GR Gallery announced last week a new solo show featuring the work of Spanish cartoonist and illustrator illustrator Joan Cornellà, known for his unsettling, surreal and black humour comic strips as well as artwork.
“Keep it Real!”, as the show has been titled, will put together 20 pieces, including works on canvas and paper, prints and mix merchandise. Beside some of his classical signature pieces the artist is going to stay in New York for some time where he will produce a few fresh artworks, created specially for this occasion.
“Keep it Real!” aims to present the unique dark and unsettling irony of the internationally renowned Catalan artist and cartoonist. His bold and direct message is sharply addressed through a very recognisable, naive and simplistic, visual style, that tend to soften the very delicate themes debated. With no shame or fear to offend the viewer, Cornella’ insists in depicting surreal and macabre situations, always strongly connected with the latest society issues, where the characters cynically, but always cheerfully, do what should never be done.
“Keep it Real!” opens on Thursday April 25, 6:00pm – 9:00pm (Opening Reception)
and will run through May 26, 2019 at the gallery located on 255 Bowery (between Houston & Stanton) New York.
About the artist
Joan Cornellà Vázquez was born in Barcelona, Spain on 11 January 1981. Having graduated in fine arts, he has collaborated for numerous publications, such as La cultura del Duodeno, El Periódico, Ara and has illustrated for The New York Times.
In 2009 he won the third edition of the Josep Coll Prize with his album Abulio, published in the next year by Glénat. Since 2010, he has provided cartoons for the Spanish magazine El Jueves.
In 2012, Fracasa Mejor, a selection of Cornellà’s black-and-white cartoons made from 2010 to 2012, was published. Most of the material was previously unpublished, although it also contains material published in El Jueves and various other fanzines. In 2013, a third album of his, Mox Nox, was published via Bang Ediciones. Cornellà collaborated with visual designer Stefania Lusini in 2016 as an illustrator for the cover of Wilco’s tenth studio album, Schmilco.
Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
You might also like
