By: Nicolás Dousdebès Córdova
His real name is Juan Sebastián Aguirre but his artistic name is Apitatán, which comes from the way he used to pronounce his own name when he was a toddler. He recently visited Salesian University in Quito (Ecuador). That is when this conversation took place, by the mid-June 2019.
The street artist and his polemical painting
My original project was to publish just the interview but some days later he was caught in the middle of a polemical situation when he painted a mural showing support for the same-sex marriage that had just been approved in Ecuador. This situation forced me to say something about this distressing and polemical event. His painting depicted three couples, two of them homosexual and another one heterosexual. Some neighbors were not happy with the topic and called the police. The officers showed up and prevented him from finishing his piece of art on a private wall. They even threatened him by saying that if he kept painting they would fine him and confiscate his materials. The artist also reported to have been bullied on social networks regarding this issue.
Next morning the painting had been crossed out but the heterosexual couple was not affected. Finally, the owner of the wall painted over the art piece erasing it completely. A social debate then emerged about whether this artist had to ask permission to paint on a private property or it was just a matter of street art on a wall surrounding a land with no building on it. Apitatán says he chooses abandoned places in the city to paint and give life to dead urban spaces. However it has to be said that if he had painted about another topic, just like local customs, funny slang or characters as he usually does, no debate would have been arisen. His painting would have been liked by a bunch of people or ignored by many others.
But in this case, the artist chose to support same-sex marriage through his art. He was brave enough to take a side in the middle of a society which is still partially conservative. This was the core of the problem, not the fact that he painted on a private wall. He could have been given a public space with all permissions to paint on it and intolerant people would have decried him anyway.
By the end of the day, the owner of that wall had the right to keep or refuse what Apitatán had painted on it; that is clear. He or someone finally decided to remove it. Nevertheless, Apitatán had gotten a permission from the neighborhood (Bellavista) administrator to paint on the wall.
Beyond this issue, the episode has shown how some people in Ecuador are still thinking as if the country were living under the rule of old Spanish kings in colonial times when traditional values and ecclesiastical laws had to be obeyed by everyone. In those old times, a painting like this would have deserved a harsh punisment or even the death penalty.
Nowadays we are living in a different age. However, many Ecuadorians are not likely to accept a changing world where minorities are getting rights and positions that would have been impossible to see some years ago. Some conservative people may even think that this is a sign of an Apocalypse-scenario coming closer. But two hundred years ago there were human beings enslaved and tortured by the sole fact of being blacks, which was a really awful and heinous offence against human dignitiy. So, why did not the Apocalypse take place then? One thing is sure anyway, this mural made people debate about a hot issue nowadays in Ecuador.
One thing is sure anyway, this mural made people debate about a hot issue nowadays in Ecuador.
Merging art with cultures and public debate
After this long introduction, it is time to summarize what Apitatán told me when I had the chance of interviewing him on June 18th 2019 at Salesian University where he had been invited as a speaker within the frame of Social Communications Conferences. His speech was about how he acts in society as a cultural agent. His art is meant to make people debate, just like the mural I have just talked about. So, this is the interview I had the chance to make him on that day.
Apitatán, would you tell us where your artistic vocation come from? Was there someone in your family who inspired you?
Well, first of all I have to say my mother encouraged me to drawing and painting. In addition, my grandmother helped me take an oil painting course at “Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana”. But above all there was approval and my art was accepted at home. I think drawing is natural in many children but it is something that tends to fade maybe because an adult did not know how to value it or how to guide this talent. Some adults did not allow you to draw the way you like and this essence gets lost. My mother always approved what I used to paint or she liked to provide some constructive criticism by telling me how I could improve some of my first pieces of art. This was really meaningful to me at the beginning.
Later on, when I was a teen, I started watching graffiti painted on walls. There was an urban group that used to sign them with a triangle. That drew my attention a lot. There was also a sculptor who created small pieces out of junk on Patria Avenue. All of this made me feel like intervening in public spaces through art.
Could you tell us where does your inspiration come from?
It is all about looking for an individual and collective identity. We are mestizo people in Ecuador in 2019 and are living into globalization. Many of our traditions and characteristic that make us unique are getting lost including language items. For instance, some years there was a stronger Kichwa presence in our Andean Spanish. We had more sayings, idioms, accents and sense of humor that belonged to us. I see now that newest generations have lost all of this; they are divorced from our traditions and dissociated from being Ecuadorians and our roots. So this has motivated me to generate a new root-related imaginary so that young people are able to get connected with all of this.
I see now that newest generations have lost all of this; they are divorced from our traditions and dissociated from being Ecuadorians and our roots.
Does this explain the typical Ecuadorian sayings you include on your murals and paintings?
