Skip to main content
Outdated Browser

For the best experience using our website, we recommend upgrading your browser to a newer version or switching to a supported browser.

More Information

Interviews

“A Generation Without Substitute”: Galicia’s Supernatural Grannies

By Alexander Aguayo
Translated from Spanish by Alexander Aguayo
"I think of the women in rural Galicia as a collective."

This month’s issue of Words Without Borders is graced by the art of Galician muralist Joseba Muruzábal, also known as Yoseba MP. The piece, Leiterofilia II, is one of a series of awe-inspiring murals collectively titled Fenómenos do rural (Rural Phenomena) and exhibited across Galicia, an autonomous community of Spain. The murals have garnered attention for their depictions of superpowerful grandmothers, women endemic to the region who have toiled and worked the soil of rural Galicia. In this interview conducted over e-mail, Muruzábal tells us how his murals give testament to a generation of women whose lifestyles resist the encroachments of speculative urbanization. 

A greleira de 50 pés

Alexander Aguayo: Good afternoon, Joseba. You have had a lot of success with your work, Fenómenos do rural (Rural Phenomena). How do you feel about that?

Joseba Muruzábal: Very pleased. I’ve had the fortune to meet new models in different parts of Galicia, paint in several parts of my country that I did not know, and be able to charge a dignifying price for it.

Aguayo: Tell me a bit about your artistic training. Was there something particular about art that inspired you? What about mural art excites you?

Muruzábal: I received my training from a university that specializes in conceptual art; ideas were always superior to technique. It’s something that now, I believe, works to my advantage, though back then it was frustrating. Nowadays, I round out my education taking courses with painters I like. It’s like going to the training room in The Matrix; in one weekend you learn a lot of information. The last one I did was with Iñigo Navarro, an amazing painter.

One thing that I love most about muralism is its physical aspect. It’s exhausting, but at the same time very dynamic. What I don’t accomplish in the studio, painting without interruption, the mural demands of me. The mural has a timeline, you know when you begin and when you finish. You can leave a portrait unfinished for months, even years. Half-finished work leaves me in a well of unrest. It’s like when you read a Russian novel, one of the thick kind, and you take a few months’ break somewhere in the middle. Murals don’t let me idle away, and I like that.

Another amazing thing about muralism is that it allows you to meet new people and places. Certainly, this is the most enriching part of the job.

Aguayo: What was your intention when you began to paint the “supergrannies” in Fenómenos do rural? What impact did you want to have in the world with these subjects?

Muruzábal: To give testament to the difficult life of these women in a humorous tone. I think of the women in rural Galicia as a collective. This is key given that people understand the protagonists of the murals as metaphors for their own grandmothers. One alone represents the values of all, in spite of the fact that each mural tries to reflect the particularities, too, of each subject.

Soledad, a Poppins do sar

Aguayo: What characteristics attract you to rural environments? What relationship exists between your representations of ruralism and the urban environment in which your murals are displayed?

Muruzábal: I have only three murals from Fenómenos do rural in cities; the rest are in small towns. And as I always say, Galicia is all rural. Galician cities guard with zeal their rural areas. The mural that I painted in Santiago has just below it a group of houses with vegetable gardens and granaries that resist speculative urbanization right in the city center.

I have a video where I put together the process for each mural. I always try to mirror the reality of what I am painting by filming the surroundings. From the crane I tend to see women in aprons working on their garden plots or homes. It is very beautiful when the thing you are painting is replicated in the real life taking place around the mural.

Amparo, a reposteira dos montes

Aguayo: Within muralism various subjects are represented in a single image, which points to social life. What does it mean that the “supergrannies” are represented as individuals?

Muruzábal: Normally, that is how you find them: they are solitary workers, which by no means takes away from the fact that they make a social life in their garden plots. But in general, when you cross paths with a “supergranny” on a sidewalk, she tends to be alone on her way to or from work. The small homestead tends to be a site of individual work.

Aguayo: The woman that inspires you, what role does she represent in art? Is representing her a means of “translating,” that is, of adapting her to a different system of signification? Or better yet, is it a means of archiving Galicia?

