In Madrid, 1926. From left: Salvador Dalí, Moreno Villa, Luis Buñuel, García Lorca, and Jose Antonio Rubio Sacristán. Excerpted from the Autobiography of Luis Buñuel- The Awl http://www.theawl.com/2013/04/the-autobiography-of-luis-bunuel
Rafael Buñuel in his studio/home. Photo by Gary Eisenberg
Bronze and marble sculpture by Rafael Buñuel
Luis Buñuel at a movie premier.
Family Buñuel
Luis Buñuel looking through the camera.
As a visual artist, Rafael has had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, Santa Monica (Rico Gallery) Big Sur (Henry Miller Memorial Library) and Madrid (Fauna Galeria).
His work is placed in numerous private collections in California, New York, Mexico City, Paris, and Madrid.
Rafael’s recently published book Inkings of drawings and etchings is currently available on this website.
Regarding the etchings, "the most appealing aspect of the drawings of his is movement. Movement conveys story, character and them. It creates tension through the development of expectation and it's release, through the arousal of curiosity and it;s resolution. Movement creates structure for the passage of time, it contains both beginning and end. It is also intimately related to music and dialogue. In short, movement is the essential magic of human technology.
Four Women Hung Out To Dry Etching by Rafael Buñuel
Art is not necessarily based on the ability to draw. These drawings dominate and celebrate the image being created. Insight and creativity happen when one is "playing around." Getting ideals requires a delicate and determined playfulness. Among the most common properties of this sort of spontaneous determination are the abilities to improvise, explore, simplify and respond. The difference is in the play of lines. The vitality in these drawings, is what matters most: The quality of line, it's tension, it's relationship to other lines, their precision to be imperfect.
Rafael Buñuel drawings testify to an extreme fascination with motion, space, biomorphic shapes and a wily send of the absurd. The drawings that follow, most of which are pen and ink, were selected from over a period of ten years. They are nothing less than his unique private language, an eclectic doodling, representing his innermost essence at a particular and fleeting moment in time.
Enjoy Them. " Excerpted from Inkings a book by Rafael Buñuel and written by Oscar Arce.
Rafael Buñuel born July 1, 1940, New York City, New York to famed parents filmmaker Luis Buñuel, and wife, Jeanne Rucar Lefebvre, a gymnastics teacher who had won an Olympic bronze medal. Rafael has one brother Juan-Luis who has a son named Diego Buñuel, a filmmaker and host of National Geographic Channel’s “Don’t Tell My Mother” series. Rafael moved to Los Angles, where he earned a B.A. in Theatre Arts UCLA. Rafael has written over 20 plays, most of which have been staged in New York and Los Angeles. His play "Forever" is currently in the midst of a long run in Mexico City.
Cultivated Woman, Etching by Rafael Buñuel edition of 15 2003
Rafael Buñuel 1-man exhibition at the Julie Rico Gallery in downtown Los Angeles, 2009
