Javier Calleja

Almine Rech London is pleased to present a solo exhibition of recent works by Javier Calleja. This will be Calleja's third solo show with Almine Rech and first solo exhibition at the gallery in London. During the preparations for the major exhibition at Palacio Episcopal, which opened in Malaga in March 2023, Javier Calleja started outlining the ideas for his London solo show with Almine Rech. Looking at a thorough overview of his studio practice, inspired the Spanish artist to create a more classical, modest, but exceptionally focused showcase. The exhaustive selection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, editions, and unseen segments...

Portrait of Javier Calleja, 2023 / © Javier Calleja. Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech. Photo: Diego Díaz Marín.

Javier Calleja was born in 1971 in Malaga where he lives and works nowadays.

Over the years Calleja worked with drawings, installations, sculptures, and paintings, often playing with the scale and perspective in his presentations. Working both in minuscule and large scale his installations were regularly focusing on beguiling the viewer as a significan...

Javier Calleja was born in 1971 in Malaga where he lives and works nowadays.

Over the years Calleja worked with drawings, installations, sculptures, and paintings, often playing with the scale and perspective in his presentations. Working both in minuscule and large scale his installations were regularly focusing on beguiling the viewer as a significant part of the work.

After showing around Spain and the rest of Europe, it was his debut with Aisho Nanzuka in Hong Kong that for the first time debuted on his big-eyed boy characters. Originally imagined as visual representations of the artist's own feelings and experiences, they became his unmistakable signature. Over the years the characters evolved from drawings, over paintings, into sculptures and objects, almost exclusively depicting a boy in the transitional age between the teen and adolescence. With oversized, watery eyes, and subtle addition of red blush, Calleja's characters are little heroes who just overcame something painful and are about to smile again after crying.