Juan Cortés
Juan Cortés
Juan Cortes Amaya is a 13-year-old plastic artist. Like Mozart for music, Bobby Fisher for chess, William James for mathematics or Pablo Picasso for painting, Juan Cortes Amaya, “Juanito” to family and friends, surprises art connoisseurs with his colorful and vibrant large format pictorial works done at an early age. He painted his first work at the age of 6, and by the age of 8 he was exhibiting for the first time in an art gallery in Madrid.
Juanito faces the canvas with surprising confidence. He works by resting the canvas horizontally on the floor and on its surface he spreads the paint on some occasions, and on others, he drops the paint and other objects that are integrated into the work, adding form and color while providing plasticity. Watching Juan in the process of creation is a delight. It is very interesting to seehow he develops his idea and the ease with which he mixes and applies colors on blank canvases. Facing the final result, and without knowing the artist, you could never discover that it has been executed by a child.
This passion comes through his great-grandfather, an antique dealer by profession, and his father, and art lover. Of gypsy ethnicity and a resident of Badalona (Catalunia), he has presented his paintings in several exhibitions internationally, in Spain, Italy and Monaco. His style, influenced by abstract expressionism and neo-expressionism, is the result of a very particular perception: “I am inspired by everything I see, everything that has lines, shapes and colors. I go out on the street and I only see color and lines”. He is clear about what he wants “I want my works to always express joy, happiness and everything that is good. I never want them to convey anything bad.”
He tells how inspiration comes to him, “I do my normal routine and suddenly inspiration comes to me. Then no one can stop me, I put on my flip-flops and clothes and think about how the background is going to be. Among his references, Juanito Cortés talks about Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Paul Klee, Franz Kline, Vasili Kandinsky, Joan Miró and his contemporary favorite, Domingo Zapata.
- July 25, 2023
