Meet the Artist: Oscar Aguilar Olea

Meet artist Oscar Aguilar Olea as he takes you through an extraordinary tour of two exhibitions featuring his work:

Oscar Aguilar Olea: La Esencia de la Mujer and The Artist’s Studio

Learn more about the tools, techniques, inspirations and artistry of this extraordinary Napa Valley artist.

About Oscar:

Oscar Aguilar Olea is an expressionist figurative painter, sculptor, and print maker from Guanajuato, Mexico. His signature techniques include using different types of egg tempera paints, painting on oversized burlap canvas, and using paints and charcoals made by the artist from organic materials grown here in the Napa Valley

Artist’s Statement: In the mid-1970’s, a group of twenty student artists from the school of Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City—of which I was a member—decided to take their art to the streets. We gave ourselves a name: SUMA, and began to use the fences of Mexico City as our canvas. As a result of the attention that our murals brought us, we were invited into local galleries and museums, as well as the first biennial for young artists in Paris, France. SUMA caught the attention of the public and the interest of artists like Rufino Tamayo, Juan Jose Arreola and others, and was given a place in the current evolution of Mexican Art. After five years, the group dissolved as each member decided to focus on their individual careers.

Following my involvement with SUMA, I dedicated several years to research techniques that include egg tempera al fresco, oils, watercolors, etchings, drawings, woodcutting, and sculpting. Now, as artist and a teacher, I continue to apply and research many of these techniques; I consider them part of the foundation of my artistic education.