Juan Francisco Casas is ridiculous.
This Spanish artist works in primarily blue Bic Ballpoint Pen. His hyperrealistic drawings are very large scale (as you can see in the photograph above) and are usually of the human figure. These figures depicted are both candid and posed - as if the viewer is going through his/her digital camera trying to remember the night before. Casas draws a lot of women - in bed, in the shower, posing in a flirtatious manner - and some reoccur in several of his drawings. Some see this as a way for the artist to highlight their beauty, charisma, and free spirits. And others see this as a way to prey on their vulnerability. What do you think?
Here are some of his pieces:
Why can't it be both? I see all of those things - beauty, vulnerability, free spirits. What I get out of these pieces is a glorification of the present. The "right now". All of these romanticize the feeling of spontaneity. And because the craft and likeness are so tight, the images teeter between fact and illusion. This style of drawing juxtaposed with such a simple medium, ballpoint pen (a tool for doodling), supports this idea of ordinary - or maybe equality - it's no better or worse than anything else. It's human.
