AUGUST VILELLA
b. 1986, SpainAugust Vilella taught himself to paint and produces oil paintings that reference both classical and contemporary art. He works in a surreal-intuitive method, creating his wide-eyed characters without prior sketches and allowing his hand to act as a conduit for his subconscious mind.
Early Years
Born in 1986, August Vilella spent his childhood in Reus (birthplace of Antoni Gaudi) and moved to Barcelona when he was 18 to study philosophy at university. He was also a member of several bands and was writing a book about his own philosophical theories, but felt he needed to find a way to express himself more directly. He said: “From the first moment my brush touched the canvas I fell in love with oil paint and the intuitive creative process”3. He was working as a tour guide at the Sagrada Familia, but decided to quit both his job and music to pursue painting; a year later, he successfully took his work to Japan.
August Vilella: Artworks
Combining the surreal and the intuitive, August Vilella uses his painting to transfer his subconscious thoughts on to the canvas, playing with light and shade to create a magical aura populated with magical wide-eyed characters that invite viewers to engage with their own emotions. His self-taught painting style—small brushes, many layers of oil paint and varnish—is evocative of Old Masters, although his subject matter is entirely contemporary. Human figures sometimes appear alongside the big-eyed creatures, or other objects from the “real world” including water, and
- Harmony (2023) gives Vilella’s wide-eyed figure an almost glass-like exterior; inside the figure is an entire earthly scene, including a Gaudiesque church on an island and a moonlit sky. Yet the birds in the composition are outside, rather than inside.
- The eyes of the figure in Coming Back Home (2023) seem to convey huge sadness; the creature has a small house, trees and grass on its back, while a human with her back to us looks on.
- Book Writer (2025) places a small, more human figure on the pages of a book in which a blue, almost fluffy, wide-eyed creature is writing with a quill pen. Light from a candle illuminates the writer’s “fur” while his eyes seem to suggest melancholy.
August Vilella: Awards
- Best Artist, Tokyo International Art Fair (2016)
- Best Innovative Art, The Global Art Awards of Dubai (2017)
- International Artist Grand Prize and Chairman’s Award, Art Revolution Taipei (2018).
August Vilella: Exhibitions
Select Solo Exhibitions
- 10 Year Chronological Show, Shenzhen Bay White Cube (2026)
- Seasons, Ginza Six, Ginza Tsutaya Books, Ginza, Tokyo (2024)
- Echoes Of Silence, Villazan, New York City (2024)
- Unveiling the Eye, La Pedrera-Casa Milà, Barcelona (2023), Spain
- Summer Breeze, JPS Gallery, Hong Kong (2023)
- Autumn Symphony, Caelis Gallery, Shanghai (2022)
- Memories, Kudan House, Tokyo (2022)
- Hope Springs Eternal, JPS Gallery, Tokyo (2020)
- Anacart Barcelona, Shanghai (2020)
- Lithography Exhibition of August Vilella, Fine Minna, Shanghai (2018)
Select Group Exhibitions and Art Fairs
- JPS Gallery Pop-up Store, Paradise City, Inchoeon (2025)
- Redefining the Quadrant: 35 Artists at the Edge of Global Contemporary, L2 SWCAC Member’s Space, Sea World Culture & Arts Center, Shenzhen (2025)
- Pandas in the Dreamscape (with Domingo Zapata), 25 Hours hotel, Dubai (2024)
- West Bund Art & Design Fair 2024, Shanghai (2024),
- 1 Gallery Art Fair, Paradise City, Seoul (2024)
- Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Manarat Al Saadiyat (MAS), Abu Dhabi (2024)
- TEFAF New York 2023, Park Avenue Armory, New York City (2023)
- Bonjour Paris, JPS Gallery, Paris (2022)
- Ginza Six, Tsutaya Books, Tokyo (2021)
Further reading
- August Vilella’s Instagram
- August Vilella’s official website
- August Vilella’s artist page at JPS Gallery
- A 2024 interview from Hypebeast
August Vilella FAQs
Why do August Vilella’s characters have big eyes?
In a 2024 interview, August Vilella said that through our eyes, ”we can express any feelings and emotions”. He explained that because he is an intuitive painter, he doesn’t know the real reason his characters have such big, expressive eyes but he is sure they are born with them and that because they cannot talk, this is how they communicate with the world.
What techniques and materials does August Vilella use?
August Vilella uses a surreal-intuitive method to paint. He doesn’t produce sketches, instead using the oil on canvas to give a shape to his subconscious mind. This results in a dreamlike quality in his paintings. Working with small brushes, he applies many thin layers of oil paint and varnish—his technical practice contrasts with his improvised creativity, which he likens to a jazz painting.
What are August Vilella’s influences?
August Vilella has said that his subconscious mind guides his artistic practice, so is not often linked to any specific artistic influences. However, his work does reflect certain aspects of his surroundings: for example, when he was living in Japan he noticed elements appearing that reflected his environment, such as Sakura trees.
Ocula | 2026
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