Mourning in the world of culture for the goodbye of Juan Galarza Cabrera. Born in Puerto de Santa María in 1932, his family moved to Tenerife when he was a child, an island where he became known as a prolific and multifaceted creator, with a dimension that transcended the borders of the local. Always linked to plastic, he excelled in teaching, poster, caricature, set design, parchment and publicity drawing, although it was undoubtedly as a watercolorist that he obtained more recognition. His exhibition activity was not only limited to the Islands, his work reaching the Peninsula, the Philippines, Japan and Puerto Rico.
Juan Galarza hands over the original of the first Carnival poster to the capital’s City Council
Further
He was a professor of Drawing, Plastic Arts and Pre-technology at the old San José de Calasanz College, in San Miguel de Geneto; and in the Municipal School of Watercolor, opened in 1985 in the Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park in the capital of Tenerife. Professor of Drawing at the Superior School of Fine Arts in Seville and commercial expert, he was a member of the Associations of Watercolorists of Mexico, the Canary Islands and Catalonia and the Institute of Columbian Studies, as well as the Hispanic Vanguard Association of Personal Cartoonists (Avccp ). He was part of the Francisco Borges Association (1959), the Canary Islands Watercolorists Association (1961), the Obsidiana Group (1978) and the Canarian Association of Graphic Humorists and Cartoonists.
He was the author of the poster for the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife eight times (1962, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1978, 1980, 1981 and 2008). He was also the author of dozens of posters for popular celebrations.
He was a silver medalist at the Salón de Dibujo Deportivo Humorístico (Ancona, Italy, 1979), first prize in the Centenary Poster Contest of the City of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1959) and third prize in the International Personal Cartoon Contest (1990). ) of the capital of Tenerife.
His relationship with the world of advertising began with the first illuminated sign company to be established in Tenerife, Iris Neón, to continue with Litografía Romero y Diana Publicidad.
Since the 1960s, he has collaborated with the newspapers El Día, Jornada Deportiva or Deportes 7 Islas, among other publications, with humorous cartoons and illustrations, a facet that he continued until 2005, once again dedicated to caricature, with the publication of his work in La Opinión de Tenerife, as previously in the weekly Azul y Blanco and in La Gaceta de Canarias.
In 2020 he illustrated the book ‘The rise that transformed CD Tenerife’, with a series of portraits of all the protagonists of the sporting feat that made possible, in 1989, the jump to the First Division of the aforementioned football team.
In addition to all this varied activity in the field of plastic arts, several hundred parchments have been produced for distinctions from, among others, the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo de Tenerife, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, and the San Cristóbal de La Laguna City Council. , Parliament of the Canary Islands or the University of La Laguna.
He was co-author, together with the sculptor Miguel Padrino, of the bas-relief that presides over the frontispiece of the church of Nuestra Señora de Las Mercedes, in the homonymous neighborhood of La Laguna.
A lover of the landscape, he reflected the nature of the Canary Islands like few others. Author of solid foundations, his work started from an absolute respect for lines and colors. A careful drawing was always present in the foundations of his work. His mastery of technique was the result of studying the fundamentals of painting.
It remains for the future to locate this figure in the context of the Canarian painters of the 20th century, claiming the place that he never asked for. He leaves a legacy of consideration, worthy of a deep study.
Juan Galarza worked until a very old age, leaving painting only at the end of his days, as his health gradually failed him. The painter stopped creating, but his work remains, his message endures. His creations will continue to speak to us and contemplation of him will continue to reveal details that previously went unnoticed.
