NAU NUA: THE HILTON BROTHERS

Identity time

They are The Hilton Brothers but first of all they are Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg, two minds playing with the idea of identity and pushing the social schemes to make their dreams come true. They are now presenting the exhibition Andy Dandy and Other works in which they combine in a diptych form the Christopher Makos’ altered image portraits of Andy Warhol with the Paul Solberg’s flowers portraits. So we will find three artistic identities: Makos, Solberg and the Hilton Brothers. But, where’s the boundary between them? The same concept of combining the different identities makes us wonder about our own limits, our own identities in front the others and even our natural and social environment.

What’s a dandy?

Christopher Makos. Dandy is an English expression of someone, something that is very special. Especially in the area of fashion.

Paul Solberg. Apart from the original meaning, being a gentlemen of particular dress and refinement, today a more playful use of the term is explored. A Dandy can be a Gentleman who identifies himself as the prototype of the Original Gentlemen, and the exactitude of it. An over-achiever of personal aesthetics, with cognitive and verbal prowess a key component of his aesthetic, often employing a subversive air. An authentic Dandy – a rarity- is not self-consciousness about any of it, and simply “is”.

And what represents Andy Warhol for you?

Christopher Makos. Andy is much more of a friend than a commodity, or artist as the rest of the world sees him. Of course I understand the rest of the worlds view of him, but I see him first as a friend.

Paul Solberg. Hard work. The “use everything around you” and “do everything” and “everything is art” philosophy that I see has influenced Chris.

You play with the concept of identity presenting a collection of solo works, as Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg, but also duo works as The Hilton Brothers. As The Beatles once sung I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. Who are you?

Christopher Makos. Firstly I am Christopher Makos, but I understand the idea that we are all one. Or at least during the Beatles time that was the idea. It can especially be seen in twitter or facebook, instagram. So many people feel a sense of belonging to something, the new version of church. Shape shifting, or playing with identity is something we all do. The business man during the week, the college jock, in his jeans and t-shirt on the weekends.

Paul Solberg. Like most ideas from the Beatles, this idea is true. Collaboration reveals truth. It tests ego and teaches the impossible feat of sharing the artist role as dictator. Two artists sharing an one vision. We continue to have more songs to sing as a duo, with each of us doing our solos in the band. For us our collaboration “just works” and is very natural.

One of your series is called Andy Dandy combining two different series: one is a series of Andy Warhol portraits by Christopher Makos, and the other is a series of flowers portraits by Paul Solberg. Which is the concept behind that combination?

Christopher Makos. There is no concept, there is just this idea of playing with identity, Andy is quite delicate in this series, and flowers can be quite delicate, so as we were proofing the images, they just seemed to come together.

Paul Solberg. Like our other work, it’s instinctual and visceral. There was a kind of new narrative putting these images side by side. Suddenly it became a story. The most interesting thing is having the viewer come up with their own story, so we keep our story to ourselves. We don’t want to spoil the plot.

The series Truth explores the influence of smell on our imaginary again mixing portraits with flowers but this time in black and white. Which is the smell of truth?

Christopher Makos. It always seems easier to find truth in colour, because it’s all out there for you to see, you don’t have to have an imagination, you just have to use your eyes, but when we use BW, one has to have an imagination, a sense of the unexpected, a sense of smell, a sense! Hopefully this series makes SENSE.

Paul Solberg. Rocks. We both love rocks. They’re the most honest beautiful smell, especially after it rains.

You premiered your series Narrative and Story at La Casa Encendida in Madrid. They form an exhibition called Mistaken identity formed by pieces created from the combination of four photographs. We can see elements as religious symbols, traditions, sexuality... How can we find our identity among so many social conditions?

Christopher Makos. Just walking in the street, seeing the way people act, dress, look at each other. The haircuts, the shoes, the outfits. Everybody is trying to be somebody. Either at work, at home, or at play. This idea of identity is everywhere we look. A doctor, a lawyer, a artist. We are all playing with who we are, hoping to fulfill our expectations for ourselves, and then for other. We play with identity, in the way that we dress, because it becomes a wake up call for the viewer.

Paul Solberg. It’s part of contemporary life to be bombarded by many images at one time.

What kind of influence has the passage of time in our identity?

Christopher Makos. As we grow, as we develop friends, our identity changes. What we expect of ourselves, changes. Time is just another factor on the road to Identity.

Paul Solberg. We’re both fascinated with time. The lack of time. The meaningfulness and meaninglessness of time. The abstraction of time. How time on a clock is symbolic, more than anything real. Keeping time is a way for us to give structure to obscurity.

Speed is a way to deliverance?

Paul Solberg. Sure.

Christopher Makos. Speed is a vehicle to another space, another time. It´s just the way we get from one idea to another, and in speed you just there faster.

Can we trust our feelings and dreams?

Christopher Makos. Absolutely, we have to trust our feelings, I think feelings come from the soul, and if you have feelings, you need to pay attention to them, and our dreams are the way to unlock the future, which is so important to both our emotional and spiritual health.

Paul Solberg. If you don’t trust your dreams, it’s trouble. The only time I don’t trust my dreams is if they make sense. If you recall your dreams, even the bad ones, this is good news. When I wake up screaming from a bad dream, I’m so pleased by brain brought me somewhere creative and interesting without my approval.

Could you explain us your most recurring dream?

Paul Solberg. I dream a lot about watermelon. Flying through a blue sky full of beautiful green and pink watermelon. I can speak for both Christopher and I, there is a lot of dreaming about watermelon.

Christopher Makos. I have to say, I really don’t have recurring dreams. My awake time, in my real life, has almost become a dream. It’s a good, it’s a great wake to go through my life, where my dreams are my reality, and my reality have become the dream I always wanted.

The Hilton Brothers | A selection of works in NAU NUA. Click here

Interview by Juan Carlos Romero

The Hilton Brothers website www.thehiltonbrothers.com