THE ALEPH, DREAMS PAINTER

Alex Sánchez (“El Aleph”) was born March 10th, 1954, in the tiny and picturesque town of Moncagua, Province of San Miguel, El Salvador. His primary school and high school studies were completed in a rural school in his home town. His drawing and painting studies were performed at Centro Nacional de Artes de San Salvador (National Arts Center of San Salvador). Among his most inspiring teachers was the great Spanish master Valerio Lecha.

Aleph’s childhood was quiet and happy. His first encounters with drawing and art happened in his own home. His grandmother shared with him the beauty of sunsets and the first lights of daybreak. The drawings of nature inspired the young artist. The clouds and the amazing colors of the rainbow after the morning storms. The huge arc pinned on the limits of the horizon. With fertile imagination and the curiosity that only children posess, Aleph observed simple household utensils: utensils handcrafted with black clay from Guatajiagua (small town in El Salvador), pitchers, vases, mugs, and tin lamps. The grinding stone, the burners, and the comal (clay dish for tortillas).

In the mornings, spontaneously and naturally, his grandmother explained how important sunlight, rain, trees, and birds are. During the afternoon and early evening, the delicious conversations with his grandmother continued: The name of the stars, constellations, the importance of moon changes for crops and harvests, as well as for the birth of children and the behavior of nature itself. Aleph, like a sponge, absorbed everything and dreams about marvelous and happy worlds.

His practical learning is consolidated with walks in the fields, the archeological site of Quelepa (Maya ruins), and the public baths of the Azul (Blue) Pool at Tamera river, crossing through all those neighboring towns in his original Moncagua. His school education becomes an extension and affirmation of everything he has heard.
During his infancy his patio was his canvas, using ashes and brick powder to give life to roosters and hens. His cousins and friends got their hopscotchs made by his hand. They were so inventive and “pretty, they did not want to use them out of fear of erasing them”, Aleph remembered.

In the 70’s was the time to migrate to the capital city of El Salvador, San Salvador. It was the calling, the methodic teaching of drawings and painting. Remembrances, of games and friends from childhood and teenage years are left in the Spring of dreams. During this stage of the artists life, his mentor was the Spanish master, Valero Lecha, who taught him the importance of drawing, and the qualities, tones, and intensity of color. A wonderful world caught him, where he was never to leave again. During this same time he met the famous Mexican artist, Rufino Tamayo, who had a decisive influence on his artistic development.
At the same time, Aleph the youth met with literature, great novelists and poets. He found great wisdom and teachings in the works of Jorge Luis Borges (by the way, his pseudonym “El Aleph” comes from a story of Borges), and the magic realism of Gabriel García Márquez. At the same time he studied and reflected on the paintings of the masters of the Renaissance. Latin American realists do not escape his sharp observation; but it is Salvador Dalí who recreated his oneiric fantasy. When leaving the National Arts Centre, his style is definite: Surrealistic trend and magic realism.

Aleph draws and paints until exhausted. During this third stage of his growth as an artist and human being, he married and his first three children was born. He works on advertising design. Afterwards, he painted illustrations for Televisión Educativa (National TV Channel). His eagerness to learn took him to study engraving at the Costa Rica University, with a scholarship from OAS. This, he considers one of the stellar instants in his profession: painter and artist.
Already during his mature stage of life he found a new path: and Aleph’s new marriage brings him the joy of twins: Aleph Franboyan and Aleph Titziano. A basic reason to continue growing as an artist and human being.

His surroundings were now filled with more light, colors, profound love, and respect towards nature. He is a painter with vitality, great energy, and convinced that his great works still has not started, and will only be conceived at the time when surprise and illusion give path to the irrefutable and everlasting testimony of this artist of profound human quality.

Biography written by: Enrique Castro.