Juan Carlos Noria
It almost sounds too good to be true: an ex-Disney On Ice skater turned expatriate whose deep immersion in pop culture leaves him gasping for air. Betrayed by art school and disillusioned by commerce, the young, graceful artist learns a new language and escapes to a foreign country, where boxes are made to be disassembled, and lines drawn to be written over. He steps under Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf and falls in love – first with the city, then with the street, then with a girl – and his life finally becomes what he wants it to be. He moves forward constantly, stepping out of the studio to paste, into it to paint, and all around the city to find what will inspire him next. He’s Juan Carlos Noria, and his story is unlike anything you’ve ever heard.
“When I came out of school in 1986 I realized that I’d been through a meat grinder. I had no idea who I was.”
I never want to be known as the guy that just paints flowers, or does portraits, or paints naked women. I want to be all things to all people and then change it up again so that they have no idea where the freshness is coming from. [Laughs.]
It is so important to me to be well-rounded, to never stop creating, and above all, to never be afraid. When I get tired of illustrating I go to my painting, and when I start hating painting I go to the streets and do graffiti and then back again. Each element feeds the next. I’ve never been known to burn out or to have “writers block.” I’m always feeling fresh and new and alive in my art.
