We have extensively covered the work of counterfeit ceramacist Diogo Machado – aka Add Fuel – but have recently discovered another artist with a similar take on tiles. Catalan visual artist Javier de Riba creates tiled flooring with stencils and spray paints.

His artworks bear an uncanny resemblance to the traditional Catalan hydraulic tiles he grew up with. The repetitive motifs form incredible visuals, with vibrant colour combinations and geometric shapes. In desolate sections of concrete, he uses his art to inject life back into spaces left forgotten.

With his project Floors, abondoned buildings, and some public spaces, provide the canvas. His stenciled patterns are spray painted with skill with bold blues, reds, and pinks making up the selection of designs. De Riba doesn’t only use his talents to reinvigorate spaces with superimposed tiles, but has also taken to varnish to create visual effects on rescued wood, including a series of doors.

The transformative effect of tiles (or implied tiles) is made entirely apparent by these works, with some notable examples including “Sidewalk” (a 78 metre floor in Shenzhen, China) and small motifs outside doors in “Romagueres” (a project for the Festival of Ephemeral Artistic Interventions).

To see more of Javier de Riba’s works follow him on Instagram
Or explore his website

A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, July 2020.