Editorial

Tots els projectes, de principi a fi. 15 capítols, en l’ordre en què es van fer.

  1. 01 3rd ‘What’s color?’ / Llibreria Terranova 2024
  2. 02 Terra Rossa 2024
  3. 03 Color Chart El Taller de Arquitectura ( RBTA ) 2024
  4. 04 Color palette for Santa & Cole, 2023-on going 2023
  5. 05 Artist Residence 2022
  6. 06 Kamanar, 10 chairs, 10 artists 2022
  7. 07 Tones collection 2022
  8. 08 Trainings _Silences 2021
  9. 09 Silla 8 AOO 2019-2020 2019
  10. 10 Edges Collection 2019
  11. 11 dadàbarcelona 2018
  12. 12 Uterqüe Art Essays 2017
  13. 13 dadàbarcelona 2017
  14. 14 Solidary Fulard design 2017-2026 2017
  15. 15 Color Atlas for Muralla Roja 2016-2020 2016

01

3rd ‘What’s color?’ / Llibreria Terranova

2024

WHAT’S COLOR? 3rd edition
Terranova Bookstore
07/04 _28/04

’*WHAT’S COLOR? is a personal project I started in 2020 where I assign a color to people who inspire and admire me and whom I ask about their personal relationship with color. I presented this third edition at Llibreria Terranova in Barcelona during April 2024.

MARC GÓMEZ del MORAL, DIRECTOR DE FOTOGRAFÍA / AC320 ARENA

“No puedo disociar el color de la luz, el color como el resultado de una serie de capas infinitas que parten de una o de varias fuentes de luz y que reflejan y que difuminan y que tiñen y que terminan en nuestro ojo. Esa superposición de capas infinitas hacen que cada color sea fruto de un momento único e irrepetible. El color es el presente, el color es el aquí y el ahora, el color es un instante.”

JOSE JAVIER SERRANO, Yosigo, FOTÓGRAFO / AC259 AZUL PISCINA

‘’Para mi el color es la luz. Siempre me ha fascinado que un mismo objeto, textura o paisaje no tengan un color en sí mismo, sino que vayan absorbiendo diferentes frecuencias de luz. También es pertenencia y asociación de ideas. Por ejemplo para mi el azul representa muchas cosas, y diría que todas buenas. Lo asocio a mi tierra (por el mar y la costa), a mi equipo de fútbol (la bandera es azul y blanca), es un color primario (sencillez), y pese a ser a priori un tono frío a mi me aporta mucha calma y armonía.’’

LUCIA BONED LIBRERA / AC033 AZUL CELESTE OSCURO

‘’La luz del sol ‘’

ISABEL MARTINEZ, isabelitavirtual , DIRECTORA CREATIVA / AC 193 FRESA

‘’El color es para mí como la sal en un plato. Un ingrediente que eleva la experiencia sensorial, la intensifica. A veces, es la expresión del alma, como si la música se pudiera ver.’’

ALBERT RIERA GALCERÁN, ARTISTA / AC16 ROSA INTENS

‘Per a mi el color es l’atracció, la manera en la que em relaciono amb el que em rodeja i el que determina en gran part les meves sensacions y emocions.’

MARIA MEDEM, ILUSTRADORA Y DIBUJANTE DE CÒMIC/ AC016 LILA MAGENTA

‘Es algo indispensable. Para mi está ligado a la memoria y los recuerdos, y lo necesito para transmitir emociones y construir atmósferas.’

ANA CUBA, FOTÓGRAFA / AC80 MANDARINA

‘El color para mí es un aspecto de nuestra realidad a la que se le pueden asignar tantos significados que, en mi caso como fotógrafa, es mi lenguaje favorito para trasladar lo que quiero decir en imágenes. Sería como las vocales en el abecedario.’

