MURAM, Museo Regional de Arte Moderno, Regional museum of Modern Art, to 29th August

Modern art enthusiasts mat be interested in an exhibition of art by Jose Maria Parraga in the MURAM, Museo Regional de Arte Moderno and the Roman Theatre, Museo del Teatro Romano in Cartagena at the moment.

This exhibition features 366 drawings by the artist, purchased by the Region of Murcia in 2008 as part of the collection of the Town hall of Ceuti which comprised more than 1200 works by contemporary Murcian artists.

 

Jose Parraga was a vastly prolific artist, to whom drawing was more a way of life, an integral part of his daily activities, who drew at every opportunity and on anything he could lay his hands on. This exhibition includes work on paper, napkins, wood, whatever he could find, and he drew spontaneously, forming large collections of ideas which were developed in the murals and pieces he created.

His works are scattered throughout the region, in restaurants, bars, public buildings, schools and theatres and are surprisingly different from the drawings on show here, although very obviously by the same hand.

 

This exhibition is open until the 29^th August in 2 locations.

 

MURAM, Museo Regional de Arte Moderno

Plaza de la Merced

Opening times Tuesday-Saturday 10-9

Sundays and Festivals 10-2

Click for map, MURAM Cartagena

 

Roman Theatre Museum, Museo Teatro Romano

Tuesday-Saturday 10-8pm

Sundays and festival days 10-2

Click for info and map< Museo Teatro Romano

 

The artist, José María Párraga Luna, (May 20th 1937-13th April 1997)

Parraga was born in the Carthaginian district of Alumbres, and moved to Alquerias , close to Murcia at the age of ten. His parents were teachers, a profession which he himself followed, although he abandoned this course to pursue his art.

At the age of 17 he began to draw whilst convalescing from a serious illness, then went on to study art in Murcia . His first exhibition was in 1956 at what was then the Casa de Cultura, but which is today the Archaeological Museum, then went on to obtain a good degree of success in competitions to design the promotional posters for the fiestas of Semana Santa and the Fiestas de Primavera, which drew a lot of attention to his work in the local press.

This gave him the opportunity to study further in Madrid, where he came in contact with other artists such as Manolo Valdes, now famed worldwide for his astonishing sculptural busts, and enjoyed success, winning prizes as a young painter, which gave him a lead into work as an illustrator.

His early works were very much figurative works, although they feature a characteristic deformity and tendency to stretch the figure, very much a trait of movements within the international art world at this time.

In 1964 he was a founder member of the Aunar group, along with painters Manuel Avellaneda, Aurelio Perez Martinez and sculptors Elisa Seiquer, Francisco Toledo Sanchez, Jose Toledo Sanchez and Jose Hernandez Cano.

 

His output was prolific and from 1959 he began to experiment with collage, with expression , form and materials, influenced by Picasso and Klee, and he developed his unique character, by 1968 portraying deformation, contortion and monstruous figures.

In 1980 he underwent an emotional crisis, tinting his work with pessimism and tortured introversial imagery, his strokes fragmented and fractured, instead of the smooth, sensuous lines he had formerly employed.

By the 90's he had again settled down into a more relaxed style of work, again employing curvaceous and bold strokes, defining the work with a stronger elment of colour.

 

His name is found throughout the Region of Murcia, with roads named in his honour as well as the Centro Parraga, a centre dedicated to the scenic arts in Murcia.

 

These stunning images are from a mural we visited in Alhama, in a local school. It's vibrant, exuberant and a real contrast to the drawings on show, and we plan to visit a few more of his works and prepare a route to enable those interested to see them in public places as they're extraordinary, a far cry from the simplistic almost childlike naivety of the drawings in this exhibition.

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