Juan Díaz Faes Q&As

Born in Oviedo (Spain) Juan Díaz-Faes grew up drawing before studying Fine Arts at the University of Salamanca and, later, developing his career in graphic design, illustration, and muralism. Since 2017, cities such as Paris, Miami, Austin, Guangzhou (China), Punta del Este, Hamburg, Seoul, Madrid and Santander have had large-scale murals signed by this artist.

Juan Díaz-Faes has exhibited solo at the Point Éphémére center in Paris and at the Conde Duque Cultural Center in Madrid. His last group exhibition was at the Hyundai Museum (Seoul) and previously he has visited cities such as Barcelona, Madrid and Taipei.

The stories contained in Díaz-Faes’ bustling patterns are born in Le Cluf, the artist’s studio and creation space located in Castanedo, a small town in the province of Cantabria (Spain)

Follow Juan Díaz-Faes on Instagram

  • Hello Juan! First of all, how are you doing? We are so excited to finally launch the collab together!

I am also very happy that the collaboration is coming out. I already have the fin in my possession and it looks beautiful.

  • Could you explain us a bit more where you come from and which has being your path?

I am from Asturias (northern Spain) since I was little I always liked surfing and art. Although I was better at drawing than surfing haha. I studied Fine Arts in Salamanca, and since 2005 I have dedicated myself to drawing. I can’t even believe it. A few years ago, I moved away from the world of illustration a bit to focus more on personal projects and do more artistic work. Since 2017 or so, I have only done personal projects and I hardly take orders anymore.

  • Could you explain us your art style?

My artistic style comes from the world of comics, illustration, and advertising. I work with flat, not very pictorial colors. I am figurative by default, I always like to make characters. I am very interested in chromatic contrast, light/dark, and I always try to work with a single ink (not more).

  • How did you came up with the : | ?

For the fin, I used a fish pattern. Based on the mathematical patterns of M.C. Escher, I made my own one of white fish, which transform into black fish without the viewer realising it. In this case, since the pattern is marine, I thought it suited the fin very well.

  • How does surfing help you on your artistic process?

Surfing greatly influences my work; If there are waves, I don’t work haha. But regardless of what conditions my schedule (which luckily I don’t have) it also affects being patient, waiting for the good idea (wave), daring little by little to do something you haven’t done (surfing other places or bigger waves)… adding to the fact that surfing, as a general rule, has a young and risky tone that I think art also has to have, regardless of your actual age.

  • Taipei, Seoul, Paris,… how did you ended up showing your work in so many places?

YLuckily my work was liked a lot, and little by little people got to know it. Among them is the SOLO Collection, which has supported my work for years and helped me in many of the international projects that arise. Thanks to them, without a doubt, I reached all those crazy destinations. It’s incredible to see Spanish talent in some of the most iconic cities in the world. Could you tell us the next place you are going to be featured? Well, I’ve been exhibiting in Japan for a couple of months, I just landed (2 days ago) from Mexico, this week I open another Expo in Tokyo… the truth is that the pace is going crazy. Actually, couple of the fins from our collab will be present in Tokyo. If you are around Shibuya, you need to pass by 🙂.

  • Thank you so much for your time Juan! Looking forward to see you soon and make a small expo with our collab somewhere in the world. I’m sure we’ll see you soon. At the moment, the fin is already in Japan hehe !

Díaz Faes x Deflow // Cream 9,75

The collaboration between Juan Diaz Faes and Deflow brings you a unique design on one of our best longboard fins, the Cream 9,75.

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Beyond The Noise

Noah Lane is a great example of nomadic lifestyle. He left the warm waters of Gold Coast and replaced his boardshorts for wearing thick wetsuits on the cold waves of Ireland. He is humble, lives simply and never misses a great day of surfing.

We talked with him few weeks ago with the release of his latest film with Harrison Roach, directed by Andrew Kaineder.

DEFLOW: Hello Noah! How is everything going? It seems you’ve been busy with a new project, Beyond The Noise, right? Can you tell us more about it?

