Interview
Vasco Ezequiel de Oliveira
Vasco is a painter and textile artist. He was born in Portugal. His artistry began as a hobby at age 8. At age 14, he was more interest with the fashion designation. In 2021, he had an exhibiton at the Kulturbotschaft in Pöseldorf Hamburg, Germany. He also had an exhibition at the Pashmin Art Gallery, Hamburg, Germany. Vasco was artist of the Pashmin Art Museum, China. ln 2022, he exhibited his works at the international exhibition at the Pashmin Art Museum China, Shanghai. More recently he had to pause his exhibitions due to illness.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I started out as an amateur artist. I grew up in the St. Pauliand and St.Georg districts of Hamburg in Germany. When I was ten, I started delivering food from a snack bar. That was my first job. Because of their figure-hugging style of dresses, they inspired me. That’s why I also started with fashion when I was 14. And then I stated being involved in the Hip Hop scene and the street art scene. I started getting to know other German painters who invited me to their studios. I had contact with German and European-Portuguese fashion designer and artist, and was connected to the Hamburg Homeboys and the Zulu Nations in New York and was connected to Hamburg Germany, and Europe. When I was 13, I sold a painting to a lawyer for 1200 marks. That was my first sale. At age of 14, I had a group exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Altona, under the direction of Dr. Henriksen. In 1997, I did a commission for The Body Shop. I developed the European art of textiles in my mid thirties. Textile art. Influenced European textile art is an investment in both money and value, unlike fashion, which is dependent on social economic circumstances. Therefore, it is timeless. Gold stagnates, while art and textile art ascend to limitless heights. What I m doing is something completely new. It only happens every 200 or 300 years. What is a McFly? A McFly is an artist who holds more than two creatives jobs. A multi-creative fly guy. I’m currently producing in Shanghai. It is a series production of European textile art. I have an open-ended contract with the Chinese government to produce it. I am currently organizing EU and German business funding for production in Hamburg, Germany. The aim is to produce individual, limited-edition European textile art. My next exhibitions are in Berlin, Asia, China and Japan. I worked as a painter, a textile artist, and even a bartender. Then, my synapses went haywire, and I was in the hospital for several months.”
What inspires you?
“Nature, a person’s personality and character. Social policy and issues. Women and children. Energy, and the sun. And human behavior in relation to the environment.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“My main focus is on European themes in art and textile art. I explore socio-political issues, history and the present, and the importance of inner values, personality, and character as reflected in the face. That’s what I m interested in.”
How would you describe your work?
“I create fine art and textile art, both with European themes .Some of my paintings are abstract and non-representational, while others are representational and abstract. I also work on European historical themes, as well as contemporary socio-political and European issues. European textile art is influenced by European countries, transforming historical and traditional folklore into modern and contemporary art. European textile art originates from England, Switzerland, Ukraine, the Balkans, Georgia, and Ural Russia. I create European textile art under the EU flag. I want to build bridges. Currently, I’m focusing on West Europe and doing research, otherwise, it becomes too much; I need to let develop naturally. This is the form of art I create.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Picaso, Kadinski, and Keith Haring.”
What is your creative process like?
“For my large canvas, I first create 40 to 50 studies that takes an hour to an hour and a half. A canvas measuring 1.80 X 1.80 meters takes me 68 hours. And then, I start again with new studies. I don’t approach European countries like France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Switzerland, England, and I research their traditional folkloric development and history. And then, I transform them with artistic interpretations. I required 6 to 8 years of development for the European textile art. And only now, after all these years, am I realizing it. Thanks to funding from Chinese government, the EU, and Germany Corporate promotion, I can realize it. They are produced in China and Germany.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“An artist reflects on and interprets the times. They interpret the inner world of humanity, the spiritual and outwardly.They critique social and political issues and reflect on these times. But they must not let their work be dictated by what people want. Otherwise, they’re not an artist, they’re merely a craftsman. An artist must never do what people want, they must create what they research. And if the artist likes it, people must be able to identify with it. That is what an artist is.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“There were some remarkable exhibitions. Paula Rego, Viera de Silva, Prado Madrid, Velagses and other Spanish painters Hamburg Museum, David Kasper Friedrich.”
Website: vascoedeoliveira.eu
Instagram: @deoliveira.Vasco
