Interview with Nefario Monzon

Q)So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, age, some background info, etc?

A)My name is Nefario Monzón, I was born in Zaragoza 31 years ago, I´m a painter, xilographer and illustrator, I play the drums too when the musicians I play with are not too much drunk.

Q) How did you get started making art?

A)I used to go with my brother to painting classes when we were kids. They forbade us to use black colour there, I didn´ t understand it so I started to paint by my own.

Q) How would you describe your art?

A)Well, I don´t really know how, my last painting serie "Memoria del dolor antiguo" is a regurgitation of a deep feeling of inside desolation.

Q)Who is your biggest influence, both art and non-art related

A)I am always shocked by Víctor Mira`s and Goya`s works, Antonio Saura makes me shiver as well, they were born here in Zaragoza or next to, so, saving the distance, we have the same desertic and hard enviroment to understand... I like the german expresionism... I´m in love with the polish placate makers too, and the russian film poster makers,I also love my friends` works Diego Fermín, Isidro Ferrer or Stephane Blanquet...

Q) How do you approach the creation of a new piece... how does everything come together?

A)It depends, sometimes it is hard to have that piece of paper or wood, looking at me, telling me that I´m a bullshit and will never make anything good, at times I feel strong, with a kind of a powered monster-dog inside me, then the struggle begins...

Q)What's your favorite medium to work in, and why?

A)I like xilography, wood gives me the texture I need, this material has an extreme power that makes my hands go crazy... but painting gives me more inmediacy, so it seems to me more spontanous... I use the same technique (not very academic) both in xilography and paintings, first, I make the shapes in plane colours, then I put black on the top of those colours.

Q) What is your favourite art related web site?

A) diegofermin.com

Q) Is your work all hand done? Or do you use any computer tools to help out?

A)I never use a computer to make or help in my paintings or xilographies, it wouldn´t have sense, but I use it in my illustrator work.

Q) What, in your opinion, are the best and worst places to exhibit artwork?

A)Maybe an art gallery is both of them...

Q) I'm always interested in where an artist find their inspiration. Where do you find yours?

A)It depends on the moments or the years of my works, some of my xilography series are inspired by certain writers I like, Celine, Burroughs, Knut Hamsun, Dostoiewsky, De Quincey... but my last paintings are a kind of an inside war, a survival struggle.

Q) How are the reactions on your work in general?

A)At my last exhibition there were people who had to go out of the gallery because they felt sad, others were amazed, most of the last ones work in the pshychiatric centers or were interned there.

Q) What are you doing when you are not creating art?

A)The same that other people, eating, drinking, listening, reading, having sex with toys...

Q) Do you believe that a person is born with a talent to produce art or can anyone can be taught?

A)Anyone can be taught, but it deppends on his innate talent to know when is time to run away from the teacher.

Q) What are some current/upcoming projects you are working on or excited about?

A)Now I´m working in big wood formats, I steal them from the buildings construction works and I paint cranes, urbanistic landscapes on them. Then I´m preparing a serie of xilography based on what Víctor Mira called "The Five Dogs" a compilation of five artists (painters, filmers, writers...) that were born in Aragón (Francisco de Goya, Luis Buñuel, Antonio Saura, Baltasar Gracián and the same Víctor Mira)

Q) What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

A)Don´t write poetry

Q) Do you need others to tell you they like it before you feel validated?

A)I like to hear what my friends think about the works I show to them, I will lye if I say I don´t like to be liked, but I don´t know if I really need it.

Q)Tell us a little about some of the different types of jobs you've had over the years, before/while doing what you do now. For someone who is starting out in art, how would you recommend they go about making a career out of it?

A)I have worked as a bookbinder, as a mounter of texts and films in a print house, a professional musician a couple of years, as a graphic designer, illustrator for covers and posters... I really cannot recommend the way of making a career out of it.

Q)Your contacts….E-mail…links

A) nefariomonzon.com