Montana Gallery Barcelona opens its doors to the universe of Calladitos. The Mexican artists, who are also a couple, exhibit a series of works that present the characters and landscapes of Bolla Cebolla, a story in which fantastic narrative and aesthetic mythology are mixed with the particular personality of Calladitos. With a handful of questions we got them to speak so that they can let us discover, through their words, what is behind their endearing pictorial work.
The exhibition will be open to the public at Montana Gallery Barcelona until August 31, 2023.
This is the second time you have visited Barcelona. What do you like most about this city?
I think that one of the things we like the most is the rhythm. It is different than what we are used to: the atmosphere, the people and the energy that you feel is very vibrant. It is a very inspiring place for us because of the wide art scene you have, such as museums, galleries, urban art, music on the streets and so on. Barcelona was also one of our first destinations in Europe to paint and that makes it a very special place for us.
“Barcelona for us represents an escape from the workshop, from the studio, since it allows us to have outward experiences and not have so many moments of introspection.”
What are the general differences you see between Barcelona and San Miguel de Allende? What about in terms of graffiti and urban art?
For us, San Miguel de Allende represents a space to be alone that gives us that moment of tranquility to be able to produce and study in our workshop, which is located on the mountain. We find that there is not much of a graffiti or urban art scene, although it is starting to gain momentum. We decided to move to San Miguel de Allende since there are many contemporary art galleries and a growing art scene, although not urban art. Since it is a town of mostly retired foreigners, it is not a place where there are many young people, like Barcelona. Because of that and other reasons, Barcelona for us represents an escape from the workshop, from the studio, since it allows us to have outward experiences and not have so many moments of introspection. It gives us the opportunity to share our internal universe with more people.
Did you develop the story of Bolla Cebolla specifically for your exhibition at Montana Gallery? How was the creation of the ideas?
Bolla Cebolla is a story that we have been developing over the last few years. We are working on it in order to be able to portray it in animation and other types of media, not only easel painting and murals. The intention of the exhibition was to show in the paintings the concept art of the animated series that we are starting to work on. The paintings show the characters, the landscapes and the scenes that we describe in the script. Bolla Cebolla is the introductory story to our universe and the most powerful character in the world of the Calladitos, and thanks to it, the giants of light will begin to form.
“Calladitos is a third entity that is born from the union of our ideas and styles together. In this way we feel very free to work on the pieces like a relay. One of us can start the idea, and the other continues to develop it.”
Can you explain to us how you carry out your plastic work? Do each of you take care of a particular thing?
The two of us together created this concept called Calladitos. It is a third entity that is born from the union of our ideas and styles together. In this way we feel very free to work on the pieces like a relay. One of us can start the idea, and the other continues to develop it. Then someone starts with the color and then the other continues with it, and so on until we are both satisfied with the piece. Most of the works have many layers of different colors, and with this we create the contrast to give it the desired volume.
Your work evokes —more than a dreamlike universe— an almost mythological fantastic dimension. Is there any kind of mythological or folkloric inspiration in your work?
Of course, but no specific one. We are inspired by ancient mythologies such as the Mayas to comics, books, cartoons or modern stories such as Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings. I think we are both very perceptive and sensitive and we absorb something from every lived experience, from every person we live with, from every moment, and this serves us a lot in our creative process; it serves as inspiration.
In each of your works, the chosen color and the intensity of light is vital. Is there a symbolism in this regard, both in the use of color and light?
We work a lot with our feelings, and we begin to add color in an intuitive way with the personality we have developed for each character. By studying the universe more and more, we understand the color palette that each one emanates and the emotions that we want to transmit in certain scenes. Also, the colors of each little street are like its personality.
Between us we say that when we paint it seems that first we throw around colors without thinking about it so much, and then nuance with layers and more layers of color and achieve a unified composition. But in the written story we do have colors for each of the characters. Carmín and her sisters have reddish tones and warm tones. We like to feel the warmth of their landscapes and the way they live, and at the same time these colors give us strength. Puc and Goyo are turquoise, deep blue and light green, to feel something more peaceful, friendly, more relaxed; a quiet atmosphere. Whereas with Don Carretas we use earth tones, such as coffee, orange and yellow that make us feel loneliness, drought, a desert environment, but at the same time very peaceful and quiet. With Bolla Cebolla we use peach, pink, orange and pale yellow to give it a more innocent personality, while maintaining its warmth.
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