Javier Calleja

Calleja’s work is equally sarcastic as it is sensitive. His portraits depict stylised figures with exaggerated heads and big, melting eyes, reminiscent of Manga or Anime characters. Scrawled across their t-shirts, phrases like “FUCK YOU ALL” undercut their apparent cutesy innocence. Facial features with perfectly merged gradients are contrasted by flat, single-colour backgrounds and loose line-work that illustrates their bodies. The artist also translates his painted figures into fibreglass sculptures that, with their uncanny animated style and manufactured finish, evoke the works of contemporary artists such as KAWS and Yoshitomo Nara - or indeed a lonely Playmobil toy. This constant strand of irony underpins Calleja’s oeuvre, bringing a sharp edge to the alluring simplicity of his aesthetic.

Clouds Through The Window, a solo exhibition in 2019 at Galerie Zink in Regensburg, showed a two-storey wall covered in nine portraits, each with an oversized, wooden frame in a simplified Baroque style. The composition of multiple paintings in slightly different shapes and sizes, recalls art historical emblems of power: Parisian salon-style display or the interior of an English Country House from the 1800s. However, the purposeful simplicity of Calleja's paintings juxtaposes their grand presentation, re-envisioning traditional portraiture in a sardonic but endearing gesture. Emotion rather than reason is the driving force for Calleja. When starting out in the 1990s, he felt as though contemporary art was overly intellectual. By contrast, Calleja wanted to create art that touched people without the need for an explanation. Thus, he developed his trademark characters which he considers small versions of himself, his “children.” This emotional authenticity, paired with his glib, ironic humour, douses Calleja’s oeuvre with an understated yet earnest power.