YOU CHOOSE ONE BY JAVIER CALLEJA
NEW LIMITED EDITION OF 150
After seven decades revolutionizing the world of porcelain, Lladró is presenting Art Editions, a new art project with which the brand enters the contemporary art circuit with exclusive
Art Editions is a milestone in Lladró’s ongoing diversification and an evident example of the expressive potential of this age-old natural material.
For the occasion, Javier Calleja, one of the most sought-after artists of the moment, who came to Lladró through art promoter Gabriel Suárez, has created three original works that reflect his highly personal and unmistakable visual universe. With the name You Choose One, a knowing nod to the constant decision-taking and crossroads that life presents us with, Calleja has created a composition with three porcelain and glass pieces - Boy, Devil Cat and Angel Cat – now available in a Limited Edition of 150 units.
“SOMETIMES THERE IS NOTHING TO UNDERSTAND IN MY WORKS, YOU ONLY HAVE TO FEEL”
Javier Calleja
is a Spanish figurative artist born in Malaga, where he lives and works.
After studying Fine Art at the University of Granada, he started developing his distinctive artistic style, notable for his instantly recognizable characters with big eyes and exaggerated features which capture the spectator’s attention.
Often accompanied with symbolic elements and introspective phrases, these characters invite us to enter a world suffused with emotiveness.
Since his beginnings, Calleja has managed to captivate the public with his unique vision and his ability to transmit universal emotions though his artistic creations.
You Choose One - Limited Edition of 150 consists of a series of 150 compositions all sharing the same decoration based on a range of warm yet at once highly intense tones.
Despite their apparent simplicity, the creations in
You Choose One
- 150 involve intricate technical complexity in both the porcelain crafting and the faithful reproduction of every detail of the characters they comprise.
Handmade in porcelain
Like all lladró creations, the works in art editions are the result of a painstaking handcrafted process that takes place, from start to finish, at the brand’s headquarters in valencia.
Behind their apparent formal simplicity these works hide the high degree of technical complexity that goes into the process of making them in porcelain through a unique artisan process which involves the best experts in
porcelain craft
.
In a fascinating process of molds, ranging from five to two hundred, depending on the technical complexity of the piece, the liquid porcelain solidifies and gives life to the different fragments that compose each creation. A magical jigsaw puzzle which is then recomposed by Lladró artisans in the assembly section and decorated by painting experts who apply the chosen colors, carefully outlining the tiniest details.
After a long process, the firing in the kiln finally arrives, the moment on which the ultimate success of each creation depends. In the kiln the pieces are subjected to very high temperatures and undergo a profound transformation with their size being reduced by up to fifteen percent. Once this process has been completed, the new creations like
You Choose One
are now ready to captivate us.
ART, AN ETERNAL SOURCE OF EMOTIONS
As the inaugural artist invited to participate in Art Editions, Calleja has exchanged painting, drawing, and sculpture for Lladró's handcrafted porcelain. The Spanish brand’s inhouse team of chemists, which has developed its own color palette of more than 4000 shades, has come up with new tones and finishes specifically for this first collection, and the result is truly outstanding. With no other motive than to evoke emotions, the artist invites us to reflect through the vibrant, colorful, and innocent-looking compositions. As is the case with this trio of characters that makes us think of the “Jiminy Cricket” we all have inside.
Each box in the You Choose One – Limited Edition of 150 series is crafted from wood and includes a special certificate signed by the artist.
OPPOSING FORCES by SAŠA BOGOJEV
The concept of duality, the interplay between opposing forces, is, in a way, a simplification of the complex, multifaceted nature of human existence. Similarly, Javier Calleja's emblematic big-eyed characters, contemplating, declaring, or interacting with simple statements and questions, are metaphors for everyday life's concerns and hurdles. So, when focusing on the daily tug-of-war between the forces of good and evil, the Malaga-born, world-renowned artist conceptualized a trinity scene featuring a mischievous boy alongside an angel and devil feline friend. Coming to life in a collaboration between Lladró and this internationally acclaimed talent, You Choose One tackles the eternal question of the right choice by encapsulating the timeless and universal dilemma within the equally timeless and universally treasured material.
By unveiling their Art Editions series with Javier Calleja's first porcelain creations, Lladró celebrates seven decades of unrivaled porcelain mastery while embracing contemporary art's exciting and ever-evolving attitude. The universal and timeless allure of the centuries-old material, combined with Calleja's whimsical storytelling, becomes a delightful fusion of heritage and contemporariness through which the never-ending story of temptation and duality is being told. Speaking about the everyday moral Olympics and the difficulty of decision-making, the artist is actually touching on the Chinese philosophical concept of Yin and Yang. So, to see such a take coming to life through a universally acclaimed material invented thousands of years ago in the same region marks a fascinating intersection of contemporary artistry and the enduring tradition of porcelain craftsmanship.
Porcelain creations have adorned worldwide households for generations as family heirlooms, sometimes used to convey subtle messages or reveal social status. In a playful nod to this tradition, Calleja offers a lighthearted portrayal of one of life's most universal and most challenging struggles. His paintings' delicate and velvety allure is now materialized in handmade porcelain, a rigid material whose fragility reminds us of the transient nature of life and art. The three figures harken back to the symbolism often associated with such an ancient art form. Through a bold contemporary twist, the main character in the middle seems naively entertained by the conundrum — one side symbolizes purity, protection, and guidance, and the other represents temptation and mischief. With one shoe missing, a big toe peeking through the sock, eyes wide open in excitement, and a cheeky smirk on his face, the innocence gets washed away with the horns and a little devil tail. Indicating he's already made the decision but is still keeping his blameless appearance, he embraces the ethical rollercoaster and rides it with joy, suggesting that even in the face of moral ambiguity, a sense of humor can be your trusty sidekick.