ALGECIRAS, SPAIN | DUBAI, UAE
In the light of colors and stories that illuminate life, we invite you to explore the unique art of Dr. Jose Maria Ropero, better known as Frasquito. His works not only bring canvases to life but also unveil tales born from the colorful labyrinth of his imagination. Get acquainted with the author and his unconventional perspective on the world of art and life.
Your works are vibrant and full of life. Could you introduce yourself and shed some light on the individual behind these vividly colored pieces?
Frasquito’s dad has ZERO art background. Physician, Dr. Naval Engineer with honors, made his career in consulting worldwide. Tireless business traveler, he has lived in different countries and places like Algeciras (his home town), Granada, Madrid, London, Brasilia, Mexico City, Monterrey, Lagos, Yangon, Prague or Dubai, place he calls home.
Hyperactive, hypocrite, contradictory, unstable, volatile, bipolar and reveler, in his late days found painting as a hidden passion. Used to start something and left it half-done or incomplete for weeks, months or forever, Frasquito’s project is an exception on this.
Spending his life in hotels and planes, he is very fond of his his inner circle of friends, of funny people who make him laugh, of very long flights, where he feels relaxed, of weekend readings, long meals finishing after dinner and spending time with his amusing friends. Is also an expert on distinguishing the Asian physical features on people.
Patience is not one of his strengths and he is clear in the lack of rigor in details in his drawings, often poorly finished, what is part of Frasquito’s essence and “weirdness”. The author had two things that were crystal clear: he doesn’t want any drawing training and doesn’t want to spend 2 days drawing a Frasquito, although sometimes it takes 2 years to do one. However, he wants to represent an idea, as absurd as it could be, with a mix of composition and colors.
The lack of skills and the search for simplicity or complexity enables him to create, without intention, childish and grotesque faces that evoke his personal and original creations. The technique is fundamental and the execution is simple and quick. The execution is simple and quick. Without paying attention to object sizes, perspectives, or shapes, It is a work without rules, childish in which the lack of natural ability to draw and the lack of attention to technique eliminate restrictions and provide the freedom to give authenticity and personality to the drawing. They are usually in two dimensions because of this lack of commitment to perspective. He never made previous sketches but carefully plan out some of the artworks.
Frasquito offers a kind of conceptual art, where the idea is what matters and the most important thing is to represent it, with a mix of composition and colors, always accompanied by a funny story. He doesn’t care about the quality of the drawing, because then he would eliminate the naïve, personal, and strange component that characterizes the work.
Frasquito has more similarities with his father and creator than differences. But both love gastronomy, Florida, Andalusia, gourmet can food, goats, flamenco and Albano y Romina Power, mostly the latter 50 years ago.
Please, share with us more about your artistic journey. Could you recount some pivotal moments or inspirations that have shaped your career thus far?
I spent most of my life behaving as the real sheep I was educated for, as part of the traditional education in place in Spain in the eighties. However, only a few years ago, after I graduated with a PhD with honors and a more or less successful professional life, decided to release himself and start moving to whatever I feel like as painting, so my memories are quite fresh. I always loved drawing but never gave a chance to it, partially because I have an innate inability for it, and I never wanted to take classes (as I think could bias someone’s ideas or make you pay more attention to the different techniques). I have a total ignorance about art and everything that resembles it.
I was always naturally attracted to naïve painting because probably I saw there the mirror fitting with my inability to draw, also George Condo's drawings, Rousseau's jungles, rhino drawings for babies and even animal clay figures for babies in nurseries.
The true pivotal moment that ignited my dormant interest in drawing happened by absolute chance, when I came across 5 small and simple drawings from a mediocre Hungarian painter called Gyulia Czimra in the National Gallery in Budapest, after a painful 4-hours boring visit, while looking for a chair to sit amongst endless rooms. In the smallest room on the fourth floor, almost behind a door, I got stuck on them for their simplicity and beauty. I had painted some small things before but from this point I started drawing enthralled by that simplicity and beauty. Frasquito’s series started fueled by that simplicity, and as ideas came twisted by the author’s surreal view, became more colorful and powerful, until represent several stories in a single two-dimensional drawing.
How would you describe your unique artistic style in three words, and what inspires you to continue creating?
Joyful, colorful and tragicomic. I’m inspired by anything anywhere.
Whatever, wherever can sparks Frasquito’s creativity, influenced by his life, his Andalusian roots and a culture where people disregard to the drama and laugh. With the flavor of his life and continuous travels and experiences worldwide, where he tries to squeeze every second of his life. An idea arises anytime, anywhere, for any reason. Sometimes I go to revisit my favourite gallery, generally in hotels or airports, although these visits only help to draw some element. An idea can sleep for days or months, mature in thirty seconds or die. Any reason makes it resurrect, but they have to evolve to a point ridiculous enough to convince the author; other times, however, they are born directly as a drawing. The ideation process is very heterogeneous and usually very short. Other good ideas die simply because the author does not document or remember them to be able to work on them, because he simply does not want to draw during those days, or because he ran out of a color suitable for the composition and stop it. Once the idea is mature (ridiculous) enough, Frasquito particularly enjoy the planning process, if it happens.