Muruzábal: It is a way of archiving Galicia, of giving testimony in a humorous tone to this generation of women that due to a series of conditions share a way of life. Mind you, here is a generation without substitute, the people now raised in the country do not have the same life experiences as these women, luckily. Their superpowers are born out of overexerting themselves their whole lives, and now in old age they are unable to put the brakes on it. As a result, you can come across eighty-year old women pruning apple trees.

Eugenia e o dragón do batea

Aguayo: What else inspires you? Comics?

Muruzábal: Of course. Being born in the 1980s in the full swing of pop culture, it shows. On the one hand, I paint a woman who serves as a paradigm for the collective, and on the other, I mix this image with concepts borrowed from popular culture that are recognized by everyone. It’s painting for all publics with different levels of interpretation.

Aguayo: How has your technique or vision changed over the years?

Muruzábal: With time I would like my work to be valuable as much for its content as for its form. Although for many viewers my technique is good, in my opinion there is room for growth. I am working on that, continuing to learn.

Aguayo: What more can we expect to see from you?

Muruzábal: Well . . . let’s see if I exhibit my doll. For a while now I have been making a doll. The protagonist Dora, the model for my portrait Equilibrios na horta (Equilibriums on the Homestead). I didn’t like the first finish and I put the brakes on it for two years. This year I will try to finish it and put her up for sale.

© 2021 by Alexander Aguayo. All rights reserved.

English Spanish (Original)

This month’s issue of Words Without Borders is graced by the art of Galician muralist Joseba Muruzábal, also known as Yoseba MP. The piece, Leiterofilia II, is one of a series of awe-inspiring murals collectively titled Fenómenos do rural (Rural Phenomena) and exhibited across Galicia, an autonomous community of Spain. The murals have garnered attention for their depictions of superpowerful grandmothers, women endemic to the region who have toiled and worked the soil of rural Galicia. In this interview conducted over e-mail, Muruzábal tells us how his murals give testament to a generation of women whose lifestyles resist the encroachments of speculative urbanization. 

A greleira de 50 pés

Alexander Aguayo: Good afternoon, Joseba. You have had a lot of success with your work, Fenómenos do rural (Rural Phenomena). How do you feel about that?

Joseba Muruzábal: Very pleased. I’ve had the fortune to meet new models in different parts of Galicia, paint in several parts of my country that I did not know, and be able to charge a dignifying price for it.

Aguayo: Tell me a bit about your artistic training. Was there something particular about art that inspired you? What about mural art excites you?

Muruzábal: I received my training from a university that specializes in conceptual art; ideas were always superior to technique. It’s something that now, I believe, works to my advantage, though back then it was frustrating. Nowadays, I round out my education taking courses with painters I like. It’s like going to the training room in The Matrix; in one weekend you learn a lot of information. The last one I did was with Iñigo Navarro, an amazing painter.

One thing that I love most about muralism is its physical aspect. It’s exhausting, but at the same time very dynamic. What I don’t accomplish in the studio, painting without interruption, the mural demands of me. The mural has a timeline, you know when you begin and when you finish. You can leave a portrait unfinished for months, even years. Half-finished work leaves me in a well of unrest. It’s like when you read a Russian novel, one of the thick kind, and you take a few months’ break somewhere in the middle. Murals don’t let me idle away, and I like that.

Another amazing thing about muralism is that it allows you to meet new people and places. Certainly, this is the most enriching part of the job.

Aguayo: What was your intention when you began to paint the “supergrannies” in Fenómenos do rural? What impact did you want to have in the world with these subjects?

Muruzábal: To give testament to the difficult life of these women in a humorous tone. I think of the women in rural Galicia as a collective. This is key given that people understand the protagonists of the murals as metaphors for their own grandmothers. One alone represents the values of all, in spite of the fact that each mural tries to reflect the particularities, too, of each subject.

Soledad, a Poppins do sar

Aguayo: What characteristics attract you to rural environments? What relationship exists between your representations of ruralism and the urban environment in which your murals are displayed?

Muruzábal: I have only three murals from Fenómenos do rural in cities; the rest are in small towns. And as I always say, Galicia is all rural. Galician cities guard with zeal their rural areas. The mural that I painted in Santiago has just below it a group of houses with vegetable gardens and granaries that resist speculative urbanization right in the city center.

I have a video where I put together the process for each mural. I always try to mirror the reality of what I am painting by filming the surroundings. From the crane I tend to see women in aprons working on their garden plots or homes. It is very beautiful when the thing you are painting is replicated in the real life taking place around the mural.

