Born in Argentina and based in Ibiza, Grillo Demo’s timeless works have beauty, virtue and romance at their core. His sophisticated and classic aesthetic of appropriation and adornment is imbued with surrealist overtones and his work finds expression across many media including paintings, collages, ceramics and furniture.
The artist left the small village in Argentina where he was born to travel the world and since 1978 he has resided in the Balearic idyll of Ibiza. Demo finds inspiration in the most unlikely of places, from the Saturday market in Ibiza to the flea markets of Buenos Aires. Demo is perhaps best known for his falling jasmine paintings in which the artist delicately renders white gesso jasmine flowers over a ‘found’ image printed on to canvas. In one series Demo refashions vintage Catholic imagery by cascading falling jasmine over images of the Madonna, the Christ Child and the Crucifix. The effect is both nostalgic in tone and dreamlike. It is not just on religious iconography that Demo depicts his jasmine flowers - he has used his signature motif flower on retro beauties from old Hollywood magazines, portraits of the young Evita and even modern icons such as Elle MacPherson. Recently he created a portrait of French Vogue Editor in Chief, Carine Roitfeld, as a gift from fashion photographer Mario Testino.
Demo has had solo show in London, Hong Kong, New York and his adopted home Ibiza. The artist is often sought out in his villa art lovers and eager new patrons. Demo's paintings are venerated in international art collections and in the homes of living icons such as Madonna, Kate Moss and Elle McPherson.
