José María Cano facts for kids

Quick facts for kids José María Cano
Cano Painting "Blood Test"
Background information
Birth name	José María Cano Andrés
Born	(1959-02-21) 21 February 1959 (age 66) Madrid, Spain
Occupation(s)	Composer visual artist
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Sony BMG (Columbia Records and BMG Ariola/Eurodisc) Santa Teresa Records Muxxic
Associated acts	Mecano

José María Cano Andrés (born on February 21, 1959) is a talented Spanish visual artist, musician, composer, and record producer. He was a key member and main songwriter for the famous Spanish pop-rock band Mecano from 1982 to 1998. Since 1998, he has mostly focused on creating visual art.

A Musical Journey

José María Cano was born in Madrid, Spain. He started performing concerts as a university student there. During this time, he met Ana Torroja, who later became the lead singer of their pop band, Mecano. Their first album, also called Mecano (released in 1981), included the popular song "Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar". Both José and his brother Nacho wrote songs for all of Mecano's albums.

Composing for Others

In 1984, José began playing the piano and changed how he wrote music. He started composing songs for many other famous singers. Some of these artists included Chayanne, Julio Iglesias, and Miguel Bosé. He wrote many well-known songs in the Spanish-speaking world. These hits included "Hijo de la Luna", "Mujer contra mujer", and "Tiempo de vals". Many of his songs were sung by both Spanish and non-Spanish-speaking artists.

After Mecano

After Mecano stopped performing together in 1992, José María Cano composed an opera called Luna (opera). The famous opera singer Plácido Domingo sang the main role in the recording. In 2002, Cano also wrote the official song for the football club Real Madrid, which was also sung by Plácido Domingo. Later, in 2006, he composed a special version of the "Our Father" prayer. This was sung by Montserrat Caballé when Pope Benedict XVI visited Valencia. Six years later, Cano even conducted the orchestra at Caballé's final concert in Madrid.

Becoming a Visual Artist

José María Cano started drawing when he was very young. From the age of 10, he attended art academies to learn drawing and painting. He was preparing for a career in architecture. During his first year studying architecture, he learned a painting technique called encaustic. This involves using heated wax mixed with colors. He began working as a professional artist in 2002. His first art show was in 2004 in Craig Robins’ Private Space. A Mexican gallery owner, Ramis Barquet, saw this show and asked him to create his first public exhibition.

Art from Everyday Life

His first major exhibition was called "This Is Just Business". For this show, he used images from everyday documents and combined them with drawings made by his son. He painted these images carefully on large canvases. The backgrounds often looked like deserts or icy landscapes. By combining these different elements, he wanted people to think about how we see things. He wanted to show that something that might seem negative on paper could look different when presented as art.

Around the same time, Cano started a series of artworks where he projected drawings made by his son, Daniel. Daniel has Asperger's syndrome. Cano carefully copied these drawings on a large scale. He saw this as a way for the father to learn from the son. Later, he began painting newspaper headlines and articles. He wanted to explore the idea that "truth" can change depending on who tells the story. For example, he has paintings with titles like "Immigration Brings More Crime". This shows how a simple statement can hide deeper meanings or attitudes.

Art Inspired by Finance

His first exhibition about the world of finance, "The Wall Street 100", opened in early 2006. For this series, Cano took newspaper clippings directly from Wall Street Journal. He then carefully recreated the small portraits and text from these clippings on a large scale. He used colored waxes for these paintings. He wanted to show that these business people were like the new heroes of our time. Art critic Hugo Rifkind wrote that Cano's paintings look almost like sculptures because of their unique depth.

At the same time, Cano also painted charts and statistics showing how financial markets and company stocks performed. He called these artworks "Mountains". He believed these were the new "landscapes" that artists should paint. By painting financial figures instead of traditional scenes, he connected his modern art with older painting styles. He also created a series of etchings about bullfighting called "La Tauromaquia". These were shown alongside similar works by famous artists like Goya and Picasso at museums in Vietnam and Spain.

Deep Thinking in Art

Even with his strong technical skills, Cano's art is mostly about ideas and concepts. He uses traditional art methods like encaustic painting on canvas, watercolor on paper, and etching on copper plates. Cristina Giménez wrote in Architectural Digest that Cano's work is "impeccable" and "spectacular". He often uses images from newspapers or photos. He takes these images and changes them to explore the difference between what is real and what is true.

Cano often quotes the painter Torres García, who said, "Reality has three dimensions, whilst truth has only two." Cano's works are mostly in black and white. He believes that reality is full of colors, but we often think of truth in simple black and white terms. For him, it's more like a scale of grays. He uses his encaustic technique to create a sense of depth. Art critic Anthony Haden-Guest noted that Cano carefully applies seven layers of wax. This process can take up to a thousand hours for one artwork.

