In search of one's own line: Interview with Jorge Regueira
He defines himself as self-taught "incorrigible and convinced", although he is a natural born greyhound: a large part of his family shares his love of canvases.
Jorge is a visual artist as skilled with a paintbrush as he is with words. His professional experience, always linked to the world of advertising, led him to play with words and make the most of them, and as could not be otherwise, both passions merged into a single discipline: calligraphic pictorial art. So much so that he is the only Spaniard represented in the prestigious Contemporary Moscow Museum of Calligraphy. Definitely, only a Galician could do it. Follow Jorge on the networks (@jorgeregueira_art on Instagram) and learn more about him in this interview.
Tell us about yourself and your work. Where did your vocation start? Any first memories?
There is probably something genetic in all this, who knows. My father painted, my younger brother painted, my older brother painted... Besides, one of my great-uncles was an excellent painter and another was an art critic in El Ideal Gallego. With this background, it is perhaps logical to think that my interests would lead me to neighbouring latitudes. One might ask, then, whether an artist is born or made. And I think the answer is a bit of both.
What do you find most satisfying about your work, and any that you are particularly proud of?
The fact of being able to dedicate yourself to something that you really like, that you are passionate about, is in itself an enormous reward. In any case, the very process of creation and the completion of each work gives you different but equally satisfying sensations. And it is not presumptuousness but the other way round, to confess that I feel especially proud of all of them, in the sense that I have put the same dedication, affection and effort into all of them.
What is your creative process like, what are your sources of inspiration, any particular music while working?
I don't follow a defined process, it's changeable. But to give a more concrete answer, I'll say that I usually develop the work as I paint (starting from a very general and sometimes very diffuse idea). Perhaps it is the material equivalent of thinking out loud, which I also do constantly. It's the same with music, which sometimes I listen to and sometimes I don't, because I simply internalise it. Musically, as with everything that inspires me, I'm quite eclectic, I try to listen to a bit of (almost) everything.
Favourite colour, book, film and record - in that order! ;D
I have always found it difficult to answer this question, precisely because there are so many things I like. Colour... maybe black, in all its chromatic possibilities. So I would have to talk more about greyscale. Book... maybe an author, and to say one: Stanislaw Lem. It could also be Cortázar, or Chandler, or Boris Vian. It's the same with film and music, there are so many excellent authors and albums... Casablanca, London Calling... there are many that are my favourites.
Is your home a reflection of who you are? Tell us what it smells like, your favourite corner, your favourite decorative object or piece of furniture, if you treasure a collection...
My house is like me, eclectic. It doesn't have a defined style and I don't think it smells of anything special, although in the mornings there is a very stimulating aroma of freshly brewed coffee all over it. I am particularly fond of a sideboard from the 1950s that belonged to my grandmother and a table that my father gave me. And my books, and my collection of comics from the old Dollar Publishing House and Spirit, and...
If you could buy anything right now and take it home, what would it be? Anything!
A painting by Luis Feito to be enjoyed every day.
A great plan at home always includes...
Friends, with some wine and snacks. Although I enjoy just as much, if not more, a good lunch or dinner with Marga, my wife, and my son Gustavo.
Do you have a signature dish?
My potato omelette.
Where is your favourite place in your city and abroad?
In Madrid, where I live, the Sorolla Museum, inside and out. In Galicia, my homeland, La Coruña and Cedeira. The rest of the world is too big to choose just one place. I love Lisbon.
