José Luis Fuentetaja

JOSE LUIS FUENTETAJA (Madrid, 1951).
"Female nude", 1986.
Pastel on paper.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 61 x 50 cm; 87 x 76 cm (frame).

José Luis Fuentetaja began working in advertising at the age of thirteen while studying at the School of Arts and Crafts in Vallecas. After a trip to Geneva he decided to devote himself fully to painting and, on his return to Spain, he enrolled in Fine Arts. Since 1966 he maintained a close relationship with Sitges, where he would end up living and developing part of his artistic career. In the beginning he sold paintings at the Rastro in Madrid and in the streets of Sitges to support himself economically. Influenced by masters such as Pedro Mozas, he began to paint street portraits and traveled to different European cities such as Paris, London and Amsterdam. He also spent several winters in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, an experience that deeply marked his work due to the direct contact with urban life and characters. In 1969 he held his first exhibition in Toronto thanks to Sidney Nagley and, a year later, he held his first exhibition in Spain, at the Ateneo de Barcelona. Later he exhibited in important galleries and developed a hyperrealist stage. Although he obtained a scholarship to study in Rome, he had to give it up due to his military service. During the last decades he has alternated his work between Sitges and Goa (India), incorporating into his painting a great chromatic and luminous richness inspired by India and Nepal. Throughout his career he has exhibited in cities such as Milan, Geneva, New York, Lisbon, Miami and Toronto.