About Ale Casanova
Ale Casanova (b. 1981) is a Spanish artist with exhibitions around Spain, France, and Norway. His works convey simple scenes with absolute naturalness and crudeness through figures and portraits. Casanova’s artistic practice shows a playfulness with color, where brightness becomes “the fundamental axis.” Most of the time, he creates with oils on fabric.
He shows simple scenes with absolute naturalness and rawness through figures and portraits. The viewer gains many different feelings and questions about what the scene is about, which events it is part of, and the wish to be a part of it.
Choosing to depict nudes to create appeal, he looks for a sense of intimacy to engage the viewer in a private, sensual moment – with no malice whatsoever.
We had an exclusive interview with him, where he explains what does painting truly means to him.
Let’s start from the basics. What’s your name, and where have you grown up?
Hola, I’m Ale Casanova. Born, raised, and resident in Valencia, Spain.
When or how have you understood you wanted to become an artist?
I have always painted. But during my adolescence, I understood that I could make one of my skills my profession. A teacher from my high school insisted that I try to take the entrance exams to the University of Fine Arts. That changed my life.
Please briefly describe your technique and tell us what drives you to make art.
I understand painting as a trade, a complex job involving the technical, emotional, and conceptual aspects. But just a job. Believing that painting is more than any other job can lead you to snobbism and pedantry. I work with less or greater success every day, from 6 to 8 hours.
What is the main feature that has changed in your work or practice?
Each painter has a way of seeing the world and approaching painting, two or three focal points around which all his work moves around, technically. Those points stretch as time goes by. In my case, the construction and the reinterpretation of color are exaggerated more and more in my works. Though not consciously.
Which artist primarily inspires your work? And is there something else, outside visual arts, that keeps you motivated?
My primary influence is 19th-century art, mainly the “London School.” Euan Uglow, Paula Rego, Lucian Freud, etc.
How would you like people to engage with your work?
The public identifies with what is their own, with what they know. That is why I consider my work very mundane and “normal,” accessible to the look of the amateur and the connoisseur. No fanfare, naked and simple.
Spread the word! Do you have anything exciting on the horizon?
Fortunately, I continue having commissioned work with galleries and personal clients. Teaching is also a good source of income. Everything together allows me to continue dedicating myself entirely to painting.
I invite you to visit my Instagram www.instagram.com/casanova_ale and my website www.alecasanova.com.
Online Courses
Ale Casanova also holds beautiful online courses on Domestika, with great success! If you are interested in applying, go here or here >
NFT on Foundation
Find his six amazing NFTs on Foundation. Go here to discover them >
