Ricardo Passaporte

“I can’t imagine myself, painting the same subject for long periods.”

The Portuguese artist Ricardo Passaporte (*1987, Lisbon) and I first met at an exhibition of one of his side projects in Hamburg in 2018. At that point I already admired his work a lot for quite a while and have been following it ever since. Ricardo didn’t study Fine Arts, he actually studied Fashion Design, but he’s into painting since he was a kid. 

Initially I was mainly fascinated by his disruptive yet intriguing take on brands and pop culture, especially in the context of his graffiti history, but then I realized that his work is even more diverse. And I’m sure there will be a lot more to discover in his work in the future, that will certainly remain exciting, and therefore I am super happy that Ricardo is now also part of the Studio Talks series.

Ricardo, when we met in Hamburg, at that time you painted things from everyday life in our consumer world, shopping bags from LIDL, Tesco, IKEA or Foot Locker. Today you mainly paint animals, tigers and parrots, and especially dogs, like in your latest show „If dogs don’t go to heaven, I want to go where they go“ at L21 Gallery in Palma de Mallorca. How did this change come and what fascinates you about those topics?

I can’t imagine myself, painting the same subject for long periods. It’s not a big change, it’s a necessary change for me to stay excited and focused about painting.

I remember that in your show „Exciting love“ at Ruttkowski68 in Paris, you painted pages from IKEA catalogs, and also covers from magazines, like Sports Illustrated – to me it felt less like a critique of consumption or capitalism but rather like a love for this particular aesthetics of pop culture. Am I right or wrong about that?

You are right.

Can you already reveal what the topic of your upcoming show at Steve Turner LA will be? What are you going to show there?

I’ll present a series of dog portraits, to be more precise, six portraits of the last Westminster Kennel Club dog show winners.

Hehe ok cool, curious to see it.
You once told me that your grandfather was already a painter. Did he had an influence on you or how did you come to art?

Of course. He was incredible at drawing, probably the best I have ever seen.

You studied fashion design, and you still sometimes do fashion stuff, right? Like the LIDL socks and so on? 

Yes, I did a masters in fashion design. LIDL socks was part of a project I have with my girlfriend.

Has fashion still an influence on your work?

Of course, not in a direct way but yes.

Why did you choose painting as your medium?

You mean why I do painting instead of sculptures or… ?

Yes… or conceptual art or videos or whatever.

I think, I feel more comfortable with painting. I can do also installations, but with painting you can try more stuff. Or maybe you can’t but for me, I think it’s easier. I feel just more comfortable at the studio with a blank canvas, trying out things. And my process starts on the paper, I think in small formats first. And then I try to put them on bigger formats. 

And what about graffiti – in your side projects, such as Germes Gang, graffiti still plays a big role. What is your relationship to graffiti and/or street art today? Are you still closely connected to the scene?

Graffiti is a big part of my life. I’ve no connection with street art, I know more or less what’s going on but I have no relation with it.

How important is spray paint for your way of painting today? 

80%

… and which other material do you use, acrylic, oil?

Sometimes acrylic yes, sometimes also oil colours, but not very often, only a few times. Mostly it’s spray paint. That’s the material I feel more comfortable with.

Which artists do you admire most, whether from fine arts, graffiti or whatever - who are your all time favorites?

Favorites, Bill Traylor, Artist Chuckie Williams, Francis Alÿs, Matisse, Susan Te Kahurangi King... to name a few.

That’s interesting. I wasn’t aware of Artist Chuckie Williams, but when I discovered his work I was impressed, I think it’s very emotional and honest. 

For some projects you are working together with your friend and artist Tiago Evangelista  - who’s work is absolutely amazing! – it seems that there’s a mutual inspiration between you guys, how does your friendship influence your work?

Tiago is an amazing human being, friend and artist. We have a lot in common, I can say he is probably my biggest influence, not only on a creative way. Being with him helps me a lot in my personal life and work, I like to think, it help us both a lot in several levels. 

Do you guys still live in Lisbon? 

Yes, we are still living here. In my case, I don’t want to live far from Lisbon.

Which of your side projects are still ongoing: Germes Gang, Aujourd’hui, …?

We are still working on GG, it’s a life project with no end. Aujourdhui was a project with a group of friends and unfortunately it’s over. Ecuador Lisbon is still running, it’s a project with my girlfriend, Catarina Lee.

How did Covid-19 and the second lockdown change the situation in Portugal and for you personally? Did it have a big impact on your work?

My life keeps the same, from home to my studio, all alone.

Okay. Let's hope that the situation improves in 2021 and we can visit exhibitions together again. What’s next? What projects and exhibitions are coming up in the future?

So, I’m having a solo exhibition at Steve Turner, in Los Angeles and I’m working for a solo at Galeria Duarte Sequeira in Braga.

Sounds great, thank you so much, Ricardo, and all the best for the future! 

Thank you too!