The cover image for the 18th Recent Spanish Cinema series in Los Angeles is a painting by renowned artistic designer Javier Mariscal, who faithfully displays the optimism and vibrant colors characteristic of his work to create a scene for the film series in which a young and pretty Spanish actress greets the US from a sidewalk café on Madrid’s Gran Vía, an emblematic avenue in the heart of the city, where many popular cinema theaters are clustered and where traditional and modern coexist side-by-side.

Multidisciplinary artist Javier Mariscal created the mascot for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and, through his Estudio Mariscal, puts an unmistakable creative stamp on his projects, ranging from architecture and interior design to furniture to publicity campaigns and trademarks, which typically feature charming creatures of one sort or another which arouse curiosity for anyone who sees his works.

Mariscal’s drawings are the soul of “Chico & Rita”, the film he made with director Fernando Trueba which won the 2011 Goya Award for Best Animation Film and was an Oscar nominee in the same category. Mariscal has been nominated twice for the Príncipe de Asturias Award for the Arts and was given the Spanish National Prize for Graphic Design in 1999.

“I believe Javier Mariscal is one of the world's greatest visual artists. I have long admired his work and am proud to know him as a friend. Whenever I visit his studio in Barcelona I always marvel at the diversity of his artistry. I recall on one of my visits seeing his early sketches for "Chico & Rita" and was convinced that the film would receive the acclaim that it eventually achieved. I was also dazzled at seeing the exhibition of his great body of work at London's Design Museum. Simply, Javier is one of my heroes!” Arnold Schwartzman.

Arnold Schwartzman is an Oscar winning documentary film director, and in 2006, along with Mariscal, he was conferred the distinction of Royal Designer by Great Britain's Royal Society of Arts.