There are lives that weave together common gazes, while others, more unique, build them brilliantly, and as time passes, instead of worn-out threads, they reveal marvelous seams. These are complex and complete lives, passionate and extraordinary, always seeking the light. Sometimes, they find it outside and inhale its glow with deep breaths. But in other cases, as with Aurora Vigil-Escalera, that light resides within. It is easy to perceive in her smile, in her eyes, and in her words. In that radiant joy with which she faces challenges, no matter how intricate. In that enthusiasm with which she celebrates, in this year 2025, forty years of art—art enjoyed, felt, sought after, discovered… And also nurtured. Because Aurora, from her gallery by the sea in Gijón, overlooking Capua Street, and from her space adjacent to El Retiro in Madrid, has not only gathered the best artists of the past century and those shaping the finest of the present, but she has also paved the way for emerging talents. With her experience supporting their steps, they have left giant footprints, becoming internationally renowned creators by her side. Such is the case of Ismael Lagares and, more recently, the Asturian Iván Quesada, who has experienced unprecedented growth in just over a year, or Francisco Mayor Maestre, acclaimed everywhere. The highly awarded young photographer Alejandra González and the singular sculptor Mico Rabuñal are also part of that group in which Aurora once placed her gaze and care, guiding them along their journey. Sometimes, not only by promoting them and exhibiting their work but also by producing their creations so that they could move forward and not give up during difficult times.

Looking back is sometimes a sad, melancholic exercise, but also a necessary one. Losses are felt, but emotions are renewed through achievements; absences are mourned, but pride is reinforced. It is impossible not to remember cherished people who are no longer here, even though they still reside in the heart—such as Angelines Pérez, the beloved gallerist and mother, the soul of the Van Dyck art gallery, with whom Aurora embarked on this four-decade-long adventure, along with her father, Alberto Vigil-Escalera. “They were the best mentors I could have had, and from them, I learned the meaning of responsibility, rigor, seriousness, enthusiasm, and, above all, a passion for art,” she always says, honored by that legacy, mentally searching for herself in old photographs of the three of them together, in the memories of that legendary gallery on Menéndez Valdés Street. And before that, in the apartment at Ezcurdia 40, also overlooking the sea, where it all truly began. Where Aurora Vigil-Escalera, then just a child, discovered the world of art as the most beautiful stage of all, one she would never want to stop looking at.

From that moment until this 40th anniversary—the ‘30+10,’ a title that precisely defines the two phases of her career, combining her beginnings at Van Dyck—countless stories have been written, most of them on the walls that define her connection with the art world in Gijón. Because it is on those walls that she has expressed her understanding of creation. Even with a pandemic—one that must not be forgotten—disrupting the journey, she emerged stronger, opening new paths through technology and the mantra of never giving up. Aurora Vigil-Escalera has remained true to her core mission: spreading art to every corner where it is welcomed. In fact, she has already broken ground in places like Miami, where her gallery recently became one of the most visited and successful. She has also taken her artists to Dubai, Lisbon, Lima, and of course, Madrid, where the success of her exhibitions continues to be remarkable, year after year.

She promotes art across all its disciplines, as clearly demonstrated by the current exhibition featuring over twenty artists—from Gordillo, Genovés, and Chema Madoz to Soledad Córdoba, Edgar Plans, Lisardo, and Tadanori. It also includes the mastery of Gonzalo García, a direct heir of Navacúes’ wood sculpting technique; Picatoste’s alchemy; Ernesto Knorr’s steel energy; Samuel Salcedo’s surreal, half-animal, half-human figures; Mario Soria’s otherworldly creativity; Salustiano’s overwhelming realism; Carlos Albert’s sculptural kindness; the delightfully humorous paintings of Yagües and Rosa Amores; and the excellence of Gorka García. This may seem like a lot, yet it is only a fraction of what defines these forty years. Over this period, icons such as Canogar, Tapies, Genovés, Miró, Antonio Saura, Juan Barjola, Rubio Camín, Farreras, Manolo Millares, and many others have held a special place. Among them, two academicians from the Royal Academy of San Fernando—photographer Isabel Muñoz, who has been part of the gallery for years, and Rosa Brun, who joined both the Academy and the Aurora Vigil-Escalera Art Gallery around the same time.

She, like the rest of these creators, maintains her connection with the Gijón gallery space and, even more so, with the soul of that place—for many reasons. One of them is the desire to participate in a living, dynamic environment that never stagnates. Not even in the great names, nor in artistic languages that belong to the past. The guiding principle is to continue learning from the present, to keep moving and searching. To generate exchanges and synergies with other institutions and spaces. To uphold a commitment to innovation and, above all, to the quality and integrity of those who come to art, like Aurora herself, because art runs through her veins.

Paché Merayo