José Molina is a Spanish artist from Madrid who has chosen to live on Lake Como: the colors and the unique light of our lake have somehow stolen his heart.

He has exhibited in famous galleries and museums all over the world (from NYC to Miami, plus in different locations of Asia): knowing that such a cosmopolitan soul has decided to set on the shores of our awesome Lake Como, in Gravedona ed Uniti, is definitely a source of pride for us.

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Visionary, surreal, and strongly focused on the human nature and its contradictions and weaknesses: José's art, clearly marked by a photographic style, is deeply emotional.

So we were really curious to know how does a multifaceted artist like him, who devoted his art to human introspection, lives his home; and how Lake Como with its beauty has an influence on his artistic production.

Here’s a lovely chat we had with him.

How much is there of Lake Como and your roots in your work?

I was born and raised in Madrid. As a young man I spent entire days at Prado's park and certainly the Spanish aesthetics of the great masters contributes to build my artistic roots: they have been and they are an inexhaustible source of creative energy.
Then when I moved to Italy my inspiration literally bloomed. In particular, the move from Milan to Gravedona ed Uniti (Northern Lake Como), where I currently live, has given rise to artistic projects that are influenced by the strong link with nature, colors and light, which are all fundamental elements for an artist.

Is there a work of yours that’s particularly linked with your love for Lake Como?

Two collections in particular. The first is called “AnimaDonna” and it’s dedicated to the feminine universe, which includes several works that have been created using natural elements from the lake that I have artistically transformed; the second collection is "Amata Terra”, and it’s also inspired by these places.
Among the most ambitious projects I am working on is "Italia ti ritrovo": I depicted Italy in twelve oil-painted landscapes. And obviously I couldn’t help dedicating one work to Lake Como.

“En la cabeza de la mujer”, 2012, from Anima Donna collection | José Molina

Beethoven moved about 80 times in his life, and Mozart in Vienna moved into 8 different flats, living in absolute chaos (a mess that someone might define “artistic restlessness”). What connection do you think there is between home and the creative impulse for an artist?

I think it's a typical characteristic of artists that of moving around a lot. Beethoven is unbeatable; personally I’ve moved 11 times. Honestly I believe that the creative impulse goes beyond the walls of a house, an artist's gaze must sweep and fly. But for sure the home, in my case the home-studio, is the place where ideas, emotions and thoughts take shape.

Is there a house, even from your past, that has played a fundamental role in your identity as an artist?

I believe that this one in Gravedona is playing a very important role in this new artistic and human season of mine. In the past, I was much more nomadic and home was mainly a place of transition.

Details of José’s studio | © Ernesto Blotto

José Molina in his studio | © Ernesto Blotto

Do you believe in the energy of houses and their soul?

Yes, I do, houses are our soul and our energy. When we enter a property, we often perceive an "atmosphere", something very subtle but at the same time very tangible, rather than dwelling on individual objects or accessories.

Do you have a room or a corner of your house where - either because of the objects that surround you, or because of a particular light - you feel you can best gather concentration for your work?

The part of the house dedicated to the studio is the one I experience most because the creation of my works takes a lot of time and therefore I spend many hours in front of a painting. But it’s not by chance that it’s also the area where there’s so much light, which is one of the things I love most about Lake Como.

Is there an artistic work (be it a song, a painting or a poem) that you associate in particular with a house that you love or have loved particularly during your past life?

Yes, there’s a quote by the Egyptian writer Nagib Mahfu: “Your home is not where you were born. Your home is where all your attempts to escape cease”.

The hardest question at the end, as always: tell us what home is for you, in one word.

I can’t in one word, Spanish are well-known to talk a lot! For me, home is the possibility of enjoying beauty in our daily lives, in the rituality of spaces. Home ultimately should always be a very intense emotional fulfillment.

Home should always be a very intense emotional fulfillment.

*José Molina*

BIO

José Molina was born in Madrid in 1965.

He currently lives on Lake Como in Gravedona ed Uniti. At the age of eleven, José begins his training in various art schools, but his first impulses towards painting were already clear from the age of four. At the age of 18 he started working in advertising and in the meantime he completed his studies at the University of Fine Arts of Madrid.

In José Molina’s art we see different worlds - that the artist brings to light through drawings, paintings, sketches on paper, colorful graphics - come to life. Black and white brings José closer to Goya and Salvador Dalì's Surrealism - two artists of reference for the development of his very personal post-surrealist art, very close to the cinema.

José Molina today is present on the international market both in Europea and Asia, through a cycle of personal exhibitions.

Web: www.josemolina.com

Facebook: josemolinaartist

Instagram: josemolinaartist

What’s your concept of Home? We’re eager to hear your story.

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When An Artist Lives On Lake Como, Great And Beautiful Things Happen: A Chat With Visionary Artist José Molina [Interview]