Noah: Yeah so Beyond the Noise is essentially an experimental surf film by my friend and director Andrew Kaineder who was kind enough to ask me to be involved. He got an incredible group of creative people along for the ride and created a 40 minute film that I think is a great representation of what I see in surfing.

Deflow: Watching the trailer, we couldn’t help thinking on the era we are living, surrounded by the technology industry. How did you get to the idea for the documentary?

Noah: It’s a lot of Andrew's personal vision on the world around us, our disconnection and separation from nature told through the medium of surfing. For me the idea resonated strongly and I felt that deeper, there was a sense of telling what I find in surfing- the elements of escapism and being in an uncontrollable environment. So often these days we construct haven's where we're removed or masters of the natural world so it's nice to see a depiction of the places where you can still feel like a small cog in a larger machine.

D:How long have you been filming? How many people are involved in the project?

N: The film was shot over about a 6 month period between November 2017 and April 2018. But for AK the whole process was much longer. The surfing part that I was involved in was the easy bit. But it wasn't without it's difficulties. AK broke his leg and tore ligaments in his ankle just a few weeks before he was scheduled to come to Ireland. At that point, too many wheels were in motion to postpone the start so he spent the first few weeks hobbling through muddy fields with all his kit in a moon boot. It ended in April when I tore all the ligaments in my knee and was put out of the water for 6 months. It was kind of bitter sweet- I hardly wanted to be injured but we had scored some incredible moments, weather and waves in the previous months and I needed a rest from surfing for a while. 

As I mentioned earlier, there was an incredibly talented crew involved. Andrew headed the whole thing up. Along filming was Todd Barnes who worked on Ben Player's "Far North" together with Andrew. Harrison Roach joined me in the ocean surfing. Dan Crockett wrote some poignant words that make up the script. Joe Franklin did the completely original score with about 10 other musicians and Tim Wreyford was the colourist.

D: When and where we will be able to watch the full film? Which are the next dates of screening?

N: The first screening of the film was back in October at the London Surf Film Festival and shortly after we toured it through the UK with the support of Finisterre. It's since played at a number of film festivals and is set for an online release on iTunes in March.

D: if you would have to choose one reason why someone should watch this film, which one would it be?

N: It’s really hard to choose just one reason to watch the film but there are some parts that really stand out to me. The cinematography is compelling and really captures what Ireland and the North Atlantic is like during the winter. Andrew and Todd are both very skilled at their craft and it shows. It's beautiful and dark and more like the quality you would expect from a big budget film rather than a surf film.  The music score is also something else. Joe created a soundtrack that's both original and unique not just in a surfing sense. I've watched it quite a few times now and every time, I still manage to hear something new in the composition. 

It's completely immersive and I would suggest to anyone watching and wanting to experience the full package and hard work the guys put in- to do so in a dark room, on a decent sized screen, with the volume turned up.

Thanks mate!

Noah

 

Watch the teaser and full film here:

Beyond the Noise from Andrew Kaineder

 


Hate Summer

The plan was to get the most out of the only free week I had all summer. That's why we took a handful of boards for small waves and set off for Euskadi, where a few colleagues were waiting for us to surf for a while, shoot some pictures and take a few beers.

The fact is that we went without too many expectations since we had not even looked the forecast, but it ended up getting some cool pictures. And as we always end up talking about movies, books and music ... Well, we took the opportunity to create some content for WWW.ROAD666.COM with the photos and recommendations of the entire club that we met.

 

 

It's cool for me to do this kind of stories because, after a while, you look back and, thanks to them, you notice things that maybe you do not appreciate at the moment.

After all, it is the testimony of how (and with whom) we live in a specific moment of our life.

 

 

Oh! And about the name 'Hate Summer' ... We went to really crowded places, with terrible heats, coca cola at the price of Rioja Crianza, problems to find a place to park, Sundays lovers, and kooks everywhere.

It’s clear, right? ;)

 

 

If you want to see the full magazine, link is: bit.ly/2CwIUEV

Pictures via:
Cecilia Alvarez, Sergio Riaño, Jose Prieto, Legi Alonso.