About me :
Born in Nice, on the French Riviera, The Gringo (Bastien Tomasini) was born in 1988.
In his many travels, he photographed emblematic places, sumptuous decorations and historical pieces in order to preserve their memory.
Gringo is inspired by the ancient tradition of 'Azulejos' (small glazed and hand-painted tiles that adorn the facades and interiors of Mediterranean buildings in a thousand colors).
His mosaics take up motifs discovered on his various expeditions to the country of the Azulejos and reveal fragments of its history.
They use the human body as a support as a canvas, to express their art, through love stories….
Spiritual evocation, history and modernity collide to better unite...

My inspiration:
Tile is a beautiful and extremely original support. On my first visit to Portugal, I attended a FADO show… I was completely moved and amazed by the richness and melancholy of this musical style. What stuck in my head was a love story where the woman regrets the man's departure to the sea, so I decided after a visit to the Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisbon to bring together these two symbols of extreme strength in an artistic representation.

My artistic creative process:
My creative process begins with historical research, during which I write each title of my works on paper because for me it is very important to tell a story that makes sense and, above all, to be able to share emotions with you through my art.
I travel to historical places that inspire me, like this sumptuous museum where you can travel through the centuries discovering each AZULEJOS with its characteristics. I photographed every detail discovered on these walls to graphically and historically complete my love story.
Then, I organize a photo session in the studio with models trying to recover as much as possible the emotion that I want to transcribe in my works. And then begins a very long digital process where I turn every element of my research into a work of art.
Once the digital part is finished, I import AZULEJOS directly from Portugal and make a special digital print in high definition on my works.