The ideas arise as a kind of "principle of serendipity", as Horace Walpole would call it, understood as a casual discovery of something that is not sought: "That is to say, in his own words – the ability or the fact of finding something different from what we were pursuing, of welcoming with welcome and sagacity what chance, always so loquacious, he can suggest us, willing to completely change our minds.". A sine qua non condition to become a drawing is being enriched by surreal, ridiculous and absurd touches.
Each of your works carries a narrative. Would you be willing to share with our readers the story behind one of your most striking pieces?
There are only a few drawings that can explain Frasquito’s creative process, like “Frasquito’s mum signing a saeta in Cartagena de Indias”. However, I will mention the story behind “the new denture of my cousin Adela the one from Carmona”, exhibited in Milan. Re-using the words of curator Cecilia Bambrilla:
“Frasquito's painting was born from a series of story: “Frasquito Family” a fantastic novel of a unique character Don Frasquito Raymond Gil- Urquijo, a fiction character born in “La baja Andalucia” in the beginning of the 20th century. In “La nueva dentadura postiza de mi prima Adela la de Carmona” we discovered the story of Adela, a woman recovered in a hospital where she ate mush and purees for a while since a lethal pyorrhea took away 26 teeth. The portrait therefore represents Frasquito's cousin debilitated in her new body, trying to experience his “new skin” as a new home. The portrait is made with a simple and immediate style: the lines are elementary, the colours reminiscent of the childish age, while the intention recalls the surrealism and the cubism motif. The image is two-dimensional but effectively represents the portrait of a woman deprived of her body. In fact, Adele's portrait belongs to Fransquito’s family series, the series tells the spectator specific moments or details of situations of Frasquito’s life, including immediate family, relatives, acquaintances and whoever that came across for him (or not). This is what the series is about: surreal life, celebrating it, fun, colours, lifestyle, Andalusia and wherever life takes us, that’s still to be written in Frasquito’s case. Most of the artworks are A4 format, pencil colours over paper with collage. As this surprising drawing demonstrates, the author is a visionary, a novelist, a painter capable of conveying on the canvas stories, moments of life as relics of a parallel reality, full of life, full of surprises, full of exciting events.”
How do you perceive your impact on the audience through your works? Are there specific reactions or emotions you aim to evoke in the viewer?
Sometimes the author wants to share a story linked to his likes or dislikes, sometimes simply a ridiculous situation and other times a . Frasquito artworks don’t want to raise deep issues, concerns or trigger inner deeper thoughts, and remain in the surface. Frasquito’s art is an ongoing tragicomedy, where there is a layer of laugh and bitterness that the smart viewer quickly identifies. Frasquito provides a “sad laugh” in many of his drawings.
Looking ahead, how do you envision the evolution of your artistry? Is there something new you wish to explore or incorporate into your work? What are your future plans in this regard?
I see nowadays a second pivotal moment, where I see the need of producing bigger paintings, still with Frasquito’s personality and footprint, focused on mixed media on fabric.
In terms of sizes and techniques, when I started, my drawings were generally based on simplicity and the format was small (normally A4), alternating them with slightly larger oil on canvas and mixed media. Later ,I focused on large-sized paintings (up to 240x120 cm) on wood, and now I think I'm going to focus on medium-sized paintings (120x100) on canvas or fabric on wood. I think that at this point I am at another turning point, because I am definitely going to leave the small drawings to focus on medium or large sizes.
As for ideas, I do not expect an evolution based on the search for anything, or on delving into anything. The plot of Frasquito's life is the foundation on which all my works are based, and these will continue to evolve including topics that I like or interest me. For example, new topics will be part of Frasquito’s series, like his favorite operas, the fabulous Spanish Empire history or the Spanish footprint in US, so downplayed during centuries, all of them with the corresponding absurd and ridiculous layer that defines Frasquito. I will also include any topic that catches my attention, which is part of my creative process, as these days had happened with Mr. Michael Chow, a fascinating character that I discovered by chance in a documentary during a flight.
This year my clear objective is finishing the first book about Frasquito’s story, where I will raise funds charity in my hometown - Algeciras. Then will work on exhibiting my art in galleries, mainly in Dubai, where I live and South Asia, and will also apply for ArtDubai 2025 as a platform to move forward.
...and so... colors become words, and canvas tells stories. Frasquito reminds us that art is not just about the visual experience, but about the deep connections and inspiration found in every brushstroke. May his art continue to shine as a beacon toward the endless array of colors, layers, and tales waiting to be told.
For more information about the artworks of the artist Frasquito and to establish contact, visit his Instagram profile.