This multidisciplinary artist from Madrid is one of a kind: diagnosed with an ocular anomaly that reduces her visual acuity, Alehk sees the world through contrasts of light and textures that minimise her spatial perception.
Her uniqueness lies in the way she looks at things: she transforms an object by reconstructing it and capturing it in painting. Colour, geometry and the abstract shape the work of this peculiar artist
By Laura Martínez
Photos: Phillip Pessar / Amaury Laporte / Lazy Llama / Carsten Tilbach / Sergio Santos
When thinking about the Art Deco concept, a whole potpurri of ideas come to mind: geometric curves, neon lights, a Lana de Rey song, pastel colours, Leonardo Di Caprio wearing a tuxedo in The Great Gatsby, winking while he raises his Martini, and of course, Miami. If you thought of these things then you’re on the right track; Art Deco is all this and more. It’s pure eclecticism.
This architectural movement, which could well be a modern version of neoclassicism, had its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s, between the two World Wars. Its greatest expression is in Miami’s Art Deco Historic District – which is also the first 20th century neighbourhood to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places and protected by the Miami Design Preservation League – comprising a whopping 800 buildings and structures built between 1923 and 1943.
The largest concentration of Art Deco buildings in the world stretches along Ocean Drive and Washington Avenue to Collins Street. A magnetism that is built on evocative hotel names (Marlin, Leslie, Colony, Raleigh…) with sleek, minimalist typography clad in neon and vibrant colours, inviting you to imagine endless nights, dancing the Charleston and smoking with a Widmann cigarette holder, wielded by stylish women with a pistol hidden in their stockings.
One of the most emblematic is the Park Central Hotel (640 Ocean Drive) by New York architect Henry Hohauser, who is also the architect behind many establishments in the so-called Magic City: Colony Hotel (736 Ocean Drive), The Cardozo (1300 Ocean Drive) and The Governor (21 Street).
But Art Deco was not born in South Beach (the Americans appropriated the idea and made it their own, like always), it is a monumentality borrowed from Ancient Egypt, the fractioned forms of Cubism, the geometrisation of Bauhaus, the electric lighting of Futurism, the colours of Fauvism – that provocative use of colour whose precursor was Henri Matisse – and voilà! These all coexist in harmony.
Art Deco is hedonistic, bourgeois, almost purely decorative. An ideal escape route for jazz and cocaine parties in the midst of the post-war period. The perfect counterpoint to the forced austerity after the First World War and the decadence after the Second. It is the artistic result of an era of great technological, political and social change, and that is why it is an almost incomprehensible mixture of elements that make this architectural style one of the most
recognisable and attractive in existence.
This hard-to-define amalgamation brought together the complete spectrum of the arts: decorative, graphic, architecture, jewellery, sculpture, industrial design, painting, cinema… in a maelstrom of shapes and colours that encompasses everything from gigantic skyscrapers to small objects, including such recognisable objects as the Academy Award (Oscars) statuette to the robot in Fritz Lang’s classic film, Metropolis (1927). It left his mark on everything that could be called aesthetic, influencing the culture of its time and proposing revolutionary new stylistic directions.
At Concept we like all that is out of the norm, and that is why Art Deco is the reference point that has inspired our hotels: Tropicana’s nods to MiMo (Miami Modern). Paradiso’s pastel pink colours and geometric shapes, Cubanito’s colourful façade. Art Deco encompasses art and detail like no other, and has once again been chosen, in its most classic and elegant version, for our new project: Grand Paradiso, a revolutionary breath of fresh air where summer never ends.
By Pablo Sierra
In the late 1960s, a shockwave of hippy love crossed the Atlantic to dock on European shores. Ibiza was one of the epicentres of an earthquake that questioned everything, but changed almost nothing except culture in general. Music: rock, folk, psychedelia, funk, punk, reggae and disco changed forever. A smörgåsbord of sounds provided the soundtrack for an island that became a refuge and source of inspiration for many artists until the nineties.
Christa Päffgen’s pale complexion contrasted with the darkness of a voice that illuminated avant-garde scene art scene half a century ago. A deep tone resonated from her voluptuous lips. This German singer’s overwhelming beauty captivated all who made her their muse. Andy Warhol was the first to fall under a spell, that also captivated the members of The Velvet Underground.
The international pop-rock scene quickly followed suit as Christa became Nico, the stage name she was given by a photographer. She became a singer-songwriter, model and actress, whose stunning, chiselled features ultimately brought her more sadness than joy. After touring on several low budget tours in the 80s, she wanted to get away from it all and went to Ibiza on holiday in 1988.
She loved riding her bike along the island’s rural roads and unfortunately, this is how she met her end. On 18th July she fell off her bike and hit her head on a rock, causing severe brain haemorrhage. Her friends said goodbye by playing her songs on a cassette tape at her funeral.
