Javier Calleja
“One true tree for...”
New York, 361 Broadway
In the past five years, Javier Calleja (b. 1971) has garnered international acclaim as a creative force. Whether through painting, drawing, or sculpture, Calleja offers a whimsical figuration that provides a captivating escape in an era of global uncertainty and unease. This upcoming exhibition, One, true, tree, for..., captures the New York premiere of new work by the contemporary Spanish artist. This exhibition also marks a decade since he last exhibited in New York, which complements a concurrent solo exhibition at the Hangaram Art Museum in the Seoul Art Center, on view through October 27.
Depicting subjects, the conceptual offspring of the artist himself, Calleja’s figures demand attention. Characters stand before us with an enigmatic air; their narratives seemingly frozen yet filled with colorful clues that spill out across flat surfaces and often materialize as sculptural mayhem throughout the gallery. Adorned with phrases and accessories, the figures maintain bold expressions that are captivating, particularly enhanced in their bulbous eyes and wry smiles.
A majority of Calleja’s subjects deliver a variety of smiles. Displaying an air of gaiety, mystery, or mischief, the smile spans across the art history of paintings. Smiling subjects, once quite rare in art, are epitomized by the Mona Lisa and her ambiguously close-lipped smile. While Leonardo de Vinci’s Mona Lisa may not directly connect to Calleja’s studio practice, this masterpiece and Calleja's multimedia oeuvre share a common thread: They cause an amusing relationship between the passive, inanimate artwork and the active, engaging viewer.
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— José Carlos Diaz, Deputy Director for Art at The Seattle Art Museum
