"Devil wants to know" Drawing

Valentina Brostean (b. 1983, Novi Sad, Serbia) is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Barcelona. After more than a decade living and working in Turin, Italy, she established her practice in Spain. She holds a BFA in Graphic Design and an MFA in Illustration from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Novi Sad.

Working across painting, collage, drawing, and digital media, Brostean has developed a distinctive visual language that merges contemporary figuration with surreal narrative structures and layered symbolic imagery. Her practice explores the intersections of memory, identity, the subconscious, and emotional experience, constructing psychologically charged worlds in which reality and imagination coexist. Through a process of fragmentation and reconstruction, familiar forms are transformed into poetic visual narratives that invite multiple readings while resisting fixed interpretation.

Characterized by complex compositions, chromatic intensity, and meticulous formal balance, her work navigates the tension between instinct and control, intimacy and estrangement. Drawing equally from the traditions of illustration, contemporary painting, and collage, Brostean has cultivated a highly individual visual vocabulary that transcends disciplinary boundaries while maintaining a singular artistic voice.

Alongside her studio practice, Brostean has worked extensively as an editorial and fashion illustrator, collaborating with international publications and cultural institutions. Her clients have included Armani Exchange, The Washington Post, Corriere della Sera, Bicycle USA, and Kabinet Brewery, among others. Her work has been published internationally and exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.

Brostean is represented by ILLOZOO Creative Agency