Gema Hamartia. Born and raised in Antequera (Malaga), Andalusia, Spain.
December 27th, 1996.
Degree in Fine Arts - University of Granada (2014–2018)
Master’s Degree in Drawing: Illustration, Comics and Audiovisual Creation - Universi-ty of Grana- da (2019–2020)
At her young age, Gema has participated on different exhibits, including collective exhibitions as “Sinergias Enlazadas” in Antequera (2015), “A Trazos” in Granada (2018) and her recent participation in the Affordable Art Fair Stockholm in 2021 with Galería Gaudí.
Individual exhibitions include “Nightmare Pictures” in Inca, Mallorca (2018): an expo-concert in which Spanish composer Ximo Tarín created four musical pieces based on a big format illustra- tion series made by Gema. The experimental comic route “Ruta del Cervantes enamorado” in Antequera is worth mentioning as well, since it deco-rated seven spots all around the city during the summer of 2021.
Moreover, Gema has also performed several live paintings since 2018 and has also collaborated with the local Magazine “SOMOS” as an illustrator since 2019.
Sensitive since childhood, Gema Hamartia has developed a very emotional ap-proach to the reality we live in. That is why it feels impossible for her to develop a single artform. Gema works with comics and graphic novel creation to deal with per-sonal issues such as self-esteem. In painting, she finds a way to show, in some raw context, global problems such as inmigration or inequality. With illustration she finds herself comfortable dealing with beauty rather than drama, except with the big for-mat ones, which are the perfect mixture between painting and drawing, and let her make a difference by representing other visions about reality, such as friends or fami-ly.
The chosen piece for the “I, the World Revolves Around Me” exhibit is “War Lullaby” (2017). Even though Gema has heard comments about her paintings being too raw, too social or even too scary, this one is a piece of art that has been hiding for quite a long time. Quoting the artist: “This piece is like my first child. It was created in the Netherlands during my Erasmus year, and the creative process was so pure and spontaneous that, even five years later, everytime I see it hanging on my wall it feels like I painted it yesterday. It is the representation of who I am as an artist: an advocate for pure truth against the lies that the media and society tries to feed us with.”