Jazzamoart: the art of painting while the music sounds

“With the maturity that time brings, one can approach the truth and express it better,” Jazzamoart says, remembering the difficult years when the reflectors shone in the opposite direction, the oils were never enough, and “art” was always on the other side of the sea. Now, with more than 500 exhibitions in Mexico, the USA, Canada, Latin America, Western Europe, and Japan, the rhythmical message of Jazzamoart continues to evolve and to plunge into improvisation.

Success is doing whatever you want and facing what comes your way

Francisco Javier Vázquez Estupiñán was born in Irapuato, Guanajuato (Mexico), in an era when oil paints were used to make bullfighting announcements. His childhood was marked by the bohemian soul of his father, who believed that the streets were meant to discover the essence of life.

“The art of painting is a trade. During my childhood and adolescence, my father and I painted many things: displays, decorations, murals—work that sometimes we didn’t want to do, but that allowed us to live.”

In the middle of uncertainty and hunger, bohemian nights were always present: poets, musicians, bullfighters, painters—all of these characters in front of a curious adolescent discovering that to be an artist, you have to be willing to starve, to go to the ultimate consequences. "That is difficult to face, especially when you want to be an authentic and congruent artist who expresses the truth. You must be willing to die on the path to have the option of going far, or you can stay parked in mediocrity and never aspire to the great follies and feats of art, which are what can excite you to achieve something.”

Motivated by the figure of his father and the work of the great masters, Javier enrolled at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City, where he had a bittersweet experience.“I discovered classmates and teachers who were more sophisticated. That challenging environment was a big punch that woke me up: my idea of art was wrong.”

When depression hits, I always try to let the happy moments flood me and give me the fuel to reach the other shore.

Despite this existential crisis, he never abandoned the drug of art and imagination. In those nights of uncertainty, excess, and joy, the artistic name Jazzamoart was born.

In his constant search for art, Jazzamoart began visiting smoky clubs, where he discovered the Mexican jazz scene. “Amid the confusion of not looking like others, this was one of my great discoveries. Jazz was the perfect pretext, both thematic and ideological. Everything was music—a way of focusing my art and having ample material to express my pictorial discourse: painting with that rhythm, that musicality.”

Improvisation, rhythm, tone, intensity—live expressions of both musical and graphic language. Painted music: a style that has led him to capture the sounds and beats that come from deep within the soul.

Music is essential to his art. Whether painting in the studio or performing live with a band, Jazzamoart remains faithful to his vices and passions. In this exploration of the masterpiece, his paintings have shared the stage with musicians such as B.B. King, Ray Charles, Wayne Shorter, and Branford Marsalis.

Jazz, love, and art: three words that define the dream in which Jazzamoart lives.“For everything I want to do, I would need at least 150 years. In my ambition, I want everything: to live long, live well, have fulfillment, and create as much as possible. Unfortunately, I can’t be a musician, a bullfighter, or a soccer player, but I am satisfied with being the painter I am.”

Jazzamoart's musical recommendation is the album Kind of Blue, a masterpiece by Miles Davis.