Enric Bug

Enric Bug Lapedra was born in Portbou on April 15, 1957.[1] He is the only son of Enric Bug Ramis, railroad worker from Portbou, and Carmen Lapedra Terrades from Figueres. At the age of 16, the self-taught artist began designing posters. In 1978 he debuted with the comic The Speed Kills, which appeared in Star magazine.[2] 1978 he created the cover for a single featuring the song Himne De La Unió of brass band Banda Tramuntana.[3] In 1979 he moved to Barcelona, where he worked for the publishing house Producciones Editoriales.[1] Here he continued to design Underground comix for Star, a publication that later continued under the title Bésame Mucho.[1] In the 1970s and 1980s[4] both magazines were considered alternative and avant-garde.[5] Other publications such as music magazine Vibraciones,[6] Rampa, Rambla, Rock Espezial,[2] Diari de Barcelona[1] and Playboy[5] also printed his work. In reference to science fiction hero Buck Rogers, he adopted the pseudonym Bug Rogers, which he used to sign his works.[1][2]

In his comics, Enric Bug created a "pop universe" that often featured "Hollywood stars, femmes fatales and fast vehicles."[2] In Rockabilly de verano, he created a 1950s setting with a main character reminiscent of Elvis Presley, who was "surrounded by Cadillacs, motorcycles and explosive girls."[7] His work often showed "luscious ladies in pop colours and psychedelic turbulences".[8] As Bug Rogers, he formed part of a collective of artists comprising Carmelo Hernando, Pere Fortuny, Luis García, Elvira Navares, Pepe Cánovas, Mari Carmen Vilá and Never Mind[9][10] which in 1980 created the comic series La Astronomía Pirata, published by Ikusager Ediciones.[5] The group was credited with having "remodelled the themes, content and aesthetics of comics."[2] Bug founded the company Bug Rogers + Comets for marketing his illustrations und comic art.[11]

After working as a comic artist, Enric Bug dedicated himself to interior and industrial design,[6] for which he founded the company Grup Simple.[1] He worked as an illustrator[6] and created graphic designs for numerous nightclubs along the Costa Brava,[1] amongst them Fata Morgana in Sant Pere Pescador, Charly in Figueres,[12] Picasso in Roses[13] as well as a variety of placards for Chic in Roses from 1980 to 1987,[14][15] one of the best known Spanish discothèques at the time.[16] He also created table lamps for the club Charly in 1994 as well as other decorative items made of beech and pine wood, in a style inspired by Art Deco.[17]

In the mid-1980s, and again in Art-deco-style, Enric Bug designed two sculptures titled Taus (male) and Alix (female),[18] both of anthropomorphic, robot-like appearance with the absence of facial expression, each holding a fluorescent tube.[1][5] Taus was used as a prop on the set of the movie Batman (1989)[19] and Alix in The Two Jakes (1990).[20] Bug also designed the Collection Abstract for Febrer, consisting of six different mannequins in a similar futuristic style,[21] as well as some furniture.[1][5] He continued to create posters, such as one for Fira del Disc de Girona in 1995.[1] From 1997 to 1998 he attended Escola d'art d'Olot, studying industrial and product design.[11] In the 2010s he created coloured psychedelic pin-ups with pencil, ink and watercolour techniques,[2] as well as computer-generated futuristic illustrations.[1]

Enric Bug showed his work at collective exhibitions such as Catalunya vista des de l'exterior of Banco Exterior de España (Barcelona, 1980), Tintin a Barcelona of the foundation Fundació Joan Miró (Barcelona, 1984),[2][5] Art al carrer (Figueres, 1984), Col-lectiva JAF (Joventuts Artístiques de Figueres, 1985),[1] Rock al Museu in Museu de l'Empordà (Figueres, 1996)[22] or Pangrama at Galeria Canaleta (Figueres, 1996).[23] In June 2011, he exhibited a retrospective of his work at Espai d'Art del Celler Espelt in Vilajuïga.[13][8][24] In another solo exhibition titled F.A.C.E.S, he presented portraits of celebrities at Galeria Aljub in Figueres in 2014.[25]

The artist lives in Figueres.[26]

• The Speed Kills. Star 41, 1978 (debut)[2][13]
• Chewing gum. Star 46, 1979
• How to Make Up. Star 44–48, 1979
• Blues de la ciudad. Bésame Mucho 5, Producciones Editoriales S.A., November 1980
• El Misterio del Cadillac negro. Bésame Mucho 6, Producciones Editoriales S.A., December 1980
• Magazine cover and Nivel.B52. Bésame Mucho 10, Producciones Editoriales S.A., April 1981
• Candy. Bésame Mucho 12, Producciones Editoriales S.A., June 1981
• Rockabilly de verano. Bésame Mucho 13, Producciones Editoriales S.A., July 198
• Rockabilly de verano. Bésame Mucho 14, Producciones Editoriales S.A., August 1981
• Rockabilly de verano. Bésame Mucho 15, Producciones Editoriales S.A., September 1981
• Misión destruir Alien. Bésame Mucho 16, Producciones Editoriales S.A., October 1981
• Lucky el zurdo. Bésame Mucho 20, Producciones Editoriales S.A., Februar 1982
• Magazine cover and Lucky el zurdo. La dama negra. Bésame Mucho 21, Producciones Editoriales S.A., March 1982
• Lucky el zurdo. Bésame Mucho 22, Producciones Editoriales S.A., March 1982
• Lucky el zurdo. Bésame Mucho 23, Producciones Editoriales S.A., April 1982
• Lucky el zurdo. Bésame Mucho 24, Producciones Editoriales S.A., June 1982
• Magazine cover and Lucky el Zurdo. Bésame Mucho 26, Producciones Editoriales S.A., August 1982[6]

• Inés Padrosa Gorgot: Diccionari biogràfic de l’Alt Empordà. Diputació, Girona 2009, ISBN 978-84-96747-54-8, p. 155.
• José Manuel Lechado, José Manuel Lechado García: La movida. Una crónica de los 80. EDAF, Madrid 2005, ISBN 84-96107-46-9, p. 198.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Enric Bug.

• Covers - Portadas - Posters. Works of Enric Bug on Flickr.
• Remember. Photos showing Enric Bug on Flickr.
• Enric Bug. Photos showing Enric Bug and some of his works on europeana.eu, November 1984.