Canto Fortuna, acrylic on cardboard, 51 x 81 cm, 2024
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September 1, 2024
by Pascual Hijuelos
To paint abstractly you have to have a complete understanding of the philosophy and the fundamentals of art. To me abstraction means creating an experience without a narrative. It is not abstracting an object. It is a way of creating that one develops as a mature artist. Smearing paint randomly or mindlessly may be entertaining, but it is not abstraction.
Before you can run you have to walk.
The discipline is irrelevant, whether writing, music or dance. As fledglings, serious artists first learn the basics. As your skill level grows, you start to develop a vocabulary which is unique to your way of perceiving and creating. The trick is understanding and knowing how your personality manifests itself in your work using your language. Once you have grasped the language with all its subtleties then you can decide whether you will continue as a representational artist or leave the narrative and move on to abstraction.
I have always used lights and darks. They create a drama and a sense of foreboding that appeals to my nature. They are an intricate part of my visual language.
Central Park Series, oil on canvas, 50 X 48 in, New York 1982
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José Pascual Hijuelos, a Cuban-American, was born and raised on the Upper West Side of New York City. After serving four years of military service in England, he returned home and went on to complete an MFA in Painting. He studied with Philip Pearlstein, Lucas Samaras, Jimmy Ernst, Lee Bontecou and Alan D’Arcangelo, and was the assistant to Al Held for several years.
An abstract painter, Mr. Hijuelos was nurtured on Postwar American Abstract Painting, influenced by such notables as Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Ben Nicholson and Al Held.
Mr. Hijuelos has traveled extensively. For many years, he worked as an archaeological site supervisor and illustrator in Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus. He now divides his time between San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and New York.
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