This contemporary painter, who has a curriculum on his back, exhibits from May 5 to June 19 in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid). And he will tell us about his exhibition, and the summer school 'Observatory of the invisible' in the Monastery of Guadalupe, in connection with the Archbishopric of Toledo and the support of various institutions, among which are several universities.
On this occasion, the artist has invited Christian poets who speak of her paintings and the presence of God in them through their pen; and also a young composer of sacred music, who has composed a piece for string quartet inspired by a work of the artist. They will be in Boadilla on May 7 and June 10.
"The exhibition is the excuse for an interdisciplinary meeting of contemporary arts in praise of God, it is something unique," adds Maria Tarruella, who says that "my vocation is contemporary art and faith, to connect the two worlds so that one feeds and exalts the other, as an instrument of evangelization and creation".
During World Youth Day 2011, held in Madrid, it organized its first exhibitionArt + Faith", from which multiple initiatives have blossomed. We talked, although not easily, because this woman really does not stop.
You, María Tarruella, have a personal, family, artistic and faith story. What happened to one of your sons? Santiago was born with severe heart disease.
- My husband and I took a premarital course on the importance of faith in marriage. When difficult times come, the important thing is to have anchored the marriage in faith. We had to give testimony, and we told things. We have four children. It's all on Youtube, in the profile 'Change of needles'.. [28' that deserve to be seen in their entirety. There you can see how they took care of a little boy, Arturo, also with heart disease, whom they found in the hospital when he was six months old, although he didn't come to live with the family until he was two and a half years old. "Arturo is an angel that God brought to our family," says the painter].
Which paintings will be in the exhibition?
- There will be thirty paintings. Those of 2021 and those of 2022, maybe some of 2020, including those listed in my web address, under the title Life 2022. The title is Vebo (Vecinos de Boadilla), because this year I won the contest. [María doesn't like the title, but that's the way it is].
Is your studio a gothic chapel?
- No. That was when I was in Barcelona. I borrowed a chapel from a castle outside Barcelona. I cleaned it and used it. In Madrid it's my garage, in Boadilla.
Tell us a painter, an artist, who has inspired or influenced you in some way.
- Platonic or real, close loves? Let's see, platonic loves I have Anish Kapoor, British of Indian origin, sculptor; and Bill Viola, American, Buddhist, one of the most important artists in the world, in Video Art, I am very inspired by him. I am passionate about him, he seeks silence, contemplation. Last year there was a very good exhibition of his work at the Fundación Telefónica, and it was extended due to its success.
As for Kappor, he has sculptures that are just blue pigment, like a giant circle, and you get close, and it's called Madonna. He's not a Christian, but this sense of attraction to the womb of the Madonna is brutal. He's Indian, he works in London, and he's one of the 'picassos' today.
How does María Tarruella paint?
- With different materials, it is not only painting, it is called mixed technique. They are oxides, earth, iron powders... For example, ashes to talk about our sin, which are swept by crystalline wax mantles to reflect the strength and love of God; I also use minerals such as mica powder to symbolize the precious jewel that we are in the eyes of God; the presence of the Virgin is always latent in my work with iridescent blue paint inspiring flashes of her mantle protecting us...
You are a patron and founder of the Fundación Vía de las Artes, and you are launching the 'Observatory of the Invisible' at the end of June. Tell us about it.
- I have just come from the Francisco de Vitoria University, where we talked about this. We are several artists who seek transcendence through creation. One is Javier Viver, who made the Virgin of Iesu Communio, the Hakuna; myself as a painter; Ignacio Yepes as a musician, and an architect, Benjamín Cano, who seeks the ascension to God through the spaces. How we all seek to express the sublime through art.
The Observatory of the invisible, unique in Spain, is one of the projects of the Fundación Vía de las Artes, a summer school that we held last year, for the first time, in the Monastery of Guadalupe. One hundred young people came, with scholarships from different universities in Spain. There were quite a few who were searching, and they found a place where they could find something in themselves. It was beautiful. We are preparing this year's event, which will also be held in Guadalupe. Last year the Archbishop was there, and this year he will be there too.
One last thing. There are a lot of blue tones in your paintings, what colors do you play with the most?
- Well, if you go into the Life series, it's almost all green. After confinement, it reflected that need of everybody to get close to nature like crazy, and for me it was like an approach to God, to breathe, to greatness and freedom. To me it was like an intrinsic explosion of God in nature to us.
We recapitulate. The exhibition opens on May 5, at 7:30 pm.The poetry recital is on Saturday, May 7, at 7:00 p.m., and on June 10 will be the string quartet recital, based on one of the paintings. Venue, the Palace of Infante Don Luis, in Boadilla del Monte. "Union of music and painting, of poetry and painting", says the Catalan painter María Tarruella Oriol, who in that testimony of 'Cambio de agujas', concluded: "If I want to say something, they are those words of John Paul II: 'Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid to love God. It is as if having faith gives us superpowers. Superpowers that will help us in times of suffering, and make us understand that suffering is not something to avoid. It is something to focus well. Because suffering makes you grow, and makes you love much more".
