Meet Angel Espino | Abstract Expressionist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angel Espino and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angel, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Anytime you want to grow in your personal life and or career, one has to step out of their comfort zone. This means taking a lot of risk. The risk of failure, risk of rejection and a risk of wasting your time. We all take a risk
in our own ways.

That being said, I realized early on in my career that I was going to go all in when it came to my art.
This meant countless of hours of research, networking, marketing and trial & error. I attend as many art events as possible. Learn and get exposed to all sorts of painting techniques in hopes I find my voice.

When it comes to being an artist it feels that everything falls on you and a lot of pressure is put on. So when you buy a work of art, it doesn’t matter if it’s fine art or not, that artist took a huge risk to bring that to reality.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m an abstract expressionist artist. Some would call me an action painter. You can see a lot of Jackson Pollock influence in my works. What sets me apart from others is a technique I discovered by accident. Years back I did a painting and like Pollock I lay my canvas on the floor and drip paint over them. One particular day I put too much paint and it started to pool toward the middle of the canvas. Next morning I went to the studio to see the results of the previous art session and realized the paint had a strange chemical reaction. Could’ve been the under layer I prepped the canvas with or the temperature in the room. Whatever it was it cause and interesting result. It took months to reverse engineer the process and fine tune the steps to re-create the outcome.

What you see now is abstract expressionist paintings collaborating with the laws of physics. I’m one with the universe and it’s energy. I put all the vibrant and moving colors down and let the universe take it from there. I can’t plan the outcome but learned what colors work together and move you.

When you see my works they look as if they’re still moving and the art moves you as well.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I do have a childhood friend visiting soon. He wants to get a good feel of what Denver has to offer. I’m taking him on a tour of some of my favorite breweries. Followed by some of Denver’s best art galleries and museums. You can learn a lot from a city when it comes to how much it invests in it’s local artist and art scene.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Mrs. Antebi deserves a shoutout. She happens to be my eight grade art teacher and my biggest influence. I still remember her class as if it was yesterday. It’s been 35 years since and still remember how she made us feel about the art world. We felt we could conquer and do anything.

She would buy art supplies with her own money. We were a bunch of trouble kids from the projects but she never gave up on us. I bet she new we were stealing paints and she probably let us get away with it. I believe she looked the other way cause if we were willing to steal paints and risk getting in trouble just to go home and paint she probably thought it’s best to let us have them.

To this day we are still in contact. Thanks to the wonders of social media. I hope she comes out to Denver one day to see my next art show. I know one day she will walk in my solo show at a major art museum. That’s how she made us feel and believe that we can do whatever we put our minds to.

Website: www.espinoarte.com

Instagram: @angelespinoarte

Facebook: EspinoArte