash” has a show in O.D. gallery Amsterdam, at the moment. In the December cold Base Elements teamed up with him to set up the show for the opening. Amsterdam being beautiful and welcoming in its winter state. We had a wonderful time and hope to visit again soon. If you are in Amsterdam, it`s a total must to drop in to O.D. gallery and check out this show. You have until the 25th of February, so you better be quick!

When in Amsterdam…. You go to a coffeehouse!

Hitting the streets. Although Amsterdam is a very clean city, Francisco managed to find some boxes to paint on.

The outside wall of O.D. gallery

We lived in a houseboat while we were there!

The opening night 

El Xupet Negre celebrated 31 years of his carrier the other day at Holala, here in Barcelona.  As you probably know, he is one of the oldscool Urban artists and been keeping it real for longer than most.  He is well known for his pacifiers all around the world, Barcelona is especially full of them. Keep an open eye!!

Base Elements was at the opening to honor the maestro.

We talked to El Xupet about this milestone, but first we asked some opening gests about him.

Ivana Flores is occupying our basement this summer for her yearly residency, now fourth year in a row. Visitors can drop by every day to follow her creative process and see the paintings come to life.  You must move quickly though, she`ll only be here until the end of september!

Hi-Fructose art magazine, one of the most respected magazine in the industry just published a fantastic piece about her. Here is what they said:

“Spanish artist Ivana Flores crafts pop-surrealist oil paintings with both a childlike sense of whimsy and at times, ominous undertones. At grand sizes, the works carry an absorbing quality that pulls you into her worlds. Her work has been described as “reality, dream, everyday life and imagination merge at a turning point of boundless consciousness of self-image and world.”

More from Hi-Fructose: “Taking cue from the epic grandeur of historical painting, Flores constructs her body of work as a timeless primeval story with archetypes –both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic, juxtaposing eras and configurations,” a statement says. “Her critical realism, inflected with magic, blurs the thin line between the representable and the imaginable, expanding artistic practice to direct utterances directed at the viewer, by means of reducing the visual distance.”

Here you can see the original piece published in Hi-Fructose magazine

On Saturday night we had one of our spontaneous Art parties, featuring the new collections of works from all of our artists. Thanks to all that came by and hanged out with us. We had a nice time chilling, chatting and enjoying the art while Blanali was providing the mixes.

This exhibition will be through out September.  Welcome any time.

Hasta la proxima!

Big thanks to Stuart from inspiringcity.com for paying us a visit.  We had a good time talking about the street art scene in Barcelona.

Here are some pictures and quotes from the article that Stuart wrote about us, featured on inspiringcity.com.

You can read the original post here.

Robert shows Stuart around the gallery

Base Elements front. Malcom X by Btoy

“Opening in 2003 the Base Elements gallery has found itself at the heart of the urban art scene”

Robert with a piece by Art is Trash

“Robert Burt, the founder of the gallery, is an artist himself who came to Barcelona in 1999 initially to work on his art but who ended up opening a gallery. He came to the city at the back end of what I’ve heard people term as the ‘golden age’ of graffiti in the city, a time when every corner was covered with art and before the authorities really cracked down.”

Inside of Base Elements

Stuart has a chat with Robert and Francisco a.k.a. Art is Trash, who coincidentally dropped by the gallery

Francisco draws in Stuarts book

El Pez

“The artists on the roster are impressive and there are real links to the heyday of the Barcelona graffiti scene of the late 90’s.  The aforementioned Pez of course but also the prolific El Xupet Negre whose ‘baby pacifier’ or ‘dummie’ can be seen everywhere.  These two in particular says Robert are key personifiers of logo art which is popular in Barcelona”

Christopher Rote

Ivana Flores

“Other artists from the period whose evolution has taken them from the street to the gallery include the likes of J. Loca, Zosens and Soem. Artists well known for their work outside and whose work would have once decorated the city.  But it is some of the work from Ivana Flores which really leaves me entranced with her dreamlike self portraits sitting alongside the work of these street legends.”

Art is Trash (front) and Zosen (back)

A piece by Robert himself

Here is more from Inspiring City`s trip to Barcelona. Barcelona the creative city with a graffiti soul and a street art heart

All photos and videos were shot by Stuart from Inspiring city

Francisco de Pajaro a.k.a. Art is Trash just finished a commission piece 4 x 2 meters big. It`s now on its way to its new home in Florida, U.S.A.

This came about when the client, a new customer of Base Elements, was in the gallery admiring Franciscos work. He wanted a painting that was already sold, so Robert talked to Francisco and set up this arrangement for Francisco to make a piece especially for this client.

The painting is a remake of a famous art piece from 1799 by Jacques-Louis David “Rapture of the Sabines”.

Francisco is a spontaneous artist which is a useful talent on the streets.  On canvas he is also unhesitant and secure in his approach. He doesn’t sketch before-hand,  his compositions go straight onto the canvas.

As you can see, the painting evolved during the creative process.

He worked quickly but consciously, adding layers, details and putting some gold and silver leaf coating on selected areas.

Here you can see Francisco in action, brushing of the excess silver leaf.

A few weeks ago Francisco AKA Art Is Trash found real art in real trash on the streets of Gothic Barcelona. A beautiful oil painting, a landscape, slightly damaged and with some stains.

Luckily Robert here at Base Elements is a master restorer and managed to refurbish the piece handing it straight back to Francisco to create a unique piece from this reclaimed painting.

Not exactly a blank canvas!

Inspired by the events in North Dakota Francisco has created a battle scene reversing the fortunes of the protesters at Standing Rock.

A piece not to be missed!

We’re proud to welcome a new artists to the gallery: D.A.T!

The street is where D.A.T gets all the required resources for his approach to all the issues that he wishes to depict. A work based on recycled materials, day by day themes and apocalyptic landscapes. Stencils that make people question the world we live in, where it’s going and how we are treated in this society.

We think you’ll love the detail in D.A.T’s stencil work, it’s meticulous and precise.

Check out some of his murals:

And of course you have to check out the paintings we have!

Vice just featured Art Is Trash as part of their series Diario Vice – Check it out and also a cheeky cameo from yours truly!