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. 😉

From July 7 to 9, 2025, the Balsera Palace will host the First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art, an intensive 15-hour program that will explore the complex and fundamental question of taste in contemporary art. Organized by the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities at Nebrija University and the Avilés City Council, in collaboration with 9915 — Association of Private Collectors of Contemporary Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art, the course offers a unique opportunity for analysis and debate on the dynamics that shape aesthetic and symbolic value in today’s art scene.

First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art. Avilés, Asturias

The notion of taste, intrinsically tied to aesthetic judgments and power relations, has played a decisive role in the historical prominence of artists and artworks. However, contemporary art—marked by its breaking of conventions, diversity of media and techniques, and critical stance toward traditional canons—raises fundamental questions about the continued relevance of this concept.

This course will explore how the decisions made by key players in the art system—institutions, private collections, galleries, curators, and artists—continually redefine a field of taste shaped by aesthetic, symbolic, cultural, social, and political logics.

"¿But does it exist, and what is the prevailing taste of our time—so seemingly confused, fragmented, indecipherable?" - Omar Calabrese, The Neo-Baroque Era.

The academic program, directed by José Luis Guijarro Alonso, Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University, and Pablo Álvarez de Toledo, Head of the Department of Arts at Nebrija University and the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities, will bring together a distinguished group of national experts—including collectors, critics, curators, gallery owners, and artists—whose contributions will address key issues in shaping aesthetic, symbolic, and market value in today’s art world.

PROGRAM

MONDAY, JULY 7

9:30 AM Registration.

10:00 AM Course Opening Nebrija University Avilés City Council Presented by Rosario López Meras – President of the Association of Contemporary Art Collectors, 9915, and Adrián Piera – President of the ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art.

10:30 AM Course Presentation By José Luis Guijarro Alonso – Art Historian and Anthropologist, Researcher, and Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion The Taste of Private Collecting as a Prelude to History. Speakers: Candela Álvarez Soldevilla – Entrepreneur and Collector; Javier Quilis – INELCOM Collection; José Miguel Vegas Valle – Collector. Moderator: Luis Feás – Critic and Curator.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Individual Lecture On Good Taste in Contemporary Art. Speaker: Marisol Salanova – Curator and Art Critic, Director of Arteinformado.

4:45 PM Panel Discussion The Influence of Galleries in Shaping Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Elba Benítez – Gallerist; Ricardo Pernas – Gallerist (Arniches 26); Aurora Vigil-Escalera – Gallerist. Moderator: Rafael Martín – Coleccion@casamer.

6:00 PM End of Day.

6:30 PM Activity and Cocktail Visit to the Exhibition Asturian Artists in the Pérez Simón Collection – Avilés.

TUESDAY, JULY 8

10:00 AM Individual Lecture Contemporary (Bad) Taste: Kitsch, Camp, and Tacky. Speaker: Julio Pérez Manzanares – Autonomous University of Madrid.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion Institutions and the Formation of Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Virginia López – Artist, Founder of PACA_Proyectos Artísticos Casa Antonino; Julieta de Haro – Artistic Director of CentroCentro; Carlos Urroz – Director of Institutional Relations, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Moderator: Laura Gutiérrez – Director, School of Art of Oviedo.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Panel Discussion Beyond the Eye: The Taste for Ethical, Ecological, Social, or Political Concerns in Contemporary Art. Speakers: Semíramis González – Independent Curator; Eugenio Ampudia – Artist; Claudia Rodríguez-Ponga – Independent Curator. Moderator: Bárbara Mur Borrás – PhD in Fine Arts.

5:00 PM End of Day.

5:30 PM Activity Visit to the Studiolo Exhibition – Candela Álvarez Soldevilla Collection.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9

9:30 AM Meeting with Asturian Artists Speakers: María Castellanos – Artist; Avelino Sala – Artist; Consuelo Vallina – Artist. Moderator: Pablo Álvarez de Toledo – Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Activity Visit to the Niemeyer Center – Avilés.

Course Closing Ceremony.

This course is designed for art professionals, collectors, researchers, and students seeking an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that shape taste and collecting practices in contemporary art. Adopting a critical and multidisciplinary perspective, it provides a unique opportunity to rigorously examine the aesthetic, symbolic, and structural factors that underpin the legitimization of contemporary art.