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By Foreign Talent Specialist and Art Expert guest blogger Daniel J. Ahern
Good day, fine person. As you may recall from a previous post, I am an art buyer. And as such, I hardly need to remind you that my opinion in matters of taste and worth commands absolute respect and admiration.
Today I would like to lend my services to all you headhunters, recruiters, creative managers, creative directors, executive creative directors and chief creative officers out there. Being involved in such a field as you are, where talent is at a premium and instincts, style and ability cannot be replicated, it is often difficult to find the right candidate for the position of art director.
But lament not, for I endeavor to assist you. Nay, I endeavor to pretty much do all the work for you. You see, one of my areas of expertise is adjudicating Spanish talent. Therefore, for your extreme benefit, I have compiled this survey of Spanish creatives that will help you find the one you need to move your agency swiftly forward in inimitable directions. And I have included only the best.
I present, the Spanish Art Directors Prospectus 2011
Diego Velázquez
Hallmarks: Baroque movement; gifted technically; beautiful portraiture
Greatest Strength: Execution. Velázquez became very influential to realists because of his disgustingly awesome skills with the brush. Before photographers existed, either you sold a product without any models, or you got Velázquez to paint some for you.
Best Known For: Las Meninas (English: The Rich Midget-Girls), which impressively featured Velázquez himself, making it not just a recruitment poster for palace servants but also an ad for ol' Diego.
Availability: Dead.
Francisco Goya
Hallmarks: Romantic movement; boldness; political involvement; bridge between the old school and the new school
Greatest Strength: Making a statement. Goya couldn't be held down by the man. For instance, his work La Maja Desnuda (English: Majorly Nude!) was of a naked chick laying on some pillows. Since it wasn't framed in any mythical or religious context, it was the first time anybody did a nude just 'cause. It's widely believed the prase "Sex sells, bro!" is attributable to Goya.
Best Known For: El Tres de Mayo (English: The Mayonnaise Treasure). Like Velázquez, Goya's work was a recruitment poster too, but this time for the French Army, who needed volunteers to go on killing sprees in Spain. (Notably, karma was bitch for the French.)
Availability: Dead.
Pablo Picasso
Hallmarks: Just giving up and doing whatever. Which is turns out is cool.
Greatest Strength: Dynamism. Picasso started out doing real-looking stuff, but changed styles frequently. The crazier he got, the more people dug him. Considered a founder of thinking outside the box, which is fitting (or paradoxical?) as he pioneered cubism.
Best Known For: Tough to say, as Picasso played with more styles in his career than Christina Aguilera. But probably Guernica (English: AHH!). Knowing his hipster audience, Picasso ironically did Guernica in black and white even though, like, all the colors were available. It's an ad for a Bavarian summer camp, so he ironically made it about Germans bombing Spain. (Notably, karma was a bitch for the Germans.)
Availability: Dead.
Salvador Dalí
Hallmarks: Surrealist movement; crazy mustache movement; subliminal/hidden images; general craziness; being sorta full of himself
Greatest Strength: Publicity. Dalí knew how to create a "Wow!" moment, whether it was giving a lecture dressed in a diver's suit, making a dream sequence for a Hitchcock film, unveiling a mind-bending painting with hidden images, or selling books using fantastic titles like The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí and Diary of a Genius (copywriting bonus!). One time somebody beat Dalí to a cool idea for a film, so he one-upped the guy by knocking over the projector in the middle of the screening, claiming, “My idea for a film is exactly that, and I was going to propose it to someone who would pay to have it made. I never wrote it down or told anyone, but it is as if he had stolen it." His idea of intellectual property (another quote: "He stole my dreams!") evidently reached further than anybody else's, ever. Also, he made a Lobster Telephone.
Best Known For: The Persistence of Memory (English: The Persistence of Memory), a piece for a watch salesman. It's the first known ad to use the technique of arousing interest by making the product look really shitty; a method still used today by Olive Garden.
Availability: Insanely Dead.
Dídima Arrieta Martinez
Hallmarks: Blending hand-done and computer techniques; craftiness (in all senses); idea-centric work; inventiveness; layouts; hair accessories
Greatest Strength: Tenacity. Dídima widely regarded as trying and working harder than anybody else. She hates "fake" things, so even in the Photoshop age she usually prefers to use her hands somehow to come up with looks that can't be duplicated. (Techniques employed have included stenciling, sewing, Xacto-knifing, spray painting, drawing, messing with scanners/copiers, and more.) She's unsatisfied until both the idea and execution are original.
Best Known For: Although she's been In-Book (D&AD 2011) for an Aviva campaign and won an Addy for her work on Running of the Bulls (and recognized with several Student awards), there isn't a consensus opinion on her best work. I personally vote for André champagne because I happen know the writer.
Availability: Immediate (but time-restrictive). Secure her as soon as possible or you may have to wait over a year before she can return to the US. As an art expert, I highly urge you to jump on this one. Primarily because of her immense talent, but also because, for her peers, corpse reanimation is prohibitively expensive at the moment.)
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