Save the crocodile !
Luaiso Lopez x Kram
Genesis
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This is one of the most special projects I’ve had the chance to work on.
When I was very young, I moved to Barcelona. I soon started finding murals all over the city signed by a graffiti artist: Kram. His style, instead of letters, was always based on characters halfway between flat drawing and three-dimensionality, with striking colors, very defined lines, and a suggestive narrative. At that time I was an illustrator, and I felt identified with and inspired by his pieces.
About ten years later, I worked as Art Director Assistant, specialized in props and set design, dressing and shaping spaces and locations for film and advertising shoots.
On one of those multi-day shoots I met a girl, also an art assistant, and at one point, while talking about graffiti, I told her that my favorite graffiti artist, without a doubt, was Kram.
By coincidence, or not, it turned out she was his partner, and she invited me to his studio to meet him.
We connected quickly, and after talking for a while about our creative processes, he suggested collaborating on an Art Toy based on one of his characters for his solo show at the Montana gallery in Barcelona.
Process
Together we decided which of his characters would work best as an Art Toy. He then prepared a sketch and developed several views so that I could work from them.
Since his style had always been a reference for my Art Toys, working with his shapes and proportions felt almost natural. It was a very enjoyable process that I loved from start to finish.
Show
The show was a success, and my small piece was very well received. There I also had the pleasure of meeting Owen, another graffiti artist that usually worked with Kram as a duo (the one who painted the background of the piece shown in the photo that opens this project page).
It was eventually acquired by a Japanese collector through the Art Toy Gama collective, with whom I was collaborating at the time.
Legacy
Save The Crocodile! is a piece that means a lot to me. It represents, to a great extent, my time in Barcelona, my graffiti influences, and my admiration for Kram.
It is also a real example of how unexpected connections appear when I get involved in what I love.
