María Painting

"I would be lying if I said I painted for anyone in particular. For me, it is a completely selfish act. I paint for myself, whatever I feel like painting, what I like, what hurts me. I don't know where it will take me: the subject, the color, the composition, and even the moment of painting. I paint for myself, selfishly. Some days all I do is destroy what I have done. I would be lying if I said I painted for anyone in particular. It would be a lie." Fernando ELLAKURIA Galdakao (Biscay), 1949 Fernando Ellakuria studied art at the Massana Art and Design Center in Barcelona. He has exhibited his work in Barcelona and his paintings have traveled to Madrid, San Sebastin, Bilbao, Girona, Seville, Burgos, Rio de Janeiro, Hamburg and Milan. When one observes the works of Fernando Ellakuria, it is clear that everything is a matter of conception. The artist has a vision of the whole right from the beginning. If there is order and clarity in the painting, it is because that order and clarity were present in the artists spirit or because the artist was aware of this need. The great expressiveness of his work does not lie in the passion that is about to emerge in a face or a body suspended in time. Rather, it is found in the whole composition of the painting: the place occupied by the body fragment, the empty spaces around it, the proportions. Every part has a role to play. The genre that most interests the artist is not the still life or the landscape. It is the human figure. It is only through the human figure that he can clearly express his religious approach (if we can call it that) to life. He does not display every last detail of a face or paint with full anatomical precision. What he does is discover the essential features and penetrate into the lines on a face that reflect the profound character of all human beings. Maria Jose Marti. Galeria Punto Arte. Barcelona