José Juan Bigas Luna is most well-known for his career in cinematography but he always saw himself as a painter. He defined his filmmaking as painting in which he gave great importance to the visual aspect. Through his painting he reveals an intense inner world in which dualities and the intangible converge in an aesthetic inspired by primitivism. It trained at the Escola Eina and Escola Elisava in Barcelona – as well as teaching in both schools in the seventies – and began working in industrial design and marketing. He was a co-founder of GRIS studio, which won many design awards, notably Delta d’Or (1970). In the seventies he held several painting exhibitions at Sala Vinçon and Escola Eina in Barcelona. He directed his first film, Tatuaje, in 1976, which led to a lifelong career in cinema.