Suncityboy. Courtesy of the artist.

ARTE & PALABRA. CONVERSATIONS WITH CARLOS DEL AMOR

It is always difficult to create one's own universe, this complication increases when this universe is populated by characters known and recognized by all, who are part of the imagination of many, inventing on what already exists is doubly difficult. Suncityboy (Tver, Russia, 1984) has invented a world inhabited by fairy tale characters and cultural icons who share a common denominator: they are formed by small balls that assemble an impossible body with an emoji face and, despite the initial strangeness, immediately evoke empathy and familiarity.

Color overflows all its scenes and we meet Alice in Wonderland (or more precisely in Suncityboy's country), Dorothy in OZ, the seven dwarfs a bit changed or even a very particular interpretation of Vermeer's "Milkmaid". But they all stop being them to enter a new life where humor, irony, acidity and a huge dose of energy renew our view on things, theoretically very seen. From Marilyn to the birth of Venus, everything is susceptible to be "rounded" and to provoke a smile in us. If we have to choose between the angry emoji or the smiley emoji, his works will make us send the smiley emoji, and that is to be appreciated.

Aliceâs Adventures in Wonderland.Tinta y témpera sobre papel.2023.

How would you define your art in one word? Or better in an emoji.

It’s joy.

What is your favorite emoji?

This smiley (the artist points towards a painting behind himself).

What are the requirements for the characters of stories or famous works that you endow with a new life? What should they suggest to you or how do they reach you?

My characters are funny, many of them want to get into my pictures. From the world of Plato's ideas, heroes go to different outdoors, but almost all of them want to get to me. They take a turn and they are waiting for me to capture them. Not all of them, of course, because I'm a very busy person. I create new meanings for the characters: they stop living in everyday life. I think they are much more interested in the spherical world than in their non-spherical world. I can say, sure, I don't force anyone. If the hero doesn't like it, I don't keep him. I respect their rights.

Svinedrengen. Gouache on paper. 2023.

Why the spherical, the round?

The sphere is a symbol of the universe. We all encounter spheres and circles in everyday life. Circles and spheres are the main form of my paintings. These are the stars in the sky, the atoms from which everything is made, and even money, the coins with which we pay took their form in the process of evolution, because everything tends towards the sphere. My task is to speak the language of spherism, to promote this knowledge to the people.

It was not for nothing that Hokusai wrote in his lost letter to Hiroshige on the road from Rome to Edo to Kyoto, "Suncityboy, if the future embodiment of world spherism, the personification of modernism through imaginism.”

The letter was stolen from his workshop because it had value for world culture.

Do we take everything too seriously?

The seriousness of our world is evidenced by the constant dispute of objects and forms in composition. We must understand that everything is much more serious than we think. There is a constant confrontation between forms. Circles have always competed with triangles for the main rights in composition. We see this in the images of ancient Egypt. Then they were joined by squares. A square character often creeps into my paintings. He tries to dispute the spherical harmony. But, to his great regret, he makes the composition more successful. You just have to look for it.

Amazons. Gouache on paper. 2023.

Drama or comedy?

The subjects of the paintings of spherical imaginism show the relationship of particles, shapes, and ideas. Characters can be both the meaning and the category of cognition. This is similar to the metamorphosis of temporary spatial transformations, when a character becomes an object and nature becomes a thing. This is the drama of the works. But at the same time, it's also comical because of this metaphor.

Roof Girls. Gouache on paper. 2023.

What role does music play in your creative process, I understand it is important.

Music is a circle of vinyl. It penetrates into all beings like neutrinos. Without music, it's difficult to achieve a good result. If you don't have a music player, you need to add something of yourself with your inner feeling.

You can imagine yourself with a large cello or saxophone. Music is the building material of creativity. In my case, these are bright-colored construction balls. Sometimes they turn into caramels.

Where is your art going (You can answer with an emoji if you wish) 😉

My art is moving into the future. It looks like a large spherical airplane. On board are my favorite heroes. I will appear as captain sometime during the flight. I walk between the isles and serve them drinks and treats. I think you can see this for yourself.

Thank you very much, Carlos. 😉

The work of Julian Manzelli (Chu) (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1974) is situated within a field of research in which art adopts methodologies close to scientific thinking without renouncing its poetic and speculative dimension. His practice is structured as an open process of experimentation, in which the studio functions as a laboratory: a space for trial, error, and verification, oriented less toward the attainment of certainties than toward the production of new forms of perception. In this sense, his work enters into dialogue with an epistemology of uncertainty, akin to philosophical traditions that understand knowledge as a process of becoming rather than closure.

Manzelli explores interstitial zones, understood as spaces of transit and transformation. These ambiguous areas are not presented as undefined but as potential—sites where categories dissolve, allowing the emergence of hybrid, almost alchemical configurations that reprogram the gaze. Geometry, far from operating as a normative system, appears tense and destabilized. His precarious constructions articulate a crossing between intuition and reason, play and engineering, evoking a universal grammar present in both nature and symbolic thought. Thus, Manzelli’s works do not represent the world but rather transfigure it, activating questions rather than offering closed answers.

