Biography of Enric Aromi
When Aromi was 16, he started to work as a photographer. One year later, he worked for two months with Salvador Dali in his studio at Port Lligat. Dali influenced Aromi and his work deeply. From 1971 to 1975 Enric worked together with some of the most prestigious painters and photographers in Spain, such as Andreu Alfaro, Xavier Corberi, Robert Llimis, Artigau, Arranz Bravo, Bartolozi, Bolsi and Sergi Aguilar. He also worked with Robert Llimis, and some of these works are currently displayed at the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona (MACBA). In 1975 Aromi went for the first time to the United States, traveling from New York to Los Angeles by Greyhound bus, and returning to New York driving a Harley Davidson. This trip profoundly influenced his view of America and his art. By the age of 20, Aromi already had studied a variety of art disciplines, including illustration, painting, architecture, furniture design, logos, publicity campaigns, radio programs, radio advertising, cinema, fashion design and the basis of his inspiration, photography. In 1977 Aromi opened his first studio as a photographer and started to work doing advertising for very well-known clients including Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci, Chanel, Max Factor, Revlon, Kodak, BMW, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Pioneer, Bic, Bacardi, Coca-Cola, Nescafe, Danone and Goodyear. He has worked with some of the biggest advertising agencies in the world, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam, McCann Erikson, Lowe Lintas and Ogilvy & Mather. Aromi has worked with top models and actresses such as Ursula Andress, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Claudia Shiffer. His advertising campaigns won prizes at the New York Advertising Festival, Clio Awards and Cannes Advertising Awards several times. Aromi is a great adventurer and sportsman, having twice done the World Race in competition sailing boats. He also traveled across the Mediterranean Sea sailing alone. In 1999, working under a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Aromi and other well-known artists recovered and restored an Art Deco era boat in Kodiak Alaska, ultimately sailing the boat to Seattle. Since 2000, Enric has fully devoted his time to his other two great passions: painting and writing. He is the author of two books On-i-On and Liabric, and is working now on a new book entitled Antonio Moreno, el legislador. Aromi’s artworks have been exhibited with great success in galleries in the United States, France, Spain, Austria, Germany and England, and are held in private collections throughout the world (United States, Spain, Venezuela, China, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Japan, France, Australia, and Sweden). Gelopaint – Enric Aromi’s Unique Medium Technique Like all masters of figurative art, Enric begins with a model that he then adapts to his canvas in studio. In his case, the transfer is not by direct photographic overlay, nor by drawing the model’s outline in pencil. He emulsifies the image onto the canvas by means of very thin gels mixed with just the right combination of chemicals and the under painting of the model appears, ready for further artistic manipulation. This technique ‘Gelopaint’.from 1980-2000, he experimented with separating photographic gels from the underlying photographic paper. This entailed combining and mixing photo chemicals in the development process, which allowed him to manipulate colors. Further experimentation allowed him to mix oils and watercolors with the mixture of chemicals that were needed in the emulsion phase of creating the gels. He then successfully transferred this emulsion mixture onto canvas and manipulated the images just as if he were using traditional oils or watercolors applied by brush or palette knife. In a laborious process, Enric uses a combination of techniques which involves manipulating emulsion gels, painting this emulsion-oil-watercolor mixture onto canvas, brushing or scraping the substrate then elaborating upon it to the desired degree of finish – all by hand., the emulsion gels are used as a base applied to the canvas, manipulating one gel over another until he gets the basic image he desires. He elaborates this image by using traditional painting techniques with brushes, palettes, scalpels, and even his fingers. The gels are a medium themselves which he manipulates and distorts as much as if they were paint. On top of this under painting he adds other mediums (oils, oxides, watercolors, pastels, charcoal, etc.). Shows & ExhibitsAshbord Gallery – Beverly Hills, California, USA. |
Enric Aromi Masriera was born in in Barcelona in 1955, into a family of artists and artisans. His family includes Lluis Masriera, a well-known painter and jewelry designer of the Modernista Movement of Barcelona. Aromi always felt an attraction for the arts, and when he was only 7 years old he began to study drawing, painting and music.