Introducing Alex Trochut

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

Auction dates: 26 March 2021 > 1 day auctions, 24hr countdown

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trochut/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexTrochut 

SuperRare introduction: Alex Trochut

Alex Trochut was born in 1981 in Barcelona, Spain. After completing his studies at Elisava Escola Superior de Disseny, Alex established his own design studio in Barcelona before relocating to New York City. Through his design, illustration and typographic practice he has developed an intuitive way of working that has resulted in his expressive visual style.

For Alex, typography functions on two hierarchical levels. First, there is the image of the word we see; reading comes secondary. As a designer, Alex focuses on the potential of language as a visual medium, pushing language to its limits so that seeing and reading become the same action and text and image become one unified expression, although exploring the sensorial aspects of forms and textures to bring the feeling of a word beyond its meaning.

Mixing styles and genres and drawing equally from pop culture, street culture, fashion and music, Alex has created design, illustration and typography for a diverse range of clients: Nike, Adidas, Apple, The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry, BBC, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, The Guardian, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Penguin, and many others. 

Alex’s work has been internationally recognized, appearing in exhibitions and publications worldwide. He has given talks and been honored by the Art Directors Club––including being named a 2008 Young Gun––the Type Directors Club, Creative Review, Cannes, Clio and D&AD among others. His monograph, More Is More, explores his working methodologies and influences and was published in 2011.

Amongst all this, Alex patented his self funded personal project ‘Binary Prints’. Developing a print-making technique where two separate images can be seen in the same picture depending on whether it’s viewed in the light or the dark. And so Binary Prints was born, a series of portraits for electronic artists Caribou, Four Tet, Damian Lazarus, James Murphy, John Talabot to name a few.

Alex is committing 10% of the gross sale of these works to Carbon180, a climate nonprofit working to create a world that removes more carbon than it emits.

SuperRare welcomes Alex Trochut and his genesis NFT collection with open arms – a hand picked selection of 7 works that has shaped Alex’s career – he calls these his ‘classics’. Each day, one 24hr auction ends, another starts – take a look at the collection below.

‘G’ [2012]

Use 2D vectors – but make them look 3D.

I made this capital letter for the SimpleTipografica exhibition in Caracas, curated by Alex Wright (2012). This mash up approach, led me to countless experiments mixing op-art, inking, and volumetric vector graphics. Since then, it’s become one of my staple styles and a defining presence in my portfolio of work over the years. 

G can stand for many things, but in this case, it’s ‘genesis’.

Liquid [2003]

This was my first personal illustration. 

I used a spherical chrome object (an Ikea lamp) to photograph my arms and hands into different distorted positions. I played with the shadows as a way to blend the liquid into the volumes of my hands, creating a fluid composition that mixed the abstract and the figurative.

Old Is Cool [2007]

This piece is one of the first published lettering works where I used a geometric grid to create a 3D Script Lettering. More than anything, the final result was a happy accident, an unexpected discovery that happened while I was trying to achieve something else. My initial intention was to create a classic lettering script from the 50s, but my lack of knowledge at the time took me to this unconventional result, and now this work holds a very special place in my memories. 

Sometimes creativity is just a mistake that happens while you’re trying to go somewhere else.

Mosquito Acid Valley [2005]

Mosquito Acid Valley is an image created for the legendary Italian parties of 2005. I was invited to take on the character created by @superexpresso and remix it into a gravity zero moment of euphoria, love, and psychedelia. At the time, I was very interested in the use of digital airbrushing in Photoshop, and combining them with fluid shapes and cartoonish surreal images.

Dream On Dreamer [2010]

This piece continues a theme expressed in my piece Mosquito Acid Valley (2005) but this time, grabbing at the feeling of a faded chemical happiness. It pictures a pile of soft caterpillars, a representation of slow, and lethargic feeling, and worn down colors that still show some signs of glowing toxicity. The scene is framed by a slimy smiley face in the background. This image was inspired by Sacha Funke – Mango Cookie (DJ Koze Pink Moon Remix) which was in the back of my head all the time during the process of this image. 

Go For It [2007]

This piece is another unconventional lettering style from the memory vault. “Go For It” was the first time that I used just letters – in a simple, stripped back way – as the hero element in a poster. The design process started with a search for what words to choose, rewarding always shorter rather than long words, in an effort to give myself more space to push the expressive side of each character further. I always looked for that sweet spot between pure abstraction and a sense of communication, the text in this case could be deciphered but not in a fully clear way, making space for contemplation.

It’s Complicated [2019]

It’s complicated. A one-word poem about the most complex of all emotions. This piece introduced motion into my work, allowing words to shift between different shapes and stages in order to tell a story. The piece not only compels you to read an image, but also to see its transformation as its own short narrative. Playing with this intersection of subjective and objective legibility has become the focus of many new projects I’m currently developing for future release.

A note from Carbon180

The scientific community has said, under no uncertain terms, that in order to meet our climate goals we will need to both remove and reduce carbon emissions. As the crypto community continues to pursue a more efficient blockchain, there is also an opportunity for the community to invest in carbon removal strategies that eliminate legacy emissions and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Carbon180 is building a carbon negative future in partnership with policymakers, businesses, and scientists, and is a great place to get started.