A friend of mine brought the amazing ballpoint pen drawings of Juan Francisco Casas (actual full name is Juan Francisco Casas Ruiz) to my attention via his tweet, which sent me to this article in the UK's Daily Mail. Only since it was published over a year ago, I was able to do a little research and find his more recent and compelling works.
Clearly more scandalous and edgy, his 2009 illustrations reek with homoeroticism and a "fuck you" attitude toward art - and are certainly more interesting than those shown in the Daily Mail article.
The following images are NSFW and should not be viewed by those under 18 (I have to write that... I'm a responsible blogger).
Clearly not for conservative publications, his latest drawings are impressive in both their detail and scale, like all of Juan's work. Using up to 14 bic ballpoint pens per image, his canvases reach up to 10 feet in height:
the drawings above are all from 2008 and 2009 and are courtesy of the artist.
Above: in this February 2009 exhibit, you can see the impressive size of his pieces.
Much of this work as well as some of his paintings are available for purchase from the Galerie Fernando Pradilla.
The artist:
The text below is from his own myspace page:
About me:
I am an artist born in La Carolina (Andalusia, Spain). I paint large size oil canvases and ballpen (sic) drawings where I reproduce images I take with my camera, youthful and spontaneous domestic photographs of fleeting moments of nighttime fun. I have a degree in Arts (BA), two postdegree masters (MA) and I am finishing my doctorate (PhD). I also was a teacher of the University of Granada during 4 years.
In 2005 I participated, together with important artists such as Damien Hirst, Neo Rauch or Maurizio Cattelan, at the International Biennial of Contemporary Art "Prague Biennale 2" (Prague, Czech Republic) arranged by the Flash Art Magazine and curated by Giancarlo Politi. I was choosen to represent my country and was the only one Spaniard artist invited to that event. In 2006 I participated in "The Sock Strategy" exhibition at the 2nd International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville curated by Okwui Enwezor. I also have won the very prestigious ABC Prize of Art in 2004 and the First National Honours Degree Prize of Universitary Studies of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Spain in 2000. I have exhibited at some of the most important galleries in Spain including the Luis Adelantado Gallery (Valencia-Miami), Metta Gallery (Madrid), Ferrán Cano Gallery (Barcelona) Sandunga Gallery (Granada).
I also have collaborated with El Museo Gallery (Bogotá) and since 2002 I am represented by the Fernando Pradilla Gallery (Madrid-Bogotá) and exhibiting at the international art fairs of Chicago, Miami, Palm Beach, México, Bogotá, Caracas and Madrid. My work can be found in important collections and museums like the ABC Collection of Art or the ARTIUM (Basque Museum of Contemporary Art) where I have participated in the collective exhibition "Catharsis", with such important artists as Miquel Barceló, Antoni Tapies, Jorge Oteiza, Jaume Plensa, Antoni Muntadas and Antonio Saura.
I have also written and participaed in many books, like "Arte Seriado. Exploración y Análisis" and "El Arte como Dicha"; the next of them, "A y otros poemas de relleno" and "The Summer Haikus" are already on bookshops. This year, I have been awarded with the very prestigious award of the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome (Real Academia de España en Roma), where I will reside during 2007 and 2008.
If you are interested in my work, you can contact me at: juanfra10@hotmail.com
Visit his blog (in Spanish only) here.
Visit his website here.
Visit his myspace page here.
