Illustrator Maria Luque in 5 facts and an interview

One of the most in-demand Argentine illustrators of the last five years, María Luque says in an interview with Infobae that “when I was studying art, wanting to be an illustrator meant a <forget about belonging to our world>”. Are illustrators art's natural outcasts? The truth is that in the 21st century they're becoming just about the only ones who can make a living from it. With several artworks behind her, today we're sharing 10 facts about María Luque, one of the faces of this new wave of artists who swap the brush for all kinds of tools that are hardly orthodox in the art world.

5 facts about illustrator María Luque

1. Nacida en 1983 es una de las ilustradoras más jóvenes de más éxito en Argentina y en los países de habla latina.
2. Le siguen 20.000 personas en Facebook y en Instagram son muchos más de 65000 seguidores. Tanto su arte como ella misma aparecen en cada una de estas imágenes.
3. Hay numerosos diseños suyos tanto en ropa de vestir como en agendas y complementos.
4. Es docente de “Creación y desarrollo de novelas gráficas”.
5. Sus ilustraciones evocan un arte vivaz y surrealista con un marcado estilo cálido pero intenso que la diferencia del resto de ilustradores de su generación.

“Art history is the most inexhaustible source of inspiration”

In an interview with the newspaper Sophia, the illustrator explained that her panels feature mainly women because “at one point I set out to look only for women and that's how I discovered incredible stories by authors I didn't know”. She also says that her way of drawing is more improvised than anything else. In her view, hyperrealism surprises you but doesn't usually move you.

In the past, Maria Luque had already been in contact with another kind of art or, what amounts to the same thing, with fashion, since a relative of hers was a dressmaker, and precisely for that reason, when she has had to collaborate with clothing brands like Celia B she has done it with a special fondness.

The new illustrators, the art form of the 21st century?

Illustration has never had as much to celebrate as in this new century, especially the kind with a humorous, socially critical streak. In fact, some of the big names of this neoart in Spain are as well known as @modernadepueblo @lolavendetta or @cristobalfortunez. All of them have earned recognition of varying intensity for their ephemeral art with other brands or through their own personal blog. In any case, we're looking at a new medium of artistic expression that should never be underestimated or pushed into the background.

After all, illustration appeared with the arrival of the printing press and kept modernizing and adapting. Who doesn't remember the political propaganda posters of the Second World War? Who hasn't marvelled at some of the illustrations found in incunabula? The art of graphic illustration is more alive than ever and, deep down, it still has that informative, critical, social and cultural function it has always had.