In the spring of 1972, a group of intellectuals who, in addition to their opposition to the dictatorship, shared a table and after-dinner conversation at the restaurant Picardías, created the creature: El Huevo Duro with the aim of promoting a healthy reflection on the virility of the man who had been sentinel of the West and helmsman of the new Spain, Francisco Franco. Since, at that time, the censors believed that to reflect was to kneel before the Most High, they did not understand the name and the egg did not come to fruition. It was necessary to think of an alternative to baptise the creature with a name that would be more digestible for those recorders of thought. Chumy Chúmez, a thought-abiding and direct humour enthusiast, found the solution: to make the egg explode so that it would give life to a *udolator animal, a brother wolf: Hermano Lobo.
From the publishing house Pléyade, on the 13th of May 1972, the first howl of Hermano Lobo was published, with the subtitle Semanario de humor (Weekly of humour), a principle that could be summarised in the saying "A bien entendor, breve hablador" (A clever person needs few words). Because, more than words, the magazine was full of images as suggestive and provocative as everyone wanted to understand and imagine. From the surrealist drawing of Ops (Andrés Rábago) to the irreverent Chúmez, the troglodytic Forges and the absurd Gila, among others, they made the magazine much more than a means of laughing at the dictatorship: they turned it into a symbol of rebellion and transgression. The eyes of many Spaniards soon became accustomed to seeing and laughing with Hermano Lobo.
This exhibition, produced by the Centre Cultural La Nau, can be visited in the Sala Tossal of the Centre Internacional de Gandia until 8 January.
ScheduleFrom 23 october 2023 to 8 january 2024. Monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday and friday at 18:00 to 20:00.
Centre Internacional de Gandia
Contact uvgandia@uv.es