Joan Cornellà’s drawings contain an unconcerned spirit and a dark sense of humor. So whether you’re looking for some witty evening webtoons or something more disturbing and weird, these comics will surely fulfill it. It’s a webtoon filled with awkward moments and visual gags that lends Cornellà’s webtoons an uncomfortably playful tone.
Despite the all-too-real ominous undertones and criticism, his work lives comfortably within the world of the absurd. Get to know some of his best works and the stories behind their creations below.
This article was originally published on avocadoposts.com and has been republished here with permission.
Uncomfortable Yet Funny Comics
Joan Cornella is notoriously difficult to track down. But since he’s among the most well-known webtoon and comic book artists working today, there seems to be plenty of tidbits of information about him that can be discovered on the web in a variety of different places.
At the peak of the epidemic, Joan Cornella did not feel any changes in his manner of life. That is because there wasn’t much left for him to do other than get preoccupied with his job in New York. Which, Cornella conceded, was not that different from his typical routine. But he didn’t forget to draw some uncomfortable yet funny comics for us.
A Blend of Dark Humor With Extreme Discomfort
Joan Cornellà was born in Spain but now calls Hong Kong home. This Spanish artist blends dark humor with extreme discomfort in his silent, six-panel drawings. These comics have gained him a lot of notoriety. The works of Cornellà are concerned with mutilation and deformation, violence that is either sadistic or careless. His art also reflects the alienation caused by modernity and complete contempt for human existence.
Cornella’s aesthetic choices are opposed to the ideas he explores in his works. His hues are soft and comforting, and the people he depicts have doe-like eyes and a warm smile as if they’ve been lifted straight from a Children’s film.
He Has a Different Style of Making Art
When we glance at his cartoons, it’s easy to get the impression that Cornella is just a wicked and mentally sick individual. Someone who needs treatment, yet we could not have been more incorrect about any of these assumptions. He is a very normal person like us. It’s just that he has a different style of making art.
As it turns out, Joan Cornella is highly articulate about his creations and sensitive to the idea that someone can’t tell the difference between the work and its creator. But he never leaves a chance to make commentary on current situations that need attention. For example, he did cartoons to address the buffoonery of the people who were willing to not wear masks and get vaccinated during the pandemic.
Received Regular Bans From Different Social Platforms
Cornella shared how often he gets perplexed by the actions taken by social media sites, given that he views them as fictional works. In contrast, other individuals take satire extremely seriously, get upset, and seek censorship. So, it should not come to all of us as a complete surprise that Cornella seems to be a vocal opponent of measures that restrict the freedom of speech of others.
Regardless of the fact that Cornella has avoided having his account deleted, he’s no stranger to receiving regular bans from different social networking platforms. He also shared how he has lost track of the number of occasions his photographs have been banned.
Controversial Topics
Yet he goes on to create cartoons on controversial topics. He even creates cartoons on political figures, an area most cartoonists tend not to dare touch. Because let’s face it, there are a lot of risks there. Not necessarily; Joan Cornella’s work is related to social and political themes. And not necessarily everything has a deeper meaning. Sometimes Cornella’s work just gives us cynicism on a plate.
But Cornella doesn’t think of himself as a cynical individual in the way that most people understand the term. It is someone who has no confidence in mankind and just looks out for their own best interests. But he doesn’t believe himself to be in that category! On the other hand, he has a significant fascination with cynicism, which would be a school of thinking Socrates’ disciples developed.
Make Life More Meaningful
According to Cornellà, Behind his art, there are often various existentialist thoughts in the shadows, along with some cynicism. He added that some existentialist thinkers argue that the best starting point has no god or religion. But if we take that stance, life ceases to make sense.
However, he thinks this does not imply that life does not have a purpose since there’s always something that could be done to make life more meaningful. He believes we can think for ourselves about the things that give our life purpose. This is superior to just owning a purpose that has been bestowed upon us.
Black Humor Often Tackles Taboo
Although comedy has the potential to bring people together, it is also up to interpretation. When it comes to its subject matter, black humor often tackles taboo or otherwise inappropriate topics. Cornellà gave the impression that negotiating the limits is a difficult task, saying that he believes he always has borders that he believes should not be crossed.