The way we speak is part of our identity. On one hand, this explains my search to write words according to phonetics instead of orthographic rules. On the other hand, mixing images with words is something that comes from the comic’s culture. It is a powerful tool for narrative and helps people get connected with art.
Is there a kind of criticism in your art or is it just a matter of depicting everydayness?
Both elements are present. Today I am going to show how my art has passed from a kind of archeological search around trying to reinvent what has been left out of our History, for example, pre-Columbian little statues. That is the point to start creating links with our environment, with the way we inhabit our land, being in touch with plants and ancestral medicine. On the other hand, I have also felt the need to address political issues: corruption, kids living on the streets, politicians who abuse their power and so on.
At universities we are used to formal knowledge like scientific papers but art is often neglected even if it is a powerful tool to communicate. How do you merge communication and art?
Art is capable of expressing a people’s voice and what society is feeling, or at least, a part of it. But above all, art makes questions to people in a sort of dialogue. When it takes place on the street, there are no mediators like galleries or art curators. Likewise, you do not have to deal with schedules or pay for tickets. Art is just there, in a public place where everybody can see it. That is when people show reactions; they might say: "this painting reminds me of a thing, event or the way somebody talks". So art becomes a mirror where people recognize themselves through characters that are similar to their relatives or friends. This causes a closer and more familiar connection between them and art; however it is not something new because it is as old as cave paintings when people tried to depict themselves on walls or rocks.
Art makes questions to people in a sort of dialogue. When it takes place on the street, there are no mediators like galleries or art curators.
Do you agree with graffiti as such or do you think it has to convey a message?
Painting on the street is a way of doing something on your own. It is like moving to a new flat and realizing you need to hang at least a picture on the wall to feel that space as yours. Streets belong to everyone so it is important to understand that there are different artistic or non-artistic expressions implying the usage of public space. All of them should have their space and validity. There will be people who like them and others will disagree but I find that these expressions make sense because they are born out of a strong motivation to go out, to the streets, and do something.
Have you ever had problems with people who do not want you to paint on their walls?
Yes, I have. I was once invited to an event in the Bellavista neighborhood, in Quito, but the organization was not good. When I started painting, the owner of that property came out to tell us he did not want me to paint on his wall, that he wanted it white again. So I simply covered what I had been painting, drew a happy face, and left the place. When I am about to start an art piece I usually talk with the owner in order to explain to him what I am intending to do. Then I ask him or her to hand over to me his space to paint. I normally use my own resources, time and ideas to create art in a democratic way because it is there, on the public space, for everyone.
What kind of response or reception has your art gotten in other places beyond Ecuador?
I have gotten a very good one in many parts of the world. I have had the chance to paint in different countries like Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, United States, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. This has been amazing because everywhere people have found my art as something that has a unique style. I have always sought to produce authentic art and that has made it stand out worldwide, not only locally. Of course this does not mean I am not motivated to paint in my own city or that I am only trying to paint overseas. However, travelling is also a school where you can learn a lot, share with different kind of people and get new feedback. So I think it is pretty rewarding to travel, paint and leave a footstep wherever you go.
Tell us something about your technique, I have seen your pieces include many straight lines but also curves. How do you combine these two elements?
At the beginning, my art was heavily influenced by cartoons. My characters’ traits were exaggerated; their heads were too big in comparison to their bodies. They have been steadily getting a different look and geometry. I also consider indigenous influence has been present in my art and this is strong. That has made me paint, for instance, highlighted cheekbones, deep eyes and prominent jaws on faces. This kind of traits began to be frequently depicted on my characters.
I am a mestizo person and I have travelled to Spain where I recognize myself on traditions, customs and even on some city sceneries but on the other hand, I also recognize myself on my indigenous roots; as a mixed-race person I have the chance to choose so I go for emphasizing a little bit more my indigenous root and pay tribute to that through this kind of more geometrical traits.
Could you share some advice with young students who are fond of art but have not yet found a boost to start showing their talents?
I think the most important thing in this path I have chosen is to identify a driving force. If an artist does not have this he might stay stuck in techniques. It is not enough to be good at painting a landscape or a portrait because this might not say anything. There are millions of good artist in the world. What is really hard is to find a concept and a suitable means to make art in order to get a positive reaction from people.
Finally, would you explain to us where your artistic name comes from?
Apitatán is a familiar name actually. It is a nickname that was born out of a familiar anecdote. When I was a toddler people used to ask me what my name was and I could not pronounce well my real name, Juan Sebastián, so I used to say Apitatán. During many years I signed my works as Sebastián Aguirre but in 2011, I made a sort of click paving a new way. Then I shifted to the Apitatán pseudonym which I currently use.
Love is eternal while it lasts... sarcasm is often present on Apitatán's pieces
Pictures sources:
Nicolás Dousdebès 2019