Interview with Alexandre Folgoso
Alexandre Folgoso (they/them) is a Galician analogue photographer based in Berlin. I meet Folgoso in front of their photo studio at StattLab, Berlin’s renown print art collective. “I really wanted to get ready and be fresh for this interview, but I overslept because I’ve been really busy working at the studio lately. This month, I spent more time here than at my 40-hour week job. But that’s the life of an artist, I guess.” Folgoso tells me while smoking a cigarette and scrubbing their 3-day-old beard. The artist is working on compiling their last prints for an exhibition at Revela’t, Barcelona’s contemporary analogue photography festival, in May 2024.
Where were you born?
In 1996, I was born in Galicia, north-west Spain. I was born in a small town next to the mountains. From a very young age, I was always trapped at home, playing my own games. I was a bit of a weirdo; I struggled making friends, I was not one of those kids that would have their own group of friends. I remember playing with my toys at home, making imaginary cities. When I think about it, it’s very interesting. Until this day, when I’m working in the studio, I’m a grown-up child still creating my own worlds, but with photography.
Interesting, analogue photography is very physical. Does this medium make your imaginary world feel more real?
The truth is that I don’t like doing things on the computer. I really like the physicality of an image; I need to feel the image many times to see how it works. The last two weeks, I really jumped into this project and printed a lot on glass plates.
Last summer, I met Folgoso in Berlin. Before I moved to Vienna in October, we decided to shoot together at StattLab. For ArtNaVee, we revisited Folgoso’s archive and decided to print our work together on a glass plate, their new printing technique. Visiting them at StattLab makes me feel like I’m entering their intense, black-and-white world, accompanied by dark rooms and Folgoso’s passionate, warm character.
Click the picture below to join ArtNaVee and Folgoso at StattLab (video):
When did you come to Berlin?
I came to Berlin 2 years ago. It was a time when I was feeling stuck; I was exhibiting with early funds and admissions, just finished my master’s in teaching. I felt like my life was not completed because I was missing a connection. Coming to Berlin meant coming to a big city. It’s connected to art in many senses. So yeah, I was at full capacity and I wanted to be inspired.
Why Berlin?
Many people told me that I should go to Berlin, probably because of my punk vibes. I decided to visit for 2 weeks, just to visit my friends and explore the city. I fell in love with the city to the extent that I did not come back! “You’re mental, are you really staying?!” My mother said. I asked her to ship some of my stuff to Berlin. “Yes – I’m not coming back!” I had this ambition of discovering the city, seeing what it has to offer. Just freak out and do crazy stuff!
Does the city influence your art?
It’s a love-hate relationship. When I’m in Berlin, I go a lot through my archive, much more than when I was in Galicia. I came to a city where I was told that I could easily make a living for myself as an artist, but I have learned that this is not the case any more. I don’t know if I will always feel this way, but honestly, I feel a little bitter about Berlin right now. It’s true that I came here to be inspired, but I’m also running from one place to another. I guess that’s part of living in a big city. On the other hand, I am working on things that I would have never thought of in Galicia. My photography has become very experimental on different levels, especially because I have limited time to spend in the studio.
Recently, you were visiting your hometown in Galicia. Did this inspire you?
What really inspires me is just sitting down and taking care of myself. Riding my bike, walking with my dogs, reading poetry, thinking about my work. Berlin is amazing, but it also has a super intense, dense energy. We lose track of time and energy. We have to run from space to space in order to sustain ourselves, to afford the life that becomes more expensive month after month. It is different for me to go home and to be away from the city. I have done a lot of work in the last couple of months, so I feel like I had to get out of here.
“I love Berlin winter. If you’re okay with spending time by yourself, it’s the best time to be an artist. I spend a lot of time in the studio, simply setting into my introversion. Winters in the darkroom are very cool in the sense that you don’t have to miss the sunlight.”
How do you see yourself as an artist? How does this feel to you?
I think a lot about how Louise Bourgeois said that art was the thing that keeps her afloat. That’s what I think of when I come to the studio. Even when I am having a really bad day, or I’m super tired, I still come and push forward. There is this feeling that I get when I have a piece that I really like, and I print something that really inspires me. I cannot describe it. But there are also moments in which I question myself. There is so much negativity going on in the world, people who face horrors daily. And here I am, in this space, creating art. I question what the purpose of an artist is, like myself, doing these ‘little’ things. But I’m also sure that poetry changes the world, our world, and that we need it. It’s fascinating to see how art can dictate how we see the world and what is considered beautiful.
Your fundamental medium is photography. You also combine this with poetry and paint. Now you are printing on plates – how did this happen?
Most people see my work, and they might think of how nice it might be. But anyone who has experienced analogue knows that it acquires a lot of time in a room to learn a new technique. I am interested in all analogue techniques, but after printing so many things on paper, I was just getting bored with it. I was trying to experiment some new things and looking for a new challenge. Last summer, I tried a different surface. Adding a new dimension makes me excited to look at how things may turn out, it feels magical. This is a sacred moment that I give myself as an artist. After experimenting, I decided to work with plates. They are just beautiful; it has a different materiality. I want to print on a material as it is, and now I have chosen glass. So it came from a need to push myself!
Nowadays, we are surrounded by so many images. We cannot simply get people’s attention with an image any longer. Experimenting with different materials keeps things interesting, it can create new layers to an image and to the experience of people. We may spend more time observing a piece when it is printed onto a new surface.
What is next?
For now, I am in the process of researching more surfaces and printing images that I already have in my archive. I’m really looking forward to creating new images, to go back to storytelling. Once I’m ready, I want to narrate a story and bring the materials that I have learned about to life!