So even when we think he’s crossing all the limits, the truth is he does set a boundary for himself. A boundary that he never crosses. But pointing out subtle inconsistencies in the systems around us has always been one of Cornella’s main targets.
Not Exactly What Expected
At first glance, the artistic style of Joan Cornellà looks bright and cheery. Especially with symbolic imagery reminiscent of kids’ literature from the ’50s! And the color scheme consists of vivid candy hues! Because of this, it’s much more stunning when the audience recognizes the nasty or horrible subject utterly discordant with the joyful aspect of the piece.
Take the Selfie Gun by Cornellà as an instance. This popular piece of art shows a guy who looks like he is just staring and holding a selfie stick. However, instead of a device, a weapon is added to the top of this selfie stick and is pointed at the person’s smiling face.
Open to Interpretations
A variant of this is known as CCTV, which substitutes a security camera for the weapon in the original. The harsh criticism of today’s self-obsessed society that pervades social media is not subtle; nonetheless, the real message, if there’s a message at all, is left vague.
What should we make of the tales that lie dormant beneath the rigid smiles of these characters in Cornella’s comic strips, and how do we interpret them? Joan Cornella wants us to interpret in our ways, and we will do that, and so should the readers! When questioned about the purpose of some of these works, Cornella refrains from expressing his viewpoints. Rather, he adds that he wants to make the spectators interpret his artwork for themselves, which perfectly describes that old cliché about describing a joke.
Ignite Curiosity Among Viewers
Some may find these images offensive. But people who love his works beg to differ. According to them, it’s just how he uses his dark humor to ignite curiosity among viewers. By trying to make light of the mindless cruelty of contemporary life, Cornellà argues that this irreverent comedy might paradoxically alleviate one’s fear.
His cartoon reveals a straightforward presentation of a complicated effect, both humorous and macabre in equal measure. This successfully creates a curiosity in viewers’ minds. They want to know more about the meaning behind his creations. They want to know his interpretations of his work – webtoons.
Inspiration From Different Places
Joan Cornella’s inspirations were discussed in one interview, which was an intriguing experience. He shared that he was inspired to create a style that resembled antique graphics, which he called “vintage-esque.” Joan likes the childlike innocence of the vintage commercials, complete with phony grins in plenty.
He once stated that even his rendition of “smiling face” was not taken from just a single source of inspiration but rather is something of a combination of several faces. So he takes inspiration from various places, making his works even more different and unique than his contemporaries.
My Life Is Pointless
“My Life Is Pointless by Joan Cornellà” is the artist’s third and biggest show in Hong Kong in the past five years. It was held at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery on January 29, 2021; they exhibited 48 works by Cornellà.
There has been significant development in the intervening three years since Joan Cornellà’s first Hong Kong exhibition in early 2017. In “My Life Is Pointless,” Cornella revisits several of his most famous topics, but this time with a significant amount of new language. His exhibition in Hong Kong consisted of life-sized panels, curved panel paintings, and bronze sculptures, in addition to a collection of limited print pieces. But still, his uploads on different social media sites gather the most attention. People appreciated the subtle nonsense humor it offered them.
Collaboration with AllRightsReserved
This exhibition also marked Cornella’s collaboration with the creative partner AllRightsReserved, guided by SK Lam. Lam is the founder of AllRightsReserved . His other identity could be that he was the artistic brain behind various local gems. Gems like the larger-than-life “Kaws sculptures” and the huge rubber duck moored in Victoria Harbour just a few years ago.
Lam shared how he first heard about Cornella’s debut exhibition in Hong Kong three years ago and how perplexed he was by his popularity. However, he could not attend the event due to the staggering number of interested people. Nevertheless, it left him wondering what all the hubbub was about.
Honest And Thought-provoking
After some time, Lam realized that Joan was a singular artist who entirely differentiated himself from, for example, other modern painters that we are familiar with. Even if its forceful message is masked by obvious comedy, Cornella’s work has always been engaging, thought-provoking, and honest. Furthermore, it is completely genuine in its delivery of that message.
The way his artwork is connected to events that are happening worldwide is probably why many people admire and appreciate his work. It’s not only the bright hues of his cartoons or how adorable the figures are because he is not a self-centered artist; it’s a combination of those things.
