April's CK Artist Showcase sees Cult Kits speak with an artist from Chile, who's work, quite frankly, we have become obsessed with. Joan Joao's work is up there with the best and we're pretty certain you're going to see a lot of their work in the coming months.
Social media, (Instagram specifically) is the ultimate connector when it comes to discovering new artists. Established or emerging, when you discover someone like Joan Joao, you very quickly find yourself liking almost every post of his work. It's brilliant. So we made it our mission to speak to the artist from Chile to find out a bit more about the work and the ideas behind it.
CK: Before we get stuck in, who do you support?
JJ: In Chile I support Colo-Colo and I also follow Manchester United.
CK: When did your love of painting start?
JJ: My interest in painting started when I was about fifteen years old. I was in a workshop in the school I went to and it was the first time I had any contact with the arts. Years later, when I left school, my interest for painting began developing with more direction. By 2019 I was painting everyday and that’s when I knew I had fallen in love with art for real.
CK: What are you working on at the moment?
JJ: Right now I’m focused on finishing my first solo exhibition that will be titled “Fuchibol.” It will open this winter in Chile. I’m also still studying Fine Arts at Uniacc.
CK: Anything exciting in the pipeline?
JJ: I’m most excited about the solo show. It’s the first time I’m preparing something like this, of this size, so it’s an exciting challenge. In parallel, I’m also excited about some editorial work and other content coming out soon.
CK: Who would you love to collaborate with / do a commission for?
JJ: Right now, I’m open to anything, I’m interested in seeing where my art leads me at this point. It would be great to get to athletes and sports brands, but, like I said, I’m very open and I’m always willing to listen to ideas. I’m enjoying collaborating with friends in other disciplines, I like the audiovisual world and fashion, for example, even though I can’t think of any names right now.
CK: What does football mean to you?
JJ: I’ve had a relationship with fútbol since I was real young. When I look back on my life, I can’t think about it without also thinking about futbol. My first friendships always came from the court, for example. It’s moving because more than being a competitive sport, it’s a sport that has a lot of social value – it gives kids that grow up in a bad economic and social setting an out.
I see futbol as a way to make opportunities and generate community. I’m not interested in futbol as a spectacle or capitalist game. I care about futbol as a sort of community glue that gives people a chance to help one another through the generation of strong, personal bonds.
CK: What's your earliest memory of football?
JJ: I’m sure that my earliest memory of futbol, or at least the first time I saw a ball, it was Chiloé, in the campo. My cousins were playing, I think I was about 4 years old. Now I also remember the matches we’d listen to on my grandfather's radio. I remember sharing a mate with my family, as we sat behind the heater, listening to a game from the national championship.
CK: What other artists do you admire?
JJ: When I was younger I was very into Art History. Although I always respond to the same older painters, right now the artists I most admire are my peers, my friends, Chilean artists, artists that live in a similar context to me, artists in my community. I think of @hectormardoones, @Noahbliazi, @a_teillery. Then there’s the artists that focus on themes that are more similar to mine, like futbol- I admire @gordopelota and @mattia.guarnera.
CK: What can we expect to see from you this year?
JJ: I’m working really hard to generate in person activities like talks or exhibitions. I’m going through a very productive patch right now, which is why I feel there’s a lot brewing right now, from paintings to other news.
CK: What football shirts standout for you? Do you have a favourite? How big is your shirt collection?
JJ: I don’t discriminate. I like anything from 2010 or earlier. I really like the Milan ones from Mario Ancelotti, Manchester United Cr7 and Rooney, as well as Ronaldinho’s Barcelona shirt.
That time period is my childhood, it marked me. But I think my favourite will always be anything ACF Fiorentina. I had so many shirts when I was younger, but there was a fire in 2019 and I lost most of them there. Now I’m starting my collection back up again, slowly. My favourite team is Manchester United and in Chile Colo-Colo, even though I don’t watch as much futbol as people sometimes think. But when I do watch a match, always watch the Champions League or the Premier League.
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You can view more of Joan Joao work here.
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