Spanish Artists Has First U.S. Exhibit in Larchmont

Whether it's his internationally-acclaimed animation or his expressionistic painting and drawing, Madrid native Juan Delcan's oeuvre speaks of the artist's many talents. Known for his designs of popular video games, Delcan was commissioned to provide animation on the band U2's 2005 Vertigo tour, and his illustrations have appeared in magazines throughout his homeland.

On March 10, an opening reception for Delcan's first U.S. exhibit was held at PGartventure Gallery, combining the multiple media the artists works in.

"I think he is a big, big talent and I feel people need to see what he does. People don't realize he's an animation artist, he's a commercial director, but he's also so much more, and he's really creative and talented," said PGartventure Gallery owner Pascale Goldenstein. "What I do at the gallery here is I do what I love. I did a show on Picasso, I did a show on Master photographers, and in between I insert those people who I think should be seen. His work is beautiful."

Titled "Bruto's Hand," the exhibit exemplifies how Delcan fuses art brut with high technology by displaying animation, videos, drawings and paintings. A TV monitor in the middle of the gallery played a loop of his popular films, while the rest of the gallery walls provided examples of sequenced drawings and paintings that led up to the animation's creation.

"Most of this stuff is a collection I have been putting together in the last five years, and I call it Bruto's drawings, which is where the name of the exhibition comes from," Delcan said. "It's a great primitive kind of drawings, with black lines and very raw…very unfiltered kind of drawings."

Delcan sketches a great deal of his work on an application on his iPhone, taking advantage of 10-minute subway or taxi rides, and then retraces them back in his studio to make the final pieces.

"I love Juan's work and have been familiar with his drawings for sometime," said Gabor Barabas, who traveled from New Jersey to view the work. "I know he likens some of it to art brut, and certainly some of it has that raw influence, and I find it very intriguing. This is my second time at this gallery and it's wonderful. I think for a small gallery, it's very sophisticated work that's shown here."

Unlike some of his raw line drawings, Delcan also included a few larger pieces that further illustrate his talent.

"The large pieces go the opposite ways of the drawings," the artist said. "Those are all black lines, so I wanted to do an exercise of having no black lines at all, working purely with color, but still communicate the same primitiveness with simple shapes."

Currently living in New Rochelle, Delcan walked by the gallery a year ago and struck up a friendship with Goldenstein, who immediately wanted to work with him. He contributed some work to a series she hung on horses, and then plans for the solo exhibit were put in place.

"Whatever the material, Delcan is dedicated to simplicity, whether represented by line quality or dialogue," Goldenstein said. "The exhibit reveals the combined effect of these two modes of creative insight:  high technology meets art brut."

The exhibit runs through April 19, 2010.