John Culatto
A PAINTING of an elderly woman at a market is this year’s winner of the Gibraltar International Art Exhibition.
Artists from Gibraltar, Republic of Ireland, Spain and UK put forward 150 works for the 47th edition of the event.
Fermin Garcia Villaescusa was the artist behind ‘Vieja de la Plaza’, took the cool £5,000 first prize to his native Jerez.
The well-known Andalusian artist has already been a finalist in the BP Portrait Exhibition in London and gold medal winner in the Seville Academy of the Arts competition.
Known as an impulsive artist, this year’s winner of theGustavo Bacarisas prize, is always looking to better his techniques.
“You can never be the perfect painter, because painting is all in your head,” said Garcia.
Abstract La Linea artist Javier Plata came second and got £2,000 with the Jacobo Azagury Prize for his ‘Marorama 53’.
Lucia Palma Sarmiento, from San Roque, took the £1,500 Leni Mifsud prize with her ‘Tormenta Galactica.
A Spanish artist based in Ronda, Francisco Luna Galvan, took the Best Gibraltar Theme prize.
The only native Gibraltarian to get on the podium was Zulaika Vallance for Best Young Artist.
Her ‘History of Atypical Representation’ impressed this year’s judge Mercedes Corbacho Rodriguez, Director of the Cruz Herrera Museum in La Linea.
Vallance’s work features different characters from the norm which were shunned throughout the ages.
One of them was a bearded woman, which she recreated by dressing in Victorian dress, gluing on a fake beard and walked into town
“People screamed, laughed and photographed me – it was horrible! ” revealed Vallance, an aspiring young local talent.
“Then I looked at hippies and yippies in the 1960s and 70s who protested for a life which broke free from mainstream American life.
“Lastly, I moved to the modern day, a time when we expect to be filled with a positive representation of people with atypical features.”
Prizes were given out by Minister for Culture John Cortes in a presentation on November 4.
The exhibition at the Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery will run until the middle of the month.
