The Barcelona-based artist, Camil Escruela, first came into contact with graffiti in 2004 and, following a compulsive period of activity on the streets and in the car parks, it was in 2011 that he discovered his true artistic calling: easel painting. Currently, he experiments with other formats such as digital illustration, or the production of his own three-dimensional (3D) figures.

Camil’s figurative language has a playful component, which on the one hand derives from the irreverence of graffiti and on the other, from his creative process, As he improvises while drawing, he lets his imagination flow naturally alongside his understanding, driven by a playful impulse, without the need for forethought, playing with the artwork, the materials, the colours and the characters. His style is characterised by his cheerful, dynamic and imperfect drawing, which points towards experimentation, drawing on clear aesthetic references from naïve art, art brut, pop art, comics and illustration. It reclaims the identity of a contemporary Barcelona, from the pre-Olympic era to the explosion of graffiti and urban art. He has been particularly interested in and influenced by great artists such as Javier Mariscal, Pablo Picasso, the illustrator Pilarín Bayés, and the urban artist Nami ‘La Mà’.

He tends to depict scenes from the Barcelona graffiti scene, the actions of graffiti writers in public spaces or indoors, with an artistic, documentary, archival and activist purpose, advocating for the practice itself.

Similarly, he is known in the art world for his witty narratives, contemporary still lifes, and compositions packed with information, with a multifaceted universe that alludes to codes and symbols from the most underground culture in all its manifestations; such as graffiti, art, music, fashion, technology, and social issues, a testament to Camil’s constant interest in current affairs and trends.

Some of the artist’s solo exhibitions include “Millennial” (2016), “Team” (2019) at the Contorn Urbà Foundation, “The Spray Game” (2022-2023) at Montana Gallery, and “Spray Club” (2023) at the Artquemy gallery. As for group exhibitions, they have participated in the ‘Wallspot Exhibition’ (2018) at Montana Gallery, and in the ‘Trajectory’ exhibition at Contrast Gallery. (2017), the B-Murals ‘B-Local’ (2021) collective, “PLAYGROUND” (2022) curated by Miriam Díaz with B-Murals, and ‘Fresc, fresc!’ (2022) at Adda Gallery, Ibiza. Simultaneously, the artist has participated with some of their works in exhibitions abroad, such as the 2020 group show, known as ‘Stacks Issue 3’, at the OIL by Bijutsutecho gallery in Tokyo, Japan. Another exhibition the artist collaborated on was ‘When Art meets Football’ in 2019, organised by PlayItArt gallery at the RSCA Stadium in Belgium. In 2021, PlayItArt participated with the artist’s work in the ‘Affordable Art Fair Brussels’.