González needs to create, and he does it with his hands, starting from nothing. From discarded objects, he seeks to express the charm of simplicity. Instead of hiding the imperfections of materials, his lights celebrate resilience and adaptation. He advocates for a beauty that arises from the incomplete, the humble, or the “defective,” emphasizing the idea of the passage of time as something natural and, in its own way, beautiful.
This painting constitutes a dialogue between philosopher Ricardo Pinilla and the artist, centered around a radical reflection on how we perceive and relate thought and art. It starts from phrases by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the work The Scream by Edvard Munch. The piece takes a classic work as its starting point, reconstructing it in a similar way to how Archimboldo created his portraits using fruits and vegetables. The work represents a total recycling: created on a recycled surface, painted with colors obtained from leftover paint, and with characters built from waste materials.
David Sánchez León, aka D S León, shapes his work using different techniques that have been perfected over the years. His main project, which is reflected throughout his work, is a reflection on humanity and its daily habits. The Ninots are like the humans we meet every day on the streets, in our work, and in the shops of our neighborhoods. Small or large beings, friendly and unfriendly, with empathy and resilience towards their peers. This utopia of a society without greed or envy, with a simple soul, defending equality and despising injustice.
His work has been exhibited in Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, Madrid, and Venice.
Reflection on humanity
David S. León and his organic abstract sculpture break the air surrounding them, achieving a magical abstraction of observation by twisting the thread, expression, and feeling, and assembling them with their surroundings, going beyond the most dynamic movement with one objective: to reflect on humanity.
The forms, materials, and techniques refined over the years create continuity and give meaning to the entire work, while their simplicity captivates us in an art of seduction. An involuntary intentionality and a deliberate will.
His work starts with a schematic representation, a simple idea of human figuration with pure, honest, and committed lines that reproduce and are inspired by moods, everyday life that surrounds him, and sometimes the very perversity ingrained in society.
Femininity is a constant in his work and becomes a source of inspiration, strength, and much light.
The artist sees influences of cubist figuration, walking through the most contemporary avant-gardes, and captures his work with different techniques that have been refined over the years.
In 2000, she began her ceramics training at the Ixió School in Mataró, which later became the Museum of Water Jug School in Argentona, where she currently works as a resident artist and is a member of the research and waste recycling group. Starting in 2005, she began participating in craft fairs, and in 2018 she introduced a new line of work, focused on waste recovery, creating small unique and functional works of art from recycled furniture, recovered old objects, and clothing. She participates in sustainable fairs and projects, including the Fira de la Terra (2018), Drap-Art Market at Plaça Reial (2019), the traveling exhibition of the ceramic waste recycling research group at the Barcelona Ceramists Association, the Museum of the Water Jug in Argentona (2009), and Artesania Catalunya, as well as various collective exhibitions like Nadie es ilegal (Nau Art, 2018).
Paulina Bielecka holds a degree in Art History from the University of Warsaw and the Kraków School of Art and Design. Driven by an indestructible passion for personal development, she embarked on a postgraduate course in design trends. She worked for Nelly Rodi in Paris, a strategic consulting agency specializing in the creative industry. As a sustainable artist, her journey began 8 years ago with a profound goal: to give new life to objects that have lost their original purpose. With her creative vision, she ingeniously reused used car parts and wood, effectively reducing waste and creating exquisite and practical designs. This is how the project Rec.on was born, an artistic and ecological endeavor that quickly gained recognition for its incomparable and captivating designs. Awarded numerous prizes in Poland and across Europe, the REC.ON brand is a testament to her exceptional talent.
Paulina Bielecka and Bartek Bielecki, her husband, a skilled craftsman and engineer, and an invaluable collaborator, have lived in Spain for five years; here, they continue creating their extraordinary works, establishing not only a studio but also a residence that connects and supports other artists.
Paulina is an artist motivated to transform waste into unique designs. Her works are not only aesthetically pleasing and functional but also environmentally friendly, aiming for zero waste. She seeks to support responsible production and consumption by bringing together upcycling and recycling artists from around the world. Her work is a manifesto for a sustainable future and inspires others to take green actions.
Miller creates assemblages from recycled linoleum, using only the found surface to recreate his themes, without added paint. His images range from bucolic landscapes to surreal pieces, fiercely political, often based on iconic images from the news and pop culture that have fed the collective memory of our society. His unexpected use of familiar patterns draws on the nostalgic qualities of his medium, conveying a sense of personal history and rediscovery in each piece. Among Miller’s commissioned works are two album covers for posthumous Frank Zappa records and the 2012 Woodstock Film Festival poster. His work has been exhibited in London, Spain, Australia, and the USA, including a solo exhibition at the cafeteria of the American Visionary Art Museum. He has been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, and is included in various books on recycled art, such as Found Object Art 2 and ReTrash.
