Biography of Jorge AGUILAR

BIOGRAPHY
Jorge Aguilar was born in Mexico in 1973. From 1993 to 1996 he studied clay sculpting techniques with one of Mexico’s foremost contemporary sculptors, Javier Marin. Marin exposed Jorge to a world of forms and possibilities, which he assimilated and synthesized into his own aesthetic. He further developed his skills by taking drawing courses at the Antigua Academia de San Carlos in Mexico. Jorge has worked independently, both sculpting and painting, since 1997.
Galerie Valentin has represented Jorge Aguilar since 2003.

SUBJECT / THEMES
Jorge Aguilar is primarily concerned with the human form. His figures are obese but graceful in their poses, borrowed from ballet dancers and acrobats but which would be virtually impossible for a heavy person to achieve. In this way, Jorge is following in the footsteps of artists such as Fernando Botero and Niki de Saint Phalle, who made a conscious break with the tradition of the idealized classical figure. His sculptures express a full range of emotions, from pure joy to sorrow and mock horror, but they always convey an underlying appreciation of life. The symbols and graffiti that he paints on his sculptures are an expression of his personal experiences.
In his paintings, Jorge destroys the form to happily reconstruct it, sometimes using a cubist approach, at other times leaning towards surrealism, always with a primitive vivacity and great pictorial spontaneity. A single plump fantastical human figure dominates Jorge's paintings. Although he also uses the same type of symbols and graffiti as in his sculptures, they are used here as pictorial devices that surround and enclose the figures.

TECHNIQUE/MEDIUM
Jorge sculpts in clay that is then painted in bright colours and covered with luminous glazes with some areas remaining matte.  Although these figures have something in common with the broadly sculpted clay figures of antiquity, their sophisticated presentation is clearly modern, in a way that speaks to our present-day society.
Aguilar’s paintings are mixed media on polyester, which he applies using a rough impasto technique. The colours the artist chooses for both his sculptures and his paintings are the warm vibrant colours of Mexico. The green, yellow and red human figures in Jorge's paintings can be quite startling, whereas his sculptures seem quite deliciously comfortable in their rainbow of colours.   

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 2004             Jorge Aguilar, Valle de Bravo, Galeria JLS, Mexico
• 2001             Alliance française Cuernavaca, Mexico
• 2001             Jorge Aguilar, Instantes, Alliance Française del Valle, Mexico
• 2001             Jorge Aguilar, Redondeces Sonadas, University of Aguascalientes, Mexico
• 2000             Jorge Aguilar, Pinture y Escultura, Galerie JLS, Valle de Bravo, Edomex, Mexico
• 1999             Votre âme est un paysage choisi, in tandem with Thérèse Chabot, Musée d’art de Mont-St-Hilaire, Québec
• 1998             Cruzando Miradas, Galerie du Conseil de la sculpture du Québec, Montréal
• 1998             Elementos,Alliance française Del Valle, Mexico
• 1998             Con el Barro… Platicando, Musée Casa Leon Trotsky, Mexico

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• 2010-09-08-07-06-05-04 Small Size Works, Galerie Valentin, Montreal
• 2003             Artists’ Choice, Galerie Valentin, Montreal
• 2001             Angel, Alliane française, Del Valle, Mexico
• 2000             Exposicion colectiva, Galerie 103, Mexico
• 2000             La expresion y el gesto, Alliance française Del Valle, Mexico
• 1999             Exposicion colectiva del milenio, Galerie JLS, Valle de Bravo, Mexico
• 1998             Identidades Hibridas, Centre Libre de Arte, Mexico
• 1997             VII Bienal Guadalupana, Centre culturel Juan Rulfo, Mexico
• 1997             Artistas Internacionales, Galerie Quintana Monterde, Mexico
• 1997             Legio in Trotsky, Musée Casa Leon Trotsky, Mexico