Javier Mondragón Sánchez

About

Javier is a Mexican, naturalised British artist, with a focus on painting.

Before studying for an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art (RCA) he obtained a BA in Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (UCL), and an MA in History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art. During his BA he completed an Erasmus Exchange at L’École Nationale Supérieur des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Prior to his BA he completed a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Central St. Martins, University of the Arts London (UAL).

Amongst other things, he has been awarded the Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s UK Scholarship for a High-Scoring Application by the RCA, the Standbury Scholarship Prize for Excellence in Fine Art by The Slade School of Fine Art (UCL) and is an RBA (Royal Society of British Artists) Scholar. He has exhibited in the United Kingdom, France and Mexico.

‘My art is an embodiment of my absorbed life. The way that my paintings come to be is a manifestation of this. I usually start with a rough initial idea and I go from there allowing communication between me and the painting and permitting both my conscious and subconscious mind to contribute towards its creation.

I believe that my way of painting also presents a useful metaphor for the idea of purpose. People conduct an exploratory process as they go through life and our course needs to be constantly updated and adapted by new experiences. With every one of my brushstrokes, I am embodying this quest and trying to create something, choosing, and moving forward, uncertain as to where I will end up, but excited to find out. The traces I leave behind are records of my identity, and my identity is moulded by having undergone the process. I am constantly inspired by finding meaning in my life, and the teachings of the many disciplines I consult. My paintings offer formalistic depth through their multi-layer construction and unfolding, and I hope they also allude to the depth of experience that people seek. Ultimately, I hope that my paintings exert an attraction, a pull, that words, reasons or explanations fall to the background as perhaps interesting appendages, but not at all required.’