CURRENT MADRID
The work of the artist OTON is both playful and provocative. Beneath its childlike and innocent appearance lies a sharp reflection of our society. Its greatest attraction lies in the dichotomy, skillfully combining opposites that capture our attention. It presents us with an entertaining game of double meanings and contradictions: humor and social critique, sweetness, and perversion, childlike and adult themes. This body of work challenges societal norms and delves into major issues of our time, such as globalization, consumerism, inequality, and media manipulation.
OTON employs humor as a seductive tool for the viewer, accompanied by a simple, approachable, and childlike language that draws us closer to their art. Humor offers a lighter way of presenting ideas, creating an initial approach, but upon closer inspection, reveals deeper layers beneath a series of animated characters.
Popular culture's most famous cartoons are transformed into burlesque imitations of ourselves in OTON's fresh and spontaneous work. Disney icons are critically and satirically parodied, breaking free from societal stereotypes, genders, and roles. The monochromatic drawings exhibit great plasticity, achieved through a combination of pencils, crayons, pastels, and other mediums.
In creating these works, OTON seeks the essence, finding purity in the basics of drawing. They create their own language from lines and gestural impulses on paper, much like a child at play. The result is a pure and innocent drawing where rules, mistakes, crossings-out, and blots are on the same level as successes. This playful work exudes acidity and irony, guided by boundless freedom.
The artist consciously strives to unlearn and abandon familiar patterns, embracing the joy of creating like a child— something spontaneous, authentic, and natural. Their work requires contemplation and thought in the act of creation, yet it also embodies the essence of thoughtless creation.
Dates:
14 September – 28 October
Location:
Calle Fucar 17
Tuesday - Saturday,
11 am / 7 pm