Spanish Artist Bridges Cultures With Zodiac Designs At North Bund

Juan Carlos Paz Gómez stands on the iron framework of the Garden Bridge. The Spanish artist watches the Suzhou Creek flow into the Huangpu River and sketches the Oriental Pearl Tower on his digital tablet.

Known to the art world as "Bakea," Paz spent a decade painting Chinese zodiac animals in Madrid. Now, the man known as the "father of Spanish Chinese New Year posters" has finally arrived at the source of his inspiration.

Paz arrived in Shanghai in early March to create a vibrant red and gold horse for the 2026 Chinese New Year. He spends his afternoons wandering the North Bund waterfront to gather inspiration from the visual contrast of historical masonry and neon-lit skyscrapers.

"Everything here is super inspiring – the power of the river, the modern skyline, and the colors at night," Paz said. "I wanted to introduce the spirit of the horse into this skyline to show how open this city is to the world."

Paz is the latest participant in the "Meeting at the North Bund" artist residency program in Hongkou District.

The project has hosted more than 100 artists from nearly a dozen countries over the past six years. Organizers lead artists on outdoor sketching tours to help them discover Shanghai's deepest cultural roots.

"We want these artists to understand the properties of the city's cultural heritage," said Shi Yunqi, chief curator of the residency program. "They express it through art after they understand it."

The artist has created 11 official Chinese New Year posters in Madrid over the past decade.

His colorful designs helped transform the Spring Festival from a small neighborhood gathering in the Usera District into a major citywide festival. Thousands of Spanish residents now celebrate the event.

Paz explained that his surname translates to "peace" in Spanish, a meaning that echoes his artistic pseudonym "Bakea," the Basque word for peace. He feels personally called to create art that brings different communities together.

"Maybe destiny wants me to make these posters about peace," he said.

His connection with Chinese culture started in 2016. The Madrid government asked him to design a promotional poster for the Spring Festival.

Paz accepted the assignment with a sense of responsibility. He said he had to accurately represent a foreign culture to his fellow citizens.

"It is not my culture, but I love it, so we have to be respectful with every icon and symbol," Paz said.

The artist spent weeks researching the zodiac animals on the Internet before he started drawing. He even studied the specific elements associated with each Chinese year.

For instance, he once added wooden textures to a dragon design and drew flame-like manes on a horse to reflect traditional Chinese elemental theories.

Paz integrates these Chinese zodiac animals into European cityscapes. He painted a colorful rooster singing on Alcala Street and placed a pink pig wearing a traditional Chinese vest at the Alcala Gate. These posters helped Spanish residents learn about the zodiac and embrace the festival.

The artist also weaves personal stories into his public works. He poured special attention into his poster for the Year of the Tiger in 2022.

He designed a small, playful tiger inspired by his own child. He talked to his three-year-old daughter about the zodiac, and she happily roared to imitate her animal sign. He used these personal touches to make distant cultural concepts feel relatable to families.

His new digital illustration is called "The Power of Transformation." It shows a dynamic horse leaping forward with traditional Chinese floral patterns wrapped around its body.

The Oriental Pearl Tower and the glowing Suzhou Creek anchor the background. He said the piece expresses a wish for success and positive change for the city. It currently hangs in the China Securities Museum near the Huangpu River.

Paz also created a second piece called "Symbiosis" during his residency. The illustration features a monkey sitting on the back of a horse. He learnt from Shi that the pairing is a traditional Chinese visual pun known as Ma Shang Feng Hou.

In Chinese, the words for "on a horse" also mean "immediately," while the word for "monkey" sounds like "marquis," a high-ranking official. The artwork represents a classical blessing for a quick promotion and success.

Paz said the trip to Shanghai exposed him to new cultural experiences. He attended the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival celebration to gather new visual references.

He plans to incorporate these fresh elements into his future work, moving beyond the famous skyline and paint traditional shikumen (stone-gate) houses and classic Jiangnan (regions to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) gardens.

Paz hopes his collaboration with the North Bund program will encourage more cross-cultural art projects.

"I will say three things to young artists: be respectful, be brave, and make it with love."