Pep Brocal: “Barcelona has managed to create a character from an artistic point of view”

His name is Josep Maria Brocal i Llobregat, although he prefers to sign his work as a comic artist and illustrator as Pep Brocal. If you ask him how he sees himself, the answer is very sincere: an enthusiastic, hardworking, and modest artist, qualities that also define him in his personal life.

Since the beginning of their career, they have illustrated more than 60 children's and young adult books and have received the New Author Award at the Barcelona Comic Convention. Among their latest works are 'Anecdotario de Barcelona' (Comanegra), with text by Roser Messa, 'Cosmonauta' (Astiberri), and 'Inframundo' (Astiberri).

Today, we spoke with him to learn more about the urban art project he has developed for NN Wallery, an amazing mural that captures his vision of Barcelona and which you can visit on Espronceda Street, 254.

- Your work as an illustrator often combines impossible adventures, dreamlike settings, and inner journeys. What do you try to convey with them?

I suppose I try to talk about what really matters to me, in the truest sense. That's why I tend to imagine stories that also translate these deeper concerns, sometimes with an existential weight, that seek to provide a personal answer to the eternal philosophical questions: who we are, where we are going, where we come from, etc. I do try, however, to season it with humor, just in case there was someone who might take it seriously. Although it is well known that it is with humor that truths are told.

- Where do you find the inspiration to create?

Inspiration is just around the corner; I find it in the most immediate everyday things. In the things that happen to all of us at any moment. Life itself is the best source to drink from, raw and unfiltered, until you're satisfied. And also from readings, movies, the work of people who matter to you, whether it's illustration, comics, painting, or macramé.

- For a comic book artist and vocational illustrator, what has the experience of participating in an urban art project like NN Wallery been like?

It was like entering a different world, one that I barely knew, which slightly escapes from my strict comfort zone, that is, from the realm of comic strips and the world of editorial illustration that has always been mine. And for that very reason, it has been a significant challenge that I have faced with enthusiasm, eager to give it my all. My first reaction upon receiving the assignment was one of surprise and excitement, as I say, also impressed by the scale of the project, which was initially supposed to be a 70-meter-long strip and then kept growing.

- What guidelines were you given for the creation of the mural? Or were you given complete freedom?

I was given complete creative freedom, always within certain technical, stylistic, and thematic parameters. The subject had to be Barcelona, logically, with the focus of my choosing. Its architecture, customs, culture, gastronomy, art, whatever I felt most passionate about. Then, apart from the format, which already imposes its own conditions by being so elongated, there was the restriction of the palette. Everything had to be in black and shades of green, they told me, although later we had to add orange for a matter of rhythm.

- What do we find on the construction wall at Espronceda 254?

Well, a vision of the city, with everything that I felt should be represented. I wanted to give it a synthetic treatment, reduced to the bare minimum in terms of color and shape. But also to give it dynamism as a whole, freshness if you prefer. To capture that feeling of life in motion, of an infinity of details and characters overlapping at different levels, each one doing their own thing, each one in their own movie, and all of them scattered in a common landscape of which they also feel a part. It's just that Barcelona is quite what I'm saying, it seems to me.

- In Espronceda, you are presented with a huge blank canvas to let your imagination fly. What was the creation process of the work like? Did you have a clear idea from the beginning of what you wanted to depict?

The first thing I envisioned was a filmstrip-like banner with a backdrop featuring the entire city skyline, like a very flat and schematic stage set showcasing the most iconic elements of Barcelona's urban landscape, such as the Sagrada Familia, Columbus Monument, Agbar Tower, the twin towers, the cathedral, the Arc de Triomf, Montjuic, etc. The concept was very theatrical, I mean that in a positive way. Once the contextual backdrop was in place, I wanted the remaining space, the lower strip, to combine typical and not so typical characters of the city. With complete freedom of movement and therefore against a flat green background, to play with the composition by alternating all kinds of characters and appearances, the urban wildlife in general, following both a narrative and purely aesthetic criteria.

- The Barcelona skyline in the background and a whole series of 'urban wildlife' wandering around the city. Who are these characters of urban wildlife present in your work? Do they define the people who live in the city?

The idea, ambitious as it gets, was to make everything fit. I was gathering scribbled sheets to get a rough idea of the extent of the tragedy, one by one, taped together. The strip grew and grew and had already taken over the hallway. I lacked the space to get an overview. In the end, I decided to tackle the project as if it were five elongated illustrations. Divide and conquer, as the saying goes. Just like that. And there, on those very long strips of paper, I was sticking and unsticking with Pritt every single character until I was convinced with the resulting composition.

