Oskar illustration Signs Sean Mackaoui

Image credit: Jose Luis Santalla

Sean Mackaoui was born in Switzerland, but he is not Swiss. This Anglo-Lebanese gent arrived in Madrid thirty years ago armed with a small pair of scissors and a box of cut outs. 

Mr Mackaoui’s towering analogue archive, collected over thirty years, is stored in boxes and drawers and is estimated at around ten thousand images, but for Sean there will never be enough. A small proportion of his library is purchased, the rest is found, on the streets, wherever. Sean has had the great fortune of receiving donations to his impressive and extensive archive, all of which he treasures. One such wonder being every single issue (from mid '50s to mid '80s) of a fabulous French magazine, Connaissance des Arts.

Often people think the best images are sourced from trendy magazines. Sean thinks that’s a fallacy, he’s of the opinion you can get great images out of 'Art and Cement' on the building industry. “You need images from everywhere…otherwise it’s like reducing the colour palette an artist uses”. SM 

Covering a wide spectrum of subjects, Sean has the skills, ability and experience to work across all manner of subjects and there’s nothing he likes better than when he’s sitting creating, playing visual games for his latest project. 

Sean divides his time between constructing collages for national and international newspapers and magazines. He also loses himself in his own world of collages and objects that, at times populate art galleries. For the last decade Sean has also been designing sets and costumes for National and Municipal theatres in Nordic countries. He is an Honorary Director of the San Francisco Collage Museum, USA. 

Sean joins the fourteen strong team of talented illustrators and animators at Oskar illustration who are excited to be kicking off 2024 with a new signing and string to their bow. 

On joining the team at Oi! Sean said, "I am very happy to embark on this shared journey of creative endeavours with the wonderful Oskar Illustration. It’s always more rewarding to be part of a team than to go it alone, especially in the company of such a unique roster of artists from all across the globe, it's an honour".

Oskar illustration founder Oli Roberts commented, "Sean has collaging skills that we have not seen before. His eye for creating beautiful and thought-provoking imagery is second to none. Any one of his artworks could be a super cool print or t-shirt design. Always good markers of style and creative excellence". 

To see Sean’s full profile click here.