Felix Kindelán

Based in Basel, Switzerland

Felix Kindelán grew up in East Berlin in a Cuban-German family.

As a teen, Kindelán thrived in art class and developed an interest in graffiti and street art, the latter of which Kindelán credits his pursuit to be an artist. Being the first generation in his family to grow up post-Berlin Wall, he was the first in his family to pursue a creative career.

This led him to a career in graphic design creating board games before finally becoming a full-time artist. His background continues to influence his work with structured 3D backgrounds and futuristic subjects mixed with aspects reminiscent of the renaissance era.

Today, Kindelán lives in Basel, Switzerland as a full-time artist focused on contemporary painting.

Artwork

Self-taught artist, Kindelán, blends classic and contemporary components to complement his futuristic anatomical figures.

“You don’t have to reinvent things,” says Kindelán “you just need to pick up what’s there and try to connect it in a new way.”

In his art, you’ll find bold, modern colors inspired by his days as a graffiti artist blended with classic figure compositions inspired by his adoration for old masters, like Caravaggio.

Kindelán says that his work is often a reflection of his inner thoughts vs. reality, which parallels the interpersonal themes often found in old renaissance art. Style-wise, Kindelán modernizes this theme with an anamorphic style in his paintings.

As for the subject matter, Kindelán has always been fascinated by the human form and studied anatomy to create compositions from the inside out. His studies are evident throughout his work, which is very anatomically detailed.

For the Bilt Collection, Kindelán was inspired by ideas of self-reflection and growth. In Kindelán’s custom piece, Quintessence, he shared that it’s about overcoming yourself and connecting your inner reality to your outer reality, and jumping into whatever your inner self has been dreaming of. However, Kindelán also welcomes different interpretations and hopes that his art inspires viewers to look inward and have conversations with themselves.

Creative Process

Before Kindelán begins his process, he takes to writing to sort his thoughts and pulls out keywords to come up with the essence of his paintings to create a story.

Kindelán said he used to paint just to paint, but decided one day that he wanted to give more context to his work and tell a story, and that’s when he started looking inward. Now, Kindelán describes his art as a time machine of different moments or feelings in his life, and that energy has been felt by others who describe his work as having strong energy.

Beyond writing down his thoughts, Kindelán finds inspiration by visiting museums, going on walks and hikes, and having conversations with friends.

“Art was always a safe space for me,” says Kindelán. “It never betrayed me, it never put me in a bad situation, it has been there for me since the beginning.”

For the first time ever Kindelán is offering Bilt Members access to his artwork. Using your Bilt Points, you can own a limited edition piece of art specially created for Bilt, starting at 20,000 Bilt Points.