Mariano Blázquez “Pardito”: art as a vital impulse and a collective project

by Manuel Bonilla for And-Art Works Magazine

A popular, approachable, and deeply human creator

The figure of Mariano Blázquez “Pardito” extends beyond the traditional notion of the studio-based artist. Within his community, he is widely known and appreciated, someone who naturally generates connection, dialogue, and a sense of shared purpose. His warmth, creative energy, and openness allow him to relate easily to people from all backgrounds, from neighbors and craftspeople to artists, technicians, and institutions. Pardito does not create in isolation; his work emerges from human contact, from conversation, collaborative effort, and a firm belief in the transformative capacity of art.

Artisan–artist: transforming everything within reach

Pardito is a self-taught artist, shaped by work, observation, and continuous practice. His identity as an artisan–artist is central to his creative language. Any material can become part of an artwork: paper, paint, wood, iron, stone, plastics, industrial remnants, or found objects. Nothing is discarded without first being carefully considered. Pardito reinterprets, reuses, and integrates every element that comes into his hands, giving it a renewed expressive and poetic function.

Matter, texture, and recycling as contained emotion

From a curatorial perspective, his work is grounded in a conscious and balanced use of material. In painting, he incorporates sand, density, and texture to give the surface physical presence, always with restraint: he knows when to intervene and when to allow color to rest. In sculpture, wood and metal—always recycled—are worked with an acceptance of oxidation, wear, and imperfection. These qualities are not concealed but embraced as part of the narrative, as visible traces of time and lived experience. In collage, recovered materials coexist through an intuitive process of integration. Material is never excessive; it remains in dialogue with space, gesture, and structure, creating works where physical presence and sensitivity coexist in an emotional and balanced tension.

In his paintings, nature and landscape do not appear as recognizable images but as emotional experiences. Fields of color, open forms, and chromatic rhythms evoke horizons, land, and atmosphere that relate more to memory than to geography. Pardito does not paint what he sees, but what he remembers and feels, building an expressive language in which color functions as both energy and emotional tone.

Monumental work and shared projects

His passion for monumental works and open-space projects is closely linked to a strong desire to share artistic experience. Pardito is drawn to large-scale challenges, often described as “impossible” projects, initiatives that involve his social environment and help transform shared spaces. He is a natural catalyst for collective cultural initiatives and reinterprets figures, scenes, and iconic works from classical painting, translating masterpieces by Velázquez, Goya, and other masters into volume and iron. His ideas are not conceived from a desk, but emerge through action, hands-on work, and collaboration.

A body of work with depth for the contemporary collector

The work of Mariano Blázquez “Pardito” resonates especially with those who seek more than a visual image: they seek truth, process, and human presence. Each piece retains the trace of time, gesture, and the life surrounding it. At And-Art Works, his practice is presented as an authentic contribution to contemporary Spanish art: works with character, history, and emotional depth, created to coexist with architectural space and to accompany those who choose them over time.