Castaway Series

The “Castaway Series” (1980-1989) covers one of the earliest chapters of Jorge Blanco’s artistic life. Inspired by the comic illustrators he encountered when he studied in Europe in the 1970s, he returned to his native Venezuela to contribute to the newly created newspaper El Diario de Caracas. His comic, El Naufrago (The Castaway), took the country by storm, and was a highlight of the paper throughout the turbulent decade. Ranging from a single panel to four, Blanco’s work centered around a moon-faced naked man marooned on a desert island with a single palm tree, trying to survive from day to day. Rarely including any written words or numbers, his clever humor came from the numerous hijinx the character got himself into, a brilliant tactic rarely executed well and comparable to Gary Larson, Thomas Ott, or Guillermo Mordillo. From shooting down satellites with a bow and arrow, to trying to escape by putting his little spot of land on the real estate market, to ingenious frame breaks that spoke to the heavy influence of Surrealism and Pop Art Blanco had immersed himself in abroad, his loveable trademark figure charmed millions, and became the template for much of his later work when he turned to sculpture in the 1990s. Blanco’s comic art has been reproduced and can be framed, a perfect compliment to any room and a definite conversation starter.