An artist who always had a pleasant relationship with God and Ibiza is Nina Hagen, another German whose dazzling performances raised the extravagance of operatic punk to the next level. Nina experienced an epiphany when experimenting with LSD, a moment that marked her destiny. She was nineteen years old when she heard a male voice mumbling, “Nina, I’m here. I will help you.” From then on her dogma consisted of a mixture of religion, spiritualism and a fervent belief in aliens.
The mother of punk decided to get married in Ibiza in 1987 to an 18-year old called Iroquois. Their wedding photo is one of the most original of all time: Nina with a cascade of red hair flowing down her back and Iroquois sporting a massive Mohican. The nuptials were crowned with a wild celebration of their love at Benirràs, an occasion that only a privileged few could attend. It’s quite possibly the most bizarre wedding that the island has ever known.
By Pablo Sierra
Photos courtesy of Juan Suárez
In the middle of that glorious decade known as the Eighties, Spain was taking firm steps towards becoming the modern society that we know today.
There was a hurry to take advantage of the opportunities that the Barcelona Olympic Games and the Seville Expo would provide. Music, and Ibiza, wasn’t about to get left behind. Pino Sagliocco, an Italian based in Ibiza, escaped the town of his birth, Mezzogiorno, to become one of the boldest promoters in the world. Based In Ibiza at the beginning of the 80s, Sagliocco was in the right place, at the right time, when he invented Ibiza’92.“What makes Pino Sagliocco great is his ability in thinking bigger, better and further than the rest of us mortals.
That’s what makes him unique and incomparable.” said Juan Suárez, one of the collaborators who worked with Pino on the festival, held in KU discotheque, that hosted concerts from la crème de la crème of the music world, between 1987 and 1990. Grace Jones, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Mick Jones from The Clash, Chris Rea, El Último de la Fila, Hombres G, and Ramoncín were just some of the great names that played.
Frank Zappa attended the concerts and happily chatted to journalists and music lovers about how music was changing culture, something he unfortunately didn’t get to see himself due to his premature death in 1993. Suárez continued “Zappa was living proof that when superstars come to Ibiza they are so much more relaxed, because they get to escape their normal routine”.
Before Ibiza’92, Suárez had already been on the KU stage to present James Brown in concert (which was another Sagliocco production). The Godfather of Soul was in the twilight of his career, and although he gave the promoters a hard time with his extravagant requests, the music that Brother Brown delivered that night made the walls drip with soul. An incredible concert.
Before Ibiza’92, Suárez had already been on the KU stage to present James Brown in concert (which was another Sagliocco production). The Godfather of Soul was in the twilight of his career, and although he gave the promoters a hard time with his extravagant requests, the music that Brother Brown delivered that night made the walls drip with soul. An incredible concert.
Sagliocco’s wish came true on 30th May 1987, and was filmed by the cameras from state channel, Spanish Television, with two thousand people in the audience and a production that cost 300 million pesetas, a large amount of money at the time (equivalent to the annual salary of three footballers from Real Madrid or FC Barcelona, for example). Caballé, as journalist Jacinto Antón wrote in El País, was led by Freddie Mercury dressed in a tuxedo on to the stage and this image entered into the history of music and sports. Five years later the song was the official anthem of the Barcelona Olympic Games.
At a time when the internet was still a distant dream Suarez recalled that “you had to travel to London, Madrid, Barcelona, Los Angeles or the fashion capitals to hire the big artists. Negotiations and contracts were made by telex (note for millennials: the telex, or teletype, was a device that allowed to the sending of typed messages, an analogical fusion between the 19th telegraph and the 21st century WhatsApp, that thirty years ago, was very useful for war correspondents and event promoters to send stories or contracts to the other parts of the world).
This method was followed by fax and telephone. However the personal presence of the promoter was important because it gave credibility, economic guarantees and visibility for projects” The technical side of things was also a challenge. In the late Eighties, organising a festival on the island – the Sueños de Libertad festival is a recent example – was much more expensive and complex than organising it on the Spanish peninsula.
“Setting up a show on the island costs ten times more work, money, passion and effort than in any other part of the world. Back then there were no light or sound companies on the island that had the necessary equipment for a concert.
This meant having to bring in amplifiers, lights and sound equipment from outside of the island, and this made it very difficult to organise any concerts. You had to resort to playback at times, especially when it was recorded for television, for takes, repeats and so on. And some artists would only perform with playback because they loved it so much,” said Suarez.
However, Suárez considers that “Ibiza’92 was a groundbreaking event, both visually and musically, it was well worth the effort”. “The island was then known as a destination for family tourism, or for the British, partying in Sant Antoni. The international broadcast of the festivals, and the number of well-known artists who performed, generated a new trend that turned the island into an unmissable destination for music and entertainment. Pino Sagliocco planted the seed of what Ibiza is now: the mecca of global electronic music “.
By Pablo Sierra
There are calls that change your life. When Anna Dimitrova, gallery owner and cultural manager, picked up the phone, she did not know that a few months later she would be setting up an art gallery in Ibiza.
