Pep Carrió (Mallorca, 1963) is an author—author in its original Latin sense: someone who makes something grow, emerge, come into being.
To approach what he does—and to distinguish it from other practices, other names—it helps to let go of the semiotic concepts we so often use as a kind of Swiss Army knife: gaze, method, language, style, discourse, hallmarks, and so on. If we stop there, we end up repeating what has already been said about others, and even what has already been said about him. It is not especially useful, either, to draw up a catalogue of rhetorical devices. Rhetorical devices (metaphor, metonymy, ellipsis, repetition, etc.) are finite, and they are bound to overlap with those used by other authors. A better way to begin thinking about Pep Carrió’s work is to understand it as a way of life. And a way of life is always unique. Pep Carrió lives in a rare and singular way: he feeds on the material, on what already is and, often, what once was. He moves forward through a tireless search that leads to discovery: it is not enough for something simply to exist—it has to appear, to be there. He creates order through a principle of relation: what was and what is always leads to another reality that also was and is, and that one to another, and that one to another. And in the end, he gives meaning by recognizing the possibility of metamorphosis: what was and what is will sooner or later become something else.
He combines his work as a graphic designer—especially in the editorial and cultural fields—with his practice as a visual artist and illustrator. Both facets have been reflected in numerous publications and exhibitions, all marked by the strong artistic, poetic, and conceptual character of his work.
Pep Carrió is a designer of ideas—one of those who give new meaning to the phrase: I think, therefore I design.
