World Art Utopia

Feeling Small: Isaac Cordal (12 Photos)

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Two photographs of Isaac Cordal’s miniature figures: a man beside a tiny cross and a group half-submerged in water.

Isaac Cordal’s Miniature Street Scenes

Spanish artist Isaac Cordal makes small cement figures, most of them gray men in suits, and leaves them in gutters, puddles and cracks in the pavement. Then he photographs them close to the ground, where a curb looks like a wall and a little rainwater looks like a flood. In these 12 scenes from Brussels, Berlin, San Jose, Nantes and beyond, his tiny people mourn, sink, sleep rough and follow their leaders into the water.

Art and photographs: Isaac Cordal. Explore his Cement Eclipses project and photographic portfolio.

More: Isaac Cordal’s 2013 Collection

🔗 Follow Isaac Cordal on Instagram

Isaac Cordal’s tiny suited figure stands beside a small white cross in a grass-filled gap between red paving bricks in Brussels.

⚰️ “Funeral for a Concrete Figure” — By Isaac Cordal in Brussels, Belgium 🇧🇪

A missing paving brick, a tiny cross and a bowed head. Anno Domini’s catalogue identifies the photograph as a Brussels work from 2012.

Isaac Cordal’s Follow the Leaders in Berlin: miniature suited figures stand half-submerged in a puddle reflecting city buildings.

🌊 “Follow the Leaders” — By Isaac Cordal in Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪

A cluster of suited figures gathers in a puddle, some almost entirely underwater. The reflected buildings make the water seem deeper.

💡 Nerd Fact: The artist dates this Berlin scene to 2011. Follow the Leaders is an ongoing series, not just this one installation.

Isaac Cordal’s miniature suited figure in San Francisco looks down at a small green patch growing between concrete slabs.

🌱 “Remembrances from Nature” — By Isaac Cordal in San Francisco, USA 🇺🇸

One small patch of green survives between the concrete slabs. A man in a suit stops to look. It appears as Remembrances from Nature, San Francisco, in our 2013 Cordal collection.

Isaac Cordal’s small seated figure in San Jose holds a closed briefcase on his lap beside a red curb, with the city blurred behind him.

💼 “Homeless” — By Isaac Cordal in San Jose, USA 🇺🇸

A briefcase on his lap, a red curb and a city carrying on in the background. Anno Domini’s photography catalogue lists it as Homeless, San Jose, 2013.

Isaac Cordal’s Winners in Brussels: three miniature suited figures with briefcases stand on a podium with Olympic rings in a lawn, with a triumphal arch behind.

🏆 “Winners” — By Isaac Cordal in Brussels, Belgium 🇧🇪

Three men with briefcases stand on a winners’ podium. None looks particularly pleased. It is part of the artist’s 2012 portfolio.

💡 Artist Fact: Cordal studied sculpture at the University of Fine Arts in Pontevedra and later earned a qualification in stone-craft conservation at Camberwell College of Arts in London. He has worked on Cement Eclipses since 2006 and divides his time between Brussels and Galicia.

Isaac Cordal’s American Dream in San Jose: a miniature figure sleeps on cardboard under blue plastic, with a light-rail train behind at dusk.

🌙 “American Dream” — By Isaac Cordal in San Jose, USA 🇺🇸

A figure sleeps on cardboard under a blue covering. Behind him, the lights of a transit vehicle glow at dusk. The photograph dates from 2013, the year of Cordal’s first solo exhibition in the United States, at Anno Domini in San Jose.

Isaac Cordal’s skull-faced miniature figure stands behind bars in a small opening in a purple wall in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico.

⛓️ Behind the Bars — By Isaac Cordal in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico 🇲🇽

A small opening at the foot of a purple wall becomes a barred room. The skull-faced figure grips one of the bars. Cordal lists San Cristóbal de las Casas among the places in his selection of images from 2013.

Isaac Cordal’s miniature suited figures stand in a parking-lot puddle outside a fast-food restaurant in San Jose.

🅿️ “Follow the Leaders” — By Isaac Cordal in San Jose, USA 🇺🇸

This time the puddle is in a restaurant parking lot. Anno Domini offered a San Jose print of Follow the Leaders at Cordal’s 2013 show.

Isaac Cordal’s tiny figure in a blue riot helmet and vest sits cross-legged in tall grass in Nantes.

🪖 “Riot Police Singing Mantras” — By Isaac Cordal in Nantes, France 🇫🇷

A helmeted figure sits cross-legged in the grass. Cordal includes the scene among his Nantes works from 2013.

Isaac Cordal’s Follow the Leaders in Nantes: crowds of miniature suited figures surround small concrete buildings in a landscape of rubble.

🏙️ “Follow the Leaders” — By Isaac Cordal in Nantes, France 🇫🇷

Here the figures form a crowd among rubble, small buildings and streetlights.

💡 Festival Fact: The 2013 installation in Place du Bouffay was produced for Le Voyage à Nantes and stayed on view from June to September. Cordal spent three months making this version, which was lit at night like a ghost town. See more views of the Nantes installation.

Isaac Cordal’s solitary miniature figure stands beside a small cross in snow in Anderlecht, Belgium.

❄️ A Grave in the Snow — By Isaac Cordal in Anderlecht, Belgium 🇧🇪

Snow covers almost everything but a bowed figure and a small cross. The photo is part of a winter series from Anderlecht, made when Cordal took a few of his sculptures out into the snowy streets.

Isaac Cordal’s miniature seated figure on a narrow red base sits in shallow water in Saint-Nazaire, with a long bridge on the horizon.

🌉 “Slowly Sinking” — By Isaac Cordal in Saint-Nazaire, France 🇫🇷

A seated figure is surrounded by shallow water. The real bridge on the horizon shows the scale. The title and place come from Cordal’s own caption.

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