Aurelio Rodriguez Lopez
Spain
Aurelio Rodríguez López
Born in Génave, Spain (1958)
Lives and works in Estepona, Andalusia, Spain.
2019 Master Circle and Gold Medal; International Association of Pastel Societies. USA.
2018 Purchase Award. ARC Salon. USA.
Best trompe l’œil. ARC Salon. USA.
2017 First Prize Prix de Pastel Award in the IAPS 31st Juried Exhibition. USA.
2016 Chairman´s Choice Award ARC Salon. USA.
2015 Shanghai International Pastel Exhibition, Shanghai Hongqiao Contemporary Art Museum China.
Maggie Price Award of Excellence IAPS ( Intern. Association of Pastel Societies). USA.
Finalist Figurativas 2015. MEAM (Museo Europeo de Arte Moderno). Barcelona.
2014 42nd Open Juried Exhibition ENDURING BRILLANCE. Pastel Society of America.
2013 41st Open Juried Exhibition ENDURING BRILLANCE. Pastel Society of America.
2012 Finalist BP Portrait Awards, National Portrait Gallery. London.
2011 Winner of the I International Biennial of Pastel Painting. Spain.
Aurelio tells the small stories that we all connect with, such as lovers parting at a train station, the smell of his mother’s home cooking, or two children gazing at a fresh loaf of bread (which won first prize at the First International Biennial of Pastel, Spain in 2011)
Trained in drawing, oil and pastel painting, etching, aquatint, linocut, photogravure and lithography, Aurelio’s medium of choice is pastel painting on several surfaces that he prepares with a special primer.
Aurelio frequently travels internationally to teach his skills or to create commissioned works on site, as he has done for the royal court of Bahrain and Jordan.
Aurelio has created more than 6000 portraits across a distinguished career spanning four decades, one of which was a finalist in the BP Portrait Awards in 2012, as well as many international accolades, such as 3 honorable mentions in the prestigious ModPortrait, while also producing a great number of still lifes, nudes and landscapes mainly in pastel and oil on canvas and board.
Noted for his rare mastery of technique, light, color and detail, his style has been characterized as heightened realism and hyperrealism. Aurelio uses the term ‘magic realism’ for some of his work.
He has garnered many accolades, varying from prestigious prizes to exhibitions in Madrid, Munich, Miami, New York, London, Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, Taipei, Japan’s Hoki Museum and Suzhou and dozens of other art hubs around the globe.
Special commissions have included the daughters of Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, and members of the rock band Def Leppard. His portraits have been auctioned by Sotheby´s during the Save the Childrens Winter Gala in London in several occasions.
His work is held in private and public collections across more than fifty countries, among these are the Pastel Museum of Suzhou, China, the Pastel Museum of Saint-Aulaye, France and the Spanish Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) in Barcelona.
After receiving the offer from the Ibex Collection to paint his personal Masterpiece, Aurelio is once more connecting with his original passion and vision as an artist.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
