The story of
Guillermo Mordillo was one of the rare artists whose drawings could make the entire world smile, without a single word. With his round characters, endless landscapes, and poetic sense of humor, he created a visual language that crossed borders and cultures.
His work appeared in books, magazines, exhibitions, and design objects in more than 80 countries. Timeless and unmistakable, Mordillo’s drawings remind us that the simplest images can sometimes tell the most universal stories.
“Guille” was born on a stormy evening in August 1932 in Villa Pueyrredón, a district of Buenos Aires where he grew up surrounded by his parents and his little sister Teresa. His days were shaped by school and by wild football games with the neighborhood friends.
In 1937, his life took an unexpected turn. His mother took him to the cinema to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He was five years old, and it was a shock! From that day on, he drew every day and never stopped. At school, he was even nicknamed “el dibujante,” the illustrator.
He was still a teenager when he began earning a living by giving drawing lessons to the “ladies of the neighborhood” and creating his first comic strips.
The typically adolescent enthusiasm with which he approached his work never disappeared. It was accompanied by a constant desire to learn and to experiment, alone or with other colleagues, as he liked to call them.
This is also why, throughout his long career of more than fifty years, Mordillo constantly changed countries in order to discover new horizons. Lima, New York, Paris, Majorca, nothing held him back, neither the fear of the unknown nor the barrier of language.
He liked to say that he had a peaceful recklessness.
When he arrived in Paris, which was only meant to be a stopover before settling in London, a professional opportunity presented itself. What should he do? He didn’t speak a word of French, but he gave it a try. And this is how a wordless world was born. By a happy twist of fate, what might have been a handicap became one of his signatures.
Over the years, Mordillo illustrated children’s fairytale books, designed advertising campaigns, created animated cartoons and imagined greeting cards. He gained the recognition of both his peers and the public.
