Salvador Ruiz I Málaga, (EFE) rooms where he worked for others, in his native Malaga, to show his own work and in a big way.
“Mr. Günter, The Cat Show” is the proposal with 209 works, including 121 drawings, 23 canvases and 25 sculptures, which reflect their evolution over the last seven years and which includes express creations for this exhibition and loans from twenty collectors from seven countries, including Asian and American.
Javier Calleja was moved when he presented this exhibition at the Unicaja Foundation Cultural Center in Málaga, located in the magnificent Episcopal Palace.
Also when remembering his beginnings in that place as a worker in the art world setting up exhibitions of other artists.
the street revolution
With the creations he seeks to reach the largest possible number of people. In addition, he confesses that the works “all have a bit of me” and describes the characteristic eyes of the characters in his particular creative universe as those of the child who stops crying, has still teary eyes and begins to smile.
In addition to being an editor, Javier Calleja previously worked in art galleries as an assistant and has experienced the world of art from different perspectives. A situation that he admits gives him a more real image and makes collectors, curators and museum directors understand, an “empathy” that gives him a “broad vision of art”.
Although he says that as an art dealer he was “terrible”; However, now it does not stop selling.
The cat called “Günter” is one of his well-known creations, present throughout the exhibition.
He has reflected on the presence of words in his works: “words make you think; the gesture makes you feel and the image, imagine”. And he adds that “the word is the beginning of thought.”
The Japanese influence
With the artist, the Calleja revolution has arrived in Malaga, collectors from other countries have traveled and even the hotels in the city center where they stay are decorated with images that reproduce works by this creator, which has raised expectations.
More for after Easter, since a sculpture almost six meters high will be installed on Molina Lario street. Yes, it has been announced by one of the curators of the exhibition, Alicia Gutiérrez, who says that the powerful eyes of Calleja’s characters are called “drop eyes” in the United States.
In this way, Shinji Minamizuka, the other curator, met Javier Calleja in 2016 and already warned him that the Japanese influence of his work could work well.
The exhibition was in Tokyo and Canada, but in Malaga it includes works not exhibited in those places and that can be seen until September 6, as reported by the director of Cultural Activities of the Unicaja Foundation, Emilia Garrido. EFE