Avícola. Escultura magnética. Madera, imanes, laca automotriz y acero. 45 x 25 cm. 2022.

Science and its methods inspire your process. What kinds of parallels do you find between scientific thinking and artistic creation?

Science and art are two disciplines that I believe share a great deal and are undoubtedly deeply interconnected. I am interested in that point of intersection, and although they are often placed in opposition, I think they share a common origin. Both involve a continuous search, a need for answers that stems from curiosity rather than certainty, and that often—or in many cases—leads both artists and scientists into uncomfortable, uncertain positions, pushing them out of their comfort zones. I believe this is a fundamental and very compelling aspect shared by these two disciplines, which in some way define us as human beings.

In this sense, both share experimentation as a core axis of their practice. Trial and error, testing, and the entire process of experimentation are what generate development. In my case, this applies directly to the studio: I experience it as a laboratory where different projects are developed and materials are tested. It is as if one formulates a hypothesis and then puts it to the test—materials, procedures, forms, colors—and outcomes emerge. These results are not meant to be verified, but rather, in art, I believe their function is to generate new modes of perception, new ways of seeing, and new experiences.

Receptor Lunar #01. Ensamble de Madera Reciclada torneada. 102 x 26 x 26 cm. De la serie Fuerza orgánica. 2023.

You work within the interstices between the natural and the artificial, the figurative and the abstract. What interests you about these ambiguous zones, and what kinds of knowledge emerge from them?

I have always been quite restless, and that has led me to immerse myself in different fields and disciplines. I believe there is a special richness in interstitial spaces—in movement back and forth, in circulation between media. These spaces have always drawn my attention: ambiguous places, hybrid zones. There is something of an amphibious logic here—amphibians as entities that carry and transmit information, that share, that cross boundaries and membranes. In my case, this is closely linked to what I understand as freedom, especially at a time marked by categorization, labeling, and a profound distortion of the very concept of freedom.

On another level, more metaphysical in nature, it is within the mixture—within that blending—that the living energy of creating something new appears, which is undoubtedly a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human. It is as if “one thing becomes something else outside the mold.” This interaction is necessary to break structures, to build new ones, to transmute—to undergo something almost alchemical. I believe fixation is the enemy. In a way, ambiguity is what allows us to reprogram our gaze and generate new points of view.

De la serie Naturaleza orgánica. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de construcción. 2025.

Movement, repetition, and sequence appear as visual strategies in your work. What role does seriality play in the generation of meaning?

Movement, repetition, and sequence are very present in my work. I have a long background in animation, and in some way that interest begins to filter into the other disciplines in which I work. Thus, movement also appears in my visual art practice.

Seriality is a way of thinking about time and of introducing a certain narrative and sense of action into the work, while at the same time conditioning the viewer’s experience. It invites the viewer to try to decipher repetition as a kind of progression. I am particularly interested in more abstract forms of narrative. In this type of narrative, where there is no clear figuration, repetition begins to establish a pulse, a “beat” that marks the passage of time. What is interesting, I think, is the realization that repetition is not exactly duplication, and that what seems identical begins to mutate over time, through rhythm, or through its own unfolding history.

De la serie Naturaleza orgánica. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de construcción. 2025.

You work with geometric and constructive systems. What role does geometry play as a symbolic language within your practice?

Geometry is present in my work in multiple forms and dimensions, generating different dynamics. Generally, I tend to put it into crisis, into tension. When one engages closely with my works, it becomes clear that constructions based on imprecise and unstable balance predominate. I am not interested in symmetry or exactness, but rather in a dynamic construction that proposes a situation. I do not conceive of geometry as a rigid system.

I believe this is where a bridge is established between the intuitive and the rational, between playfulness and engineering—those unexpected crossings. At the same time, geometry functions as a code, a language that connects us to a universal grammar present in nature, in fractals, and that undoubtedly refers to symbolism. It is there that an interesting portal opens, where the work begins to re-signify itself and becomes a process of meaning-making external to itself, entirely uncertain. The results of my works are not pieces that represent; rather, I believe they are pieces that transfigure and, in doing so, generate questions.

WIP. Madera torneada recuperada de podas de sequía y rezagos de contrucción. 2022.

To what extent do you plan your works, and how much space do you leave for the unexpected—or even for error?

In terms of planning, it depends greatly on the project and even on the day. Some projects, due to their scale or complexity, require careful planning, especially when they involve the participation of other people. In many cases, planning is undoubtedly essential.

That said, in the projects I do plan, I am always interested in leaving space for improvisation, where chance or the unfolding of the process itself can come into play. I believe this is where interesting things begin to emerge, and it is important not to let them pass by. Personally, I would find it very boring to work on pieces whose outcome I already know in advance. For me, the realization of each work is an uncertain journey; I do not know where it will lead, and I believe that is where its potential lies—not only for me, but also for the work itself and for the viewer’s experience.