MUNTHE ART MONDAY: JUSTINE FRANCO
Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.
My name is Justine Franco, I am a visual artist based in A Coruña. My work inhabits the intersection of memory, identity and collective imagination. It emerges from personal visions and fragments of cultural memory, drawing from my Spanish heritage as well as from global visual currents.
Through an intuitive process of layering and reconstruction, these references transform into figures that feel familiar yet impersonal - not portraits, but presences that exist somewhere between the personal and the archetypal. With a flat, colourful language and simplified forms, I aim to distill what the eye captures, reclaiming the ornamental as a space of emotional resonance and meaning.
I trained at the Pancho Lasso School of Art in Lanzarote and later studied Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage at the Complutense University of Madrid, which continues to inform my exploration of cultural icons and shared heritage.
Justine is wearing our TUXA top and OBEY pants.
Can you name some other female (curators, gallery owners or women in the arts) that inspires you and explain why they do so?
Nieves González is an artist I deeply admire. Her work engages in a dialogue between classical painting traditions and contemporary imagery, creating figures that feel both timeless and rooted in the present. Drawing from historical painting languages while remaining unmistakably contemporary, she builds images that hold a tension between past and present. I find it inspiring the way she treats painting as a living language - something capable of carrying history while still speaking to the complexities of today.
Justine is wearing our TUXA top and OBEY pants.
What would you like people to notice in your art?
Jeg håber, at værket formidler en følelse. For mig begynder et kunstværk at miste en del af sin betydning, når det kræver for meget forklaring. Ideelt set bør forbindelsen opstå på en mere umiddelbar og intuitiv måde.
Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?
Being a woman has always meant navigating a double challenge - not only in the arts, but in any profession. As we know, women often feel the need to prove themselves twice as much to be taken seriously. That reality has shaped my awareness and resilience over time. At the same time, it is also something deeply beautiful: I am constantly inspired and surrounded by incredible women whose strength, creativity and presence influence my life and practice in meaningful ways.
What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?
At times, being taken seriously by institutions or certain people can be a challenge. But as I mentioned before, this isn’t exclusive to the arts - it’s something many women experience in different fields and in life in general. It’s not something I see with frustration, but rather as a reality we learn to navigate.