Surreal Comedy + Black Comedy = Easier to Absorb
Thomas Bernhard’s poems and novels deal extensively with human suffering and death, among Cornella’s prior major influences. This Austrian author’s writings had a dark undertone in his phrases that would quickly turn amusing. Joan’s recent works also have the same kind of taste to them.
Cornella’s sense of humor is more akin to the bizarre style of writing of Samuel Beckett or even the antics of Monty Python. We may find several such artists and forms of art that have the type of surreal comedy plus black comedy that provides a method to make issues that are meant to be weighty or dark much easier to absorb.
Talking About What’s Relevant
Sometimes, it seems that our life makes no sense in any way and that events are outside our control. On the other hand, many believe that our life could make meaning in a variety of different ways. They think this to be relatable and that one has the ability to choose whatever interpretation one want to make.
Cornella’s works have always had a certain type of grim tone. But it’s possible that anyone may tie the subjects of his works to what’s happening worldwide right now.
Inspired By Salvador Dali’s Works
Born in 1981 in Barcelona, Spain, Cornella began drawing at an early age. After completing his degree in Fine Arts, Cornella has worked as a collaborator for various businesses. He had contributed illustrations to several prestigious publications and periodicals like The New York Times. He even assisted with producing several festivals.
At the beginning of his career, Cornella worked as an illustrator for publications like El Periódico, La Cultura del Duodeno, Ara, and The New York Times. When he was young, he was mostly inspired by renowned Spanish artist Salvador Dali’s works and started drawing like him. We could see this influence of absurdity in his later works.
Mox Nox, Sot, and Zonco
Cornellà has also written three volumes in what would become his signature writing style. These works are titled Mox Nox, Sot, and Zonco. Cornella’s works are quite famous in the meme world. There’s a subreddit dedicated to his works, and he also has his own reference section on the site “Know Your Meme.”
In 2009, he won the third edition of the Josep Coll Award, under the 30s with his album Abulio. That was published the following year by Ediciones Glénat. Zonco (Published in 2015) is the long-awaited follow-up to the 2013 hit, Mox Nox. It adds 48 pages to Joan Cornellà’s hilarious universe of violent, inconsequential, and outdated surrealism.
People Can Relate to His Work
On the other hand, Cornella’s work has been seen in New York & Hong Kong, where it has been shown in exhibits, and on secondary markets, where it has been seen fetching prices of up to $45,000. Joan Cornella’s popularity is largely attributable to his supporters sharing his content on social media.
His work is popular because people are relatable. How he brings out the world’s hypocrisies rings a bell to many. This could be proven by the huge fan following he has across different social media sites. His works are almost always a hot topic when they come out.
Shared Skepticism
Skepticism is something that both the audience and the members of Cornella’s works have in common, which serves to connect them. They believe they all are awful at this at the same time. Even if they are suffering through horrific things, the figures in his comics always bring a smile on their face and look as though they were facing the same situations
His works may seem too real, but Cornella claims that everything is sensationalized, even though some behaviors may have some basis in reality. No matter what, we think his followers do really share the same skepticism as he or his characters does.
A Lesson To Learn
Cornella believes a valuable lesson is to be learned from the contrast between the bright colors of comic books. And also the dirty violence of the characters in his works. As he thinks that we all find humor in other people’s misfortune, and this can be educational to investigate the origin of such humor.
We also believe people find humor in miseries to some extent, and often we wonder why it is. Cornella’s work makes us question the root of this kind of behavior. That’s why as Cornella said, there is surely a lesson for us to learn.
Many are Familiar With His Works But Not Him
The cartoon pictures created by Joan Cornella are, to put it mildly, thought-provoking. His writing is characterized by a great deal of gloomy humor and ruthless honesty regarding numerous aspects of life. Because of the straightforward messages they convey, his cartoons frequently become viral on the Internet.
However, many people have utilized his work to create memes. While others frequently spread his work without realizing that it is the work of a talented cartoonist. For instance, we were not aware that he was the guy behind those viral memes that included his works.
8 Million Followers
Cornellà is widely acclaimed on the global stage. His artworks have been displayed everywhere from Tokyo, Beijing, and Hong Kong to London, as well as in New York and Paris. He has approximately eight million followers across his many social media platforms.
