Antonio de Felipe

ANTONIO DE FELIPE (Valencia, 1965).
"U2 war", 2010.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed and dated.
Measurements: 200 x 200 cm.
In this work Antonio de Felipe starts from the iconic cover of War by U2. The work retains as its visual core the famous face of the boy photographed for the original cover: Peter Rowen, whose intense and defiant expression became one of the most recognizable graphic icons of the music of the eighties. Rowen had previously appeared on the cover of the band's debut album, Boy. Antonio de Felipe amplifies the scene through his signature visual language: clean surfaces, saturated colors and an aesthetic derived from both comic books and advertising culture. The choice of "War" is not casual within his creative universe. Throughout his career, Antonio de Felipe has constantly explored the relationship between popular icons and high culture, mixing musical, cinematographic and advertising references with procedures inherited from the pictorial tradition.
Antonio de Felipe, a graduate in Fine Arts from the University of San Carlos de Valencia, began his career as an advertising creative, an experience that decisively influenced his pictorial style. Considered a Pop artist, linked to the movement "Les nouveaux Pop", he develops his work in series such as Logotipos, Vacas or Cinemaspop, characterized by a clear, direct and visual aesthetic, with intense colors and simple themes oriented to the general public.
He has collaborated with Pedro Almodóvar in Carne Trémula, worked for television and design, and participated in posters, covers and publications such as ABC, El País, El Mundo, Marie Claire or Rolling Stone. With more than ninety solo exhibitions in Spain and abroad, his work is part of collections such as the Reina Sofia Museum, the IVAM or the Montblanc Foundation, and has been present in international fairs such as ARCO, ART COLOGNE or KIAF.