Miguel Castillo Oñate

He was born in Fuentealbilla, Albacete, in 1962. In 1968, he moved to Mislata, Valencia, with his parents and siblings.

From a very young age, he already distinguished himself as a draftsman by copying the works of various artists that his teachers suggested during art classes. Noticing his talent as a child, his drawing teacher visited his parents to advise them to provide him with formal artistic training.

In 1974, he continued his studies at Cheste Labour University, where he remained until 1977. It was there that he began to obtain his first artistic recognition, creating murals and being rewarded in various visual arts competitions.

In 1977, his incessant activity as a self-taught artist led him to devote himself for years to the genre of portraiture for private individuals and fine art galleries.

Imagination is the most characteristic trait of his work, and he will never cease to represent what arises from his own ideas — his motivation — independently of the commissions he undertakes to support himself.

In 1980, he drew comics for fanzines and underground publications, until 1984 when he joined the International Artists' Agency, Selecciones Ilustradas, in Barcelona, publishing in magazines in Germany and Italy. At the same time, he created graphics for video games at Microdigital Soft in Madrid and published drawings in magazines in the same field.

In 1987, he worked as a designer and decorator in the furniture sector in Valence.

In 1994, he enrolled at the UPV Fine Arts school in Valencia and obtained his diploma in 1999, with one of the best records in his class as well as several "Matrícula de Honor" mentions in the specialties of drawing and painting.

He continues to develop his realistic facet in painting and receives prestigious awards such as the Medal of Honour at the XXIIIth BMW Painting Prize, or the Mention of Honour at the II Painting Competition of the Foundation of Arts and Artists.

Her work has been acquired by various museums and institutions, among which the MEAM (Barcelona) and the Infanta Elena Museum in Tomelloso (Ciudad Real) stand out, and it is part of numerous private collections, both nationally and internationally.

From 2011 onwards, his painting evolved towards a very personal and free style, which combines with great fluidity and a unique identity surrealist forms born from his imagination, in transition towards an abstraction with vibrant colours.

He has held numerous solo and group exhibitions in Spain and abroad, and actively participates in the Valencian art scene, where his studio is located.