JULIA RUIZ CABELLO, ARQUITECTA, OCRE ROJIZO AC075 ̈

El color es una ventana ̈ Para mí el color es un elemento de muchos rostros que permanece en constante proceso de cambio según el material, el lugar o el paso del tiempo. Esta característica tan relativa y singular me hace relacionarlo directamente con la influencia del color en la memoria y en mis recuerdos. Los colores son una ventana a mi vida y mis experiencias. Son parte de quién soy.

RAQUEL QUEVEDO, DISEÑADORA y ARTISTA / AC299 GRIS PERLA

Color «colors.» 1. Una memoria habitada viajando a la velocidad de la luz 2. «jerg.» Un abrazo de la sombra

JOSÉ QUINTANAR, ARTISTA y EDITOR / AC267 AMARILLO

‘El color es un material El color es una ilusión El color es una bandera El color es una elección El color es caprichoso El color es una respuesta. El color es diversión.’

LUÍS CERVERÓ, REALIZADOR Y LIBRERO / AC 250 AZUL PROFUNDO

‘Me gusta pensar en el color como un lenguaje. Un lenguaje secreto, íntimo y muchas veces inconsciente que todos los objetos y superficies emplean para lanzar un mensaje al mundo. Desde ese punto de vista, me interesa mucho la lectura científica que nos dice que toda superficie absorbe unas ondas y las que no le interesan las repele, o las devuelve hacia el exterior, y esas son las que se traducen en el color que proyectan y nuestros ojos ven. Así que en cierto sentido, el color es el reverso negativo de lo que cada superficie decide guardar en su interior, de aquello que acoge y conserva. Y esta decisión de toda superficie de quedarse para sí un determinado espectro de ondas tiene algo de poético que es a la vez muy sencillo y extremadamente misterioso.

En esta misma línea, me encanta pensar en la oscuridad como un silencio, un momento en el que absolutamente todos los objetos se relajan, dejan de gritar al mundo su personalidad intrínseca, para unirse en un discurso común en el que todos se ponen de acuerdo. Me encanta observar como la luz desaparece y todos los elementos del espacio físico en el que te encuentras se unifican, como dándose la mano y respirando aliviados. En pocas palabras, me encanta pensar en el color como algo vivo, alterable y ligado a las circunstancias que lo rodean.’

ÁLVARO GALMÉS, ARQUITECTO, ESCRITOR Y ARTISTA PLÁSTICO / AC065 OCRE AMARILLO

Como dice Goethe, los colores son las alegrías y los sufrimientos de la luz, por eso es blanca en lo exultante y negra en la insatisfacción. Pero entre ambos extremos está el conjunto de los estados emocionales de la naturaleza, desplegados en todas sus gamas y en los infinitos matices del color. Un vocabulario ubérrimo, incomparablemente más rico que el de nuestra expresión emocional. El color es el lenguaje que la naturaleza utiliza para hablar consigo misma, lenguaje que no se nos ha dado a conocer, pero que, por un prodigio de generosidad, se nos ha permitido contemplar. En consecuencia, nos sentimos desbordados e impotentes, y para mitigar esta impotencia, nos desgañitamos al intentar participar en esa conversación, en cierto sentido nos comportamos como recién nacidos que contemplan fascinados las conversaciones de sus mayores, pero que nada entienden y, aun así, se intentan inmiscuir. Desconocemos incluso cómo se articula una palabra o una oración, pero qué necesidad tan profunda tenemos de intervenir, por eso balbuceamos con el color en nuestras ciudades, en nuestras casas, en nuestras ropas y en nuestros cuerpos, con el objetivo de entrometernos y contribuir a esa conversación eterna con la que la naturaleza se despliega.’

JUAN DIEGO VALERA , FOTÓGRAFO, / AC096 VERDE GRIS

‘El color es una fuente de inspiración y contrastes. Es inseguridad, duda y cuestionamiento. Daltonismo.’

