josé manuel egea

José Manuel Egea, born in 1988 in Madrid, has been fascinated since childhood by the world of the werewolf. Convinced he is one himself, he seems determined to reveal that this monstrous double slumbers within many of us—if not within us all.
To achieve this, he has developed a diverse range of representations of this hidden “other” we all harbor: from drawings to interventions on photographic portraits sourced from magazines or art books, as well as sculptures and performances where he enacts his own transformation.
This mythical creature is, of course, a symbol of a troubling duality, yet it also embodies a mysterious power, capable of exerting a hold over man, of inspiring fear. And what better way to exorcize such fear than to play with it, to embrace the terror itself, and feel imbued with its strength?
It is no coincidence that Egea summons this shadowed part of the self through glossy photographic prints meant only to allure. He confronts us with our own primal nature—figures dark and menacing, hollowed-out eyes, triumphant hair, and lupine features. It is a plunge to the other side of the mirror.
His iconoclasm may go as far as cleanly tearing the page, as if to emphasize the fracture between two worlds. At times, it involves the complete obscuring of the image, where beauty, subdued beneath layers of darkness, is barely discernible, defeated by the void.
José Manuel Egea engages in a liberating exploration, for in challenging our humanity and defying convention, he reveals the grandeur of otherness through a pure, unrestrained artistic gesture.

• An exclusive interview with Lola Barrera and Luis Saenz, founders of Debajo del sombrero, is published in the 100-page catalogue (FR/EN).