ART OF LIVING – 3 Artists on Mallorca as Home and Source of Inspiration

ART OF LIVING is a series of artist interviews about Mallorca as a home and source of inspiration. In these interviews we take the artists beyond the canvas to consider how Mallorca influences their work.

Wonder and Rediscovery with Iván Monta?a

Hailing from Tarragona in Spain, Iván Monta?a has been living in Mallorca for the past 20 years. 'Mallorca is like a small paradise. I am privileged to live here', shares the artist. 'The island has given me the absolute freedom to rid myself of any type of routine.'

Monta?a's work follows this impulse to reject any form of constraints and pursue a more child-like wonder for life. His vibrant conceptual paintings bring together a juxtaposition of texture, words and figures that capture a very specific mood at the intersection of nostalgia and rediscovery.

'A theme I constantly return to is this interior nostalgia. Almost like an archeology of the self, where one excavates the layers of time and memory', reveals the artist about his work.

'I have always searched for who I am through the act of painting.' – Iván Monta?a

Perhaps this is why he feels particularly attracted to Mallorca's unique character and traditions that have persisted despite the cultural influence of globalisation and the high influx of tourism. 'Mallorca has a particular Bohemia that I find fascinating', comments Monta?a. 'It has a Bohemia and it has that strong character, that rural toughness that also fascinates me.'

The local festivities are where the island's character really shines for the artist. 'It's something that really impacted me when I first came to the island. It's brutal! I had never seen anything like this. Very special; almost archaic', he reflects. 'It's so rooted to the land. It gives the island an incredible sense of presence.'

Space and Self-Expression with Malene Birger

Someone that has also found a home in Mallorca is Malene Birger, the Copenhagen-born artist and former founder of the fashion brand By Malene Birger. 'I have always felt very at home in Mallorca. I feel more at home here than anywhere else in the world', confesses the artist. After many years working and living around the world, Birger has curated her own personal oasis in her home and studio on the island.

'The island brings me so much happiness. I wake up every morning, do my yoga and feel content, happy and inspired to do my work. I live by myself and do enjoy my solitude most of the time, it's a choice. Free space in my head is important for my creative work and the best time spent is in my studio. I have my regimes. I am a worker. Work is my life and my life is work, and has always been. It's been a long journey to get to this point... I came far, but you know, we can always do better, develop ourselves and get stronger. My art is my freedom and good energy' – Malene Birger

Her home and studio, which she has lovingly curated, allow her to have this very generative and introspective approach to her work. 'Most of my paintings are painted over three or four times, it adds a layered, tactile feel to my rather graphic and monochrome expressions. There's a story underneath. Often it's the story underneath that helps me finish the paintings, somehow. I can often work on three to five paintings at the same time,' she reveals about her process. 'I might be working on a painting in one part of my studio, and see a painting waiting, so to speak, then I move over there and paint and so on. It's a flow. I'm very much in my own head in this process and I love that.'

This confidence shines through in her work where bold graphics predominate above all else. 'My signature style is definitely black and white. The universe, day and night,' asserts Birger. 'Even during my time in the fashion industry, my brand was known for its use of a monochrome pallet, beside colours. Black and white calm me. To me proportions are very important. How much black and white do I choose to add to the canvas. That's the work and that's how I create the abstract forms. It's constantly a choice and a feel. I mainly know when to stop. Proportions and brush strokes to me are super important because they're what brings the expression to life.'

Birger often likes to go beyond the canvas and has a specific eye for interior design and how art interacts with space. 'I love the graphic expression of the black and white and what they bring to Mallorca's finca styles. I like the look of the rough, rustic, stone walls with graphic paintings against them,' she says.

Interior design is a big passion of hers too, and she combines her eclectic style with her own art. Ceramics have become a big part of her art as well. She works with a talented, local ceramicist and produces artsy grand vases, artsy plates, and a collection of bowls. All hand painted, of course. 'I think my art and ceramics go hand in hand. Both materials can be presented naturally together in any space. I like to express myself on very large walls, where you can combine paper artworks, paintings, and ceramics so the wall becomes like one big piece of art. Like a well curated collection of art. The space is as important as the painting itself', she affirms.

This summer she is expanding her curatorial project into opening her own art gallery in Felanitx, GALERIA Malene Birgers World.

Seascapes and Mindscapes with María Morell

A sense of space is also what predominates in María Morell's work. Born and raised in Mallorca, the artist reflects on the island's influence on her work. 'One of the things that stand out the most for me are Mallorca's spaces, along with everything that refers to light and ambience.'

Indeed, Mallorca's seascapes have an increasing presence in her work. 'The island is becoming more and more present in my work, because, despite the island not being the main theme in my work – it is something more interior, more emotional – it is reflected in increasingly more recognisable landscapes from the island.'

This she has found to be a marker of difference in her work as she moved back to the island after living in Barcelona for a while. 'When I was in Barcelona I think I tended to represent something more interior, more closed off. But upon my return I have opened up more, and I think you can see that reflected in my work', the artist says.

'The island has that ambience of tranquility, of taking a pause, that I want to portray in my work.' – María Morell

'My own character, I think, is also present in my work. I think I have a very Mallorcan character. Very quiet, unassuming and inclined to enjoying life without any pretension', Morell shares.

Her paintings are certainly a reflection of this. Her characteristic seascapes evoke a particular sense of serenity and peacefulness. 'I have always worked on the theme of solitude. But the kind of solitude that is well understood, of enjoying your time alone. And you can see that in these beaches where they're represented from the point of view of the spectator. Even though you see the beach with a multitude of people, you – the spectator – are alone in the water in complete calmness.'

For more information about Iván Monta?a's work, please get in touch with GALLERY RED . For more information about Malene Birger's work, please get in touch with the artist herself. For more information about María Morell's work, please get in touch with Neutro Art .