A FLAMENCO CATHARSIS was born in 2020 from the hands of advertising creatives. They are a Creative Direction Studio specialising in Flamenco brands, artists and institutions. They provide art-form content and strategic vision. Beside the creative work, they also publish and edit their own magazine under the same name, seeking a fresh and quirky approach to this art, “reflecting periodically, eclectically and without dogmas on what Flamenco is and what it could really be”. The magazine is available online, visit the website for more details.

Their website has a cool design with beautiful images, nice fonts, all well distributed but it’s scarce of information. I am not an artist and probably have little eye for design but I feel the website could share more information, like who they are (names of the creatives, collaborators), what’s their objective, their motivation, where they are etc. I understand this information is not needed for the work they do but being more open and transparent never hurt anyone.

The work they do is brilliant and the advertising world’s focus on flamenco is amazing. I have the impression they are able to look at flamenco with a fresh pair of eyes and present flamenco in a “modern way”. Although at first it may seem controversial, with flamenco being a traditional art form, but as everything, flamenco also evolves, you hear many artists talk about this evolution of the art itself and also themselves, as artists. Having quality representation in the 21st century is fantastic!

On their website, they mention three of their projects:

Project I. Creative Direction of María José Llergo’s CÁBALA IV. alongside filmmaker María Sosa

“As part of a wider series of four evocative, arcane poems written by the artist and visually interpreted by four creators, this conceptual film imagines the figure of the Lunar Woman by finding a ideal connection between the moon (luna in Spanish) and the mole (lunar in Spanish).”

Who is María José Llergo? She is a flamenco singer from a small town in Cordoba, whose name we’d better remember for the future. She published her first song in 2017, “Niña de las dunas” (see below) but became well known across Spain in 2021 when she particiapted in a beer advertisement on Spanish TV, recreating the famous Lola Flores. Then in 2022 she got the Goya! The Goya Awards are Spain’s national film awards, basically the Spanish Oscars. She sang “Te espera el mar” [The sea is waiting for you] as part of the soundtrack of the film “Mediterraneo” [Mediterranean] and she got awarded the highest national recognition of her country. Listen to her voice and you’ll see how special she is!

Project II. SOMORROSTROS made in collaboration with Cobalto Studio

A film-form reflection on some flamenco dualities shot in Barcelona in 2020. It is very short but has some incredible images. I took one from the website as an example.

Project III. – Creative Direction of “Stella McCartney – Kids”

Filmed by Manson, photographed by Adrián Catalán, produced by Canada. Illustrious collaborators for for the Spring/Summer 2018 Advertising Campaign of Stella McCartney’s kids clothing brand. Filmed by Manson and photographed by Adrián Catalán on the hills of Barcelona, a new energy and burgeoning generation of young dancers illuminating Flamenco with a modern twist and an emblematic nod to the future. The fillm was shot on the hills of Barcelona, illustrating a growing generation of young flamenco dancers.

Have a look at the website.

Follow them on Instagram, they publish a lot of cool imagery.