Tomás Serrano is an exceptional cartoonist, and I will explain why.
Most cartoonists are not usually great draftsmen. I mean that they usually have an efficient, functional, funny drawing -you can call it whatever you want-, which serves perfectly for the work they intend to do, which is to reflect a situation in a satirical, critical, perhaps absurd or surreal way. But for that they do not need to be great artists of pen and pencil, now of the tablet. There are even many, very popular, who have made a career with a simple but effective drawing, that is enough in our profession.
And graphic humorists, in general, are not deep analysts of current events either, but, often, it is enough for them with the ability to reflect in a synthetic way that current event, drinking from the sources of opinion that flow from the media. Let’s say that they are masters in this work of synthesis, you know: a picture is worth a thousand words and a humorous drawing raises the equivalence to a million.
Well, today we present the work of a cartoonist who breaks the mold.
Tomás Serrano Yes, he is a great cartoonist. Only a cartoonist of his category can afford the luxury, for example, of parodying the most famous paintings in the history of art. Or to make portentous caricatures, another feat within the reach of very few. And if you want to be convinced of what I am telling you, check his website, www.tomasserrano.com where you can appreciate the artistic category of Tomás: drawings, caricatures, illustrations, cartoons…
And Tomás Serrano Yes, he is a great “opinionator” of current affairs, a chronicler, funny yes, but also sharp, rigorous and relentless with the governance of this country. You can follow the politics of this country by reviewing Tomás Serrano’s daily cartoons in El Español.
For all these reasons, it is an honor for the IQH to present this exhibition, because, one, we believe that Tomás Serrano is an outstanding figure in Spanish graphic humor and, two, because we think that his talent is enhanced by seeing his work as a whole, as we intend to do in this exhibition.
This exhibition is made possible thanks to the contest of the City Council of Alcalá de Henares, to whom we sincerely thank, and the work of the people of the Quevedo Institute of Humor, of the General Foundation of the University of Alcalá.
Come in and enjoy. JLMartín
Director of Humor Gráfico IQH
Tomás Serrano or satire as an art form
The day they called me to tell me that a very powerful politician was so offended by one of Tomás Serrano’s drawings in EL ESPAÑOL as to mark a turning point in his relations with the newspaper, my first reaction was to say: “But it’s a joke…” I immediately realized that this was the serious thing because the character in question felt ridiculed in such a shocking format as graphic humor and that attacked his pride.
I was also aware that the eyes of those in power -and those of the opposition- daily scrutinized the front page of EL ESPAÑOL and often rested with uneasiness and expectation on the accurate cartoons of Tomás Serrano. A government friend once summed up that ambivalence: “How good your cartoonist is, but what a cabrón…”
The first was true because Tomás Serrano masters the techniques of drawing, caricature and illustration with a very New Yorker style and also has a theatrical imagination that turns each cartoon into a story.
The latter is not true. Tomás Serrano is only a “cabrón” in a figurative sense and if the expression is used as a paradoxical compliment. Rather, he is a temperate and serene spirit who looks at reality with the curiosity of an entomologist and the good will of a humanist.
Such were Máximo, Mingote and Forges; such are Gallego and Rey, Ricardo Martínez or Javier Muñoz, to refer only to some of the greats I have known: powerful ideas with a silk pencil.
Since I was appointed director of Diario 16 in 1980, one of my obsessions has always been to try to have the best cartoonists. I was very happy when I managed to sign Forges, when I “married” Julio Rey to José María Gallego and when I discovered Ricardo Martínez in Miami and convinced him to come to Spain to found El Mundo.
Now Tomás Serrano is one of the great hallmarks of EL ESPAÑOL and not in vain his cartoons often open our ‘home’ to explain with visual impact and editorial position the most controversial issue of the day. In the meeting in which we make the cover we often discuss his sketches and propose changes that are usually variations on the same theme.
As happens to me with Javier Muñoz when he prepares the illustrations that accompany my Letter from the Editor every Sunday, there are few things as gratifying as interacting with an intelligent cartoonist.
