JAVIER CALLEJA JUXTAPOZ.COM 115Every character is like my son. A little bit like my
son, like my child. I have no children, I have no
sons. So it's like, “Okay, this one is gone. Goodbye
son. Let's produce another one.” At the end of my
life, I might have thousands of children.
Do you ever give them names?
No, but it's a good idea. They don't have names
and I don’t know why. It’s a good question...
The eyes are quite exaggerated and well-
rendered, like puppy eyes. And for me, it
feels like they're a parody of this eye-candy
aesthetic, or a joke. Did you ever think of it in
that way?
I never thought about this. But it's another good
question to think about, and I can text you back
about it. [Laughs] But no, this is the kind of thing
that I like—when somebody says things about my
work that I never thought about. This is why, for
me, it’s most important that you finish the work,
because my paintings speak with you differently
than with her, him or anyone else.
It feels like you often use negative space or blank
space around the characters, and for me, that
feels like it makes the character seem smaller
and more humble. Is that the idea?
This is also another connection with my older
small works. I don't like crowded places, I like
having space. I always say this to people when
talking about this - The biggest is not the object.
The biggest is the space around.
Where do the text phrases that you use on the
T-shirts come from? Do you make them yourself
or do you find them elsewhere?
Yes. I try to find myself but sometimes I just
hear them somewhere. In a conversation with
you, or something like that. When I finish the
painting I like to find the text to put there,
but sometimes I don’t know what to put on
the shirt. And I like to read a lot. I like to read
Samuel Beckett. In his work, I can find an
infinite amount of text to use. It’s amazing. But
sometimes the sentence is mine. And then
I make an image around that sentence.
I wanted to ask you about your experience with
making these new sculptures for the Tokyo show.
How did you like working in that medium?
I'm really happy with this experience. I did other
ones in the past, like pencils, potato, rocks, but with
my new work, characters become real. This kind of
idea opens a new door. Not because the painting is
flatter, but with the sculptures, I can move around.
It's a new way to interact with the audience. I have
three dimensions, plus other possibilities, like
installing them outside, inside, etc. Also, these were
made of fiberglass and metal but, in the future,
I want to work with bronze, aluminum, wood, these
kinds of materials. It takes a lot of time to produce,
and I have to check a lot, but I'm really happy we
made those.
In new works, new canvases and drawings,
it feels like you’re breaking up your characters
a bit. They are more like going almost to
abstraction Like the text is scattered and there
is just parts of the heads. Is this the new
direction you’re heading towards?
I don't know. This is a moment. Sometimes I have
to do something new with one painting. Just to
test. At every show, I try to do something for the
first time as the possible next step.Do you think you might work more with text?
I saw these drawings and canvases where the
text is not attached to the shirt anymore. How
might you involve it more like a visual element?
At this point, I'm considering using text outside
the shirt. But sometimes, like in some of the latest
drawings, I forgot to do the body. So if there is
no body, the text is around the space. In thesenew paintings, I can use texts, heads, and color,
building them like abstract paintings.I like to play. So let's play with this. I'm also thinking
that, in the future, I would like to do something more
abstract with this new technique, because I find that
I can do many things with this. Or something with
nature, like trees, leaves, a little bit like Alex Katz.
One day he found how to do trees, the landscape, the
forest, and for me, these paintings are really the most
beautiful of all of his works. So I'm thinking that one
day I can maybe do a still life or something...Javier Calleja will have new works presented by
Nanzuka Underground at Art Basel in Hong Kong in
March 2019, and he will open his next solo show with
Galerie Zink in Germany on May 26, 2019.callejastudio.comAbove: Nosy, Acrylic on canvas, 51” x 64”, 2018