Oscar Rey makes art the way others keep diaries, his canvasses are painted stories, lines pulled frompoetry and song. Each painting is a ritual, an attempt to preserve memory, to honor beauty, to map the ache between joy and grief.
Born in Spain, now working in Berlin, Oscar carry layers of history in his practice: medieval shadows, lovers long gone, birds made from plastic and dreams.
He studied illustration and design, but the heart of hiswork beats outside those rules, raw, theatrical, tender. It’s guided by instinct and devotion. Through collaborations, collectives, and solitude, he always returns to the same questions: What must be remembered? What must be felt? What must be said? as a small revolt against forgetting.
ArtDependence (AD): How does your work reflect your view of the world right now?
Oscar Rey (O.R.): I see the world as a palimpsest of memories, traumas and fleeting joys. My paintings are an futile act of resistance against the erasure of personal and collective experience. By mining fragments—from medieval imagery to plastic birds—I aim to build a bridge between past and present, anchoring viewers in the visceral beauty of the here and now.
AD: What role do you think art plays in connecting people today?
O.R.: Art remains one of the last universal languages. It bypasses politics and ideology to speak directly to our shared humanity. In a moment of digital overload and fragmentation, a painting can still cultivate empathy, spark conversation and remind us that we’re not alone in our longings, our doubts or our smallest rebellions against forgetting.
AD: What message or feeling do you hope viewers take away from your art?
O.R.: I hope they leave with a gentle rebellion in their hearts—a commitment to remember more fully, feel more deeply and speak more honestly. If one of my canvases can rekindle a buried memory or awaken a slumbering emotion, then the ritual is complete.
Oscar Rey, Blue Void, Acrylic paint on canvas, 2024
AD: Can you tell us the story behind the artwork 'Blue Void'?
O.R.: I painted this as an immersion into silence—the moments when language fails and all that remains is a vast expanse of feeling. The deep lapis fields of paint serve as both shelter and abyss, inviting viewers to project their own questions and longings into its depths.
AD: What inspired you to take part in the Art to Collect project?
O.R.: Well, as an “everyday archivist” of personal and collective histories, I was drawn to
Artdependence because it mirrors my own mission of preserving memory and emotion
through visual storytelling. Joining a platform that highlights artists as diarists—each canvas a ritual to map the ache between joy and grief—felt like a perfect fit for my work and voice.
Oscar Rey is currently preparing a series of sculptural figures that will debut in Berlin this winter.
Main Image: Oscar Rey, Blue Void 2024, Acrylic paint on canvas
More works available on Art to Collect