Interviewed by Lucy A.Edwards on behalf of The Moniker Foundation
Last month, we sat down with Spanish artist duo DOURONE to speak about their works and what life looks like for them in 2022. DOURONE is made up of Fabio Lopez Gonzalo and Élodie Arshak.
So, tell us about the name "DOURONE" - where did it come from and does it have a meaning?
Dourone comes from the time when I (Fabio) made graffiti in 1999. At that time it was simply “DOUR", applying one of the unwritten graffiti rules of that time which was that your signature had to have 4 letters. It was a few years later that I added the "ONE" - making it clear that I was the first to sign as Dour. In that time you could sell your signature to another graffiti artist and he would go on to paint dourTWO and so you could know that there was one before him painting DOUR. The name DOUR did not look for a meaning. I chose it looking for letters that I liked how they fit one with the other. Simply for aesthetics when making a piece of graffiti and above all because no one painted DOUR in my city (Madrid).
Something that really interests us about you is that you actually started off as one artist, but now are a duo? Fabio, how did it come about that Elodie would join you and what does she bring to your artistic outcome? In 2012, I asked Elodie if she would like us to work together (and it took her a while but she finally said yes). At first Elodie was my manager but as the years went by she helped me paint and many other things in the process. Today we can say that we are a duo, joining forces to go further. I still do creativity (Dourone) but it would NOT be the same result if I didn't work with Elodie. We want to increase the team to be able to go much further.
Do you both have quite different drawing styles or would you say they're similar?
As I said in the previous question, there is only one drawing style that is Dourone's but there are two thinking heads that are DOURONE and ELODIE.
There seems to be quite a deep concept behind your artworks - can you tell us a little more about this?
The concept of work is something that has evolved and changed more or less every 4 years. The only thing that has never changed is in the human part.
Right at this time, we are at the beginning of a new stage where the concept is much more personal and intimate. Where through us ,we are going to show our tastes and thoughts of the world in which we live. At this stage, we are expanding the format in which we work much more, we are adding everything that has to do with design, such as furniture, interior design, fashion ...
Fabio, we read that you are a self-taught artist and have been painting graffiti since the late 90s - do you still dabble in graff or are you solely focused on commissioned murals?
It is very difficult if not impossible to separate yourself from graffiti. I never liked to pigeonhole myself into one thing. Not even when I started doing graffiti I liked being called a graffiti artist.
Elodie, we would love to hear a little more about your background? Whats your experience as an artist before you joined DOURONE?
Before joining DOURONE I do not consider having had experience as an artist but I do consider having moved, learned and involved in the artistic world. I worked many years in fashion with designers, in music with musicians… Let's say that all these years before working with Dourone have been years of learning and a lot of observation. When I started working with Fabio, my job was more of a manager and little by little in a natural way I began to be part of the artistic process assisting him. Today we work as a duo for Fabio's stage name: DOURONE.
Mural in Helsingborg for @powwowsweden, 2021
Your most recent works are vibrant and multi-coloured, where as older works were a bit more toned down, sometimes with as little as only a 2 colour colour pallet - how do you think your styles have changed and grown over the years? It seems your relationship with colour has changed quite dramatically?
My style always changes because I am always looking to improve. My first painting when I was 8 or 9 years old was the portrait of my mother. I always like to portray people and look for the expression that makes them different from others. I see my growth as a circle. I always do the same things again but with the vision of the time in which I live.
#7Ways2Love Project in Barcelona, 2017
As many of our readers know by now, Moniker drop a new print each month in collaboration with our hand-selected artists from the Urban and New Contemporary Art Market - the prints are only available for 7 days, 15% of profits go to a charity of the artist's choice and the edition is realised by the amount of prints sold - we are happy to welcome DOURONE to the collection, tell us a little bit more about your print/why you chose this design for a Moniker Edition (coming in 2022):
The print is titled "I AM SEEN BY EVERYTHING I LOOK AT"
Since I was little, my first way of learning was by observing. In this time in which we live, social networks are the focus of 4,480 million people, which means that more than 50% of the planet is connected. I have never felt so observed and so observant. That at times it is overwhelming and difficult to understand what my point of view is. But on the other side of the coin, I have never felt as much a part of this planet as I do now. I like to live this time in which you experience changes in real time. In which everyone can comment on their point of view and send a message to the planet in which if you see yourself reflected, you can keep it to yourself.
Chosen Charity: One World Media: https://oneworldmedia.org.uk
Whats upcoming in the world of DOURONE? Any exhibitions or projects that you are currently working on?
The only thing I can say is to be attentive to the new creations. This stage is going to be much more personal and you will be able to see Dourone more closely.
Our most recent exhibition was at the Ruby Gallery in Brussels, Belgium.
Here is a small explanation and link to the exhibition video:
00: 00'02
2 seconds is what we subconsciously need to take a look at the news of our social networks by scrolling through them endlessly.
2 seconds during which we see landscapes, trips, food, parties, artworks, people ... etc.
2 seconds are enough for us to get an idea.
Here, the work of the last 3 years of photo sessions, interviews and follow-ups of 7 women is shown in 2 seconds.
These 7 women were found on Instagram and selected from 1,221 million active users.
The 2 seconds of each of these women make us reflect on the deconstruction of time and how the limits of time are set by each of us in a society of culture of immediacy.
By contrast, each artwork in this exhibition takes an average of 2 weeks of work.
This exhibition raises the relationship between space and time in its SPACE / TIME series where the number of seconds recorded equals the number of works by the same person.
Continue to follow Fabio and Elodie's journey on @dourone and look out for their print coming to Moniker Editions in May 2022!
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