María Dávila Explained

María Dávila Guerra (born 1990) is a contemporary Spanish painter. She was born in Málaga, and lives and works in Granada.

Biography

María Dávila holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Málaga and a PhD in History and Arts from the University of Granada.^[1]

While still a student, she started to have solo exhibitions and to participate in group shows in major art centers in Andalusia. In 2014, she won the MálagaCrea 2014 First prize^[2] and was preselected two years consecutively to the BMW paintings Awards in 2015 and 2016.^[3]

Work

Her painting deals with the limits of the visible and the boundaries between fiction and reality.^[4] Based on a photographic or cinematographic material (family archives, still from movies or documentary films), María Dávila explores, more specifically, some aspects of her main theme in different series:

• "Anagnórisis – La trama" (2014) seeks to highlight the underlying similitudes between fiction and documentary films, with an emphasis on the interpretive nature of our relationship to reality.^[5]
• "Solsticio" (2015) deals with our inability to recognize our image and the non-correspondence between memory and lived experience. The series is based on an album of family photographs.
• "Dramatis personae" (2015) is about the act of looking and being looked at through a dialogue with cinematographic form based on narrative (de)construction such as Surrealist or Nouvelle Vague films.^[6]
• "Post scriptum" is focused on the narrative construction in personal relationships, through a dialogue with cinema and theater.^[7]

Solo exhibitions

• 2013: Después, el silencio, Centro Cultural Provincial, Málaga
• 2014: Anagnórisis - La trama, School of Fine Arts, Málaga
• 2015: Dramatis personae, El Palmeral de las Sorpresas/Espacio Iniciarte, Málaga
• 2017-2018: Post scriptum, Palacio de los Condes de Gabia, Granada

Group exhibitions (selection)

• 2012: Stand Byes. End of studies Art Project Málaga 2012, Centro Cultural Provincial, Málaga
• 2014: MálagaCrea 2014. Muestra de Artes Visuales, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC Málaga); UNDER35. Arte Emergente en Málaga, Galería de Arte Contemporáneo (GACMA), Málaga
• 2015: 30th edition of BMW Painting Awards, Casa de Vacas del Retiro, Madrid; Neighbours III. Artistas de proximidad, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC Málaga); Okupart. MAUS Málaga, Málaga city hall/CAC Málaga; Imago Mundi: Made in Spain, Foundation Luciano Benetton/Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC Málaga)
• 2016: Tiempo de luz, Museo del Patrimonio Municipal (MUPAM), Málaga; 31st edition of BMW Painting Awards, Centro Galileo, Madrid

Awards (selection)

• 2012: First prize, VI Painting Prize of the University of Málaga
• 2013: Extraordinary Award, School of Fine Arts/University of Málaga
• 2014: First Prize, MálagaCrea 2014
• 2015: Preselected for BMW Painting Award
• 2016: Preselected for BMW Painting Award

Bibliography

• María Dávila – Después, el silencio, text by Marina Bravo Casero, Council of Málaga/Department of Culture, 2013.
• María Dávila – Anagnórisis-La trama, text by Pedro Osakar Olaiz, School of Fine Arts, Málaga, 2014.
• María Dávila – Dramatis personae, text by Víctor Borrego, Government of Andalusia/Department of Culture, 2015.
• María Dávila - Post scriptum, texts by Luis Puelles and María Dávila, City of Granada/Department of Culture, 2017.

External links

• • Jean-Marie Oger Gallery

Notes and References

1. Book: La dialéctica de la mirada en la pintura contemporánea. Procesos para desreconocer lo visible. 2019. Universidad de Granada. 9788413063997.
2. Web site: Malaga Crea 2014 - Centro de arte contemporĂĄneo de MĂĄlaga . Cacmalaga.eu . 2017-01-17.
3. Web site: Noticias - 31º Premio BMW de Pintura . Micrositepremiobmwdepintura.es . 2017-01-17.
4. Web site: Vernos retratados . SUR.es . Diariosur.es . 2015-09-15 . 2017-01-17.
5. Web site: Cuando la historia está fuera del plano . SUR.es . Diariosur.es . 2014-11-28 . 2017-01-17.
6. Web site: Cultura.- 'Dramatis personae', de María Dávila, propone un diálogo entre la imagen en movimiento y la fija . es. Europapress.es . 2015-07-30 . 2017-01-17.
7. Web site: Testigos privilegiados de María Dávila. 28 February 2018.