jose maria
cal

Jose María Cal is a Valencian plastic artist. He currently has his painting studio in the small town of Petrés, Valencia (Spain). Surrounded by mountains and nature, it is the perfect space to develop his artistic work. He has lived in the city of Valencia, Spain. He also in the Valencian towns of Xabia, El Puig, Puzol, Tabernes Blanques and Petrés.

Artistic formation
- Masterclass. Plenearist Landscape Painting. 2023. Taught Helena Blankenstein,
degree in fine arts.
- Industrial Designer from the EASD School of Art and Design of Valencia. Former EAAOA. Year 1986.
- Painting course at the Barreira Art School, Valencia. Year 76.

In his Industrial Design studies, he painted watercolors of landscapes for a store in Valencia that sold paintings and drawings. He also worked for a couple of years drawing all kinds of component plans in a plastic bottle manufacturing line in Manises.

For 23 years he worked as an Industrial Designer in an automobile components factory, where he made hundreds of drawings and creative studies with materials such as temperas, pastel pencils and markers in the development of his work. During that stage he was able to acquire an apartment in the city of Valencia and build his painting studio. There he was able to develop his first major works in acrylic painted on the floor and in a process of researching techniques with the use of materials such as marble dust and plaster. It was in the 2000s. His artistic influences in that period were Spanish painters such as Miquel Barceló, Miguel Angel Campano, Mompó, Gordillo and Jose María Sicilia.

Later, during his time as a writer, he drew and illustrated all the graphic images contained in his travel, cooking and hospitality books.

Already in his childhood and at the El Vedat School in Torrente (Valencia) he stood out in the subjects of drawing and creativity. Because of his love and gift for painting, his father enrolled him in the Barreira Academy of Fine Arts in the city of Valencia. The painters he most admired as a child were Dalí, Picasso and Miró. Then he made small surreal paintings where the Universe was always present. To create his world, she painted and decorated all the walls and closets in his room. Later and due to his inclination towards the artistic, he studied Industrial Design in the city of Valencia. There he learned to really paint. He received classes in nude from life, drawing of the human figure, painting, materials, composition, perspective, study of tonal values, development of artistic projects, etc. All the students went out with the teacher to exhibitions in art galleries in Valencia.

Pictorial techniques and formats
After many years using acrylics in his paintings, he began using oil in combination with acrylic. He studied and researched glazes and glacis in oil. Use and tests with different grades of varnishes in percentages of alkyd media, turpentine essence and poppy oil. Total absence of the use of black and white. Currently he is focused on abstract landscape painting and the use of spatulas, palettes and stencil printing. Incorporation of the use of white and its enormous possibilities and the application of broken colors (with burnt umber) or complementary ones. Much of his work remains semi-abstract, but he is often drawn outside of his studio by the desire to paint directly from nature. His creative process is always the same. He starts with pencil and marker sketches. Study of values (lights and shadows). The second phase consists of carrying out color studies in small format. Maximum in A4. In that space he can apply the color without conditions, intuitively and in total freedom, performing two or three triads or quadriads of colors in each test.
From this small format he transfers those studies of colors and tones to the large format, normally a wooden frame with white canvas and in a size of 1 meter x 1 meter.

Exhibitions and competitions
- 2024 - Collective Exhibition February 10 to February 25. Pitijopos Gallery, Sanlúcar de
Barrameda, Cadiz.
- 2023 - VI Valencia Biennial. Ciutat Vella Oberta 2023. November 14 to
January 7, 2024. Selected.
- 2023 - Contemporary Art Collective November-December 23. Circuit Artístic.
Can Xerta Restaurant, Santa Cristina d´Aro. Gerona. Catalonia.
- 2023 - Collective Exhibition October 17 to November 12, 2023. Burjassot Cultural Center.
Topic: “About Sorolla”. Valencian Culturarte Association.
- 2023 - Collective Exhibition June 23. Cuttoo Gallery Madrid.
- 2023 - Contemporary Art Collective Spring 23. Circuit Artístic. Picasso Hotel Gallery.
Toroella de Montgrí. Catalonia.
- 2023 - XVI International Exhibition Virtual Museum Mundoarti 01-03-2023
- 2022 - Selected Collective Exhibition La Salita, work Bodegons01 13.11.22
- 2022 - Abartium Gallery Collective Exhibition. Calldetenes (Barcelona). Construction site:
Bodegons02 15.11.22
- 2021 - IX International Exhibition Virtual Museum Mundoarti 02-11-2021
- 2021 - Selected Collective Exhibition Feeding ArtWorld 2021
- Vila de Puçol Painting Competition. Year 2013
- El Puig outdoor quick painting contest. Year 2009
- Bancaja painting competition. Year 2008

His reference artists are Tapies, Andrew Bird, Richard Dieberkorn, Stephen Duren, Piet Raemdock, Pauline Agnew and the Australian Nicole Kelly, among others.

It belongs to the Culturarte Association (www.asociacionculturarte.org) to be able to share and exhibit works with them within the Spanish Artistic Circuit.

Galleries that represent you
- Agaphe Management Gallery Barcelona
- Abartium Gallery Calldetenes Barcelona