The artist
About Alfonso
A Spanish artist whose practice is defined by an enduring interest in the permanence of the mark.
Alfonso Aguirre is a Spanish artist whose practice is defined by an enduring interest in the permanence of the mark. Working across watercolour, red wine on paper and oil, Aguirre approaches each medium according to its particular demands. His watercolours and works made with red wine are especially uncompromising: once a mark is made, it cannot be removed or concealed. The paper retains every decision. There is no correction, only consequence. This inherent vulnerability is central to Aguirre’s practice. His paintings are made within a space where control and chance continually meet, requiring a degree of precision, confidence and acceptance of the unexpected. The resulting works retain the evidence of their making — not as imperfections, but as an essential part of their character.
His use of red wine introduces an unusual and materially evocative dimension to this approach. Wine becomes pigment, stain and trace, carrying with it associations of landscape, religion, culture, time and transformation. Its behaviour on paper is partly unpredictable, giving each work a singular physical presence.
Oil painting provides a contrasting language: slower, layered and capable of sustained development. Yet beneath these different processes lies a consistent concern with the relationship between intention and material, and with the moment in which an idea becomes irreversible.
Aguirre has studied and worked as an artist for more than three decades, with periods of professional and artistic development in York, London, Florence, San Francisco and Madrid.
These different cultural environments have informed a practice that remains independent in both method and outlook. At the heart of his work is a simple but demanding principle: the mark must be made with conviction, because once it exists, it stays.
Studio enquiries
For artwork, exhibitions and collaborations, contact Alfonso directly.