But he shared that if he had to pick one place to call home, it would be Hong Kong. Especially considering how much time he has spent there over the past couple of years. He considers it to be his permanent base. Besides, his most devoted followers can be found in Hong Kong and Asia in general. In addition, Hong Kong is where people first became aware of him.
Not Everyone’s Cup Of Tea
The thing we most love about Cornella’s work is that in just one glance, we’ll never really know what we’ll get. Joan Cornella’s works have always had an unexpected aspect to them. At first sight, Joan Cornella’s comics give off an upbeat and joyful vibe; nevertheless, things quickly change drastically for the worse. All sense of reality is taken away, putting it entirely within the realm of fiction.
Joan Cornella and his humor are not everyone’s cup of tea. Those who get the dark humor he always presents don’t really mind it. Instead, they root for him! However, those who don’t understand them can find his works offensive and even creepy.
The Shock Value
For Cornella’s humor to work, he needs to use bright-colored visuals. Especially the grinning character types that look more like a vintage how-to book than anything that could be real. The bright-colored visuals give a shock value at the end of his content. This is also a reason why many people love his webtoons. They like the surprise at the end. The shock at the end thrills the audience.
However, Joan Cornella is not solely interested in creating work for shock value. Even though they are extremely satirical, the works touch on serious themes such as the rise of social media obsesses in the internet world.
The Absurd World of His Works
We have to agree that the absurdity of Cornella’s webtoons crosses all the limits. As does with our world too. There’s nothing we can do about our need to be liked and popular, the world’s ills, or the basic ignorance of humanity. Cornella is doing everything in his power to bring these issues to light and make fun of them. And those who are capable of independent thought have noticed that this is the case.
In this day and age of political correctness, certain things should be said, and Cornella has discovered the ideal means to say them. Although the graphic style may occasionally repulse the viewers, this does not change the fact that certain things should be spoken, even if absurd.
All Topics Are Fair Game
The world has taken a perverse turn. The most recent webtoons by Joan Cornellà are the ones that best exemplify this point. Through a variety of out-of-the-ordinary experiences in the past, Cornella has acclimated the audience to the gloominess of his signature style.
Even though he has set boundaries and has limitations to what he would work on or not, no topic is off-limits for him. He is willing to touch on every topic if it’s within his boundaries, whether it’s people’s connections to social networks, the “culture” of bare selfies, or the challenging political concerns like addiction or gender inequalities.
Characteristics That Set Cornella’s Work Apart
Cornella’s choice of calming, attractive colors and its overall form of art, which seems like it has been drawn for children’s books, is the antithesis of all the misery exhibited within the wordless webtoons he presents. Cornellà is particularly well-known for the fact that he frequently gives his characters an expression that is similar to an empty smile.
This face and smile, which wraps up several of his comics, eventually would become one of the well-known trademarks associated with Cornella. Aside from the awkward laughing, Cornell’s work often has a forthright message. He does not apologize for it. To give one illustration, the author has produced cartoons in which he addresses the issue of police brutality directed toward minority groups.
His Characters Are Not Sadistic
Despite popular belief that the characters he creates are sadistic and are always willing to put themselves or others in pain, Cornella doesn’t think it that way. In his opinion, none of his characters like putting themselves through hardship. It seems more like the characters are content even when they are causing harm to themselves because they have no other options left.
They don’t have time for misery because these characters live in an environment where enjoyment is at an extreme. Life is amazing, and it sounds like they never stop having a good time. Or rather, they must have fun all the time.
Watercolor on Paper
Cornella usually sketches very methodically on paper. But many wonder what medium he uses to create his art. We also wondered if most of his work is done with watercolors or acrylics.
Apparently, he uses watercolors on paper. In the past, he painted with ink, and in most of his more recent pieces, he has switched to painting with watercolor or acrylic paints. His preference is for hand-drawn comics, so in this case, having a story to tell is the primary requirement for writing a good comic; the aesthetics of the comic are far less significant to him than the content. He also dabbled in digital comics for a brief period.
He Likes Silence
Although social media played a huge role in his popularity, other things made contributions too. The absence of texts, in addition to having attributed the pieces a multiplicity of perceptions, has given his work universal interpretability, leading to his achieving international popularity.
When talking about his textless creations, he exclaimed that he adores silent comedies and appreciates SILENCE. When he’s at work, he requires complete and utter silence. But there are moments when he stops what he’s doing and starts whistling while he looks up at the ceiling of his room. In this instance, he says that he covers his hearing by covering his ears because he is perpetually out of tune.
