Dan Ferrer and the Transformative Power of Culture at KROMATIC
In the video, an interview with Dan Ferrer at Kromatic. His mural is at the cultural centre, which houses a library and a music school: «I love being able to bring colour to a place that by definition is what inspires my work». He explains how a trip to New York led him to leave advertising and throw himself into his own work, and why he loves painting in the street: «you use your body».
The video in text (abridged) (translated from Spanish)11 min 54 s
Dan FerrerHello, I'm Dan Ferrer, an artist from Madrid passing through your part of the world, delighted to leave a little colour behind.
How did the project for this mural in Sant Andreu de la Barca come about?
Dan FerrerIt came out of the open call organised by Rebobinart. The people at Rebobinart and I had spoken a few times over the years, but it had never worked out for us to work together: this is the first time.
I particularly liked the library project, even though it is technically quite difficult because the wall has a great deal of texture and is very porous. But the fact that it is here has a lot to do with what inspires me: literature, music, painting, art in general. It is a centre with a music school where various cultural activities take place, and I love being able to bring colour to a place that by definition is what inspires my work.
I love that it is here, and that the people who come to take part in those activities, who come to the music school, see the mural and feel inspired: it is something that feeds itself.
You are adding a work in Sant Andreu de la Barca after New York, Milan, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Budapest and Mexico.
Dan FerrerThose of us who paint in the street are always travelling and we like sharing our art in different cities. Given the kind of artists we are, we like to draw on new people and new cultures; so we love travelling abroad as much as, as in this case, staying within our own country but going to places that also have their own quirks and particularities to draw on.
In fact, a trip to New York was what almost started it all.
Dan FerrerI have worked as an illustrator and painter since I was very young, but when I was starting out I worked a great deal for advertising agencies and production companies: I had a very substantial freelance career with the best advertising agencies in Spain. But I ended up burnt out.
And a trip to New York was, as a trip to India is for other people, the moment I found myself: everything I love is there, it is a city in full ferment. Those months living there, away from work and away from everything, helped me focus hard on my own work and set that other job aside. Since 2013 or 2014 I have been entirely devoted to my own work; I do the occasional collaboration, but little more.
Work on walls and work in museums: where do you feel most at home?
Dan FerrerWhen the weather allows it, being in the street is wonderful. I find something particular about painting in the street: that you use your body too, you paint physically, because you are going up and down the platform, hauling buckets of paint. You don't have all that physical dance when you go into the studio, and you miss it badly when the weather turns in the depths of winter.
But when the weather doesn't allow it you go back to the studio, and that has its own quality too: there you sit in front of the work and you have time to analyse it. Both places have their particularity, and I think both matter.
Murals are ephemeral: exposed to the weather and the passing of time.
Dan FerrerIt is beautiful, because it is life itself: nothing is forever. This is a kind of art that is in communion with life in the street, with natural life, and personally it doesn't sadden me at all. While you are making it, while you are starting, you already know it will end: you were born and you know you are going to die. It is very much in line with natural existence and the natural process of things.
And when you finish the mural and add your signature, what do you feel?
Dan FerrerIt is the moment when you tell yourself: right, it all came good in the end. When you start you run into difficulties; when you have few days left and a lot of work to do, you have very high peaks when you think everything is going well and peaks when you think the whole thing isn't going so well.
When you sign it is as though you can rest at last: you come down, you look at it, you take your photographs. It is a good moment, though they all are: the process, the finishing, seeing it later, coming by in five years' time and seeing the colour has lost some of its saturation. Those are the natural processes.
How have you felt here these days?
Dan FerrerIncredible, and we have been saying so for days: from the council's governing team to the people organising it, to the other artists and the town itself. The people who live here run into each other and chat about everyday things; I see a lot of people smiling, a lot of positive people.
Whenever you are doing this work people come over readily, but I genuinely feel a particular good spirit in this town. Very happy to be here, and to come back when the time comes.
Video by Ràdio Sant Andreu. Abridged version: direct quotes are kept; repetitions, overlapping speech and passages unrelated to the project are left out.
Sant Andreu de la Barca
Dan Ferrer, a visual artist from Madrid, was one of the selected creators at the KROMATIC Festival in Sant Andreu de la Barca. His intervention took place on the façade of the Centre Cultural Aigüestoses, an emblematic venue that houses the municipal library, the School of Music and Dance, and Ràdio Sant Andreu. Located at the geographic heart of the city, it serves as a vital gathering point for the local cultural scene.
With a figurative style full of color and symbolism, influenced by comics, graffiti, and Spanish pop iconography, Dan Ferrer created a scene where two central figures symbolize the transformative power of culture. On the left, a figure holding a guitar represents music as an emotional extension of the self; on the right, another figure with an open book embodies knowledge, imagination, and the transmission of collective memory.
The entire mural is wrapped in a vibrant floral garden, reinforcing the idea of culture as a space for diversity, learning, and growth. The piece is an invitation to enjoy the arts and actively engage in the cultural life of the town. As the artist himself explains, his mural is a visual metaphor for the dialogue between emotion and thought, between personal experience and shared community.
Mural located at: Av. Constitució, 24, 08740 Sant Andreu de la Barca, Barcelona
About KROMATIC
KROMATIC is the metropolitan urban art festival of Sant Andreu de la Barca — a project that promotes the connection between art, public space, and citizens through the creation of large-scale murals. It is organized by the Sant Andreu de la Barca City Council, produced by Rebobinart, and supported by the Government of Catalonia.
