Maria Picassó i Piquer (born 1983) is a
Catalan illustrator and cartoonist. One of her creations was chosen by the international jury of
Communication Arts
''Communication Arts'' (acronym: CA) is the largest international trade journal of visual communication. Founded in 1959 by Richard Coyne and Robert Blanchard, the magazine's coverage includes graphic design, advertising, photography, illustra ...
to be part of its 2022 yearbook of illustrations.
Biography
She studied
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
, but shortly after entering to work in an office, she left it to devote herself to plastic arts. As an illustrator, she has worked in sectors as diverse as press, video games, album covers, billboards, books and clothing. Her style has been cataloged as "geometric
vectorial constructivist portraits". She aims to simplify her drawings as much as possible, leaving only the most defining and essential features, and usually using geometric shapes to recreate faces and objects. Picassó has cited as influences
Al Hirschfeld
Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 – January 20, 2003) was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.
Early life and career
Al Hirschfeld was born in 1903 in a two-story duplex apa ...
,
Hanoch Piven,
Charley Harper
Charley Harper (August 4, 1922June 10, 2007) was a Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati-based United States, American Modernism, Modernist artist. He was best known for his highly stylized wildlife prints, posters, and book illustratio ...
,
Scott Partridge,
Robin Davey and
Maite Franchi.
She has made several book covers, album covers by artists such as
or
Stick Men, illustrations for the press (
El País
(; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
,
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
), billboards and in video games of the
Star Trek franchise
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the series of the same name and became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. Since its creation, the franchise has expanded into vari ...
.
Due to the premiere of the new film adaptation of
Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...
(
Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, OAL (; ; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He has received seven Canadian Screen Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two ...
, September 2021), the Catalan publishers ''Mai Més'' and ''Raig Verd'' published a new translated edition of the original book
Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...
(
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...
, 1965), in binding paperback and illustration by Maria Picassó. Her design for the cover of the book was one of those chosen, among the 3,689 proposals submitted, to appear in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual from May–June 2022.
The city council of her home town
Manresa
Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain.
Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...
, in Catalonia, named her "Ambassador of Manresa".
In 2022 Picasso published her first book as an illustrator, with text by Agnès Rotger: ''La Caçadora de Dinosaures'', about the life of the British paleontologist
Mary Anning
Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an English fossil collector, fossil trade, dealer, and palaeontologist. She became known internationally for her discoveries in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Cha ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picasso, Maria
People from Manresa
Spanish women illustrators
1983 births
Living people