ArticketBCN is not only a gateway to art in Barcelona, it’s also a platform that celebrates dialogue between different forms of artistic expression. This year, this spirit is embodied in a very special collaboration: Barcelona-based illustrator Maria Corte has designed a spectacular limited edition of the passport, transforming it into a work of art and making it the perfect gift for the festive season.
Maria Corte is one of the most outstanding illustrators on the current scene. Her name is already internationally recognised through publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and then in 2019 she designed the poster for the La Mercè festivities, a selection of work that captivated the people of Barcelona and further consolidated her link with the city. Her new collaboration for Articket reinforces this connection, through a unique project that celebrates the artistic diversity of Barcelona’s museums. A limited edition of the passport that perfectly synthesises the essence of the project: six doors that invite you to discover six artistic universes.
– From Barcelona to the United States. You’ve probably been asked this a thousand times, but… Can you tell us how you made the international leap?
– Well, in 2011 I entered a competition with Richard Solomon, a New York representation agency. I wasn’t even among the first 20 selected, but a few weeks later I received a call from one of the assistants offering me representation. My first two commissions came at the same time, one for The New York Times and the other for the BBC. It was an amazing experience!
– Vibrant colours and geometry are some of the most identifiable elements of your illustrations. What are your artistic references? Does art particularly inspire your work or do you have other sources of inspiration?
– I am greatly influenced by cubism and futurism. Geometry and composition are very important parts of my work. I have so many references, it would be impossible to mention them all. On a pictorial level: Fernand Léger, Richard Lindner, Juan Gris, Marinetti, Boccioni, Tarsila do Amaral, Botero… I have also been influenced by artists such as Brossa and Chema Madoz. I’m very interested in visual analogies and metaphors, and I always try to add a certain conceptual value to my illustrations. I also find inspiration in reading, cinema, posters, murals, the landscape around me… You have to keep your eyes open to discover your muses. They don’t appear if you’re not working.
– When we offered you the project, you were about to travel to Vienna to open an exhibition in dialogue with Picasso. How was the experience?
– I was opening an exhibition, Pasión Doble, at the Galerie Lehner, which established a dialogue between erotic engravings by Picasso and paintings of mine on the same subject. My intention was to offer a contemporary perspective on sex from the free perspective of a woman. It was a great honour and an incredible experience.
– For you, is illustration an art or a hobby?
– I used to see illustration as just a hobby, as it involves completing a task with specific guidelines, where you don’t always have the creative freedom you can have when painting. But now I don’t have a definite answer, because I think art is an increasingly transversal concept. We have to appreciate the value of craftsmen. We mustn’t forget that the great artists of the Renaissance, the Baroque, etc., lived off commissions from bourgeois families, the Catholic Church, patrons… These totems of art also received guidelines and corrections.
– As a visitor, what is your relationship with museums and galleries? Do you have a favourite museum space, in or out of Barcelona?
– My favourite space, without a doubt, is Fundació Joan Miró. The magnificent building by Sert, the light that floods the rooms, the marvellous views and, above all, the work of one of my favourite painters: Miró.
– We’ve been so impressed by your work process, devoting a significant amount of time to the development of the concept. Tell us more about how you work.
– It usually takes me much longer to come up with good ideas and compositions than it does for the final execution. This is the part of the creative process that I enjoy the most: exploring concepts, perspectives, geometries… I like to have everything very well worked out and under control before adding colour and developing the illustration. I always uncover new ideas as I work, I love to doodle in notebooks, almost like an automatic drawing exercise, linking ideas together… Once I have the structure defined and approved, that’s when I start with the details and colour variations. It’s like I sculpt the shapes.
– And speaking of concepts… 6 doors and 6 Articket museums. A very powerful idea and a great synthesis of the Articket universe! How did you come up with it?
– I started from the idea that the Articket passport allows you to travel freely in these museums. The passport is a key that opens the doors of each museum: Museu Picasso, Fundació Joan Miró, MNAC, MACBA, Museu Tàpies and CCCB. Open doors, all connected to each other, so that all visitors can enjoy art without restrictions. I also wanted to present a complete picture, where each part (the cover, jacket and flaps) made sense on its own.
– To prepare the project, you did your own Articket tour of the 6 museums that are part of the passport. Could you share any work or exhibition that you particularly liked during your tour?
– Without wanting to repeat myself, the Miró-Matisse exhibition was my favourite. They are two tremendous artists who have enormous sensitivity. I discovered works I didn’t know and went back a second time.
– Finally, do you have any projects for 2025 that you would like to share with us?
– Well, nothing is confirmed yet, but I hope that there will be another exhibition and more commissions like this one. It’s been such a joy to take part!