BELEN GAYÁN, PRODUCTORA EJECUTIVA / AC049 BLAU VERD

‘El color és emoció, vibració, estímul . També es opinió i percepció. Color i llum es fonen per expressar un tot. ‘

ARNAU BLANCH, FOTÓGRAFO /AC037 AZUL PLOMO

‘Para mí, el color es un elemento más para jugar en el proceso creativo. En fotografía, puedes jugar con cómo distribuyes la luz y la oscuridad en el “frame» generando una composición concreta. Esta composición también se ve afectada por el color. Así luz, oscuridad y color terminan siendo los pilares sobre los que puedes trabajar a la hora de componer una fotografía.’

MARTA D.RIEZU, ESCRITORA / AC263 VERDE

‘Para mí el color es, ante todo, símbolo. Antropología, historia, psicoanálisis, misterio. No es una ciencia exacta (esa es su gracia), sino una ensoñación en la que cada mirada tiene el camino libre. El verde siempre es verde, pero su significación emocional cambia de acuerdo a dónde lo encuentro. El color me enfrenta a imágenes poéticas, intuiciones y metáforas. Forma parte de un mundo espiritual que es eterno.’

CRISTINA STOLHE, FOTÓGRAFA / VERDE OSCURO CASI NEGRO AC39

‘El color es libertad, una búsqueda y un encuentro, supongo que tiene que ver con la identidad ‘

02

Terra Rossa

2024

“Terra Rossa” is a group exhibition inspired by the use of clay as a primordial and universal element for the creation of the first design artefacts, especially common in the Mediterranean region. Curated by Júlia Esqué with a concept by Apartamento Studios, the centrepiece of the installation is a monumental pyramid with 80 jugs made by 16 creatives.

The artistic ‘alterations’ have been carried out in collaboration with the ceramist Eloi Bonadona.

In the words of the curator Júlia EsquéExploring the symbiotic relationship between earth and clay in relation to food we uncover a profound narrative of sustenance and nourishment. Earth provides raw ingredients and clay transforms them into vessels that elevate the experience. These objects become conduits that bridge our connection to the land and the artisans. They become vessels for cultural and artistic significance, reflecting the creativity and craftsmanship of societies throughout history.”

My intervention examined the meaning related to the ‘readymade’ color: the color purchased in the store instead of hand-mixed.

‘’Color of red clay, rich with red iron oxides. Clay is a Mediterranean element, very characteristic…»

Words that describe the color ‘brown earth’ and invite you to touche it. Descriptions that help us to perceive and understand color, to feel it. Words that are also the name of the color itself.

So what happens when colors are described by codes, numbers?

Is the emotional part of the color lost?

Does the perception we have of that color change?

I had chosen 5 colors with a reference to explore the impact of mass-produced color on contemporary art. References that openly testify to the status of painting as a product manufactured in series and standardized.

The dialogue is precisely between the natural clay color base with the almost provocative color sample and its reference.

photos by @Francesco Stelitano

Concept by Apartamento Studios

Curated by Júlia Esqué

Creative Partners: Eloi Bonadona, Carles Llarch and Max Milà

03

Color Chart El Taller de Arquitectura ( RBTA )

2024

The use of colors in RBTA’s projects is never an anecdote and there are no arbitrary nuances. All colors are the result of an artistically and urbanistically conceived design.

It is specifically in this chromatic conext that I was asked to make a colour chart based on the use of colour by RBTA throughout its history.

For the last two years I have been observing, gathering and creating a colour guide that aims to be a chromatic tool for the studio’s projects.

The Color Chart, composed of 100 colors and is divided into 21 color families, is an effort of chromatic synthesis to delimit and guide the colour prescriptions of the studio and has been developed as a framework of action for the color prescriptions of the materials involved in a project.

interview at bofill.com

04

Color palette for Santa & Cole, 2023-on going

2023

Santa & Cole is a Spanish global editor of design products whose quality is recognizable at the touch of a hand, and that enriches people’s lives.

