The Complex Illustration, by Miguel Calatayud.

Yesterday, I went to one of my favorite art galleries in Valencia. The CCC Cultural Center. There were a few exhibitions and I would like to share with you this particular one. A series of illustrations from Miguel Calatayud.

He was born in Aspe, Alicante. Spanish comic artist and illustrator, best known for his illustrations for children's books.

"Complex illustrations come with a previous study and putting it in small details, and any of those details, detached from the total, could make sense by itself." Miguel Calatayud.

This exhibition proposes a tour of some of his best works in the last twenty years, but also a journey through a universe led by that desire which turned the eighteenth century into the Age of Enlightenment, or, in other words, a defense of the project known as Modernity, and which some consider just as alive and necessary in these times of cultural loss.

I really love the drawing when it has the artist's particular view of things. They are very abstract and you can tell what they represent but not necessarily what you need to understand. Just to enjoy what you perceive,

"The backbone of the exhibition consists of two hundred original works and some reproductions, which come from ten books, and it is titled The Complex Illustration, because Calatayud's way of understanding drawing is, in effect, complex and because there are not works which can be interpreted by a mere glance."

"Each image follows its own set of rules, in which the different sizes, the deformations, the different point of view, or the color from a choreography in which every small detail makes sense."

I really like the way he represents everything with geometric forms that build like this puzzle that makes the whole painting one.

The one on the up left represents a woman who has a grape tree on her head and also seems like she is crying.

On the one on the right, we have a cute Autumn scenario. We can see trees without leaves as they fall from their branches, and birds flying between them. Not only that but if you pay attention there is a woman upside down with a heart in her mouth.

In this one, we can see two women. They both look the same and one is upside down. They both are like floating actually. The scene seems to happen in a field with fruit trees. They could be orange trees, as they are typical in this region. But also, there are ice trees.

I like the neutral colors, and how he uses a palette of similar pastel colors to give the illustration a cohesive color theme.

I took so many pics of the ones I liked the most. For now, I will post these ones and leave the rest for another post! :):)

Images	All taken with my phone
Location	Valencia, Spain

If you liked this post and want to visit some of the other ones, click on the links below:

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preciousbree (62) 6 months ago

It was so cool and so creative, I love the illustration in every picture. So beautiful and artistic 🥰 nice to meet you..

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ramon2024 (61) 6 months ago

Thanks a lot for your comment! Nice to meet you too. I am glad you liked it as much as I did! I took photos of many other nice ones. I didn't want to make the post too long so I will post them in another one!

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erikah (82) 6 months ago

I like his style. It's a particular one, I don't think I've seen many similar artworks, if any. I also like the texture of the paper and I suppose working with watercolor and do such a precise geometrical work is not easy. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos :)

I am glad you liked it! The ones I will post tomorrow are so nice as well. I wish I had this imagination!

I wish I had this imagination!

You and me both!

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