Description
Painting, papier-mâché sculpture, poetry
Biography
Who is José Mangano?
Above all, he is a sensitive humanist, driven by the desire to foster social progress through what he knows best: artistic, visual, and verbal expression.
His message is simple and universal: love and peace.
Of Italian and Belgian origin, José is 66 years old and came to Belgium at the age of 18. Largely self-taught, he also attended evening classes in painting and wood sculpture. For forty years, he worked as a graphic designer for Oxfam, after being a printer in the 1980s.
His artistic path is diverse — poet, writer, puppeteer, clown — and this last role took him far. In 1992, he co-founded, with fellow performers, a clown school for children, where he was both a clown and the school’s president.
“I won’t tell my whole life story here, because I’ve seized every moment to work, create, imagine, and express myself. Art, for me, is an accumulation of experiences, understandings, and everyday observations.”
Today, José paints and creates characters born from his subconscious, driven by an unending thirst for creativity. His art channels his energy toward a constructive and positive world.
The artist, he says, needs the gaze of others — his generosity grows from their encouragement.
He believes deeply in the authenticity and originality of his work, rich in symbolism and shaped by a life full of events and challenges.
Works
