Spanish artist Sebas Velasco unveiled his first major monograph, The Morning Will Change Everything: A Journey Through Former Yugoslavia 2015–2025, during a pre-launch event at CAN Art Fair in Madrid on 6 March 2026. A limited number of copies was available at the fair before the official online launch on 10 March 2026 through the artist’s website. Additional international launches are planned throughout 2026 in Sarajevo, Lisbon, and across the United Kingdom.
The publication brings together a decade of Velasco’s research, travel, painting, and photography across the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The book follows the artist’s institutional debut exhibition of the same name, expanding that project into an extensive visual and reflective archive of landscapes and social atmospheres shaped by post-transitional histories.
Rooted in long-term observation and visual fieldwork, the monograph documents the urban environments and communities of the region through Velasco’s distinctive painterly language. His work moves fluidly between contemporary painting, visual anthropology, and social history, exploring how architecture, public spaces, and everyday scenes carry traces of memory and identity.
Across the pages, large-scale reproductions and close-up details highlight the tactile intensity and atmospheric depth that define Velasco’s paintings. The images capture dimly lit streets, apartment blocks, industrial edges, and nocturnal cityscapes—settings that evoke the quiet persistence of life in places shaped by complex histories.
One of the book’s defining features is its multilingual structure. The publication is presented in four languages—English, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, and Basque—reflecting Velasco’s commitment to cultural proximity and dialogue. Developed in collaboration with award-winning translators, the multilingual format is integral to the storytelling of the book, promoting accessibility while emphasizing the presence of minority languages.
This layered linguistic approach mirrors the artist’s broader practice, which often examines how cultural connections are formed across linguistic and national borders.
The monograph includes a critical essay by curator and writer Saša Bogojev, who situates Velasco’s work within both the legacy of Spanish painting and the social and architectural realities of the former Yugoslav region. Alongside this text, Velasco contributes an artist essay in which he reflects on the emotional and intuitive foundations of his practice, offering readers a rare insight into the personal motivations behind his decade-long project.
“I am so happy to consolidate ten years of artistic and personal obsession with former Yugoslavia into this book, which now serves as a witness to that journey,” Velasco explains. “Bringing talented friends into this process has been essential—Saša Bogojev for his care, and Estudio Primo for the beautiful design.”
He adds that the production process paid particular attention to detail, from the multilingual narrative structure to colour-balancing the images directly on site at Michelena Publishing. “It is also the first time I have written so openly about my own process. I hope these efforts offer deeper insight into how this journey began, and how it continues to grow.”
The Morning Will Change Everything marks a significant moment in Velasco’s artistic trajectory. Over the past decade, his practice has evolved from roots in graffiti and street culture into a research-driven body of work increasingly recognized within institutional contexts.
By consolidating ten years of travel, observation, and artistic production, the monograph offers both a comprehensive overview of Velasco’s work and a broader reflection on the layered urban realities of the post-Yugoslav landscape.
The pre-launch event at CAN Art Fair Madrid will include a conversation between Velasco and Saša Bogojev, offering audiences the first public introduction to the publication before its global release.
No Comment