“guilty pleasures”

Xavier Solé Mora is a Spanish visual artist working across digital prototyping, virtual reality, video, installation, film, drawing, and happenings. In his artistic practice, Solé explores the possibilities of technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence to reflect on humankind’s deepest passions and darkest pleasures. Taking the satire and the art of Francisco Goya as inspiration, Solé portrays a society where the boundaries between nastiness and enjoyment are blurred using playful manipulations. Through naïve and childish interfaces, he invites the viewers to engage with rude and violent scenes presented with a layer of innocence and seductiveness, pushing them into “nasty interactions” with his artwork and their own guilty pleasures.

Xavier Solé Mora holds BA in Advertising and Public Relations from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain, and an MA in Fine Art Digital from University of Arts London, UK. Before devoting himself entirely to art and teaching, Solé worked with top advertising agencies delivering creative solutions to business problems. He taught at Istituto Europeo di Design in Barcelona and Ravensbourne University in London. Currently, he is working as a Senior Lecturer at the Kingston School of Art, helping the Creative and Cultural Industries students explore the future of communication, art, and business. He is also a member of Fish Island Labs, an initiative mentored by the Barbican Centre and the Trampery to kickstart the careers of a new generation of emerging talent whose work spans technology and the arts. Solé’s work has been exhibited in Barcelona, Madrid, London, and across the Internet. He is the recipient of the 2017-2018 Aspen Digital Art Award.

Xavier Solé Mora lives and works in London, UK.