The Compleat Artist

Paco Aguilar (Málaga, 1959) is someting of an exception in the art world: an artist with a clear idea of where he was going from the outset. Having celebrated his first one-man show (painting) when he was 20 years old, by the time he was 21 he had discovered etching and at 22 he founded his own etching studio, Gravura, where he still works today.

Over the years Paco has cultivated a wide variety of media: clay, woodcuts, lithographs, illustration and escenography, but he always returns to "el grabado," a discipline where he has enjoyed notable success over the years in terms of prizes, grants, projects and teaching experiences.

This educational work, very dear to Paco's heart, has taken him from the University of Málaga and other schools round Málaga to Huelva, Morocco and France on successive teaching assignments. "Fair enough," says Paco, "if you love something you want to spread the word..." His experiences in Morocco, in particular, have left an imprint on Paco's outlook and his work. "The whole experience of North Africa had a tremendous impact on me," says Paco, " the architecture, the colors, the primitivism, the magic..." Paco's latest paintings, done in Tetuan, in the north of Morocco, reflect this spirit of enthusiasm and discovery.

In 1990 he began devoting space in his workshop to exhibits of other artists, mainly of work on paper, but also painting, sculpture and contemporary photography. Since 1993, when he was one of the founding participants, Paco has made an annual pilgrimage to Madrid to Spain's premier printmakers' fair: ESTAMPA, where his sincere and original work has garnered a loyal following which includes Honorable Mentions from Spain's prestigious Calcografía Nacional in the years 1995, 96 and 99.

Besides mounting an average of three or four exibits each year in different parts of the world, Paco has found time to participate in editions done by Aloma, Surcos, Rasgos del Sueño, Aorista o Panega, as well as his own editions, Gravura 90.

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