In 2018, José María Cano became one of the contemporary artists to gain popularity in the Asian art market. A portrait he painted of Jack Ma, one of China’s richest men, sold for $414,000. This was four times his previous record price.

Art Exhibitions

José María Cano's art has been shown in many places around the world. Here are some of his exhibitions:

• 2004: 50 Shark Teeth, Miami, USA.
• 2005: Todos Somos Diferentes, Monterrey, Mexico.
• 2006: Mural of the suffragist Clara Campoamor, for Spanish senate, Madrid, Spain.
• 2006: Materialismo Matérico. Milan, Italy.
• 2006: José-María Cano: Paintings. Shanghai, China.
• 2006: Jason Rhoades Memorial. Los Angeles, USA.
• 2006: WS 100. Comillas, Spain.
• 2006: Arte Urbano. Madrid, Spain.
• 2006: ... Allsopp Contemporary, London, UK.
• 2007: Materialismo-Matérico. Málaga, Spain.
• 2007: Avatar of Sacred Discontent, group exhibition. London, UK.
• 2007: Captain Thunder, Allsopp Contemporary, London, UK.
• 2008: Welcome to Capitalism, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic.
• 2008: Mural for the Moscow World Fine Art Fair, Moscow, Russia.
• 2008: Art Is a Waste of Time, Artists Anonymous Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
• 2008: London Calling, Kristy Stubbs Gallery, Dallas, USA.
• 2008: Heroes of Our Time, Regina Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
• 2009: "Madonna meets Mao", Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
• 2009: La tauromaquia, Riflemaker, London, UK.
• 2009: "God Sell the Queen", Sotheby's, London, UK.
• 2009: The Wall Street One Hundred, The Dairy, London, UK.
• 2010: Cartel de las Ferias de San Isidro, Madrid, Spain.
• 2010: La tauromaquia. Goya siglo XIX, Picasso siglo XX, Cano siglo XXI., Madrid, Spain.
• 2010: Vietnam's Museum of Fine Arts (Baotang Mythuat), Hanoi, Vietnam.
• 2010: Tauromaquias, Fundación Picasso, Málaga, Spain.
• 2010: Viewing City—Shanghai Intl. Printmaking Exhibition 2010. Shanghai, China.
• 2011: Charles Riva Collection, Brussels, Belgium.
• 2011: The Murdoch Principle, Caprice Horn Gallerie, Berlin, Germany.
• 2011: Orientale, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy.
• 2011: Les Fleurs du Mal, Munichmodern/11, Munich, Germany.
• 2012: Divorce Papers and Expensive Postcards, Kristy Stubbs Gallery, Dallas, Texas, USA.
• 2012: Principles of Composition, Munichmodern/12. Munich, Germany.
• 2013: Arrivederci capitalismo!, PAN (Pallazo delle Arti Napoli). Naples, Italy.
• 2013: Economics in Art, MOCAK (Museum of Contemporary Art of Kraków), Kraków, Poland.
• 2013: Dark Side of the Moon, Lin & Lin Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.
• 2013: Jose-Maria Cano. Paintings. Tianjín Exhibition Centre", Tianjin, China.
• 2013: WS100 in China, Zhongshan art museum. Dalian, China.
• 2014: Guess What? Hardcore Contemporary Art's Truly a World Treasure, Momat: The National Museum of Modern Arts, Tokyo, Japan.
• 2014: La cera que aun arde, Plaza de toros "Las Ventas", Madrid, Spain.
• 2014: De Providentia, Arsenale Museum. Kyiv, Ukraine.
• 2015: Jose Maria Cano, Karuizawa New Art Museum, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
• 2015: Popular Culture and Contemporary Art, 21c Museum Hotel. Cincinnati, USA.
• 2015: Luna, Riflemaker Contemporary Art, London, UK.
• 2016: The Soul of Money, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art. Prague, Czech Republic.
• 2016: Jose-Maria Cano at CAFA Art Museum, CAFA Art Museum. Beijing, China.
• 2016: Una est, Lin & Lin Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.
• 2018: Game Changers. S2 by Sotheby´s Hong Kong, Convention Center. Hong Kong, China.
• 2019: Apostolate, San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, USA.
• 2019: Pedes in terra ad sidera visus. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. Lisbon, Portugal.
• 2020: Apostolados. José Maria Cano and El Greco. Catedral Primada de Toledo. Toledo, Spain.
• 2022: The unseeable light. Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
• 2023: Moonshine. A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts. Almaty, Kazakhstan.
• 2023: Differences and similarities between truth and reality. National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Astana, Kazakhstan.

Images for kids

See also

In Spanish: José María Cano para niños