Ricardo Rodriguez Cosme is Spanish contemporary artist and painter based in Valencia, Spain creating photo-realistic oil paintings. Rodriguez received an opportunity to then work at the first center of modern art created in Spain - Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno. Another job opportunity came across from Christie’s Madrid which gave him an opportunity to understand the secondary market and gave him ideas and inspiration to create his first collection of paintings.

Rodriguez has taken part in many exhibitions around Spain and internationally since 2017. Over the years he has created varieties of series which come from a wide range of his interests.

We spoke to Ricard about his interest, inspirations, and the motivations behind his debut solo exhibition with Tambaran 2 Gallery “Easy To Love, Harder To Hold” - opening October 24th .

Your practice is primarily based out of your studio in Spain - could you tell us a bit more about your "Americana" focus within your work as someone who did not grow up in the United States?

Sure! I know this can be a thought people can have looking at my work. I always feel one series of paintings takes me to the next one. At some point I wanted to express myself in relation with my own job, and find in the cowboy or the horse, the perfect figures for this.

The inspiration for this new series of paintings is behind the connection between the figure of the cowboy and the artist, and all the different feelings and situations in which artists find themselves within the art world. The relation to the market, with other artists and most importantly, with himself.

Also think the viewer in the States can understand these feelings better with these figures than for example with a Samurai (another series of mine). Architecture, fashion, sports - everything adapts depending on where they are for people to connect with them. Why don’t art?

Can you tell us more about the evolution of your work as an artist? Your earlier works have a focus on celebrities (Whether it be F1 or prominent music figures) - what caused this transition?

I feel my earlier work helped me discover my own technique and style. I think I used to feel more as a painter, just copying pictures I like. And at some point I felt I wanted to express my feelings too and started feeling more as an artist.

At the same time I feel there’s some kind of connection too between the different series. Painting an astronaut, a race helmet or a cowboy for example, they all talk about childhood idols, or some kind of figure (normally you can’t see a clear face because they can be anybody) in which I project myself, if this makes any sense.

Who is your favorite living artist?

This is a very difficult question as nowadays you can discover new artists every day through social media. Actually there are some artists that I can’t stop looking at like Van Minnen, Dan Alva, Daniel Fleur, Tom White, Matt McCornick, Douglas de Souza.

If you had to sum up the solo exhibition into a few sentences - how would you say this?

It has been a great challenge for me as it’s my first NYC Solo Show. As the pieces talk directly about the feelings I have as an artist I think they express better than me.

Can you give us some insight into your creative process from the beginning? Do you use reference photos or videos for these detailed scenes?

I always work from photos. For the pieces of this show I think about the felling I want the piece to represent and then start looking for photos that produce this. I start making collages with different photos I want to use until I find the composition I like, in terms of both of significance and aesthetic.

What would you say are your biggest influences in terms of your practice as an artist? (Family, visual inspiration, etc).

As an artist I think I have to be open to find influences from everywhere. Of course my family has been a huge influence as I have artists in my family and in the design world, so I’ve been surrounded by creative minds since I was a child.

Do you have any advice for artists trying to break into the contemporary art world?

The best advice I received was before I decided to be an artist. A gallerist told me that being an artist it's not just waiting for inspiration to come, or a part time job. It's not a hobby while you work on other things. It's a 24/7 job. When you understand and accept this, then it's time to work!

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In Conversation: Ricardo Rodriguez Cosme