The retrospective dedicated to the poster artist and illustrator Francisco Fernández-Zarza Pérez, Jano en los environs, will continue until September 29 in the exhibition hall of the Regional Library, located in the El Águila Cultural Complex, in Arganzuela.
The almost 14,000 visitors that the exhibition has received so far have forced the Community of Madrid to extend the deadline to enjoy a little-known author, but who created the posters that once “covered” the facades of the cinemas of Gran Via.
Jano was a Renaissance man in his own way, who combined all the possibilities that the poster, but also the comic strip, offered him in his time and in his Madrid. It is no coincidence that his work, and this is what the exhibition shows, is scattered in some of the most important graphic publications of his time, the era of classic Spanish comics.
Jano also gave him the first touches of color and designed the covers of the novels on newsstands. Thus, the adventures of El Coyote as well as those of Flash Gordon.
The exhibition tour ends, as could not be otherwise, in his role in the illustration and film advertising industry. From his talent came posters that today constitute almost a national heritage, among which are those dedicated to films such as “Bienvenido Mr. Marshall”, by Luis García Berlanga, “Surcos”, by Carlos Saura, “Atraco a las tres” by José María stand. sortir. Forqué or ‘Radio Stories’, by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia. Although his work does not remain in Spanish cinema, Jano gave his personal touch to actors such as Clark Gable, Grace Kelly or Ava Gardner.
The way in which the Community of Madrid recovered the author’s legacy is also curious, since in 2016 it acquired a musketeer that guarded the family and thus gave rise to an interaction that has since saved a large part of his legacy from oblivion. He began his professional activity in 1938. In total, there are more than 7,000 copies that make up his collection.
It is true that part of its production is located in other places, but the Regional Library of Madrid is the one that preserves the most voluminous collection.
When the doors close on September 29, an exhibition will also close, including round tables by various specialists.
