“Ser Honesto con las Emociones”: An Interview with Agustín Gagliano
K. Iver
AGUSTÍN GAGLIANO is an architect and illustrator. He graduated from the National University of Córdoba. Born in Villa María, Córdoba, Argentina in 1992. His work focuses on the emotional, conjugated with the formal equilibrium and graphic synthesis, immersed in a silent, introspective frame and bound with a spirit playful and naive, but with conceptual strength. Though his sketches are made in a traditional paper and pencil, he found in digital tools and vector lines the way to express this synthesis with a polished style. In recent years his illustrations have been published in institutional books and magazines from the local university setting, independent digital magazines, and awarded by entities like the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank, and Allianz Global Investors, Spain.
K. Iver: I read that you began drawing as a child. What were your first subjects?
Agustín Gagliano: Así es, empecé desde chico, recuerdo que me despertaba mucha fascinación copiar los dibujos animados de la televisión, monstruos y ese tipo de cosas que escapaban a una realidad concreta mundos bastantes surrealistas.
Yes, it is. I started as a child, and I remember I found a fascination copying the TV cartoon, monsters, and these kind of things--escapes from concrete reality to surrealistic and fantastical ones.
KI: The style of your work is uniquely yours. I see a balance of cleanness and minimalism with boldness and vibrancy—a kind of risktaking you don’t see often. Can you talk about that?
AG: Bueno, la verdad es que es un concepto al que apuesto mucho, creo que estamos bombardeados de, formas y estímulos de todo tipo, sin embargo creo que podemos estar en la antesala de una era un más sobria, más medida y balanceada, sin tanto fuegos artificiales y ornamento, en mi mente hay una inquietud por querer depurar y quedarme con lo esencial, a hacer una ilustración amigable, y sin puntas.
Well, it is a concept that I think about a lot. I think we are bombarded by shapes and stimulations of many types, however, I think probably we are in the entrance of a new age, a measured, sober, and balanced age, without many ‘fireworks’ and ornaments. In my mind, there is a concern for wanting to debug and keep the essentials and make a friendly and organic illustration.
KI: You have a background in architecture, and so many of your images register as “built,” or as multi-dimensional shapes. How does your previous experience designing spaces meant for housing the human body play into your current illustrative work?
AG: La carrera de arquitectura sin dudas me ha enseñado a entender el proceso creativo, y creo que ese proceso lo trasladó a la ilustración, porque hay una instancia de conceptualización, una de estructuración, y otra de ejecución y sin dudas me dio un entendimiento de espacio del equilibrio.
The architecture career has undoubtedly taught me to understand the creative process, and I think that this process transferred it to illustration, because there is an instance of conceptualization, one of structuring, and another of execution, and that definitely gave me an understanding of balanced space.
KI: I’m drawn to the robust polish you bring to these illustrations. As you said, you’ve been drawing a long time. Can you also talk about the graphic dimension of your process?