FELIPAO AND HIS POP DOGS FELIPE GARCÍA- BAÑÓN, OR FELIPAO, IS THE CREATOR OF THE FRENCH BULLDOG REIMAGINED AS A POP ART SCULPTURE WHICH EVERYONE WA N T S T O H AV E I N T H E I R H O M E. T H E C O O L E S T D O G O F T H E M O M E N T H A S FASCINATING STORY BEHIND IT - THE STORY OF A MAN WHO DECIDED T O L E AV E E V E R Y T H I N G B E H I N D T O D O W H AT H E A LWAY S D R E A M E D O F: BECOMING AN ARTIST. HATS OFF TO HIM!
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elipe García- Bañón was a successful executive at a multinational company, until one day he decided to embark on an adventure to become an artist. From that little life-changing moment came, in 2009, Poppi, and ever since he hasn’t stopped travelling the world, turning this bulldog into the world’s most wanted dog. “ When I left the world of multinationals, I went to a town in Tuscany to seek inspiration and decide what to do with my life. The place was called Poppi, and because that’s where it’s all started, that’s what I decided to name my first piece,” the artist explains. Poppi was born a French bulldog, as that is Felipao’s favourite breed. The first one he made went to his father, decorated with all of the flags where he had been stationed as a diplomat. After the French bulldog came the pugs, Pippo and Pippa, and the English bulldog, Poppin. Each one unique and a one-off. Expressions of Pop Art in which the strong influence of Andy Warhol on Felipao can be clearly seen. “Andy Warhol is a source of inspiration for me. When he visited Spain in 1982 he had dinner at my grandmother’s house. I wasn’t there that day, but I always like his work. Pop Art is fresh, simple and cheerful - I like it. It elevates everyday objects to works of art,” argues Felipao.
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ForFelipe García- Bañón, every Poppi is a challenge and a mini farewell. That is because the artist guarantees to only create fifty pieces. “I try and do better with each piece. It’s a limited series. I’ve now done three hundred sculptures - when I reach five hundred I’ll stop,” adds Felipao. Three hundred bulldogs spread around the world in houses of people such as Philip Starck, who commissioned a Poppi inspired by the word ‘love’. “The Philip Starck commission was one of the most exclusive I have had. He told me to make it however I liked, but to be inspired by the word ‘love’ - that was it. It was short, but it was an honour to have him com-
mission a sculpture from me and give me carte blanche,” he says. On asking him what inspiration he’d take from Sotogrande, the artist doesn’t hesitate to say he’d create huge sculptures for the resort’s roundabouts in bright colours - bulldogs, of course. An enticing proposal which we hope, one day, might become reality.n
www.felipao.es