• The Basque artist’s work has illustrated the covers of books in publishing houses such as Blackie Books, Alfaguara, Anaya, Planeta and Random House
• His latest work includes covers for books by James Rhodes, Haruki Muramaki and Virginie Despentes

The Basque visual artist and illustrator David de las Heras (Bilbao, 1984) will be in charge of designing the Official Poster for the 34th edition of València International Film Festival – Cinema Jove, organized by the Institut Valencià de Cultura, that will take place in Valencia from the 21st to the 28th of June.

This year’s aim is to focus on the concepts of human dimension and the different scales of reality for the image of the Festival, an idea that, in the words of Cinema Jove’s Art Director, Julia Valencia, “connects with the intimate space and the spectators, with the inhabitant of the movie theatre that are taken to another reality through the screen.”

Translating this concept to a graphic collection required material weight and a link to traditions and Costumbrismo, a middle ground between realism and fantasy, resulting in the decision of selecting traditional painting as the technique for the poster’s main image.

“David de las Heras was the perfect artist to bring the concept to life, because his portraits have a very classical aspect, almost Velazquez-like, while his imagery is volatile and enigmatic, the perfect combination to create a strong image that radiates magical realism,” explains Valencia.

Metaphors and solitude

The artist has found conceptual and visual inspiration in the works of René Magritte and Edward Hopper. He feels identified with the visual metaphors of the surrealist Belgian painter. “Mi work is close to figurative realism, and I like to relate themes of a certain everyday nature to a shocking physical element,” he explains.