VINSONart.com

photo: Fernando Feijoo & Chris Pig

ABOUT FERNANDO FEIJOO:

Fernando Feijoo’s work is like that of a modern day William Hogarth with its satire, acute observation, scathing comments and great humour. The mordant asides about contemporary society, illustrated through a wide variety of techniques and media, reveal a talent to be watched and followed with great interest.

The gestation of an idea is clearly seen in Feijoo’s sketchbooks which travel with him everywhere and his pages of sketch, collage and doodle constantly explore the stories of the society around him. His working books capture the adventures of travelling in differing cultures and climates, and in every location it is about the stories of people caught up in the great themes of our modern world – the little person versus the large organisation, the corrupt dealings in the back streets and alleyways of our cities, and the petty filching. The poor diddle the rich: the rich exploit the poor. And as subtext, rats invade every corner, suns shine or glower, dogs defy authority and little creatures (are they human?) run the sewers of the city.

Contemporary writing is utilised by Fernando to bring new rhythms to Hogarth’s cycles of The Rake, the Harlot and the married couple. Rap, para rhyme and sharp word play tie up this great saga which is just as relevant for eighteenth century London as our own metropolis. In other pieces alphabets, sayings, cliches and a range of other familiar language devices inform the visual work, constantly encouraging the viewer to engage on many levels.

Informed and inspired by Mexican popular prints, German Expressionist woodcuts, Victorian packaging and ephemera, comics, robots, and animation from the Quay brothers, and many other sources, Feijoo’s eclectic tastes are clearly transformed into new forms and styles of visual communication. He has mastered a number of print techniques and now experiments with combining some of these in non traditional ways, in order to push the boundaries of contemporary visual storytelling.

Feijoo’s art is not about decoration, but about questioning, challenging and interacting with our society: being shocked, but informed, being upset, but viewing things differently. When you have seen his work, you have an indelible impression, like the print surfaces he works on, left in your imagination.

- Pat Francis, Writer and teacher

EDUCATION:
Winchester School of Art MA Fine Art Printmaking - Distinction
Kent Institute of Art & Design - BA Illustration - 1 st Class Honours
Kent Institute of Art & Design - HND Graphic Design & Illustration

AWARDS:
London Print Studio Prize RE Annual Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London 2008
Prize winning book at the 14th Tallinin Print Triennial, held at the Kumu Art Museum Estonia 2008
Grant from the Birgit Skiold Foundation to help fund new Artist Book project 2005
Winner of the ‘Design a Book of Fables' competition set by the Fine Press Book Association FPBA 2004
Illustration selected for headboard design within a room dedicated to my work at the Dolphin Hotel, Southampton, UK 2003
Winner of the Gwen May Award at the Royal Society of Painters & Printmakers, London, UK 2003

COLLECTIONS:
MOMA, Aberystwyth, Wales
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

EXHIBITIONS:
International Print Triennial Vienna - 2010
International Print Triennial Oldenburg - 2010
International Print Triennial Krakow, Poland - 2009
2nd Qijiang International Print Exhibition, China - 2009
RWA open print exhibition, Bristol, UK - 2009
Cliford Chance Solicitors, Canary Walf, London, UK - 2009
International Print Triennial, Krakow, Poland - 2009
Graphic Printmaking show, Kunstverein Frechen, Germany - 2008
Royal Society of Printmakers Annual Show, Bankside Gallery, London, UK - 2008
Originals 08, Mall Gallery, London, UK - 2008
Mini Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London, UK - 2007
Fine Press Book Association, Oxford Artist Book Fair, UK - 2007
International Lithography Show, The Naughton Gallery, Belfast - 2007
Stone, Plate, Grease, and Water Bankside Gallery, London, UK - 2007
Book Arts Exhibition with Billy Childish, Decatur Book Festival, Georgia USA - 2007
Book Arts Fair, Arnold Finny Centre, Bristol, UK - 2007
14th Tallinn print Triennial, Estonia, Tallinn - 2007
Influences of Bawden & Ravilious, Selected show at Fry Art Gallery, UK - 2007
Printmakers & Illustrators 2nd Space Gallery Brick Lane, London, UK - 2007
Impressed Group show with MC Escher, Vinson Gallery, Atlanta, USA - 2007
Originals 07, Mall Gallery, London, UK - 2007
Caixanova selected for printmaking exhibition, Orense, Spain - 2007
Hung, Drawn, Quartered Xmas show, Eyestorm Gallery, London, UK - 2006
University of Aberystwyth, Touring exhibition of Lithography, Wales - 2006
Kings College Cambridge Printmakers Forum, Annual show, UK - 2006
Sole Book Art Fair, Korea - 2006
Panoramic Gallery, Barcelona, Spain - 2003

PUBLICATIONS:
Inspiring Writing in Art & Design illustrations used in book - 2009
Printmakers Secrets - published by A.C. Black - 2009
Printmaking on a Budget - published by A&C Black - 2008
Ambit - Illustration work shown December - 2008
Contemporary Street Alphabet (limited edition book) - 2007
Crack's Progress & Charlie's Progress (limited edition book) - 2007
Interviewed for arts magazine in Estonia about my own work - 2007
Ambit front cover illustration December - 2006
Printmaking Today Magazine - 2003-07

ARTIST STATEMENT:

I see myself as a journeyman: travelling around, absorbing all the variety of cultural differences and architectural styles when I visit a new city, exploring people’s lives and conditions in the twenty first century. These observations are then reflected throughout my work, whether that is in the technique or the subject matter.

Humour appears within my work as well as the shadows of the darker sides of human nature. I am interested in social and political issues and these often appear as the main theme within my work. Narrative images have hidden, partially concealed layers of information within them, which become revealed further into the work, almost as a subtext which the individual viewer reads into the work. The closer you are drawn into the image, the more you understand about the characters and the lives they lead.

I enjoy exploring new ways of making work through combining different media together, working with the interactions and juxtapositions of materials and techniques, which encourage fresh viewpoints and outcomes.

Drawing is a powerful medium which allows me to push my ideas into different directions and create the fantastic. There are no rules to be followed: just pure experimentation and fun to be had. Mixed media is a common starting point for the idea development within my sketchbooks. These books travel everywhere with me enabling me to record my ideas to progress onto possible future projects.

- Fernando Feijoo