Interview by Jimon

1-Where do you reside and work currently? I live and work in Valencia, Spain. Where I have a small studio in my own home.

2-How long have you been making art and what lead you to start?  I have been drawing and painting since I can remember. However, I have been doing it professionally since 2015. I have always been interested in creating images from a personal perspective and the beginning of my artistic studies was the key to decide on creating different types of manufactured illustration.

3-Did you study art or is it inherent? I studied fine arts at the Polytechnic University of Valencia.

4-How would you describe Alvaro Pantoja? I think I am quite serious in my work and my perspective about world and life. And I feel it necessary to be an artist. However in my personal life I am nice and affectionate with those who are around me.

5-Do you remember the first piece of art that captured your imagination? When I was a teenager I was quite impressed by Gerald Scarfe’s illustrations, which I discovered through his collaborations with Pink Floyd. His aggressive, radical and satirical style captured my imagination and greatly influenced my early works.

6-Is there any reality behind the characters in your paintings or are they purely fantasy?  I usually create my characters based on real people captured by old photographs. And some  from my imagination. But I think there is always reality in the human expression that can move us and transmit emotion.

7-What do you dream about? I don’t usually remember my dreams and I suffer from insomnia. At night, I find it necessary to concentrate on my work, it makes me calm. However my dreams range from the most terrifying surrealism or common life circumstances.

8-How do you define success? For me, success is a moment of personal satisfaction with work and life. Satisfaction that has no regard for fame or money. However I understand how money is necessary to feel that your work is valuable and has a place in the art world.

9-Best advice you ever received in regards to your career as an artist? Never make concessions to the detriment of a personal and powerful art.

10-What advice would you give putative collectors? Try to observe with criterion and know what you want, what thrills you and is it worth it. Behind any art work there is always a human transmitting passion that can be understood.

11-How would you like to be seen as an artist years from now?  I want to be seen as I am, as a human being creating for other human beings. I wouldn’t like to be undervalued or overrated; when a creation just don’t work, I will be the first to accept it. I can make mistakes and I always want to know any opinion or suggestions from viewers.

12-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration? I usually get inspiration from other forms of art, especially cinema that makes powerful images where human expressions are the protagonists. However, any detail on common life can inspire me.

13-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  Probably I would have a dinner with Otto Dix, Oswaldo Guayasamín and Pablo Picasso. I would love to have a long conversation with them about expressionism with a cup of wine.

14-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio?  Lots of paint, reference images and quiet.

15-How would someone find you on Social media? Instagram @alvaropanto8

16-Please name the first thing that comes to your mind while reading the following:

Art=Technique

Food=Nature

Sports=Passion

Politics=War

Poor=Lack

God=Idea

Rich=Ambition

Luxury=Excess

Sex=Love

Picasso=Master

Religion=Superstition