Sebas Velasco (ES) "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (blue car)" 2025, oil on canvas, 162 x 162 cm

Sebas Velasco (b.1988) is a Spanish artist exploring the urban landscape, people and culture through expressive oil paintings and colossal public projects. Through his observations on light and space, Sebas celebrates the present while respecting the profound history unpinning his curiosities.
Over the last few years, Sebas Velasco has aligned himself with the great documentarians of the transitional countries of Eastern Europe. With frequent visits to Poland and the countries of former Yugoslavia; Velasco observes the shifting relationship between the urban environment and economical/political structures. Concrete utopias have come to identify Velasco’s work, but his artistic prowess lies in his elevation of the mundane, breathing life into decaying and forgotten spaces. Concrete giants, abandoned vehicles, and neon signs are collaged from photography taken on his extensive trips to the region to create new realities. With a meticulous focus on light and its properties, Velasco’s art transcends the boundaries of conventional aesthetics toward a more atmospheric and emotional reflection of time.
Emerging from the Spanish graffiti scene of the early 2000s, Sebas Velasco's artistic journey began once he relocated to Bilbao for his studies in Fine Art. Since this time he has participated in fellowships such as the Landscape Paular, organized by the Royal Academy of San Quirce Palacio Quintanar in Segovia. He was awarded the "Antonio Gala Foundation" Artistic Residency Grant and has received several awards, including the first prize in the "Drawing International Sports Competition", organized by the Association of Catalan Sports Federations; and the first prize in the prestigious AXA "Catedral de Burgos" prize. Notably, in 2022, he was invited for a conversation series at the Prado Museum in Madrid. Velasco has exhibited across Europe, USA and Asia and has originals held in notable private and international collections.
Continuing the great tradition of Basque art collectives in Spain, Velasco is also a member of the Formato Note group. These artists celebrate the proud legacy of creativity and collaboration in the region.

Artist Statement, Spain, 2025