Cheko

Born in Córdoba, Cheko is a Spanish graffiti artist. He focuses on human circumstances, emotions, and movements.

He started as a street artist at the age of 16, and ever since, he has created graphic illustrations related to freedom, poverty, transformation, and renovation. He watches people and then portrays his own version of them; a great example of this is his “Pobre Artista” (Poor Artist) series of oil paintings, in which he portrayed women and men passing by on the streets, lost in their own thoughts.

Currently based Granada, Cheko’s paintings are characterized by great use of colour and extraordinary sense of depth. His video “Una Mañana” (One Morning) illustrates his process in achieving such three-dimensionality using heavy shadows on a white surface.

He generally works using a grand variety of sprays, oil paintings and acrylics. He has also experienced the screen painting technique. His art is figurative, and his graffiti style is easily distinguishable in his use of strong black strokes and calligraphy. Occasionally, he incorporates surreal elements into his designs, which adds to his work amazing originality and essence.

Cheko and his street-art friends used to create series of paintings on the walls of the Albayzín neighborhood in Granada, Spain. However, this tradition has become less frequent given that local government is against it.

Tanto Cheko como otros amigos artistas callejeros solían crear series de pinturas en las paredes del barrio del Albayzín en Granada. Sin embargo, esta tradición se ha vuelto menos frecuente dado que el gobierno local está actuando en contra de ella.