#Art Blog article n.36: Ciro Pablo - Halfway between Jack Kerouac and Jean Michel Basquiat
9. October, 2024 - Reading time 15 Min. - Christian Ciro Pablo, Peter von Hauerland
#southamerica #artist #ignorantstyle #tattooartist #painter #sketch #streetart #artistsprofile
I spent those years in auto-mode in such a way that today I have very few memories of it. Although in fairness, there’s very few things I remember from the past, even the close past. But art was always there…
The Not Wonderful Story of The King of Nowhere
Part 1: A child
I was born in the late 80s in South America. I could not write that much about my childhood because I don’t really remember lots of it. What I do remember is that I always showed tendencies towards arts, especially visual or plastic arts.
Since young, I started drawing pretty much everything I saw, then around 8 or 9 I started to model clay figures, this was one of my favorite things to do because I was quite a lonely child, my mom worked all day and I didn’t live with my dad so I watched a lot of TV and always wanted to have toys or some kind of figure of the cartoons I watched.
By the date, you can figure out I watched a lot of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, being my favorite cartoons “Rocko’s Modern Life”, “Aaahh Real Monsters”, “Cow and Chicken”, and “Ren & Stimpy”, among others. I think you can get, at least, the aesthetic I was drawn into. Those cartoons, among some other media I consumed during the next years, mixed with a not so good family environment, molded what I am today and, therefore, how I express myself artistically.
Part 2: The Non-Nihilistic
During my adolescence and early 20s I went through to a very long period of pretty much not giving a shit about whatever was around me (except for 1 person, who pretty much made me keep a little light of self-worth). My path with art got separated and quite distanced from it, although every now and then I kept coming back to it (very fleetingly) every now and then.
The feeling of being lost in the world and not really caring about it was quite deep and I got used to it. I had it for about 10 or 15 years and it led me to dark places in terms of emotions and experiences. I spent those years in auto-mode in such a way that today I have very few memories of it. Although in fairness, there’s very few things I remember from the past, even the close past. But art was always there. As a movie, as a song, as a picture, as something. I kept looking for it without knowing it, I kept coming close to it and now that I think about it, every time I did it, it made me feel as if I was “good” at something. I was free there; I am free there.
The thing is, the fear of being in this place was always present, because I was taught (as almost everyone I assume) that I had to look for something that gave me money and as a South American middle class young man (like lower middle class in Europe) I wasn’t able to just say “fuck money”. Although, as of today I say it anyway, how and whenever I can.
Part 3: The Diogenes, The Dog
After all those years wandering in the unknown, visiting and revisiting dark and traumatic old places in my head built by past experiences I started getting closer to art again, but this time it was a bit different.
This time I had gone to a healing process that allowed me to approach this beautiful place without guilt and fear.
I started drawing and interesting myself in tattoos. So, a very good friend of mine (@tallertatau), taught me how to. I started mixing drawing and tattooing, uploading my art, and just enjoying it, and even if my “audience” or the people that like my art have never been much I kept doing, although audience is still small. During this time I developed my artistic name “Alto Guacho”, in which I tried to mix south American subcultures with childhood references and more sophisticated subjects. Some see it as critical towards contemporary society (there might be some Mark Fisher in it), but I’m not sure about it.
This led me to not just sketching buy trying different materials, tendencies, forms of expression, etc. Anyway, if I could summarize myself and my art I would say it’s carelessness mixed with caring too much. Cynicism mixed with a little of Absurdism and/or Nihilism and 90s references.
I don’t really have that much to say in this part, but for some context given the name of it I feel the need to mention Diogenes of Sinope, the philosopher whom I got into a few years ago and felt so identified with and his beautiful companions whom I always also felt identified with, dogs.
There’s something about him and them that just fills my soul. There’s something about people baring with emotional pain or feeling endless loneliness that just gets me every time. I don’t know why I mentioned that last thing, but I’ll just leave it there. If it is there, there’s a chance it means something, maybe I’ll discover it in the future.
Part 4: Ciro
This won’t be long. Ciro (my current artistic name) hasn’t been around for long. At first I thought he was born as a byproduct of Alto Guacho, but as I’m writing this I’m starting to realize it’s not like that.
Ciro was born kind of as a more finished artist. Carrying the bag I’ve had to carry since childhood, but maybe with some sense of where to go with it. Call it a Dog with a Path, if you want.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my art. It’s pretty much a graphical way to express what I have felt and experienced until today and, in some cases, what I think I will experience. It’s not really that special in that matter, as I think that is what almost every artist tries to do so, if you enjoy it that’s cool, if you don’t that’s cool too. See you around, I guess.
Written by: Christian Ciro Pablo
