Juan R Lage

Juan R Lage

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Juan R. Lage animates mirages that shimmer with '90s nostalgia.

His world is populated by characters that are simple, silly, often sleepy, and always soaked in music. His practice is a dual obsession, exploring both the “plasticity of movement” and the dreamy textures of sound design. Imagine Rocko’s Modern Life’s absurdity colliding with David Lynch’s heat-hazed highways. It’s no wonder his influences span from avant-garde cinema to the Teletubbies. Lage’s process usually begins as more traditional drawings before they transition into colour-filled animations.

For Spotify, a neon circus erupts with multi-headed rabbits. For Kenzo, two bunnies shimmer in a dewy dreamscape – inspired by a 1979 sketch by Kenzo Takada himself. But Lage is also a live-action master, see: the laser-eyed purple bear for K-Pop supergroup Red Velvet's Birthday music video. From his beginnings studying film and audiovisual arts to teaching at the National University of La Plata, Lage's journey has been anything but ordinary. He often describes his work as a lost TV channel – broadcasting late-night wonders. Stay tuned.

Juan approaches animation as a full audiovisual experience, weaving image and sound into immersive worlds - where rhythm pulses and a nostalgic futurism unfolds.

What makes you different?

“Technical knowledge is very important, but it should never come before expression – that's something I try to stay honest about.”

Simple, silly and sleepy characters, soaked in music and sound loops

“Fun, tender, dreamlike moods – a hint of melancholy. All filtered through '90s/2000s vibes.”