LUIS FEITO

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Luis Feito. A key figure in Spanish Abstract Expresionism, Luis Feito was a founder member of ‘El Paso’, a collective of artists at the vanguard of Spanish art in the late 1950s and early 1960’s.

All portrait photography and interview by BARTE.

Formidable Mag. When did you became interested in Art?

Luis Feito. I started paying attention to paintings when I was a teenager. Art looked to me something so difficult, so impossible and so wonderful at the same time.

F.M. What was your first creative drive?

L.F. I couldn’t tell, it started step by step, but definitely when I got admitted in Art School. I didn’t want to work in my dad’s store, so to me was like entering paradise.

F.M. Is there a defining moment that made you realize art was your thing?

L.F. I still wonder if I’m the artists I wanted to be, if I’m good enough, that’s why I can’t speak of a precise moment in time

F.M. What influences your work?

L.F. Passion, the inner passion I have makes me overcome my fears, my physical limitations and forget about everything else but painting.

F.M. How would you describe your work?

L.F. Wonderful of course (laughs). Now seriously, the common trace in all my work is evolution. Never doing the same and always trying to evolve, always taking the next step forward.

F.M. What makes you keep creating now?

L.F. Again, the passion I mentioned before, it makes me put everything aside and throw my self to painting.

F.M. What are your favorite books, films, music..?

L.F. Just one, which is my bible,”Discurso acerca de la pintura por el monje Calabaza Amarga” by the Chinese master Shitao.

Film wise is very easy, everything by John Ford, Akira Kurosawa, Visconti, Steven Spielberg and Jose Luis Garci.

F.M. How is a day in the life of Luis Feito?

L.F. I always wake up before 8am, otherwise I feel I’ll miss the whole day. Then I go to the studio to check on what I’ve done the day before… some times I run away, some other times I continue painting. After a siesta I may step out to an art show, but these days I tend to stay home. I love my house and all the books and objects I have in it.

F.M. Our motto is “A life less ordinary”, what makes life less ordinary?

L.F. Love, universal Love. Love makes the world go ’round. Without love life is just too harsh.