Óscar Hasbún Alcalá

He was born on October 15, 1961, in San Gil, Santander, Colombia, the birthplace of great masters of international stature. Growing up in a family with artistic vein: His mother, a passionate about theater and opera; his maternal grandfather, in turn a poet and lay theologian; his older brother, Jacob, a consecrated artist and sculptor; his father, businessman but with a fascination for aesthetics, spaces and natural forms, collector of fossils, stones and sculptures, for which he dedicates a plot of 20 hectares, where Óscar spends his childhood between nature and art .

From a very young age he was dazzled by the watercolors and crayons that became his favorite pastime, which with the passage of the school years comforts him in his experimentation in different areas of the plastic arts. Then his vocation for music is revealed and he becomes a disciple of Don Luis Arenas, blind from birth, who teaches him to play the guitar by ear. A short time later and already as a self-taught person, he leans towards the classical genre, which is his passion and occupies a fundamental place in his life. Likewise, he devotes much of his time to chess, a hobby that he inherits from his father and that is part of the family dynamic, in which he reaches to occupy outstanding positions at the municipal and departmental levels. Later he will become a student of Esperanto, a language that he cultivates with special care and manages with skill.

Initially, as expected, it is integrated into the family business, for which it is prepared by studying economics in the country’s capital, Bogotá. Years later, between many comings and goings, he leans towards painting, which is the so-called interior, the path he definitely chooses, where he feels full and happy.

His organic style expresses the calm and deep spirit of the artist. The commercialization of his works remained within his close circle and privately, as was his wish. And, almost “coincidentally”, it became known, given the surprise and admiration that his paintings provoke. In this way, and at the request of his relatives, the artist opens and exposes his work.

Óscar resides most of the time in his native land, San Gil, where he finds his inspiration and maintains contact with nature; although he is an enthusiastic traveler, which denotes his free and curious spirit.