Asked when he first knew that he was going to make his living as an artist, Jesús Conde says laconically: "When my drawing professor in my first year of art school flunked me..."

One wonders what ever became of that professor, because Jesús went on to become a doctor of fine arts and full professor of art at the University of Granada as well as a highly successful painter, printmaker and graphic designer. Today everyone agrees that his genius lies, above all, in his exceptional ability to draw.

"I went to art school to become a graphic artist," says Jesús, "not a painter, even though I later slid into painting. The late 60's and early 70's were passionate times politically and socially in Spain; young people were full of idealism. I wanted my art to be useful socially as well as esthetically. That's why I opted for inexpensive and popular serial art, capable of taking culture to the people."

Jesús's current project, reminiscent of his aspirations as a student, is to mount an etching workshop in his hometown of Archidona (Málaga) in order to form, first of all, technicians for printing etchings, then young artists. "The ultimate end is to create a corps of young etchers all over Andalucía."

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