Ocaña

     ‘Yo no soy un pintor naif, desde luego, eso no es verdad. Yo soy un pintor entre expresionista y fauvista. No sé muy bien dibujar. Dibujo a mi manera, pero si supiera dibujar bien, creo que no dibujaría tampoco perfecto porque no me gusta.’

OCAÑA. José Luis Pérez Ocaña (1947- 1983). Besançon, 1984

 

     Dear Fran,

     This past weekend the painting exhibition I told you about not long ago was inaugurated, do you remember? I have had the honor of being a finalist.

     In the church of the old convent of Cantillana you can find works by very good artists, so I was surrounded by people like Magdalena Bachiller, José Carlos Naranjo and Francisco J. Romero, who were the winners, as well as Norberto Gil, Alba Cortés, Isabel Valle Ayllón, Israel Tirado, Federico Jaime, Francisca Martín...

     My painting shows a place that I discovered in Posadas, where there were some albercas and mangueras scattered on the ground. Neither the albercas nor the mangueras were carrying water and a young lemon tree had died because it could not bear the drought that has settled in these lands.

In ictu oculi

     Fran, there are two painting contests that are held on behalf of two important artists: one is in Oliva de la Frontera, the 'Timoteo Pérez Rubio', in homage to the man who during the Spanish Civil War dedicated himself to saving the paintings of the Prado Museum. The other is 'José Pérez Ocaña' who suffered from the misunderstanding of society in the 1960s and 1970s due to his homosexuality.

     Last Thursday, the night of the opening of the exhibition and awards ceremony, Ocaña's artistic career was recalled and words were heard warning of the direction that things are taking by some groups against the gay community.

     Fran, seeing my painting in the nave of the church made me very proud.

     Y. a.

     Mary