SUBVERSIVE, PERVERSE, FUNNY, HONEST?
Cartoonist Cornellà asks the viewer to decide what his often offensive but always amusing illustrations mean
Joan Cornellà’s art isn’t for the sensitive of heart. Masked in bright colours and empty smiles of his characters, his comics are vile, controversial, politically incorrect and uncomfortable. But to the right kind of person, they’re absolutely hilarious.
Through his signature six-panel silent comics akin to 1950s airline safety pamphlets, the Spanish cartoonist and illustrator dissects the bleakness of human nature with satire, dark humour and absurd unconventional scenarios.
No topic seems to be off limits. He’s painted comics on suicide, killing children, and abbots on fire (which we will get back to later). They’re shocking, confusing and verging on bad taste — but it’s exactly this that has people coming back for more.
Cornellà now has more than 4.5 million followers on Facebook, with comments on his art ranging from deep interpretations of society to “I have no idea why I’m following him”. He’s had celebrities like Bradley Cooper and Paris Hilton wearing his T-shirts. Even Thai blockbuster hit Freelance (2015) saw the protagonist often donning one of Cornellà’s T-shirts, a fashion statement for wacky cool. And with Thailand’s art scene getting bigger and better every year, it’s no surprise that he’s dropped by Bangkok this week for his first ever solo exhibition in the country at Future Factory Bangkok.
From today until March 26, fans and dark-humoured souls will get a chance to meet the artist in person, buy his canvases and limited edition illustrations, T-shirts and books, and get signed copies of his latest book SOT, at “Joan Cornellà: Bangkok Solo Exhibition” at Future Factory on Phahon Yothin Road.
The admission fee is 200 baht, which will give you one hour of viewing. And yet the gallery expects an enthusiastic turnout — you have to book an hourly slot online in advance to get in the gallery.
A relatively unknown practice in Thailand to pay to see art, Cornellà and the organisers seem to want to filter out the crowd to only true fans to cause the least amount of offence — something that is almost impossible with Cornellà’s type of work.
Cornellà though, doesn’t seem to want to be offensive as most people think. His first promotional photo for his Bangkok exhibition was of a smiling, self-immolating abbot with two smiling men keeping warm from the flames. Sparking widespread and unwanted criticism, he did what most artists would not have done: he censored himself and changed the poster image to a couple with a selfie stick with a gun attached to its end instead.
Known for his satirical and smart ass answers in most publications, the Spanish artist shows his more earnest side in an interview with Life. He talks on freedom of expression, the limits of humour, political correctness, and of course, explains why he decided to self-censor himself in Thailand.
People don’t know much about you, but they are definitely curious of the history to the man behind these intriguing comic strips. Where do you think your dark sense of humour came from?
There is a long tradition of black humour around the globe. “Gallows humour” is something we can find in many cultures, from Jewish to English. This type of humour is in almost all of my work, but I like to think that what can make my comics become hilarious is the fact that they are treated in an absurd way. In Endgame, a work by Samuel Beckett, a character says that there is “nothing more fun than misfortune”. That’s true. Death is something that we do not know how to deal with and when it happens we can only laugh or cry.
When did you start doing these absurdly dark six-panel comic strips? I read that it came from after you worked with Brecht Vandenbroucke.
I actually started after seeing his comics and those of Herr Seele & Kamagurka on the internet. It seemed strange that they were all Belgians and had such an absurd humour. Later I was able to meet them and we made a mural painting together in the south of France. When I got to know their work, I was experimenting a lot with mine, and when I saw their silent comics, I thought it would be good to try that. Everything I created was published on Facebook, so I realised that if the comics were silent they could reach many more people. Gradually I modified my work so that I could reach as many people as possible. The wrapping of my work is kind, with beautiful colours and smiles, so behind that candour it was easier for me to serve the public messages related to disaster, violence or death.
What brings you to Thailand? People tend to be very sensitive here, and even you yourself had to change the promotional poster of the burning abbot. Was that some form of self-censorship?
Yes, it was a case of self-censorship. It was not my intention to do it but there was a pressure that we could not ignore. We were told that we could have serious problems and that they could close the exhibition if we did not change the promotional image, so I changed it. I like to believe in freedom of expression and I believe it is one of the greatest blessings of any society. It should be noted that my work has to be understood simply as humorous, but the satirical tradition is not rooted in all countries alike. In that sense I think that Britain is much more advanced than the rest of the world (although I would not take it as an example in many other things).
Where do you draw the line with your dark humour? Are there limits?
There are always limits. In my case, I think the limits should be marked by humour, if something is not funny then better not tell it. The problem is that maybe I think something is funny and to the person next to me it is not and he becomes a censor. For me it does not make sense to tell someone about what he can laugh at and what he cannot. There are many humorists that I hate but I will not restrain their freedom.
What do you think of political-correctness culture nowadays? Is your work getting more criticism and offence due to the rising movement?
Political correctness has made us absolutely paranoid. I have been called a racist for making a page that in my opinion had nothing to do with any positioning on the matter. The funny thing is that the same page has also been interpreted as anti-racist. Some people have simply laughed at that comic, regardless of their race. I’ve also been called a retarded sick motherf***** for laughing at suicide. For this type of people you can only laugh at the things that seem good to them, that is fascism. Political incorrectness is the fascism of our time. Why can Woody Allen make a joke about the Holocaust? Only because he is Jewish? I just ask that everyone can make that same joke as Woody. If my grandfather was transsexual and had committed suicide I would not prohibit people to make jokes of transsexual suicidal grandparents.
There are always throngs of fans analysing every post you make on Facebook. Generally, what do you want people to get out of your works? Are they meant to be deep or criticise society?
Personally I think it’s best to let the comics speak for themselves and not give my opinion about it. I like more open the interpretation of each comic, in the end it’s the reader who is the one that gives it a meaning. Being mute, the first reading is very fast. Almost as instantaneous as with an advertisement. But people do not usually understand my comics at first glance and look at them again. Many people tell me that they do it in a hypnotic way, that they like it, they laugh with them but they do not understand anything. Some see hidden meanings of which I am not aware and others simply do not understand anything and keep looking. The truth is that I have no intention of making a criticism, at least deliberately or with a clear objective. Many make a leftist or right-wing reading of my comics. I would like my work to be kept away from any political position. I do not like moralistic works, I prefer to think it’s absurd humour. For me it is nothing but absurd humour. Although what I think of my work is independent of my work itself. Everyone is free to interpret it as they please.
Were you ever surprised at the amount of love your dark comics have received? What does this say about human nature?
I still find it shocking the reach and scope they have come to have, but above all at the beginning I found it unreal. I suppose that means that there is still hope for humanity, there are many people with criteria and good taste.
How many comic strips do you make a year?
The amount of comics I do can vary a lot depending on the moment. My way of working is usually quite anarchic and often I work in bursts in which I produce a lot. It can also be a long time without doing something new.
What projects are you working on right now?
Right now I’m working on the Bangkok exhibition and next month I’ll start doing the same for an exhibition in China. I try for my work to include not only the comic but also painting, the sculpture or the animation, so I will try to look for new paths.