Jonny Negron

Jonny Negron was born in 1985 in Puerto Rico. He lives and works in Los Angeles. As a well-known illustrator, Negron has published several best-selling comic books, and his works are sought after by millennial collectors because of his efforts to depict the lives of contemporary young people.

Frieze,Jonny Negron,New York,US,2020

Negron is famous for depicting women with large breasts and wide hips - naive dream women in comics and cartoons. There is a surprising dignity in the cold faces of the women who travel in his comics, and in the uneasiness and power of the work, the unique style of this kind of work has somehow restored gender equality, and his work has long gone beyond the limits of the comic world. Many of his works are inspired by information on social networks such as Instagram, which makes his works seem quaint and strange. When faced with his works, it is like tasting a Dark Michelin dish. Renaissance and baroque master works have a profound influence on Negron, his reference to master of art history, in his own way in the works, in addition to the characters of the protagonist Negron works like a fetish of depicting the scattered on the canvas of the vessel, and these bottles, wine, jewelry and so on in the canvas in a supporting role, is the story of the main line, along the line, you can see see confusion and the life of the contemporary young group.

A Cloth Over a Birdcage,Jonny Negron,LA,US, 2019

Negron is also affected by Superflat motion. Superflat is a concept created by artist Takashi Murakami at the turn of the century to highlight the lack of distinction between high-end and commercial art in Japan, while criticizing consumerism and the fetishism that accompanies it in Japanese society. "When I was introduced there, probably in my teens, it really made an impact on me," he explains. "Exaggerate things and turn the superstitious side into the absurd." This also allows Negron in the work to get rid of the basic elements of ideology, allowing for a more ambiguous alternative criticism.

Small Map of Heaven,Jonny Negron,LA, US,2018

Influenced by his early cartoons, Negron habitually added symbolism to his paintings in the later period, and mysticism plays an important role in many of Negron's works. Certain images -- mirrors, eggs, and jewelry -- often appear. "The egg represents the universe, or knowledge," he explained. "Orpheus eggs, snakes wrapped around eggs: this is the image you see so often in the mysteries. Diamonds represent the highest intelligence, or something like that. The images are easy to spot, but hard to interpret. "In some cases, there's a very specific story," he asserted, "but for me it's a pleasure to confuse people."

Small Map of Heaven,Jonny Negron,LA, US,2018

Negron's untextured surfaces and enthusiastic use of color show childlike energy, or the stimulation of a psychedelic drug. Of course, it goes well with certain styles of music. Car spiritual rock band Thee Oh Sees used an image from his Heavenly Threshold companion collection for their album covers, and he recently created a poster for art rock trio Portishead for a French holiday.