Finalist in 25th Timoteo Pérez Rubio Painting Awards
Last week, the winners of 25th Timoteo Pérez Rubio Painting Prize, in Oliva de la Frontera (Badajoz), were announced and my painting, MARILYN Y YO (en verano sueño con piscinas estilo Hockney [MARILYN AND ME (in summer I dream of Hockney-stye swimming pools)] (mixed media on canvas, 150×150 cm), was selected as a finalist, meaning it will be included in the exhibition to be held from 12 december 2025 to 13 february 2026.
“A radiant Marilyn Monroe, painted in black and white, stars in this painting. She wears the patterned dress she wore in the pool scenes during the filming of Somenthing’s Got To Give, the film she left unfinished with her untimely death in August 1962.
The actress is kneeling on the grass, looking as if she has just returned from a trip. Aware that she is the subject ot this painting, she smiles relaxed and invites the viewer to join her on the grass, as if she had a secret to share. Next to her, the shadow of the viewer, which is also mine, is cast on the grass towards the pool. In the background, the porch of a summer house shelters an obvious self-reference and opens onto a large swimming pool that, from side to side, occupies the middle ground of this painting, in a clear tribute to David Hockney’s pop art.
This is a painting I have dreamed about repeatedly, rendered in white, grey and black, in which the pattern on the actress’s dress breaks with the monochtome of this painting.”
Aoiz Orduna, 2025
Thanks to the Popular University of Oliva de la Frontera for treating me so well.
PHOTOS
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