When she hung up the phone, this native of Bulgaria, educated in Morocco, and who currently commutes between Barcelona and Paris, was almost instantly convinced to take up the challenge posed to her: to be the artistic heart of Paradiso Ibiza Art Hotel.
–Two years ago Diana Kunst called me and said: “Would you like to open a gallery in Ibiza?” The idea tempted me a lot and, at that moment, I saw everything clearly. I visited the building, which in the future would be the hotel, and I found it impossible not to fall in love with Paradiso.
This is a great example of who Dimitrova is: she isn’t a person to hide her emotions and she doesn’t mind doing drastic turns if passion is behind the wheel. Until 2007 she was dedicated to the world of advertising and communication. From then on she applied her knowledge to branding, marketing and investing her time in what she really loved; art. She especially loves urban art and she said: “There has been an explosion in street art, a real boom, and it is increasingly recognised by a larger audience. It has created authentic fans who follow their favourite artists around the world, and know everything about them. People are very motivated to see this type of art exhibition”. She currently curates artists such as: Escif, Ebok, Levalet, Spok, Smithe, Nuria Mora and Sebas Velasco.
“Desde pequeña me obsesionan la cultura y el arte. Cuando crecí tuve cabeza para darme cuenta de que era bastante mejor organizando que dibujando”, dice Dimitrova. Nobulo y Adda son el fruto de su esfuerzo y de su gusto por la belleza transgresora. A través de sus dos proyectos produce exposiciones por todos los rincones del planeta. En las dos ciudades donde duerme la mayor parte de las noches dirige y gestiona, respectivamente, sendos espacios expositivos: Montana Gallery, en Barcelona, y Adda&Taxie, en París.
“Ever since I was young I have been obsessed with culture and art. When I grew up I realised that I was much better at organising than at drawing, “says Dimitrova. Nobulo and Adda are the fruit of her efforts, as well as her taste for transgressive beauty. She organises exhibitions in all corners of the world through these two projects. Anna currently directs and manages exhibitions in the two cities where she spends the majority of her time, precisely in Montana Gallery in Barcelona, and Adda & Taxie in Paris.
In 2018 Paradiso became a part of her working life, as the place where she has launched Adda Gallery Ibiza: “The risk of filling a hotel with art is that the works end up being simple decoration. This does not happen in Paradiso for a very simple reason: the gallery is independent from the hotel, and although it is separate, it is at the same time connected to the rest of the facilities. We nourish each other, but each zone maintains its personality.” For Dimitrova, that fact that each room is dedicated to a different artist, and that the lobby is a place where art experiences occur is something more than the hotel’s hallmark. It is the soul of Paradiso because “works of art transmit the energy and experiences of their creators in the space where they are exposed”.
The coloured pills of the young Catalan graffiti artist Abel Iglesias (in May and June 2019) and the wild fauna that the Madrid muralist Sabek (in July and August 2019) expresses in his art will be the two individual exhibitions hosted at Adda Gallery Ibiza this season. In September and October 2019, the 4th edition of the collective exhibition “O”, will arrive in Paradiso; a visual ode to eroticism and sensuality, where artists such as Apollonia, Saintclair, Mark Bodé, Alphachanneling, Enric Sant and photographer Diana Kunst, Dimitrova’s great friend, will take part. During the summer, Jorge Arévalo’s illustrations, and the suggestive mixture of painting, photography and nudity by Eric Ceccarini, a Belgian artist based in Ibiza, will define the landscape in the Paradiso lobby.
“I love Spain because the urban artists who live in different cities talk and communicate with each other. They are in constantly in contact and carry out common projects that enrich them as creators. This happens less frequently in other countries such as France, for example. Scheduling an exhibition for an artist like Eric [Ceccarini] in the Ibiza gallery is very interesting because then there is a necessary interaction with local art. Since we opened, many artists from the island have passed through Paradiso to introduce themselves and show their work “, says Anna Dimitrova. She continued: “ Me, my Ibicencan gallery and the Paradiso Ibiza were like a UFO, landing in the middle of Cala de Bou. It was something that had never been seen before in this area. I am convinced that the light of the project will also attract the rest of the zone.” It is safe to say that it is already shining brightly.
“I love Spain because the urban artists who live in different cities talk and communicate with each other. They are in constantly in contact and carry out common projects that enrich them as creators. This happens less frequently in other countries such as France, for example. Scheduling an exhibition for an artist like Eric [Ceccarini] in the Ibiza gallery is very interesting because then there is a necessary interaction with local art. Since we opened, many artists from the island have passed through Paradiso to introduce themselves and show their work “, says Anna Dimitrova. She continued: “ Me, my Ibicencan gallery and the Paradiso Ibiza were like a UFO, landing in the middle of Cala de Bou. It was something that had never been seen before in this area. I am convinced that the light of the project will also attract the rest of the zone.” It is safe to say that it is already shining brightly.
