Iván Retamas is Underground Culture, comic, fanzines, illustration
Iván Retamas is a canary illustrator who was borned in the village of Las Retamas (Tenerife) in the Council of Ofra.
“When I was a brat, inside my skaters crew, we were a lot of Ivans, it seems it was a trendy name in those times so we had to choose a nickname to distinguish ourselves. Mine was “El Retamas’ ‘ and he started to sign their own comics, fanzines and even terror films he was making along his short life.
Ivan preserved this nickname as a pseudonym in honor of this skaters family. It was his hood name.
His references are related to the Skate Art and from those Adults Comics he didn’t suppose to read when he was kid like Zona 84, Creepy or Cimoc.
“I fought with people in the Comic Stores to buy those comics because they had sex scenes and ultraviolence, but at the very end I always had what I wanted, I really loved to replicate the Richard Corben’s draws and so many others.”
He’s a part of the underground scene, he’s been doing many comics, illustrations, skate boards, stages’ designs, editorial illustrations and labeling, specially related to events, where he’s having a lot of requests.
He took the opportunity during the lockdown the last 2020, to start his own trademark “Superbichos”, an initiative where he invited kids to replicate the insects they imagine into drawings.
“It was a wonderful experience, he received daily drawings from kids, videos, audios even from their parents who were helping them to create them, trying to forget the actual situation”.
Many suggestions came from foreigners, associations related to autism and bullying, schools and podiatry units.
“I would like to dedícate myself into this project in the future due to the social utility it has”.
The collective character is a sign for this artist and his projects. He tries to make his own followers a part of his own projects hiding their own pieces of art in “The Rescuing Club” or putting artists together in the platform Comic Now or Festival Fanzinero “Trash”.
“Comic Now is an alternative comic platform he developed along with Carlos García and it was made to expose new artists and to be a place where to experiment”.
This 23rd of April, The Day of Books, and after a lost edition due to the sanitary crisis, “Trash” will be back again in the Public Library of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
A fanzine festival where Ivan collaborated with Borja Cavero and Tony Lemus, Cozidos’ promoter from Gran Canaria.
“We had to make a huge change to adapt the event to the actual restrictions and we are creating a Late Night Show format with interviews, actuations and proposing crazy things for the public.”
You can find some of his designs in T-shirts and other formats in tthecollectiveway.es
“Is a new brand with an ecological philosophy which are related to many canary artista in which I have the privilege to be a part of”
We leave his links to you to discover his work and projects in Facebook and Instagram:
@ivanretamas @comicnow_ @trashfestsantacruz @thecollectiveway.es
