Joan Cornellà exhibition

I have always seen Joan Cornellà's work on social media platforms. There is finally an opportunity to examine his works more closely.

There wasn't much space for exhibition, but the sculpture worked well as an eye-catching centrepiece.

What I was most shocked about was that all of his work were paintings of acrylic: a traditional medium. This was in contrast with how his work is usually viewed as a trending image shared on social media platforms such as Facebook. I have always thought that he had drawn them digitally!

Cornellà has a very dark sense of humour. His six-panel comics often show unlikely occurrences that were disturbing and barbaric (in an almost civilized manner, ironically). I find it interesting that this modern form of socio-political satire and black comedy is juxtaposed to the style of Pop Art and its vibrant, saturated colours. 

Cornellà's characters showed ignorance, negligence of the truth and emotional detachment in modern day. For example, on the left a mom attacked a criminal (as seen wearing a mask and holding a gun) with her baby. Is she doing justice by inflicting pain on the criminal? Is the criminal now a victim? Is the baby hurt? Seeing the opposite of what we expect (women and babies as victims) allows us to question the authenticity and morality of what we see.

Again, an irony is presented (no arms vs free hugs).

The sexual innuendo of sweat and sperms. And the same politically correct smiling face.

His sequences are often very "objective" and "same", as the sequences share the same viewpoint and often compositions. It somehow made the storytelling/ progress of the story consistent but also more systematical; this might be his style of narration, and a sense that this is the same crazy world characters live in.