'Little Star in New York' (Heavy Metal, June 1982).
Carlos Ceesepe was a Spanish visual artist, painter, film director and comic artist. He was one of the most important artists of the Madrilean counterculture movement La Movida Madrileña ("The Madrid Movement"). Early in his career, Ceesepe made several controversial and outrageous underground comix. A 1984 satirical comic strip by his hand caused protest among the right-wing political party Allianza Popular. His best known comic series was the surreal humorous 'Slober' (1975-1979). Ceesepe's work often changed in styles and techniques, but was always instantly recognizable as his own. Photographer Ouka Leele once described him as the "Spanish Toulouse-Lautrec".
Early life and influences
Carlos Sánchez Pérez was born in 1958 in Madrid. He came from a family of carpenters that originally lived in Torrevieja, but settled in Madrid after World War II. His father was a veteran from the Spanish Civil War. Ceesepe's older brother also enjoyed drawing. As a youngster, Ceesepe underwent strong influence from the pop art movement, particularly Peter Phillips and Peter Blake, the man who designed the album cover of the 1967 'Sgt. Pepper's' album by the Beatles. Other graphic influences were Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Amadeo Modigliani, Max Ernst, David Hockney, Lucian Freud and Marc Chagall. At the age of sixteen, the boy was introduced to the world of underground comix. He also enrolled at the Madrid School of Fine Arts, but dropped out after only a month.
'Vicios Modernos' (originally published in Star).
Underground comix
In 1975, the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco passed away after nearly 40 years of oppression. His official successor, Juan Carlos, surprised everyone by reinstating democracy and turning Spain back into a democratic constitutional monarchy. Four decades long, Franco's regime had censored anything remotely blasphemous, erotic or subversive. With this censorship lifted, Spain in the late 1970s and entire 1980s saw the rise of many taboo-breaking painters, sculptors, photographers, novelists, film directors, TV hosts, pop/rock groups and also comic creators. Ceesepe was one of the Spanish underground comix artists who rode along on this wave. His pseudonym "Ceesepe" was chosen through the pronunciation of his initials, C.S.P. Together with colleagues like El Hortelano, Nazario, Mariscal and Max, he established the "El Rrollo" group that published their counterculture comics in self-published fanzines and in alternative magazines like La Luna de Madrid and Madriz. At the famous El Rastro flea market, Ceesepe even had his own stand where he sold comics. His drawings additionally appeared in Star, Bésame Mucho, Disco-Express, Carajillo, Nasti de Plasti and the revolutionary adult comic magazine El Víbora. Outside of Spain, Ceesepe's work was printed in Métal Hurlant (France), Frigidaire (Italy), Zoulou (France) and Heavy Metal (USA).
'El Trapecista' (Rock Comix Extra #4, 1976).
Slober
Ceesepe was only 16 years old when he published his earliest comic strip, 'Slober' (1975-1979), in the pages of Star. Slober was an anti-hero who experienced surreal adventures full of dark comedy. He happily indulged in drug abuse, murder, cannibalism and rape, not caring whether his victims were underage or pregnant. The comics felt like a bad drug trip, with appearances of people like John Lennon, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Adolf Hitler, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Crumb, Quino's 'Mafalda' and Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's 'Superman'. Ceesepe once read that Joan Miró used to draw from the top of his head. He borrowed this method, explaining the stream-of-consciousness vibe of his own artwork. The taboo-breaking content of Ceesepe's comics can still shock readers today, but at the time, many of his contemporaries created similar material. Decades of outrage and oppressed frustrations over Franco's iron fist had to be flushed out of the artists' systems first. Nevertheless, Ceesepe was summoned to appear in front of the Spanish Ministry of Information and Tourism to explain his inner thought process. Clueless as to who was behind the pseudonym "Ceesepe", they were stunned to find out he was just a youngster, and let him go home again.
'Bestias de Lujo'.
Carajillo
In the fall of 1975, Ceesepe, Agus, JROrtega, Campoamor, Iñaki, Gallego and Santana launched the Barcelona magazine Carajillo. The publication featured another surreal comic strip by Ceesepe, 'Enter My Dreams', which was hugely influenced by his love for musicians like Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, James Taylor, Carole King and Neil Young. However, his most remarkable comic strip from this period was '¿Dónde vamos?' ('Where are we heading?', 1975). This story looked back at the dreams of a better society under Franco's regime, but wondered whether the outburst of counterculture wouldn't have the risk of becoming bland commercialism. Decades later, Ceesepe confessed in an interview that his fear seemed to have come true.
'Dibujos' (1982).
Controversy
Gradually, Ceesepe's comics evolved into autobiographical tragicomical tales with more focused artwork and narratives. The content, though, was still raw. Storylines often dealt with young Spaniards trying to deal with the sudden freedom they were now allowed to enjoy. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were common ingredients. Ceesepe drew erotic stories which had a real heart, despite rarely having a happy ending. As the 1970s dissolved into the 1980s, punk and new wave dictated a new aesthetic. In January 1984, Ceesepe became one of the original contributors to the experimental and subversive magazine Madriz, which soon caused a national scandal. On 23 April 1984, he published a satirical comic strip in Madriz' fourth issue, which sparked outrage among members of the right-wing conservative political party Allianza Popular. The comic story in question featured Karl Marx and Mao Zedong as "Supermarx" and "Supermao" fighting the "supervillains" general Franco and far-right Spanish politician Blas Piñar. The Allianza Popular asked for the issue to be withdrawn from stores and wanted a total ban on the magazine. They also demanded Minister of Youth Francisco Contreras to resign. Party spokesman José María Álvarez del Manzano felt both story and dialogue were in "very bad taste", and member of the Madrid city council Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón considered Ceesepe's cartoons "repulsive nonsense (...) in violation with ethics and family issues."
