The ceramic sculpture “Man #2” (2025) by Cesc Abad was created specifically for the IMAGO DEI gallery in Barcelona, a project dedicated to exploring the male figure. Measuring 21 x 12 x 6.5 cm, the piece is in excellent condition and represents one of Abad’s most characteristic approaches: humor, irony, and expressive experimentation.
The sculpture depicts a nude male figure with grotesque and exaggerated features, modeled in a deliberately rough, gestural style that emphasizes bodily volumes in an almost expressionist manner. The figure stands on a cylindrical pedestal painted in red, reminiscent of a drum, evoking theatricality and performance. Its black beard, red lips, and chromatic details across the torso and pubic area enhance the tension between eroticism and parody, between the sacred and the comic.
Abad’s style resonates with the languages of outsider art and contemporary expressionist ceramics, where imperfection becomes an aesthetic tool. The glossy glaze amplifies the physicality of the piece, while the posture—one arm akimbo, the other extended—suggests a blend of playfulness and defiance. This ambiguity is central to Abad’s artistic discourse, which often reflects on male vulnerability through humor and theatrical exaggeration.
On the underside of the base, inscriptions in red appear, likely the artist’s signature, emphasizing the handmade uniqueness of the work. Although rooted in European traditions of ceramic sculpture, “Man #2” also recalls international parallels, such as the ironic human representations of Thomas Schütte, Grayson Perry, or even the material playfulness of Jean Dubuffet.
Ultimately, “Man #2” is not only a ceramic figure but a commentary on masculinity as performance—fragile, comic, and symbolic at once.
