'Canosa y el Sol'.
Jim Pluk is a Colombian graphic designer, illustrator, cartoonist and muralist, known for his socially conscious work. His signature character is 'Canosa' (2012- ).
Early life and influences
Jim Pluk was born in 1984 in Bucaramanga, a city in the Colombian Andes. As a child, he was already a fan of comics, but it wasn't until 2012 before he began to explore the medium more vehemently. His interest ranges from contemporary comics to old Japanese manga like Garo magazine. Among his other influences are naive art and ancestral art, including the Molas textile craft and pre-Columbian cave paintings.
'Canosa'.
Plastic artist
As a plastic artist, Pluk doesn't limit himself to one art form, and his body of work ranges from mini-comics to large murals. Inspired by the everyday to the divine, Pluk also experiments with different techniques and narrative forms in his comic strips, wich are full of strange characters, wanderers and lost beings. Early comics and picture books by Jim Pluk were 'Rayito' (University of Caldas, 2013), 'Pecas' (Editorial Robot, 2012) and 'Tumaco' (Editorial Rey Naranjo, 2014).
Pluk participates in initiatives such as the Bucamaranga Drawing Club and La Escuelita de los Andes, associations that aim to develop creativity in all its forms through workshops, activities and celebrations. His work has been exhibited in Hong Kong, Canada, Russia and Argentina, among many other countries. In 2017, he toured through Europe with his 'Starchild' paintings and drawings, an exhibition dealing with "the origin of the human being, portraits of daily life, the unknown future, the hidden stories about our past and our present and the nature as the forgotten and humiliated origin by our contemporary society".
'Canosa' comic strip.
Canosa
Pluk's main character is Canosa, a curious, reckless girl who explores the world with thousands of questions and a total admiration for nature. She first came to life in a casual sketchbook drawing in 2007. Characterized by her creator's expressive and direct stroke, the character has appeared in all sorts of projects, including short comic strips, children's picture books, graphic novels for adults and illustrated pantomime books. Besides print media, Pluk also uses the character in his murals, merchandise and graffiti artwork.
Since 2013, 'Canosa' has appeared in internationally released comic books and anthologies, including 'Canosa' (Editorial Gato Negro, Mexico, 2013), 'Canosa y los Detestables Humanos' (Editorial Dehavilland, Spain, 2015), 'Canosa's Welcome' (Perfectly Acceptable Press, USA, 2016), 'Canosa y el Gran Vecindario' (Cataplum Libros, Colombia, 2022) and 'Canosa y el Sol' (Sally Books, Spain, 2022).
Self-portrait.