XANO ARMENTER

Catalán artist Xano Armenter was born in the Canary Islands in 1956 but after losing his mother at age two, he spent his childhood with his tiets (aunt & uncle) in Balaguer (Lleida) and later in Vigo (Pontevedra) where he reunited with his father and siblings, and there became a youth chess champion. He studied art and design at the renowned Escola Eina in Barcelona, and then travelled to New York in 1980. During the vibrant East Village days of the 80’s he worked for Milton Glaser who became his mentor and indelible influence along with the impacting graffiti landscapes of NYC.

Xano paints with mastery and an authentic impulse as an inquisitive response to his own inner and outer environment. His work reflects the trajectory of the times and spaces of his life in Barcelona, New York, and Los Angeles through a complex ever evolving personal process. Xano is a bit of a rebellious outsider disrupting the art market status quo by prioritizing his creative interior longings. The juxtapositions of his development at times have raised him to notorious heights but other times punished him for his unpredictability and willfulness. Xano is a true artist in the deepest sense of the word with a personal life that compliments this dichotomy.

Owning a Xano painting is truly for the love of his sophisticated art and enchanting life journey of ups-and-downs while remaining integral to his fiery passions. Visiting Barcelona isn’t complete without stopping-by at Xano’s studio where he is inviting and welcoming. His dynamic personality is part of the illuminating and riotous celebration manifested on his canvases and the cultural history of Catalunya. Xano’s art has blossomed from figurative to abstract, from dark and haunting to cheerful and vibrant, but you will always recognize Xano’s work anywhere you go whether it is on fresco walls, or rugs or wine bottles, in high-end hotels, homes and glass walls of malls, in America, Europe and Asia.

Mr. Armenter also teaches illustration, color, and graphic design at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) and presides over Barcelona’s historic Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc, a Catalán cultural heritage.