The illustration made in Spain is living glorious days. María Hesse (Huelva, 1982) belongs to that batch of patriotic artists whose drawings are already part of our pop culture. She tells her biography that Hesse became an illustrator at six years without knowing it, although it was not until the late twenties that she decided to dedicate herself to it body and soul.
Her recognizable stroke and her illustrations made with gouache and ink - her travel companions - breathe a naivety and sensitivity typical of a generation that has grown up among magazines, VHS and cassettes, surrounded by idols and icons. This naive spirit, however, is sometimes clouded in her work by small doses of reality that Hesse adds with the help of metaphors and allegories to the adult awakening, where pain and disappointment, just like on paper, go to their wide.
Her work has been regularly qualified as a feminist according to the importance of the role of women in her paintings, always represented from a perspective away from clichés and with the sophisticated transgression of a Jane Austen of the millennial era.
Her recognizable stroke and her illustrations made with gouache and ink - her travel companions - breathe a naivety and sensitivity typical of a generation that has grown up among magazines, VHS and cassettes, surrounded by idols and icons. This naive spirit, however, is sometimes clouded in her work by small doses of reality that Hesse adds with the help of metaphors and allegories to the adult awakening, where pain and disappointment, just like on paper, go to their wide.
Her work has been regularly qualified as a feminist according to the importance of the role of women in her paintings, always represented from a perspective away from clichés and with the sophisticated transgression of a Jane Austen of the millennial era.
"What makes feminist an illustration is what is intended to convey with her. We live a very interesting moment in which feminine music groups, photographers, filmmakers or illustrators have launched to tell our stories. Women are more than mothers, girlfriends or companions. We are also sexual, ambitious, strong ... and we also fart, "says Hesse.
In addition to her work as an illustrator, Hesse has worked for the publishing house Edelvives and publications such as Jot Down, Fashion & Arts, Public or Glamor, as well as for lifestyle firms. She is the author of the David Bowie books. A biography (Lumen, 2018), Mujercitas (Alfaguara, 2018), The future is feminine (Nube de Tinta, 2018), Rita Bonita (Mosquito Books, 2017), Pride and Prejudice (2017) and Frida Kahlo. A biography (Lumen, 2016). Her work has been exhibited on multiple occasions in individual and collective exhibitions in numerous galleries in Madrid, Barcelona, Belgrade or Seville, the city where he resides.
Her exhibition at the ABC Museum will be the first time that Hesse's work is exhibited on the walls of a museum. In it, the visitor can contemplate closely a set of original illustrations belonging to his biographies of Frida Kahlo and David Bowie, and the book Little Women.
- The publication in 2016 of Frida Kahlo. A biography was a before and after in Hesse's career. To date, the book has fifteen editions and has been published in twelve countries. In it, the illustrator tells the fascinating life of one of the icons of the twentieth century, Frida Kahlo. Like the imaginary that populate the canvases of the painter, Hesse floods her illustrations with color and vitality, alluding to the intensity with which Frida lived each of her days. Although different in form, the Huelva interpretation rescues the surrealism and sensitivity of the Mexican painter, giving rise to a wonderful biography illustrated as a tribute.
- The music chameleon, or David Bowie, is another character who has always fascinated Hesse. His biography with dyes of fiction -with text by Fran Ruiz-, goes into hieroglyphic mode through strokes and words in aspects, enigmas and anecdotes of the life of the always mysterious singer. In this inadalación we find each one of the characters and alteregos that live in their songs or to those that the musician and actor interpreted in the big screen; from Commander Tom to Ziggy Stardust, passing through the Delgado Duque Blanco, the King of the Goblins or the Elephant Man. Once again, in his Hesse illustrations they adapt to the character offering a vision that departs, on the one hand, from Bowie's work, and on the other, from his experience as a captor of details and a portraitist of life.
- Finally, in the exhibition we will also have some pieces from the edition of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by the artist. Her tendency to portray the feminine universe takes on new meanings here as it is an illustrated book of a classic text of universal literature. Hence, that the line of Hesse here, always true to her style, presents new shapes and nuances that bring it closer to a more classic drawing, clean line, and black and white.
- The music chameleon, or David Bowie, is another character who has always fascinated Hesse. His biography with dyes of fiction -with text by Fran Ruiz-, goes into hieroglyphic mode through strokes and words in aspects, enigmas and anecdotes of the life of the always mysterious singer. In this inadalación we find each one of the characters and alteregos that live in their songs or to those that the musician and actor interpreted in the big screen; from Commander Tom to Ziggy Stardust, passing through the Delgado Duque Blanco, the King of the Goblins or the Elephant Man. Once again, in his Hesse illustrations they adapt to the character offering a vision that departs, on the one hand, from Bowie's work, and on the other, from his experience as a captor of details and a portraitist of life.
- Finally, in the exhibition we will also have some pieces from the edition of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by the artist. Her tendency to portray the feminine universe takes on new meanings here as it is an illustrated book of a classic text of universal literature. Hence, that the line of Hesse here, always true to her style, presents new shapes and nuances that bring it closer to a more classic drawing, clean line, and black and white.
