THE DAY I DIED

In the early summer months of 2008 the two volumes of Art from Andalusia for the XXI Century, curated by Ivan de la Torre Amerighi, fell into our hands. After leafing through them, I was memserised by a single page that showed all of Maria Bueno’s works on it. I had never heard of that painter before. Who was she? What exactly was happening? Why did some of those photos, which I thought not to be of a high standard, captivate me so? Why did a painter with such an unsophisticated technique, evoke so many emotions and sensations? “When there were only a few weeks left of the summer, I went to see a few of her works in situ in Antequera. Whilst some pieces I didn’t like at all, I felt that others had something very special about them. Running the risk of being thrown out I told her that she was a very bad painter, but that there was something extraordinary in some of her pieces. She was producing total contradictions: an artist without much technical skill (or so I thought) was producing works that were absolutely sublime. And despite their imperfections, they were somehow uniquely spell-binding. Perhaps without knowing it in a few years time we will find that she is one of the most fascinating artists in Andalusia.” Rafael Pérez Hernando, April 2009