A while ago I started a collaboration with Santa&cole, a love color story!.

In their own words the project consisted in:

«Santa & Cole has presented eight new colours for the M64 lamp, result of the chromatic study developed by colourist Claudia Valsells

Claudia Valsells defines a chromatic universe that will give a new vision to the timelessness of Santa & Cole’s catalogue. A new visual and emotional perception of the M64

The collaboration between Santa & Cole and Claudia Valsells presents a careful selection of eight new colours that reveal a new visual and emotional perception of the M64 lamp, designed in 1964 by maestro Miguel Milá. Maintaining the formal timelessness characteristic of this design icon, the new palette is born from Valsells’ intuition and her profound understanding on how colours interact.

The interplay of colour:

As a colourist, I approached my chromatic studies through a constant juxtaposition of colours. The key lies in placing one colour next to another, so as to influence their perception and achieve the desired visual experience. Rather than simply an individual selection of colours, the new palette represents a careful study of their combination. Demonstrating the close relationship between light and colour, the inside of the screens is covered in white, a detail that softens the light reflection.

This collaboration seeks to add another layer of meaning to an existing product by emphasising the light interaction between the colours of the screens and how they engage with the space they are placed in.

During the colour study, I developed the interaction of the selected colours to present the collection as chromatic harmonies. From this exercise, six new Neoseries, the art editions of Santa & Cole were born.

more info at Claudia Valsells ’Color Schemes’

© Jara Varela @jara_varela / Campaign images

© Enric Badrinas @enricbadrinas / Studio images

05

Artist Residence

2022

ARTIST RESIDENCY

at @brava_arts

with @alzuetagallery

BRAVA! is where @alzueta_gallery has its creation center where develops its artistic residency program to support the creativity and work of contemporary artist of our time. I was so glad to be there, 500m industrial building to work in the heart of Costa Brava.

@alzueta_artistsresidency @alzueta_gallery @brava_arts

#bravaperformingarts #artisticresidency #hubofcreativity #contemporaryarte #alzuetagalleryartistresidency #alzuetagallery #artistresidency #contemporaryart #contemporaryartgallery #alzuetagalleryartists #palaudecasavells #baixemporda #originalwork #originalart #uniqueart #claudiavalsells #claudiavalsellsartist

photos Judit Bou

06

Kamanar, 10 chairs, 10 artists

2022

Kamanar

A collective exhibition, a choral and solidarity action.

10 chairs intervened by 10 artists. The intervention of each artist is inspired by anecdotes and stories, which help us to explain the pillars of the project, to understand the context of this rural area of Senegal and to know better its people.

Foundawtion, was born between the architecture studio Dawoffice, in Barcelona, and the Senegalese population of Thionck Essyl. A non-profit organization to carry out projects that meet architectural needs in economically disadvantaged areas.

Chaise S is the chair for the students of the CEM Kamanar School. It is part of a collection of school furniture that has sought the most optimal relationship between efficiency and comfort, prioritizing making things as easy as possible for every step of the process: from design, choice of materials, construction and/or maintenance.

Designed between Barcelona and Thionck Essyl by Marc Morro for Foundawtion and CEM Kamanar. And just like the architecture of the school, the production of these pieces has been carried out with local materials and workers.

photos https://yosigo.es

07

Tones collection

2022

TONES COLLECTION for NANI MARQUINA consists of four carpet models with color as a central tool.

The Tones rugs arise from the exploration and subsequent reinterpretation of the traditional way of constructing a rug, where an outer frame with a series of central elements has always predominated. With the Pieces model, the exercise is the opposite, in it I distribute the remnants in the center, I compose it in a melodic way showing my creative process.

The collection boasts an infinite richness of tonalities, highlighting the chromatic harmony that in a certain way refers to musical notes.

