Body of Work
Exhibition info
Body of Work is the concept behind this series of illustrations in which I emphasise the cult of the body and the role of homosexuals in sport.
"I doubt that there is only one gay on the field. We have to get rid of taboos and shame" were some of the statements made by Antoine Dupont, the French rugby player for the magazine TETU, which inspired me to make this exhibition.
Behind these athletic silhouettes contextualised in different sports disciplines such as weightlifting or boxing, I interpret the concept of gay pride as the manifesto of a masculinity that, despite being constructed according to heteronormative canons, dismantles all the preconceived clichés about virility and are for me a representation of self-improvement and struggle.
Body Of work is a response to the phenomenon of toxic masculinism to which we are exposed and a call for strong and combative masculinity in the service of freedom, love and inclusivity.
For these illustrations I have been inspired by the propagandistic aesthetics of early 20th century sport and the homoerotic aesthetics mythologised by artists such as the photographers Bruce Weber and the legendary Herb Ritts who helped so much to make the gay community visible in the early 1990s.
The exhibition also includes portraits of the famous French transsexuals Bambi and Coccinelle, true precursors of transsexual visibility, who underwent their sex change in the mythical clinic of Doctor Burou in the city of Casablanca where I was born, raised and love.
Finally, portraits of the actress and comedian Sandra Bernhard, activist and staunch defender of the LGTBQI+ community, and the inevitable Madonna at her most powerful, the Madonna Runner who, with the rigour of an athlete, ran through the cities of the world displaying her overwhelming pride and inspiring generations of men and women to reinvent themselves time and time again in the face of life's adversities.
Artist biography
Born in Casablanca and of Croatian origin, I have been working in graphic illustration for press and advertising for more than two decades. I started my career in Shangay Magazine in 1997 and I have collaborated with some of the most prestigious national magazines: El País Semanal, El Mundo, Vanidad, Woman, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Hola Decor, Instyle, Yo Dona and Vogue.
As a French speaker, I have also collaborated with French media such as Madame Figaro and Grupo EDITORIAL for which I have designed a series of Iván Soldo postcards distributed exclusively in France. On the other hand, I have also done more graphic work for companies such as Hugo Boss, Biosca & Biottey, Virgin, Blanco and the Inditex group.
Some of my work has been included in books such as ILLUSIVE volume II (Germany) and Fashion Illustrators Today (Germany) and shown in exhibitions such as Paper Chic held in Madrid in 2003 which brought together fifteen of the most important illustrators in Spain. In 2006 I exhibited a large part of my graphic work in a retrospective at IED Madrid and I was awarded as best visual artist at the Shangay Awards 2007. Currently I continue to collaborate with Shangay magazine, for which I have developed my most committed work.
In parallel I continue to create illustrations as a tribute to all the artists who have inspired me over the years. These works can be seen on my Instagram @ivan_soldo_official. My followers include actresses Beatrice Dalle, Sandra Bernhard, New York designer Isaac Mizrahi, Andy Warhol collaborator Sam Bolton and Richard Bernstein, legendary illustrator of Interview Magazine.
Last year Iván Soldo celebrated Pride month at the Ocean Drive Hotel in Madrid with his exhibition entitled BALLROOM, a series of illustrations inspired by VOGUING as a tribute to this dance born from New York's African-American LGTB communities, once again demonstrating his commitment to Queer culture.