The same shy and restless ‘guaje’ who took his charcoal drawings every summer to the local newspaper to illustrate the stories of his father, the remembered Juan José Plans, today operates with ease in the MOMA, museums in Korea and China or the metaverse , where his works continue to break price records. Edgar Plans collaborates with commercial brands and even with the NBA, he has a waiting list of collectors that, at times, seems unbearable and he receives calls on his cell phone from people who “were references not long ago and today are my friends.” But he is still there, in his workshop, in slippers, among crushed paint cans and canvases, at home.

• -When did you realize that you were playing in another league?
• – I realized when they started calling from galleries and museums that it seemed impossible to me. Those people are at another level and they wait for you to arrive, they are not going to look for you.

• – And you are still here, you refuse to leave.
• – I travel a lot, but when I travel I don’t work. I load myself with information, with sensations that later I can use, but I need to be here, with my family, in my routine to create.

• – With your feet on the ground.
• – I am a simple person, I don’t like luxuries. I like music, coffee, spending time with my loved ones…

• – He goes by bicycle to the studio, but he has been traveling by rocket for a long time professionally speaking.
• – That’s right, but the truth is that I never aspired to anything more than having time to paint.

• – Did you always want to be an artist, did you never hear at home that ‘study something with more opportunities’?
• – I was lucky. I come from a family that always has lived of art. My father was a writer. They taught me to believe in myself, they motivated me. I was always clear that there was time to work on other things, that I had to try.

• – How much does being the son of Juan José Plans and being called Edgar after Allan Poe weigh into that?
• – No weighs because it is a pride. I like my name and the childhood I had, with more literature and more fantasy than most. With Jules Verne, Edgar Wallace… Allan Poe, of course.

• – What would your father tell you today?
• – Go figure. I always keep him in mind, he is in all my projects, just like my daughter, I include her in many works, she loves to look for herself…

• – You are there too.
• – Very much, I understand art as something very autobiographical. The artist has to be there.

• – And what is art?
• – Buff, every day it is more difficult to define, especially from within. Is a toilet art? Well, it depends on the context, on the idea you want to give it, on whether it means something.

• – And what is not art? Is there any limit?
• – I am a traditional artist and I confess that there are performances or installations in which I do not find much artistic sense. Just because a piece is in a large fair or a large museum does not mean that it will mean more to me than a fire extinguisher or the bathroom door.

• – Where do you want to go?
• – Well, more than arriving, I think the thing is continue enjoying. I don’t have goals, Now I have projects, luckily, also open doors to do what I really like.

• – What do you really like?
• – Paint. Paint huge paintings, for example, and spend a whole year for three. Or help young artists starting their career. Collectors and gallerists  helped me and I think it is very important to do for next generation. I like to be grateful. You must to be grateful.

• – He is involved in a thousand and one solidarity projects.
• – That’s why I like to collaborate and I think it’s an obligation, too. Not just giving money, but also motivating others to be part in the projects. I’m not into luxuries, I already say that I only need time and that’s what I’ve gained, time.

• -What’s left of that kid who drew non-stop?
• – The desire. I have them all. I have many ideas, many projects and no financial pretensions.

• – Come on, a curiosity: did you send to the Queen of Spain the work that you promised her in Arco?
• – Of course, a sculpture of my father. Also another one for the King and some books for his daughters, so they wouldn’t get jealous (laughs). They supported me a lot and I thank them very much.

• – He never tells it but he has pieces, in addition to large museums around the world, in some houses as illustrious as Zarzuela.
• – I don’t think it’s important. Does that influence whether you like my work or not? Should not. I like the tortilla from my neighborhood bar because it is very good, not because of who eats it. This should be the same, right?

Text by María de Álvaro.

El Comercio Newspaper.