The colors of the Tones collection are born from the instruments of an orchestra, the tan colors of the stringed instruments, the colors of the wind instruments, the grays and blues, the ochers of the percussion, etc. From this chromatic universe the forms appeared and then I only had to play to compose them in a way that was reproducible in different scales and harmonies.

Going from my usual medium, painting, to the nuances and textures provided by fibers and wool has been a very interesting challenge.

To discover the collection link Nani Marquina

08

Trainings _Silences

2021

SILENCES_TRAININGS a @dadabarcelona project_ at MAMT

WORKSHOPS FOR ADULTS STRUCTURED ALONG THESE FOUR AXIS.

Movement / Sonority / Presence / Otherness

«We believe that establishing links between different disciplines and enjoying the silence in each of them brings clarity, calm and well-being. With this project we would like to shed some light, to feel that there is another possibility, to offer a new horizon: we want to teach everyone to stop! To find alternative paths in the noise and speed – of society – that avoids reflection in favour of constant evasion.

We also want to leave a useful mark: to read the silence of others or of spaces and to be able to interpret them, to communicate without the need for speech or to create silence through presence.

And finally, to set ourselves a challenge: to learn to take the time to do things, to know how to waste time and to find our own silences!» .

Otherness

We face silence from our creation and transform it into a dialogue with ourselves. We consider silence as part of the creative processes and we generate a moment of connection with ourselves and with others; we try to generate a new value in our daily life, through our actions, in the little things that form our self.

Podcast 62_

CLÀUDIA VALSELLS Artista / Artist

Silence when contemplating

/
Silence for me… is the space that surrounds us when there is no hurry, no effort, nor expectations: a beginning. Silence would be a beginning. This silence understood as a state of calm – a slow and leisurely state – is not a sign of our time and should be a universal right.
/
To my work… When I work in the studio, when I don’t do, I am in silence and this silence gives me a lot of strength.
/
An image of silence… would be to contemplate a desert landscape, to contemplate a blank sheet of paper, to contemplate!

@silencis a dadabarcelona project at MAMT

photos @hleb_masha

09

Silla 8 AOO 2019-2020

2019Pigment applied by brush and finished with semi-matt water-based varnish

Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells
Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells Work in progress
Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells
Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells in her studio
Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells
Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells
Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells Studio
Silla 8 - Show at alzueta gallery
Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells
Silla 8 - Claudia Valsells
Silla 8 - Exhibition - Claudia Valsells

SIETE SILLAS 8,

an AOO EXERCISE IN ’COLOURING’ WITH CLAUDIA VALSELLS

A project with AOO where I created and designed the different colour combinations for ’8 Chair’.

The 8 Chair is the result of an AOO exercise where flat sheets of plywood are bent, under pressure and in a simple way, using different structures as support, achieving instantaneously and without moulds to generate what ends up being seats and backs. The resulting piece is formed by two frames joined together and stripped of any decorative element that, together with the backrest and seat, generate a comfortable, lightweight and plastically unique chair.

To enhance its visual uniqueness, the artist Claudia Valsells has developed a series of colour combinations that denote her exploration of beauty. The chair transmits us the tactility of the work through the palette; because what can be touched is tangible and brings us closer to its reality. Each chair is painted in more than one color to emphasize the meaning of each one when it enters in contrast with the others.

This proposal is the result of a collaboration that normally does not occur in the world of art and design, is a dialogue between disciplines that converge in a common and unlikely end point for each of the participants and also an excuse between two professionals that ends with a good friendship.

If we had to design a chair we would talk about the conceptual and formal process of an object. If we had to talk about colour we would talk about texture and paint, about tones and shades. And here we talk about adding two languages and a single idea: a series of chairs shaped in a plastic exercise and the chromatic development that enhances, perhaps, their uniqueness. The object is raised piece by piece and is given a different value: the sense is decontextualized and a new proposal grows.