Not So Big in Spain
Although Cornella’s works have already made their marks worldwide, it seems they couldn’t make much fame in his birthplace. His webtoons are not as popular in Spain as in cities like New York and Hong Kong. But what could be the reason behind it? It seems Cornella has his own interpretations.
Cornella feels that people outside of Spain appreciate him and his works more than they do in Spain. It does seem to him that people outside of Spain enjoy his work more, although he is not sure why this is the case. He thinks it’s probably because most Spanish speakers cannot follow the plot of silent comedies. Or they simply dislike them. Maybe they simply prefer noises more than silence.
Debut in Metaverse
At the beginning of April, the artist made his debut in the metaverse well by releasing theNFT collection titled “MOAR.” This collection was produced in conjunction with the popular collectible experts at FWENCLUB.
Cornellà planned his set of 5,555 limited-edition NFTs in many stages. The subsequent editions are scheduled to launch throughout the year 2022, and they will include a metaverse location where proprietors of the NFTs may congregate. The artworks were initially sold in the form of “blind boxes,” which concealed their contents (a group of avatars designed in a cartoonish style) until after a predetermined amount of time had passed.
His First NFT Launch Was More Than Successful
This Spanish artist’s initiative had climbed to the top of the roster! That too, just within twenty-four hours of the launch on the marketspace OpenSea, surpassing other popular collections such as “Azuki” and “Bored Ape Yacht Club.” The success was enormous, and people started to focus more on his work. Besides, because of this, his webtoons started to go viral again.
Soon even popular personalities also shared his works or took part in the launch. Cornellà’s launched avatars were quickly noticed dominating the online accounts of notable people. He caught the attention of people like Brooklyn Beckham and KAWS, JJ Lin. Shortly after, the artist made a name for himself in the metaverse world for the first time.
The Experience of Art With That of The Metaverse
The story told in “MOAR” takes place inside a mansion that exists in the metaverse. It’s a building in which 5,555 different creatures, together with their spirits, were coined as non-fungible tokens using the ERC721 blockchain. Even though the rest of the globe is under lockdown owing to an alien invasion, those residing at the “MOAR” can coexist peacefully. Each one is different, hand-drawn, with over 180 unique features.
In the mansions, there could be humans, cyborgs, zombies, aliens, or anything else that comes to mind. There are 5,555 creatures in total. It’s a fairly peculiar mansion in which we may discover a variety of stores, games, and digital displays. It combines the experience of art with that of the metaverse.
Making an Impact
Cornella’s experience in this field spans over nine years at this point. He has this experience because he completed his studies in fine arts in Barcelona at an institution particularly dedicated to conceptual art.
Cornella shared that even though he started drawing from school, he wasn’t very interested in it; rather, he was more into other things. There is a possibility that the work he was doing then has some bearing on the work he is doing at the moment. But we can say that his hard work for over nine years has indeed been successful in making an impact in the eyes of art enthusiasts.
On Politics and Social Media’s Comments
Cornella says that he does get pretty violent comments on social media. But he makes an effort to stay out of the discussion that’s going on in the comments. He said the comments could be distressing if they take it in a direction that is diametrically opposed to what he was attempting to convey via his webtoons. After publishing an artwork he had created about a controversial political figure, he noticed a significant drop in the number of people who followed him.
Cornella often thinks that people are divided in their opinions when discussing politics. He thinks often there isn’t even a dispute; instead, it is an abrasive discussion, particularly in the United States. After that, it was disseminated worldwide, particularly through social media.
Cornella is Here to Stay
It’s not funny to bring up mortality or prey on children’s weaknesses all the time. Unless it’s by Joan Cornella, it’s bound to be off-limits. The work of Cornellà is just as bleak as a dark comedy can get. Cornella’s work makes light of topics that are generally regarded to be taboo or even off-bounds.
It’s undeniable that Cornella has successfully built a fan following across the globe. They acknowledge the candor in his acerbic view on life, even though he’s a somewhat controversial figure. Besides, Cornellà’s recent collaboration with AllRightsReserved has made Cornellà’s webtoon more accessible and tangible. We will probably see more exciting works from him in upcoming years!