A new wave of Spanish painters arrives across oceans of money from Asia. In the eighties, Barceló, Broto, Sicilia, García-Alix or Juan Muñoz (1953-2001) managed to transfer the creative electricity of some boys who barely exceeded thirty to a Europe that contemplated with curiosity a country that recovered freedom after decades of dictatorship, with the amplified echo of the Movida Madrileña. The expectations of that generation have now been taken up by Javier Calleja, Edgar Plans, Rafael Macarrón, Adriana Oliver, Cristina BanBan and Jordi Ribes. Although its impact exceeds the old continent and reaches much further east.
"The work of these contemporary Spanish artists empowers the viewer, since it does not require historical antecedents of art and, therefore, allows to expand the possibilities of interpretation", defends Maura Marvao, expert in contemporary art of the Phillips bidding house for Spain and Portugal. He adds: "Simple images and humorous slogans work as a vehicle to communicate." His works share not only bright colors and flat shapes, but a return to childhood. It's a world of children's characters. Javier Calleja's big-eyed children, for example, are indebted to the universe of Japanese Yoshitomo Nara. The main argument to convince collectors is that they bring simplicity in a complex world. A proposal of minimum resistance.
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The boom of 'fresh paint': young painters succeeding in the market
They are "easy" images. You like them or you don't. They tell you something or nothing. They catch the sad spirit of the times or it escapes them. "It is true that among the Asian public they have managed to beat their sales records," observes Beatriz Ordovás, director of the auction firm Christie's. "It is because in their works they incorporate contemporary references combined with elements of Asian popular culture generating furor among viewers." If the image of success is drawn by the numbers, Javier Calleja (Malaga, 52 years old) has the highest. The figures of the platform MutualArt.com to June 1, 2023 summarize that in 2021 it obtained at auction 14,338,096 dollars (13,318,800.76 euros) through the sale of 188 lots; During 2022 it completed 11,302,455 dollars (10,498,963.47 euros) with 147 pieces, and this year it accumulates 4,000,233 dollars (3,715,856.44 euros).
The artist Javier Calleja with one of the designs of the collection 'Vault by Vans'. Nacho Sanchez
Another characteristic shared by this new wave is that its authors – despite the fact that their institutional presence in first-class exhibition spaces is weak – are represented by prestigious galleries. Calleja works, for example, with the French Almine Rech, who, by the way, also manages Barceló or the legacy of Tàpies. "Calleja's work has its own personality that escapes market trends," says Reach. "The admiration for his work will continue in Asia and globally, because he has created a large community of collectors passionate about his proposal," he predicts.
The Barcelona-born Cristina BanBan has managed to fit her paintings with what the market demands. Or the other way around. Represented by Perrotin (she has galleries on three continents), she shares space with the Italian sarcasm of Maurizio Cattelan or the legacy of Anna-Eva Bergman (the Reina Sofía showed her superb paintings at the Velázquez Palace in 2020). His work, according to his gallery, "has its roots in European figurative art of the first half of the twentieth century, more specifically in the tradition of Picasso." Next to nothing. Perhaps somewhat exaggerated. The large-format paintings cost about 90,000 euros in gallery and during 2022 he sold 20 pieces at auction for 1,070,633 dollars (994,521.70 euros). Asia is responsible for this golden and iridescent world.
Rafael Macarrón, in his studio, in December 2018.ÁLVARO GARCÍA
Young Asians are not interested in old European masters, but in nearby works, such as Japanese comics, which are easily recognizable to them. Edgar Plans (Madrid, 46 years old) fits into this current that some call muñequismo. And mix Takashi Murakami and Kaws. The person in charge of the Estampa fair, Chema de Francisco, classifies these artists as "neofigurative". "They have a high degree of superficiality and easily reach people. It is a fashion, the problem is that these are usually circumstantial, "he warns.
The market has learned quantum physics and knows that time only travels in one direction. Their own. In 2022, Plans sold 11,461,723 dollars (1,0646,909.11 euros) at auction through 185 lots. A "quantum" travel companion, Rafael Macarrón (Madrid, 42 years old), a former cyclist, placed that year 21 pieces for 5,343,752 dollars (4,963,864.67 euros). Until June 1, in bids, he achieved just over 1,400,000 dollars (1,300,474 euros). He is represented, above all, by the Belgian gallery Nino Mier.
These are the winds coming from Asia. No one knows his time or his strength. Perhaps, in the end, they will become, following the second principle of thermodynamics, a high entropy. A high disorder. It is a matter of time to know if the water that bathes this new wave evaporates or will remain.
Zóbel returns to the market and the Philippines
Fernando Zóbel Ayala (1924-1984) was always a second-rate painter in Spain. He was rich, he traveled with a driver and he launched in 1966 that miracle, in full Francoism, which is the Spanish Abstract Museum, in Cuenca. Many value him more for his excellent collection of Italian drawings of the seventeenth century than for his pictorial proposal. Also for his memory. "He was an extraordinary person and very brilliant," reflects art historian Manuela Mena. But almost suddenly, the market has regained its work. The economic boom of his country of origin, the Philippines, the boom of Asian collecting and the purchases of the Ayala family itself (they own the Ayala Museum and the Ayala Foundation Inc.) have skyrocketed its price.
"I never thought it would happen, but a canvas of 60 x 60 cm that in 2015 cost about 40,000 euros now exceeds 100,000," describes Eduardo Bobillo, director of the contemporary area of the Alcalá Subastas room. "All the fabrics that reach the secondary market must be sold," he calculates. God does not play dice in art. Explanations always arise. "In the Philippines there is a vindication of his artistic heritage and Zóbel considers himself a creator of the country and his painting is very Asian," condenses José Manuel Matilla, coordinator of the exhibition of the painter -Zóbel. The Future of the Past—which was dedicated to him by the Prado Museum. "It is increasingly difficult to get fabrics," admits gallery owner Jordi Mayoral. We must separate. Canvases fetch those prices, but prints and posters are hardly valuable. That is why the difference between the lots offered and those sold. The MutualArt.com platform (data as of June 1) frames the numbers. In 2021 it sold 72 lots out of 87 offered. It left $4,587,583. A year later it auctioned 54 pieces and its box closed at 3,667,673. This year, with 30 jobs, it already totals 1,693,393 dollars. Zobel is the first from the Philippines.
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