A native of San Diego, California, Abel Aguirre started his career as a self-taught artist inspired by the barrio art and surfside aesthetics of southern California. As a kid, his themes drew inspiration from the fantasy worlds depicted in his favorite 80s TV shows. Shows like Gumby and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood appealed to Abel’s imagination as he found their handmade, pretend environments mesmerizing. Since then, he used his art to create his own make-believe world. Pretend places where everyone is invited as a respite from the drama of our day-to-day lives.
In 1999, Aguirre left San Diego when he enlisted in the US Navy as an Information Systems Technician. Trained as a cyber security professional, he went on to spend the next 20 years guarding Navy networks as a firewall administrator. He served 10 years of his career in Europe where he was able to visit some of the pillars of Western Art. With a late morning cappuccino and his sketchbook in the shadow of the coliseum, he indulged in regular inspirational sessions during this favorite pastime.
From 2015 to 2019, Aguirre served at his final duty station in San Antonio, Texas, where he retired from active duty and bought a house with his wife Sharon and their three children. In 2020, at age 42, he enrolled at Our Lady of the Lake University as a Visual Arts and New Media undergraduate. With his mind on his senior art exhibition, he spent the next four years creating his most impressive body of work for the event. His senior exhibition and capstone presentation, titled “From the West Coast to the West Side and the Magic Barrio” was a visual compare and contrast between the barrio cultures of San Diego and San Antonio. The Magic Barrio component represented the Chicano spirit that bound them. After 20 years away from San Diego, Abel thought that his barrio days were far behind him, but when he discovered San Antonio’s West Side, he experienced a strong sense of return. His senior exhibition allowed him to acknowledge his ¡Chicanismo!
Aguirre received several Navy Achievement awards for artwork that he created during his service, including a Navy mural, award medal design, and paintings of computer networks rendered in a contemporary aesthetic. While off-duty, he created a series of graphics for California based skateboard companies Washed Up Warriors and Sentient Skateboards. He won a national skateboard graphic design contest sponsored by BoardPusher.com and sold paintings to raise money for Food For The Hungry, an organization that used his donations to help create a water collection system in Rwanda. In 2010, while stationed in Virginia, Abel led a city mural project for the city of Chesapeake and has had four solo
Exhibitions. Since graduating with his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2024, he has gone on to intern with the San Antonio Street Art Initiative and operates as a studio artist. He is planning future solo exhibitions and grant writing for community-based art projects.