Material: Structure in solid poplar and seat and back in poplar plywood
Finish: Pigment applied by brush and finished with semi-matt water-based varnish.

images © yosigoyosigo

www.aoobarcelona.com

10

Edges Collection

2019

Claudia Valsells Marquina Project
Claudia Valsells at Marquina Studio
Claudia Valsells searching Colors
Claudia Valsells design
Claudia Valsells Creations
Claudia Valsells Creations

EDGES COLLECTION

An exclusive collection I designed for Design Within Reach, edited by Nani Marquina

«The abstract forms of this piece ’Edges’ have significant value, a dichotomy between structure and form, a singular balance.» Claudia Valsells

on sale at Design Within Reach

11

dadàbarcelona

2018

Art to build

Idea and project © DadàBarcelona

Esther Rovira Carbonell

Images © Iris Humm

To build is to create what we inhabit and what inhabits us.

We want to be building in new ways without forgetting that we are constantly building ourselves.

Dada Barcelona summer workshops, always collaboarates with a social project that can open children to other realities and help them build a new consciousness of the world that surrounds them.

This year, Marc Morro, who, through his NGO Foundation, has worked to build furniture for schools in Senegal. My role was to color the pieces that were built. I decide the black and white color palette and let children paint free different shapes with just this two colors. As the pieces were painted separately, 0nce the chairs were assembled got different identities. letting each one a little bit of all.

12

Uterqüe Art Essays

2017Acrylic on canvas reproducing color harmonies

URTERQÜE ART ESSAYS AW2017

“Creativity, Art and Fashion. Synonyms of a search for beauty, the effort to tell a unique and personal story. Disciplines that have joined in history, that have mixed and created together; they can’t be understood separately. Style is architecture. Creativity is a second skin. And fashion is, always, art .”

Uterqüe Art Essays was a project I carried out in 2017 for Inditex company during the autumn and winter collection.

Two big artworks sized 250x200m each in acrylic on canvas reproducing color harmonies. This two big artworks were used as background for the photo shoot and at the same time as a color palette for the collection.

Creative direction and design by Play&Type Studio. Edtited by Uterqüe.

All the artworks are made by Claudia Valsells

images © Cesc Nogueres

13

dadàbarcelona

2017

Art to look

Idea and project

© DadàBarcelona

Esther Rovira Carbonell

images © Iris Humm

“To look is an act of choice”

John Berger

I had the opportunity to collaborate for two consecutive years at DadàBarcelona workshops, artistic summer projects developed around an important topic and divided into two weeks: one to discover creative languages and the other to produce an artistic project. The workshops are triangulated into movement sound and art.

14

Solidary Fulard design 2017-2026

2017

SOLIDARY FULARD for VALLE D’HEBRON CAMPUS SINCE 2017 TO 2026

There have been 7 designs for 9 consecutive years collaborating in the campaign for women’s cancer research.

I was invited to participate in this project by the Top model and friend Judit Mascó who, together with other personalities, allows the campaign to reach more audiences. Sale and distribution in Natura stores throughout Spain or online at @naturaselection.

Click here to buy solidary fulard.

15

Color Atlas for Muralla Roja 2016-2020

2016

LA MURALLA ROJA ( The Red Wall)

Research and realization of the restored color scheme from Ricardo Bofill’s building, ’La Muralla Roja’.

photos by @gregoricivera and @garatehausmann

«Within the context of La Manzanera, La Muralla Roja (The Red Wall) asks to be considered as a case apart. It embodies a clear reference to the popular architecture of the Arab Mediterranean, in particular to the adobe towers of North Africa. The Red Wall is like a fortress which marks a vertical silhouette following the contour lines of the rocky cliff.

With this building, RBTA wanted to break the post-Renaissance division between public and private spaces reinterpreting the Mediterranean tradition of the Kasbah. The labyrinth of this recreated Kasbah corresponds to a precise geometric plan based on the typology of…

ARCHITECT RICARDO BOFILL

YEAR: 1973
LOCATION: CALPE, ALICANTE, SPAIN