Amparo, a reposteira dos montes

Aguayo: Within muralism various subjects are represented in a single image, which points to social life. What does it mean that the “supergrannies” are represented as individuals?

Muruzábal: Normally, that is how you find them: they are solitary workers, which by no means takes away from the fact that they make a social life in their garden plots. But in general, when you cross paths with a “supergranny” on a sidewalk, she tends to be alone on her way to or from work. The small homestead tends to be a site of individual work.

Aguayo: The woman that inspires you, what role does she represent in art? Is representing her a means of “translating,” that is, of adapting her to a different system of signification? Or better yet, is it a means of archiving Galicia?

Muruzábal: It is a way of archiving Galicia, of giving testimony in a humorous tone to this generation of women that due to a series of conditions share a way of life. Mind you, here is a generation without substitute, the people now raised in the country do not have the same life experiences as these women, luckily. Their superpowers are born out of overexerting themselves their whole lives, and now in old age they are unable to put the brakes on it. As a result, you can come across eighty-year old women pruning apple trees.

Eugenia e o dragón do batea

Aguayo: What else inspires you? Comics?

Muruzábal: Of course. Being born in the 1980s in the full swing of pop culture, it shows. On the one hand, I paint a woman who serves as a paradigm for the collective, and on the other, I mix this image with concepts borrowed from popular culture that are recognized by everyone. It’s painting for all publics with different levels of interpretation.

Aguayo: How has your technique or vision changed over the years?

Muruzábal: With time I would like my work to be valuable as much for its content as for its form. Although for many viewers my technique is good, in my opinion there is room for growth. I am working on that, continuing to learn.

Aguayo: What more can we expect to see from you?

Muruzábal: Well . . . let’s see if I exhibit my doll. For a while now I have been making a doll. The protagonist Dora, the model for my portrait Equilibrios na horta (Equilibriums on the Homestead). I didn’t like the first finish and I put the brakes on it for two years. This year I will try to finish it and put her up for sale.

© 2021 by Alexander Aguayo. All rights reserved.

“Una generación sin relevo”: Las superabuelas de Galicia

“Una generación sin relevo”: Las superabuelas de Galicia

Una entrevista con Yoseba Muruzábal

 

Este mes el número de Words Without Borders está adornado con el arte del muralista gallego Joseba Muruzábal, también conocido como Yoseba MP. La obra titulada “Leiterofilia II,” la cual aparece en la página principal del número, forma parte de una serie impresionante de murales colectivamente titulados “Fenómenos do rural” y expuesta en Galicia, una comunidad autónoma de España. Los murales han llamado la atención por sus representaciones de abuelas superpoderosas, mujeres nativas a la región y quienes día tras día han trabajado la tierra de Galicia. En esta entrevista realizada a través de correo electrónico Muruzábal nos cuenta cómo es que sus murales dan un testimonio de una generación de mujeres cuyo estilo de vida resiste la invasión de la especulación urbanística. 

 

Aguayo: Buenas tardes Yoseba, con su obra “Fenómenos do rural” ha tenido mucho éxito. ¿Cómo se siente al respecto?

 

Muruzábal: Muy contento, es una suerte ir conociendo a nuevas modelos en diferentes puntos de Galicia, pintar en sitios de mi tierra que no conocía y poder cobrar dignamente por ello.

 

Aguayo: Cuénteme un poco acerca de su formación artística, ¿Hubo algo en especial que le inspiró en el arte? ¿Qué le apasiona del mural?

 

Muruzábal: Me forme en una universidad de corte conceptual, las ideas siempre estuvieron por encima de la técnica. Algo que ahora, creo que juega en mi favor en su momento llegó a ser frustrante. A día de hoy voy completando mi formación haciendo cursos con pintores que me gustan, es como ir al programa de entrenamiento de Matrix, en un fin de semana asimilas muchísima información. El último que hice fue con Iñigo Navarro, un pintorazo.

 

Una de las cosas que más me gusta del muralismo es su parte física. Es agotador, pero a la vez muy dinámica. Lo que no consigo en el estudio, pintar sin descanso, el mural me lo exige. El mural tiene un tiempo; sabes cuando empiezas y cuando acabas. Un cuadro lo puedo tener inacabado meses, incluso años. Las cosas a medias siempre me dejan un poso de intranquilidad, como cuando lees una novela rusa de las gordas y haces un parón de unos meses por el medio. Los murales no me permiten vaguear, y eso me gusta.

