Think Design Magazine: Interview with Gomez Bueno - Artist, Critic and Social Provocateur

The Spanish artist Gomez Bueno has created a diverse and amazing collection of work in the last 20 years which places him far from the stereotype of the surf artist, which he seems to embrace. His paintings, which feature cartoon like drawings at times presented in vibrant colors, are a mix of political messages and social commentary in a fast paced pop culture style. His subjects cover the range from current events to movie memorabilia and beyond. They also include a large selection of Los Angeles surfing culture criticism as well. We had the great pleasure at Think Design Magazine to be the first publication in Asia to interview him. Originally from Santander, Spain, he has lived in Los Angeles for many years and continues to be inspired by the crazy nature of the city which can drive some people mad. Before reaching L.A., he lived in Madrid while attending university there and earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Madrid Computense University. He then headed west and I was extremely curious as to how he would compare the two polar opposite cities.

Gomez Bueno is a smallish man with the obvious looks of an artist, the un-kept hair and the intense and disorienting gaze that belie his laid back Spanish nature. The city of L.A. is his canvas so he can usually be found with paint splotches on him as he paints billboards, vans, sails, on canvas (how boring) and on anything else he can get his hands on. His critical eye is always looking for a new opinion to express with his brush, no matter the location. He is fond of a patch of beard on his chin, which makes his face appear to stretch downward. For me however, invariably, the Spanish warmth inside always comes out of a Spaniard even when entrenched in an Anglo-Saxon enclave and it does with Gomez.

To describe his work concisely is very difficult if not impossible in a few paragraphs. His long and varied series of paintings about the movie industry are a good example. His critical premise is that because advertising, marketing and promotion dictate the content and concept of the production that follows, fictionally it is he who decides the direction of the film. He places the movie poster at the center of the film and the poster that you see is described as having had more to do with what developed on-screen than the producer, director, or even the story-boarder. Gomez Bueno in his role as artist-auteur all but determines beforehand his film’s eventual success or failure with the movie-going public. But they will tell you where the credit is due when the credits do roll-- and that is likely to be somewhere in the lobby, not on the screen. So what are we to make of this entirely fictional exercise? What is he trying to say beyond commenting on the sad state of the Hollywood movie industry?

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