Genius, painter, collector of imposible materials, wood engraver, genius cleaner of eggs in Holland, teacher, sculptor, poster artist, stage designer, radio talk show guest, occasional and voluntary patient in mental hospitals, a man of genius after all. This is how José María Párraga’s (Cartagena, 1937) personality and work is described by his friend Jacinto Nicolás. A work undoubtedly marked by its huge output and his highly individualistic style; a life of a thousand facets, impossible to describe in a profile of this kind, and a person of a great intelligence, tireless tolerance and enormous heart.

José María Párraga achieved the very difficult task of stamping an intensely personal style by means of a few master strokes. Maybe it is only a line, usually black, that undoubtedly, unhesitatingly draws on the paper a figure (dove, woman, etc.) that bears all the hallmarks of its creator, his indisputable personality, his signature without letters. José María Párraga had the invaluable gift to move, fuse and transform his universe, feelings and experiences into its work. Whatever technique he used (felt tip pen or pen drawings, wood engraving by using an incandescent platinum tip, oil painting, acrylic painting, collages, etc.), the drawing of vigorous stroke, clean, highly marked defines his work, which is specially clear in the grooves of his wood engravings. He was, above all things, a great sketcher and his drawing style will stand out above any other artistic expression.