Cover for the first issue of Madriz, and for an issue of the Italian magazine Frigidaire.
Film posters and other artwork
Meanwhile, Ceesepe's art reached new audiences through different media. He designed both the opening titles and the movie poster for Pedro Almodóvar's debut film 'Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del monton' ('Pepi, Luci, Bom', 1980). The poster looked like a comic book page, which perfectly fitted the tone of the film. 'Pepi, Luci, Bom' followed a very loose narrative with crass humor about marijuana, sex, erection contests, homosexuality, punk rock, cross-dressing and domestic violence. It could have been one of Ceesepe's comics, which might explain why the director gave him a small cameo in the film. At the time, 'Pepi, Luci, Bom' polarized viewers, but it did become a cult film afterwards.
Later on, Ceesepe designed other movie posters, for instance the ones for Almodovar's 'La Ley del Deseo' (1987), Antonio Artero's 'Cartas desde Huesca' (1993), José Ángel Bohollo's 'Ciénaga' (1993) and Paloma Concejero's 'Antonio Vega: Tu voz entre otras mil' (2014), the latter about pop singer-songwriter Antonio Vega. Ceesepe stood behind the camera himself too. He directed two short films, 'Amor Apache' (1985) and 'Bienaventura 'El Bruto' (1987), in which he and his colleagues Alberto García-Alix, El Hortelano and Ouka Leele played the starring roles. In addition, the artist directed the episode 'El Eterno Adolescente' (1989) of the TV series 'Delirios de Amor'.
'Bolero de Primavera', from Madriz #7 (1984).
Album covers and other illustration work
Ceesepe was also a prolific album cover designer. He illustrated front covers for Kiko Veneno ('Seré Mecánico Por Ti' 1982, 'Pata Palo', 1982, 'La Catastrofe Mayor', 1983), Pistones ('Voices', 1982), Golpes Bajos ('Golpes Bajos', 1983, 'Todas Sus Grabaciones', 1990), Piter Pank ('Noche Negra', 1983), Ketama ('Ketama', 1985, 'Canciones Hondas', 1991), Pascal Comelade ('El Primitivismo', 1987, 'Ragazzin' the Blues', 1991, 'La Filosofia Del Plat Combinat', 2004, 'El Primitivismo / Sentimientos', 2007) and Mano Negra ('La Mala Vida', 1995). His artwork also appeared in the Spanish edition of Rolling Stone and on the front cover of the U.S. magazine The New Yorker. In 1987, he illustrated Francisco Threshold's book 'Guide of Postmodernity' (1987).
'La clase obrera se divierte' ('The working class having fun'), poster published by Lambiek in 1983.
Painting
To most people, Ceesepe is first and foremost known as a painter, though he combined various techniques: digital print, silkscreens, collages, photographs and more. In 1979, he held his first solo exhibition at the Buades gallery in Madrid. In 1982, his work was exhibited at the Menéndez Pelayo University. Two years later he was one of the most celebrated artists at the art happening Arco '84. Between 27 September and 25 November 1984, Ceesepe participated with the exposition 'Tintin in Barcelona', a co-organization between the Joan Miró Foundation and Studio Hergé, where various artists made artworks inspired by Hergé's 'Tintin' comics. Like many of his colleagues, such as El Hortelano and Pérez Villalta, Ceesepe eventually left the comic industry and concentrated on his far more prestigious career as a modern fine artist. His artwork has hung in museums all over Europe, and also in New York City.
Final years and death
Throughout most of his further life, the artist divided his time between Madrid and Paris. In 2011, he was honored with La Medalla de Oro al mérito en las Bellas Artes ("Golden Medal for Merits in Fine Arts"). The gallery Espacio Valverde in Madrid held an exhibition in November 2014, highlighting his entire career. In 2017, Ceesepe appeared in the documentary 'Alberto García-Alix: La línea de sombra' (2017) about his friend and photographer Alberto García-Alix. In 2018, he passed away from leukemia at the age of 60. Spanish Minister of Culture José Guirao expressed his grief over the loss of "one of the most innovative artists of democratic Spain."
Ceesepe's comics were collected in the books 'Vicios Modernos' (1979), 'Dibujos' (1982), 'Barcelona By Night' (1982), 'Dijubes' (1983) and 'Paris-Madrid' (1985). Since he died, a couple of books collecting his art have appeared. 'Ceesepe: Cuadernos de dibujos' (Cabeza de Chorlito - Archivo Lafuente, 2019) was a compilation of artwork from his notebooks, and 'Vicios Modernos' (Fulgencio Pimentel, 2019) a compilation of all his comics. The latter came with an exhibition of his work at La Casa Encendida in Madrid.
Ceesepe painting for Lambiek's 15th anniversary in 1983.
Lambiek
Lambiek will always be grateful to Ceesepe for giving our founder Kees Kousemaker two of his paintings and making a special drawing to celebrate the store's 15th anniversary in 1983. Kees was a great admirer and had Ceesepe exhibit his work in Gallery Lambiek twice. The first time between 6 January until halfway through March 1987. The second time took place between 23 November 1990 and 20 January 1991, after which the exposition was extended for an additional week because of its success. Afterwards, Ceesepe gave Kees another painting to show his respect.
Kees Kousemaker with Ceesepe in Gallery Lambiek (1990).