JAVIER CALLEJA
Art, an endless source of emotions
Javier Calleja, one of the most sought-after artists of the moment, joined forces with Lladró to create You Choose One, three original works that reflect his highly personal and unmistakable visual universe. A sculptural composition with three pieces of porcelain: Boy, Devil Cat and Angel Cat, form the inaugural project of Art Editions, the brand’s entry into the contemporary art circuit.
Calleja’s personal approach in painting, drawing and sculpture has been exchanged for Lladró’s handcrafted porcelain, showing vibrant, colorful, and innocent-looking compositions. His distinctive artistic style, notable for his instantly recognizable characters with big eyes and exaggerated features which capture the spectator’s attention, invite us to enter a world suffused with emotiveness.
How would you define your creative style? And what is your main source of inspiration?
I don’t like to be labeled. I believe that my style is open to interpretation by whoever looks at my work. Defining yourself is like closing the door to other things or telling other people what they should think or feel when looking at my work. It is surprising to discover how one single work can have so many different reactions. The response from the beholder is very personal.
And my source of inspiration is anything and everything.
To what extent are you conditioned by the type of material when creating a new work?
The material is hugely important. Sometimes you choose the material depending on the type of work and other times its vice versa, the material conditions the work. I analyze how different materials function, the techniques they require, the way that an idea and the support fit together and enrich one another.
This is your first incursion into the world of porcelain, a material we know you have always been interested in. What feelings did it convey to you?
I had explored the idea of flower pots in ceramic, but this was the first time that I had actually worked with porcelain. I was really excited and the whole process proved fascinating. It’s incredible just to see the number of professionals behind each piece and their mastery of technique.
As I come from the world of fine arts, and I was acquainted with a lot of different craft processes, in principle the work at Lladró was not going to surprise me. But the closer I got the more fascinated I became. It might seem mechanical but you soon realize that each piece is unique. In the application of color, with the change it undergoes when fired in the kiln, not knowing exactly what tone of color will come out, for someone like me who chooses everything so carefully, it causes a certain amount of anxiety, but the team at Lladró know how to handle this uncertainty very well because they are so used to playing and experimenting with color.
Lladró is not an industrial process, it is both art and craft, the two things together. There are artists, artisans, technicians, a whole team that works together to make something very special, as if they were making a Ferrari.
Has working with Lladró changed your vision of porcelain?
More than changed it, I’d say it has enriched it. And I have discovered just how complex porcelain is as a material and therefore the end result, the work we have made, deserves its breathing space. It is a truly exceptional piece of work.
The first sketches for You Choose One were left in a drawer. Can you tell us what led you to dig them out again? How did you get the idea for the total composition featuring Boy, Devil Cat and Angel Cat?
When I realized that porcelain has this angelical aspect to it, I thought that the boy, who I had already had in mind as a sculpture, was perfect and so I decided to accompany him with two angels. I wanted a big composition, without a pedestal or base, without any element that would separate it from the surface on which it stands. I wanted it to be big and have a presence.
