22 april 2024, Wouter van den Eijkel
The studio of... Eric Mangen
Eric Mangen has dubbed his solo exhibition at Valerius Gallery Sacred Monsters, a reference to a nickname for Picasso. Mangen has a similar relationship with his abstract canvasses: “I feel that my paintings are somewhat sacred to me, yet at the same time some sort of monster. I find them both appealing and terrifying.” Mangen describes his method as accidental creation. He prefers to start a work of art using tools that he does not quite master and then balance the composition.
Mangen (Luxembourg, 1983) lives a stone's throw away from Luxembourg City. After years of living and working abroad, he returned in 2017 to the farmhouse where he grew up. This Luxembourger is self-taught and gained international recognition as a graffiti artist.
Where is your studio located and how would you describe it?
My studio is seven kilometres away from Luxembourg City on our family farm. We have 150 horses and are surrounded by forests and nature. I spent my entire childhood there and moved back home in 2017.This has given me access to a barn where my cousins and I built an entire studio from scratch on the first floor above a cow stable in 2019. There was literally nothing here, so we had to build and install everything from scratch, from electricity to running water and insulation. At first, I could hear cows mooing as I painted.
Eric Mangen, Sacred Monsters I, 2023, Valerius Gallery
What makes a good studio for you: lots of space, natural light, friends close by?
I guess for me the most important thing would be space. I work on multiple works at the same time, jumping from one canvas to another, so I need a lot of space. It doesn’t matter if it’s a barn, shed or somewhere else, as long as it has a roof over it and a few walls. Also, I have come to realise that daylight has a huge impact on my work. For the first ten years of my career, my studios never had any windows and I relied only on artificial light – until I did a residency in Berlin where both sides of the studio had big windows. It was a real game changer.
I read that since you’ve had this studio (since 2019), your work has made significant progress thanks to the routines you’ve established. Could you tell us a bit about those routines? What does a typical day in your studio look like?
In the past few years, I’ve developed a highly disciplined studio practice. A typical day for me starts when I get up at 6 and go to my studio shortly after that. In the winter, I heat up the wood burning stove or just walk around the studio. At around 10, I take a 30-minute break to walk the dogs and then continue working until lunch, when I usually have guests for a shared lunch. After that, I continue working until 5 or 6, when my family comes home and I then call it a day. I rarely work at night. Over the years, I’ve learned that I’m most productive in the early morning. This way, I’ve already accomplished something by noon.
Your current show at Valerius Gallery is called Sacred Monsters. Can you tell a bit more about the exhibition, starting with the contradictory title? What inspired it?
I read somewhere that people called Picasso a sacred monster and found this terminology quite interesting. I feel that my paintings are somewhat sacred to me, yet at the same time some kind of monster. I find them both appealing and terrifying.
As a self-taught painter, they show me the way. I learn from them the joys and terrors of painting and being able to express myself. The various works in the exhibition were created after a summer family holiday, inspired by the warm colours of the south. I decided to abandon the colour white and paint on transparently primed canvas, giving the paintings a warmer feel. Due to the absence of white, they have a warmer vibe, are friendlier so to speak. They have a Southern European colour palette, with lavender, sandstone, teal, ochre and more earthy tones, bringing better balance to the stronger colours. After a while, I decided to paint the entire studio in a sandier tone, which again changed perception of the work, so that we also painted the gallery walls the same colour, giving the viewer a more balanced experience.
Eric Mangen, Sacred Monsters II, 2023, Valerius Gallery
Your work seems to revolve around composition, gestures and movement. Would you agree and if so, why are you fascinated by these things?
I am a huge fan of accidental creation, so I try to provoke accidents or moments when something genuine can happen. It all starts with grand gestures, tools that I may not entirely control, so that hazardous creation can take place. I then try to ‘read’ a kind of balance in the painting, identify compositions and like a sculptor, remove any elements that do not fit my ideas for that particular composition.
Your work has evolved from graffiti to painting. When and why did you decide to pursue a career in art and does your background in graffiti still play an important role in your work?
I moved to Barcelona in 2006 because I was a big fan of Spanish graffiti. They took a more artistic approach to their murals. It was during that time that I abandoned letters and began focusing on the more abstract, becoming fascinated by the possibilities of abstraction. As for the second part of your question, I had to unlearn certain things from graffiti, like the fact that every inch of surface had to be painted, for example, and all the bright shiny colours. Spray cans have been my loyal companion for over 20 years, although I use them less and less nowadays, but they’re always close by.
In addition to painting, you also make outdoor murals around the world. How do you choose projects and what do you believe is the main difference between a mural and a painting?
To me, the most important aspect of a mural is the fact that it is generally a public artwork. Paintings are often done in the comfort of a studio and shipped to a gallery, where a selected few individuals get to see them. But murals are outdoors, so anyone can come up to you and comment on what you are doing. I have had all kinds of reactions to my murals, which is something I actually enjoy! In my opinion, public art is something that is, unfortunately, underdeveloped. Also, let’s not forget the size difference and all the challenges that brings with it.
Eric Mangen, Skin on skin III, Valerius Gallery
You mentioned that you like people walking up to you and comment on your murals. What was the best compliment you got so far?
It’s hard to pick one compliment, but we once got sandwiches from a lady that said that we deserved a snack for all the hard work we were putting in.
If I were to give you carte blanche, what project would you start working on?
I would love to fund my dream project, which is a huge old farm in the south of Europe, in order to further develop my current residency programme, Farmlands residency.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently reorganising my studio because I need a space where I can look at the finished work and spend time with it before it leaves the studio. I am also trying to learn from the Sacred Monsters series and see how I can add greater depth and further develop the visual language.
Eric Mangen, Botero had multiple girlfriends II, 2023, Valerius Gallery