It is a small daily miracle when a contrast of ideas gives rise to a graphic representation that will serve as a catapult for the newspaper’s messages. And digital formats only amplify its impact. I always have in my mind a cartoon by Forges in which Blasillo showed his partner the immensity of the plain and told him: “There you go, dance it”.
That is our daily challenge. It’s not so much about looking for a needle in a haystack as it is about seeing what others are only looking at.
As history always repeats itself, I often look for sources of inspiration in my collection of satirical press from the 19th and 20th centuries -from “La Flaca” to “Gracia y Justicia”, from Democritus to Bagaria- and when I come back to the present I realize how lucky we are at
EL ESPAÑOL to have someone like Tomás Serrano who combines the best of that tradition with contemporary cultural references.
We are talking about a great artist and that is why I am sure that this exhibition will be the gateway to his entrance with full honors in that imaginary “Hall of Fame” of graphic humor to which we Spaniards owe so many smiles full of reflection.
Pedro J. Ramírez President of El Español
It is now 10 years since Pedro J. Ramírez summoned me to the headquarters of El Español when it was just a blog. He had liked some caricatures of the candidates for the Community of Madrid that I had sent him and that, inexplicably for me, he got to see. That the best Spanish journalist was one of the five followers I had on Twitter at that time seemed incredible to me.
Since then, with the confidence that comes from seeing the relevance of illustration in the newspaper, and specifically of the political cartoon, I have been developing my activity with the same enthusiasm with which I started, always grateful to Pedro J for noticing me and allowing me to reach one of my goals as a cartoonist: to illustrate his Sunday letter.
Like most of the children of my time, at the beginning I imitated the styles of Disney’s accessible drawings or Ibañez’s characters. But in 1976 I discovered something that interested me in a different way: the caricatures of Peridis in Informaciones. And then came Mingote, Chumy Chúmez, Gallego and Rey and Ricardo and Nacho. I used to draw from time to time to decorate the walls of my room in the Covarrubias; once in a while I left in my structure notes projects of caricatures, but I never thought I could dedicate myself to this professionally as my references.
Climbing the forged I wondered what I was doing there if I was a draftsman. And winning the Mingote prize with my only drawing published in 1994 triggered that doubt, although only for a short time.
architecture became more and more absorbing. Until the crisis arrived. Social networks appeared with the possibility of telling a story in a cartoon and that it would reach Australia like a message in a bottle, as Sting would say. I saw that in Lisbon, in a worldwide contest, if you were awarded a prize, they would print your cartoon on the door of a stroller… and I was able to check it the following year. When I met great cartoonists, a disturbing question arose in my mind: what was I doing there, if I was an architect.
And I now consider that it is this combination of draftsman and architect that leads me to tell my stories, my scenes, in realistic environments that make them more credible, even if they are nonsense. If I want a character to be more recognizable, apart from reproducing his features, I must place him in his setting, paying attention to details. And the effect of what he says or does in the vignette will be enhanced.
In that course Analysis of Architectural Forms we studied incredulously the importance of “interpreting”.
importance of “interpreting”. And I have admired this from masters like Sempé, many times in silence, or Chas Addis
in silence, or Chas Addams in a line of text. To tell a story only with an image is my first aspiration, but there are times when a little verbal support
resizes it.
In this exhibition you can see many vignettes that are based on (more or less) famous paintings, posters or movie scenes. The resource allows to become familiar with the characters from the first moment, simplifying the descriptions and merging in the already existing form the essence of the message.
I thank the Instituto Quevedo de las Artes del Humor for the great opportunity it has given me.
Now, as an adult, when I see my work exhibited, I no longer blush as I did when I was eight years old when I accompanied my father to the villages near Sahagún and in the school of
one of them, in front of other children, boasting about how well his son drew, he induced me to demonstrate it on the blackboard. I drew a flower pot, the pot of shame. I did not accompany him again.
Thank you, José Luis. Thank you, Juan.