 

Otra de las maravillas del muralismo es conocer gente y sitios nuevos. Seguramente, esta sea la parte más enriquecedora de este trabajo.

 

Aguayo: ¿Qué fue su intención cuando comenzó a pintar a las “superabuelas” en Fenómenos do rural? ¿Qué impacto quiso lograr en el mundo con los personajes de las “superabuelas”?

 

Muruzábal: Dar un testimonio de la dura vida de estas mujeres en clave de humor.

Concibo a las mujeres del rural gallego como un colectivo. Este concepto es clave, ya que la gente identifica a las protagonistas de los murales como una metáfora de lo que representan sus abuelas. Una representa los valores de todas, a pesar de cada mural trate de reflejar también las particularidades de cada modelo.

 

Aguayo: ¿Qué características del medio rural le atrae? ¿Qué relación existe entre sus representaciones del rural y el ambiente urbano dentro del cual se exponen sus murales?

 

Muruzábal: Solo tengo 3 murales de Fenómenos do rural en ciudades, el resto está en pueblos. Y como siempre digo, Galicia es todo rural. Las ciudades gallegas guardan con celo parcelas del rural. El mural que pinté en Santiago tiene justo debajo un conjunto de casas con huertas y hórreos que resisten a la especulación urbanística en pleno centro.

 

Tengo un vídeo donde voy montando el proceso de cada mural. Siempre intento reflejar la realidad de lo que pinto grabando el entorno. Desde la grúa suelo ver a señoras con mandilón trabajando en sus huertas o es sus casas. Es muy bonito cuando lo que estás pintando se reproduce en la realidad justo al lado del muro.

 

Aguayo: Dentro del muralismo, hay varios personajes retratados en un solo mural, algo que indica la vida social. ¿Qué significa que las “superabuelas” estén representadas de manera individual?

 

Muruzábal: Normalmente es como las encuentras, son trabajadoras solitarias, lo que no quita que hagan vida social en las huertas. Pero por lo general, cuando te cruzas a una superabuela en el arcén de la carretera suele ir o venir sola de trabajar. La huerta minifundista  suele ser un trabajo individual.

 

Aguayo: La mujer en quien se inspira, ¿Qué papel representa en el arte? ¿Representarla es una manera de traducirla, o sea, de adaptarla dentro de otro sistema de significación? o ¿es más bien una forma de archivar Galicia?

 

Muruzábal: Es un forma de archivar Galicia, dar un testimonio en clave de humor de esta generación de mujeres que por una serie de condiciones comparten un estilo de vida. Ojo, aquí, es una generación sin relevo, la gente que ahora se cría en el campo no tiene las misma vivencias que tuvieron estás mujeres; por suerte. Los superpoderes nacen de hacer un sobre esfuerzo durante toda la vida, y ya en la vejez no saber parar la máquina. De ahí, a que puedas encontrarte con  mujeres de ochenta años podando manzanos.

 

Aguayo: ¿En qué más se inspira? ¿El cómic?

 

Muruzábal: Claro. Nacer en los ochenta en pleno auge de la cultura pop se nota. Por un lado pinto una mujer que sirve como paradigma de un colectivo, y por otro lado, mezclo esa imagen con conceptos sacados de la cultura popular que casi todo el mundo reconoce. Pintura para todos los públicos con diferentes niveles de lectura.

 

Aguayo: ¿Cómo ha cambiado su técnica o visión a lo largo de los años?

 

Muruzábal: Con el tiempo me gustaría que mi pintura valiera tanto por su contenido como por su forma. Aunque para la gran mayoría mi técnica es buena, en mi opinión es muy mejorable. Y en eso estoy, seguir aprendiendo.

 

Aguayo: ¿Qué más podemos esperar de usted?

 

Muruzábal: Pues. . .a ver si doy sacado mi muñeca. Llevo tiempo haciendo una muñeca. La protagonista Dora, la modelo del cuadro “Equilibrios na horta”. No me gustó el primer acabado y la dejé aparcada dos años. Este año intentaré terminarla y sacarla a la venta.

Read Next