About Juanma [S|C]

Juanma signs his works [S|C] Santomé/Calleja (his surnames: Santomé, which points to the sky, and Calleja, which lands on the earth), Soledad/Común (Solitude/Common), Sur/Centro (South/Centre)…

He is an artist trained in painting and drawing in Belgium (Académie des Beaux-Arts, 3 years) and Spain (Artium – Academia Peña), with a postgraduate degree in Community Art and Art Therapy (Metáfora) and a specialisation course in Art for Social Intervention (Factoría de Arte y Desarrollo). He is a carer for his family and some friends, and also adds his grain of sand to making the world a little more decent as a development cooperation worker, focusing especially on social cohesion/fragmentation, inequality, dialogue and consensus-building — walking, crossing and pausing at borders, mainly in Latin America and Europe, but also in Africa and the Middle East.

As an artist he has taken part in group exhibitions in Spain, Belgium, Germany and Latin America, and in solo exhibitions (Belgium). Alongside his visual work, he has created community murals and illustrated children’s picture books, magazine and newspaper covers, books and development education materials.

He lives between Mexico, Menorca and Madrid.