Molins has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona and is currently doing doctoral studies. He is a multidisciplinary artist, with a restless spirit and a strong connection with nature. With an extensive exhibition career, various mentions and awards, among which we would like to highlight the recognition granted in 2016 by the Association of Art Critics of Aragon as the best Aragonese artist under 35 years of age.
His work is in numerous public and private collections, such as Catharsis, a monumental work carried out in the Parque Grande José Antonio Labordeta in Saragossa.
He has also published two books of poetry, La corteza del corazón (Editorial Círculo Rojo, 2020) and Con el corazón en la mano (Aliar Ediciones, 2023).
If you want to discover the origins and essence of this artist’s work, you only have to watch his exciting video My grandfather is an olive tree on YouTube.
After spending over a decade in Turin (Italy), he now resides in Barcelona (Spain). Brostean holds a BFA in Graphic Design and an MFA in Illustration from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Novi Sad.
Brostean is a multidisciplinary visual artist with over 15 years of experience working with both traditional and digital media. His bold and colorful style, often described as “contemporary new figuration,” is distinctive for its use of bold and unexpected compositions, a daring color palette, and unique, surprising imagery. In his personal work, he has been strongly inspired by all aspects of human nature: exploration of the subconscious, emotional states, dreams, both real and surreal. Brostean is a master at deconstructing obvious reality to reconstruct it anew. He has developed a technique and style that is personal and very unique, the result of a perpetual journey, constant search for identity, and complexity of meanings.
In the field of applied art, Brostean has specialized in editorial and fashion illustration, applying his well-known playful mixed-media technique primarily to magazines and book illustrations, often experimenting with collage, using both traditional and digital tools. Brostean has always strived for powerful and original solutions for creative clients, never shying away from pushing boundaries, exploring a bold and surprising aesthetic across all platforms. His widely recognizable style has established him as one of the emerging contemporary artists appreciated by select international clients such as Armani Exchange, The Washington Post, Il Corriere Della Sera, Bicycle USA, and Kabinet Brewery, among many others.
His work has been published in numerous books, magazines, and publications worldwide. Since 2006, he has exhibited his work in a variety of exhibitions, ranging from solo shows to group exhibitions across Europe (Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom), as well as the Middle East and the United States.
Born in Girona in 1977, Xavier Pons Inbernon is a multidisciplinary artist who, for years, has combined painting with the creation of sculptures made from various recycled objects, such as discarded plastics, abandoned dolls, paint tubes, and other materials. Once melted, cut, or stripped of their original function and meaning, these materials become the raw material for his work.
With pedagogical training and extensive experience as a workshop leader and instructor in courses on drawing, mural painting, comics, manga, etc., he currently teaches extracurricular classes with Drap-Art at various schools in the Ciutat Vella district as part of the Extra Extra activities of the Pla de Barris program.
He holds a degree in Philosophy and a Master’s in Contemporary Thought (UB). He is also trained in Community Mediation (Gentis) and in Programming, Dynamization, and Development of Cultural Actions (Pere Tarrés). He has actively participated in the artistic and cultural field for over twenty-five years, mainly as a creator of cultural content (exhibitions, discussions, magazine or book presentations, micro-theater, etc.). As an author, he has published poetry and essays, and premiered some of his theater works. Currently, he teaches courses and workshops on transversal skills and coordinates the Territori Drap-Art 01 project.
She holds a degree in General History and Geography with a specialization in cultural anthropology from the University of Barcelona. With 25 years of experience as a consultant for EuropeAid (the official international cooperation agency of the European Union).
She has been the European Director of several bilateral projects fighting poverty and gender-based violence in urban-marginal areas of major cities in Latin America.
She is also the Project Manager for European projects at the Institute for Lifelong Learning (IL3) of the University of Barcelona. Director of the Ideaborn Foundation in Barcelona, which focuses on defending human rights in Latin America and Africa. In 1998, she was responsible for integrating the city of Barcelona into the European Cities Climate Alliance.
She has served as Director of regional projects at the European Institute of the Mediterranean. President of the El Temple del Gòtic Association, working for 10 years on interculturality and social inclusion issues in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona.
Founding member of Drap-Art, involved in the early years of the association in the production and technical direction of the Creation and Recycling Marathon of Barcelona. A trained goldsmith, he has worked for various jewelry workshops in Formentera, Germany, and Barcelona.
In the 1990s, together with Carlos Jovellar, he began collaborating with various performers such as Accidents Polipoètics, Oscar Abril Ascaso, and Steven Forster, providing technical support. They founded the EBA cooperative, offering services in prototype creation, robotics, and interactive devices for artists, theaters, and museums. He creates prototypes that act as external sensors to operate MIDI and PLC systems, used by multimedia artists. He has built various contraptions for Kònic thtr, Marcel·lí Antúnez, La Fura dels Baus, and Roland Olbeter.
He has also worked on the development of interactive elements for the Expo Agua in Zaragoza, the Spain Pavilion at the Universal Expo in Aichi, Japan, the Barça Museum, and Cosmocaixa.