Arrabal, Gregorio Jesus Jaen

Deafened at age 2 from measles; attended the Spanish American Speech Institute, a private oral school; at age 14, won a painting contest for deaf children, which prompted him to attend the Decorative Arts School of Madrid while still in the Institute. Also took courses in photography and hole-punching, being exploited in the latter field for a short time by an unscrupulous employer. Quit that job to return to art studies at the Madrid School of Arts and Crafts; after completion of that course, searched unsuccessfully for jobs. An encounter with a Chinese painter caused him to change his painting style and later go to China, where acupuncture treatments for his deafness worked in one ear, but he eventually lost that hearing again. Assimilating Chinese art techniques, he returned to Spain. Though he continued to struggle to achieve acceptance in the Spanish art world and to make a living, he did manage to get some of his works into two Madrid museums as of 1989.