I wanted everyone to be there: the pizza guy, the pretty girl on rollerblades, the retiree, the hipster, the beachgoers playing volleyball, the tattooed guy, Mrs. Paquita, the Ramblas portrait artist, the propane delivery man, the tough kid, the woman on an electric scooter, the skateboarder boy, some tourists because there are always some, etc. Urban life in its broad spectrum, and whoever I felt like drawing, of course.

In fact, I must confess that I self-censored a bit, I didn't include other types of fauna that are very characteristic of the city and tempting to depict, such as pickpockets snatching bags, drunk hooligans or street swindlers on Las Ramblas, just to name three so as not to offend anyone. Perhaps the result would have been less edifying, something that Opisso never considered in his time. A healthier era in mind, I suppose. Once drawn, I removed them from the set for prudence, a mural is something that is exposed to everyone's view.

- You also pay personal tribute to the artist and social activist Keith Haring. What does he represent for you? Does any other notable figure appear?

Keith Haring's mural, although a reproduction, is one of the most incredible things that have happened to this city from an artistic standpoint. It's worth emphasizing whenever the opportunity arises, I believe.

I found it amusing to include more or less significant characters from the history and culture of the city and ultimately the country, from Monturiol or Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu in tandem to Joan Miró or Caballé, through Rafael Casanova, Gaudí, and Floquet de Neu. And a few more. Welcome, come in, come in.

- What did you think/feel when you saw the finished wall and put your signature on it.

A bit of vertigo. So much so that I had to sign it twice, the first time I completely chickened out.

- The construction walls of NN Wallery are an ephemeral project; they remain for as long as the work is under construction. Accustomed to your works being 'eternal' on paper, how do you experience this temporality?

Well, because that was the point of the matter from the beginning of the commission and one has time to get used to the idea. Upon closer inspection, from a slightly broader perspective, nothing is permanent. Nothing will be. Probably not even The Mona Lisa.

- What does a project like NN Wallery contribute to Barcelona, do you think it fulfills its mission to improve people's environment? And personally, what has it brought to you?

I believe that initiatives aimed at recovering, improving, beautifying, or simply taking care of public spaces, which belong to everyone, should be applauded. And if this care is carried out with standards of excellence, it should be supported. I have been able to see most of the other murals and all of them have seemed magnificent to me, seriously, an admirable and courageous display of the style of each of the artists invited to participate in this ambitious project.

- Has your perception of urban art changed after participating in the project? Would you do it again?

I would repeat, of course. With pleasure.

The team of Berok has done an incredible job, so much so that the initial 70 meters were doubled to connect the entire block under construction. Someone made a video that lasts three minutes going around the whole thing, about 170 meters in the end. With that in mind, I offered myself to the agency Chârles to create a drawing that would link the beginning with the end in a loop so they could continue with the mural all the way to Vladivostok if they felt like it. I was delighted.

Urban art is also yet to define where it can go, there is much ground to explore and many directions in which to focus new and interesting projects. There must be people, indeed, both institutions and companies, willing to take risks in that area. And then there are the outsiders, there have always been some, and Barcelona has known quite a few very good ones.

- Do you think Barcelona is a city that appreciates urban art?

Although it is not a capital city, and therefore does not have the influx of money that a state can generate, Barcelona has managed to create its own character from an artistic point of view. One only needs to stroll through its streets and enjoy its extraordinary architecture. Once that's done, one can also visit its museums to fully confirm what I'm saying. The resulting conglomerate is, in my opinion, sensationally moderate. As I see it, the city has had to invent itself a bit, without the facilities of other major European capitals, but with a vitality that is largely spontaneous and free. That's why urban art is indispensable to it; it's part of its skin.

- And finally, what projects are you currently working on?

I'm involved in a couple of stories that I'm developing in parallel, as if to make it clear to myself that I'm equally interested in both, or perhaps that both overwhelm me in the same way. Creation is not always pleasurable. I suppose one of these stories will eventually prevail over the other and at some point will become a comic. Anyway, I don't know how long it will take, these processes are very treacherous. As in almost everything, I believe that in comics too, haste is a bad companion.

If you want to discover all the works of the artists from NN Wallery, the urban art project initiated by Grupo Núñez i Navarro in collaboration with Norma Editorial, you can visit our website.