Artist Interview: Rodrigo Villas
Rodrigo Villas is a multidisciplinary artist from Rio de Janeiro whose work is influenced by Brazilian modernism and its decolonial spirit. He explores themes of identity, cultural heritage, and visual storytelling through a diverse practice that blends traditional and digital media.
Villas holds a degree in Visual Communication from PUC-Rio and has pursued advanced studies in illustration and digital arts in Barcelona. He completed a postgraduate program at Eina School of Art (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and earned a master’s degree in Digital Arts from the Institut Universitari de l'Audiovisual at Pompeu Fabra University. During his time in Barcelona (2006–2012), he was an artist-in-residence at Hangar and Experimentem amb l’Art, both renowned centers for contemporary artistic production.
His international experience extends to the Middle East, where he participated in the prestigious International Residency Program at Riwaq in Bahrain in both 2015 and 2024. Through his work, Villas brings these ideas into contemporary digital and mixed-media art, creating bold, expressive pieces that challenge conventional representation while celebrating cultural identity and artistic freedom.
We asked Rodrigo about his art, creative process, and inspirations.
Can you tell us about your background as a digital artist? How did you get started in this field?
Right after leaving university, where I studied graphic design, I went to work at the biggest television channel in Brazil. I'm from a generation that was raised in the analogue world, I only bought my first computer when I was in the third year of the course. So I am part of the generation that made this transition of worlds, that followed the entire evolution and development of this field. I was lucky enough to go work on a large television channel that uses cutting-edge technology and I consider this to have been a great school for me. There I learned animation by doing TV show openings with motion design but I never forgot my background in manual skills and solutions that the analogue world provides. In parallel, I started painting a lot of graffiti on the streets and I always wanted to combine these two worlds in my quest to develop my own language.
Geometry is a recurring theme in your work. What is it about geometric design that resonates with you, and how do you use it to communicate meaning?
I am very inspired by Brazilian modernism, which is traditionally decolonial and rebels at the beginning of the 20th century against the influence of European academicism and seeks to develop a regional language based on our culture: freedom of expression; approximation of popular and colloquial language; abandonment of realistic representation; use of illogical figures and scenes.
How has your experience living and studying in different cultural hubs like Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, and Bahrain influenced your artistic approach?
I believe that the exchange provided in these experiences enriches not only our view of the world but also our visual repertoire, work practices and cultural background. However, the more I physically distance myself from my culture, the more it manifests itself in subjectivity and the interpretation of personal relationships, in aesthetics and in the search to understand who I am
Your installations often incorporate cutting-edge technologies. Can you tell us about the most challenging or rewarding project where technology played a central role?
We have become accustomed to thinking that technology and space science, rocket building and things are very distant from our daily lives. In fact, we are surrounded by technology all the time and I am very interested in exploring the simple solutions that normal people give to solve the issues in their lives. Living in a country like Brazil is floating in a sea of creativity, because without wanting to glamorize precariousness, the truth is that in this environment, people need to provide practical solutions to their problems and this is a huge difference between our people and those who always relies on the stability and harmony that wealth provides. When I produce my works, this element is always present, in the reuse and reframing of materials and construction of precarious structures that serve as support for mapping video sculptures, for example.
Your projects often emphasize interactivity. How important is audience engagement in your work, and what kind of reactions do you hope to evoke?
In my opinion, art is a form of communication. Each artist develops their own language, without a sense of exchange. Transmitter A to receiver B. And this is not a one-way street, with the development of new tools for the production and dissemination of our work, the artist today has practically spontaneous feedback on his production.
When I say that art is a form of communication and that each artist develops their own language, and about that, how many people are interested in being fluent in the language that you created?
What is a profound childhood memory?
This question is very difficult for me, in fact I have a terrible memory and I believe this is a symptom of my personality being too abstract to float in reality.
What else fills your time when you’re not creating art?
I really enjoy my tropical life in Rio de Janeiro where nature is very present and incorporated into the life of Carioca (Carioca is the name of the person native to Rio de Janeiro). So I enjoy my free time going to Ipanema beach where I live and was raised, waterfalls, doing sports and playing samba at my favorite school called Estação Primeira de Mangueira, one of the most traditional in Brazil, a great source of inspiration and proud of me.
In your opinion, what is the most exciting potential of augmented reality in the art world today?
I believe that any type of interactive art has a great relational value between the artist and the viewer, who stops being in a passive condition and starts interacting directly with the work, even incorporating their individuality in this relationship. It is also necessary to be careful with the type of project that is proposed to be categorized as art and contrast to what is artistic. There is a fine line in digital art between these two universes and the art market often doesn't quite understand how to take part in this debate because the reality is that they often don't even understand what we are proposing.
