The Freedom of Creation: After Nyne Meets Pejac
Pejac is an artist best known for his socially and environmentally-charged work, such as his recent series in a Palestinian and Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. He is often compared to Banksy due to his secretiveness and the content of his work which has grown out of Barcelona in his home country of Spain. After Nyne spoke to Pejac to get an insight into his provocative work.
Can you give After Nyne a brief look into your history as an artist, and how this has, in turn, affected your craft?
The reason I enjoy creating artwork on the street is because of the freedom I have to do it. All my work is self-produced and I remain independent from any gallery, despite this being a huge risk, for me this is the perfect environment to create work having full control in the whole process.
Could you outline your main artistic influences and how these feed into your work?
My inspiration comes from everywhere, what inspires me most are human beings, in their brightest and darkest moments and the relationships in the world we are in. I would say that while not paying attention to anything, I am paying attention to everything, so everything is my inspiration.
Can you talk through your work for the LAW OF THE WEAKEST exhibition, what were the pieces trying to achieve and what inspired the work?
The exhibition is truly aimed at everybody.
I like to think that my work is universal and can engage with a very wide audience. I try not to be too conceptual, with the aim of reaching everyone, even people who think they have no interest in art. Through producing my work in public spaces I hope that it is neither elitist nor exclusive.
These artworks reflect the last two years of my life, coherent through the drama or romance seen within it but not necessarily along the same narrative, they all have a touch surrealism, which is not intended to denounce the importance of the issues but soften them. Although, sadly, despite the impossible ideas or situations they can often end up becoming real, despite how improbable or bizarre they seemed while painting them. It’s when art and reality collide, but reality is reaching new and unexpected extremes, so art needs to find new paths and expressions or forms in order to transcend.
With Downside Up, seen around East London, I don’t believe that you have to be creative to have an imagination, I wanted this work to encourage a different view of reality. The work isn’t about the shoes and the territory that they mark, but the change of perspective through the apparent loss of gravity. It is a simple way to look at something, like a child might, with opportunity and imagination. Bringing some fantasy to our daily lives.
All the works are new and specifically made for this exhibition. I've been working on this for about two years now. The exhibition will feature both installations and artworks in all manner of mediums.
How would you sum up the main themes involved in your work?
The issues I explore are important to me for the same reason these should be important for everybody, I approach these themes because for me they define the world we live in and I feel strongly that the issues need to be confronted.
Through my work I connect with people who are already aware of what is happening, and I hope to connect with people who are perhaps unaware, or uncaring of these issues. For me, art it is not a way to escape from conflicts but to actually connect with them.
For this show, specifically ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ I wanted to address the human obsession to prevent and cover marks and scars, especially ones that have been inflicted through bad intentions. I wanted to transform this by producing something creative from damage.
Pejac’s ‘Law Of The Weakest’ exhibition is being preceded with a number of street-based
installations by the artist in East London. ‘Downside Up’ is on three locations in Shoreditch,
(Redchurch Street, Shacklewell Street and Granby Street), with the simple intention of
igniting imagination in those who walk passed.
Main Image: DYING IN THE NAME 200 x 150 cm Acrylic, oil and spray paint on canvas
