Emilio Villalba is a Mexican-American painter living in San Francisco. Born in Chula Vista and raised in Southern California, he grew up interested in drawing and art. He created a career in Los Angeles as a visual effects artist where he animated television commercials and films. After 2 years in the industry, he left for San Francisco to study fine art. He’s now focused on exploring painting figuratively, pulling inspiration from both old masters and contemporary artists—from Velázquez to Alice Neel and Basquiat.
Emilio’s latest exhibition, “People and Things” will be on view at Hashimoto Contemporary in New York from Saturday, July 17th to Saturday, August 7th, 2021.
Show Notes:
00:03:12 - Emilio’s latest body of work 00:06:50 - Exploring new visual avenues 00:13:33 - Self-awareness of one’s work 00:20:30 - Saying vs. doing 00:32:42 - The psychology of reward systems 00:36:03 - Identity / fitting in 00:42:40 - The conceptual basis of Emilio’s newest body of work 00:53:37 - Owning who you are 01:03:33 - The painter's alphabet 01:25:42 - Wrap up