THE GRAFFITI EGO IS NOT MY THING! | AN INTERVIEW WITH LEDANIA

Ledania is an artist for our times. Her tag comes from her username of a social network from the 2000s called LatinChat. She’s mastered aerosol techniques and is as comfortable tagging in the street as she is painting huge commissions for Disney. She is a proud Latin woman who supports the LGBT community openly. She has his own cultural space in Bogotá, and manages all her work without an agent, manager or assistant. To people unfamiliar with Greek myths, Leda was a princess who became a Spartan queen, famous for her beautiful black hair and perfect skin. Ledania combines the spirit of this figure with her own personality to create an urban artist with global repercussion. After having the opportunity to meet Ledania personally in Barcelona, MTN World called up the artist once she was back in Bogotá.

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Most people won’t be aware that you come from the world of graffiti, letters and bombing. Was moving from letters to murals a gradual process for you? In fact, my dad painted murals. I was introduced to muralism at a very young age, so it was never new to me. I did murals here and there; they were always very artistic. 15 years ago, I discovered aerosols and I started painting with them in the streets.

It's weird because I went from artistic pieces to letters and from letters back to the art again. I’ve painted graffiti for about 15 years. Do you still feel like tagging or doing something improvised on the street? Of course! That’s why I was in Barcelona. I was able to meet up with Hand Mixed. I painted some pictures with them, and I went out to do some tags with their markers - which I love, by the way.

"15 years ago, I discovered aerosols and I started painting with them in the streets.

It's weird because I went from artistic pieces to letters and from letters back to the art again. I’ve painted graffiti for about 15 years."

We were able to record you painting a wall in the Tres Ximeneies Hall of Fame in collaboration with Montana Colors. I’ve known about Montana Colors for a while, in fact once Jordi helped me a lot with an exhibition I did in Madrid. I also visited the gallery in Barcelona where I met Camil. I've always had Montana in my heart because when I started painting graffiti, I didn't get much Montana here. We used to work with spray paint from the hardware store. The first time I used a 94 I thought, "What’s this!?" It was a very good quality spray paint. 
It was amazing to see you paint because you didn't have a sketch. It was totally freestyled. Yes! That happens. When I painted on Coney Island, I did the first lines without using a sketch. That day I just took a can to paint the rough outline. The police came and thought I was painting the fence without permission, because the way I was painting, it looked like I was bombing. Something else that struck me about that day we met was how social it was. Lots of friends of yours came by. It seemed that you had more friends in Barcelona than we did!

 When I post news on social media, people often come out to see me. Luckily, I have a lot of people following me. Graffiti motivates people who want to see the process to come out. You even had time to teach a friend some aerosol techniques. 

 Throughout the process, I showed a few people how to paint. In fact, there are several artists in Colombia that I’ve taught too. I think it's a nice habit because I can share my craft. Art is for sharing; it shouldn’t be hidden. The question of ego that’s common in graffiti is not my thing! I like to collaborate, understand and see other people create. Why not? When we met, you were in the middle of a pretty epic trip. What was the reason? Pure pleasure, promotion or work? 

 I was traveling three months, I arrived in Europe at the end of the trip. I started in Miami where I did an exhibition of paintings and prints. I put a showroom stall like a mini shop as an installation. I painted a gallery wall. The exhibition was super cool. 

Then I went to Coney Island where I painted a wall in front of the beach. A very characteristic place. After NY I went to Canada to participate in a festival called Inspire. It’s in two different villages, one called Woodstock where I painted with a graffiti classic writer called Eelco. In St. John I painted a super large mural built of six containers. From Canada I went to Milan to do a wall for design week. I did this wall for Ikea because I’m currently working for a collaboration with them. Then I went to Hamburg to work with FIFA and a foundation called Viva Con Agua.

"I like to collaborate, understand and see other people create. "

We saw that. Wow. I know! Viva Con Agua do exhibitions in a gallery called Millerntor Gallery. This gallery curated by Hera who invited several artists to take part, in this case, all women. We painted the Sankt Pauli football stadium. Fortunately, I was given a main wall outside the gallery. There was an exhibition and an art auction to bottle water and send it to places without water. Most of all it was a social exhibition. Are you a football fan? As such, no. But I really liked playing it. When I was a kid I played a lot on the computer. It was very crazy because then I designed the uniforms for the game. It reminded me a lot of my childhood. From Hamburg I went to Bayreuth, a small town in Germany where I stayed in a beautiful place that impressed me a lot called the Urban Art Hotel. It also has a brewery. There are works by many different artists, it's amazing. I was there with Julieta, a graffiti artist from Spain, and Song. Julieta and Song painted interior walls and I painted an exterior wall of the hotel. And finally, we traveled to Spain, where I met you. When you paint, is it usually commissioned? Commissions or festivals. This was a graffiti tour to be able to paint at all the events and fulfill my commissions. You do much more than paint murals in Colombia, right? I have a store too. There is a team of great people behind it all, including a graffiti artist, Ambs. When did you decide to open your own business? During the pandemic, I was locked down in Singapore. I’d been to Japan, but when the pandemic started I went to Singapore to be in a slightly more Western country, and I ended up staying eleven months. What is the graffiti scene like in Singapore? In Singapore, graffiti as such is much more illegal than in other countries. If you are caught doing illegal graffiti the result is immediate jail and you can get beaten with a cane. They actually cane you. However, it’s opening up a bit and I was able to paint some walls. At that time, a good friend of mine called Jaba was living there. I started painting some walls with him and also with Song. When we really couldn't go out or paint on the street, it was horrible. I was used to painting all the time. Then I had to do other things, like digital work. I started painting a lot on my iPad. A lot. I got together a lot of designs and thought, "I'm going to start launching products that I can print when I get back to Colombia." But I never thought of opening a store, just making merch to sell. When they finally opened the borders, I had a lot of material and I realized that I could open a showroom or a store. A physical space that was fun. Within three months, I got a space, and we painted it. I started working with three people. A friend had had a shop and we used all the fittings in there. It's a very nice space! The idea is to have a space where you can do all kinds of conferences. Artists, guest artists. I put my paintings there in the gallery space. But we don’t sell paint : / Do you have a favorite store to buy Montana Colors in Colombia? I always shop at Dmental Graffiti Shop! Ledania celebrates her next exhibition at the Museum of Graffiti in Miami from 22 September.
by mtn-world via Montana World

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