TALKING WITH... LULA GOCE
SUSANNA ALLENDE | ARTICULATE #14 | JANUARY 2018
​URBAN ART

Lula Goce is an all-rounder artist and one of the representative artists of the contemporary urban art scene in Spain.

Mural for Memorie Urbane in Terracina, Italy (2017)

Lula Goce was born in 1976 in Baiona, Galicia. ”I grew up with salty air, homesickness, barnacles and drizzle” she says. In 1996, at the age of 20, Lula Goce moved to Salamanca where she graduated in Fine Arts, specializing in painting. During this period she painted and drew a lot, took many additional courses linked to aesthetics and art, took part in competitions and scholarships related to creative arts, performed and practiced photography and film.

Later and following her ambition to continue her studies Lula Goce moved again, this time to Barcelona where she pursued a graphic design and illustration education, followed by a Ph.D. in Contemporary Art at the University of Barcelona and a Masters in Artistic Creation. Furthermore she followed also numerous courses in art production centres like Hangar in Barcelona or Matadero in Madrid.

Lula Goce’s working life has been always linked to art: from graphic designer to being collaborator and producer in several art projects (such “Curator Wanted” with the LaPinta in Barcelona). She has also carried out independently commissioned projects in industrial and production workshops such as Caminal, has being producer in the LOOP’07 video art festival and worked as illustrator for Esquire magazine. Nowadays she teaches Graphic Design and Illustration at the ESERP University in Barcelona and also at the Felicidad Dulde School of Fashion, where she is dealing with the subjects of Analogue and Digital techniques and Illustrations.

Lula Goce define herself restless and inquisitive. In her work she merges different disciplines placing her creations within the field of design, installation and intervention in spaces. ”My work could be defined by the economics of media and use of the line on white backgrounds, almost aseptic. I have a growing tendency to delve further into the depths of intimacy, and in doing this I get closer to the universal essence of the individual, sometimes with a certain satirical charge, sometimes with humor, but always in the background there is a criticism of the consumer society and identity that each individual generates within that society”.

Detail of the mural painted in Murcia (Spain) for Urbanity Fair / Tuesti.es (2017)

Please introduce yourself to us.​​ How do you see yourself?

​First of all I consider myself an artist. For me, art is a vital necessity, like breathing or eating, it is part of my existence and I consider it necessary to live. As part of this existence, there is the coexistence with the urban environment and the individuals that inhabit it. I live because I coexist and I do street art because it is part of this vital interaction.

How did you get interested in art?

I paint for as long as I can remember. I have always liked to draw, make constructions with wood or anything that was within my reach; give another meaning to daily life, use recycled materials or that have another use; to go out to paint with friends or take any opportunity to paint a mural, do theater or make interventions in the space. When I finished high school I moved to Salamanca where I started studying Fine Arts, and from there until now.

How would you define yourself as an artist? Do you consider yourself a muralist?

I consider myself as artist, I am currently doing more outdoor interventions but I do also indoor work, which has more to do with installation or intervention of exhibition spaces, and take place in galleries or museums. It is a less known part of my work, but as well as make intervention of urban spaces, coexist in me.

How would you define your art?

As an encounter with nature of things and world

What is it that inspires you?

My environment, everything that I find when I travel. Feelings, the sensations, people, the surroundings, a ray of sun or some morning mist, laughter and tears. Love.​

What drew you to the street? Why is street art important?

To perform out on the street has been an important part of this whole process, making the private public and bringing what I do closer to people who in no other way would have acces to an artistic context.
I’ve always gone out to paint with friends, I have performed or done ephemeral installations on the street, as something vital, part of this whole process of artistic grow.

To create new meanings of what is prefixed, to show other possible realities is something that coexists directly with the street, with the surprise of the passer-by, with the evolution of the environment.
I am interested in the movement as well as in the ephemeral and renewal carácter of the street. Nothing lasts, everything tends to decay.
 
The street is important insofar is part of the work, I do not conceive it in any other way. The street, the passer-by, the inhabitants, the ephemeral.

Mural painted in Hannover, Germany (2017)

Do you think artists have the responsibility to be moral? Political? Socially engaged?​​​

Moral, political or social responsibility is necessary and there are different ways to explaining it. Not everything has to be aggressive or violent when we talk about politics or social criticism. I like to approach it through idyllic situations or visualization of welfare states, as a call to better situations.

I feel very committed to the environment, to the environmental criticism and the call to have a awareness that bring us closer to nature and the care to the earth and its resources.​

Detail mural in Hannover, Germany

Mural painted in Requena, Valencia (Spain)

What is the hardest part while working on a piece of art?

For me is the hardest thing is the physical effort, many hours painting with big rollers, with wind, rain, cold, a lot of sun… we go from one extreme to the other, we drop in from the heating and comfort of the cubicle directly to nature. A humanized nature and, in may cases, dehumanized, with polution, with noise.

Do you think artists have the responsibility to explain or contextualize their art?

Absolutely. Personally I need to take into account each specific environment where I am going to paint.
I think that this is part of the work and that I have de responsibility to think about all those people who have to live directly with that space, with my work when I leave.​

Mural in Vigo, Galicia (Spain) - 2016

Do you think women are changing the parameters of street art?

I hope and I wish so. Unfortunately, we continue to work in a predominantly male environment, where the boys are better paid and are more valued. Fortunately, things are changing, but we still have a long way to go.

What are your thoughts on social media? Do you think it helps or hurts artists today?​

I think that is a very dual tool. On one side, it helps a lot at diffusion level, since you can reach anywhere in the world with just one click. On the other side, I also think that it is an important distraction tool, since  all the time we spend browsing in the network is less time we use to make or develop art.

Are there any role models or artists who inspire you and what for?​

I am, among others, very attracted to the work of Hyuro, Fintan Magee, Sebas Velasco, Manolo Mesa, Dafne Tree, David de la Mano and Bosoletti. I am interested in the human part of art, the figuration and painting have the ability to move me, to inspire me. Being able to see them work live is a luxury.

What’s next for you? Any shows, projects, collaborations planned?​

Right now I’m doing a piece for Murcia Street Art project. In December I will participate in a collective at the Street Art Place in Rome (Italy), where in spring this year will hold an individual exhibition.
In February will paint in a Street Art hotel in Madrid for a project commissioned by Urvanity Art.
At the moment, these are the closest projects. I have some others that I am pending to close date for 2018. ​

Is there anything you would like to add?

Love and best vibes for all!!

Thank you Lula Goce for sharing with us some insights about your creative universe. We wish you the best of luck!

​December 2017

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The interview complements the article on 
​Lula Goce, featured in our magazine ARTICULATE #14.
Check out the full release here below.