Noteworthy exhibition of masks
By Sebastian Jorgi
Marta Díez, the painter and sculptress from Tucumán, is showing her masks at the central hall of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, 359, 25-de- Mayo St., Buenos Aires. As I walked around the hall, I was overcome by a strange feeling, one akin to having been transported through time. Those very original masks were watching me on and off, and at times they seemed to be sending me a message I felt I was being reached as if by a succession of images from a ritual of scenes from the paleolithic period. People were coming and going around the hall, delighting in front of those original masks depicting myths from religious scenes. Coincidentally, poet and art critic Rubén Vela has authoritatively stated in reference to the meaningful work produced by Marta Díez, “Masks are one of the most ancient elements from the higher Paleolithic period. It is the representation by man of protective or malignant spirits manifesting themselves through ancestral rites. Marta Díez invents her own very particular ceremonies arising from her inner self. Marta Díez is at the same time the conjuring and the sacrifice by which we are shown, through art and beauty, that it is possible to reach the magic world that modern man has been deprived of.” Marta Díez has produced a large quantity of works in carbonilla, depictions of the human body in movement, and oils. At this new stage of hers she is reproducing ethnic beliefs in varied shapes, colors and figures. She studied drawing under Luis Lobo de la Vega and Beaubeau de Secondigne and oil-painting under Palombo, Antonio Mezza, Federico Maculan Bogarotti, and the technique of cartapesta under Francesco Sutto. She has held one-person exhibitions at the Golf Club Argentino in 2003, at the Vicente Lucci Foundation (San Miguel de Tucumán), the Sheraton Hotel, and the Asociación Damas de Cancillería during 2005. She has recently exhibited at the Barra de Maldonado (Punta del Este) as well as at Colonia del Sacramento, both in Uruguay. She has furthermore won several important awards under relevant juries such as those including Gutiérrez Saldívar, Alberto Bellucci and Romero Carranza. Rubén Vela, the poet, recommended me to visit the exhibition of masks by this artist., which I did on the closing date, March 17. The marvelous scenery she shares with us takes us back to Indian cultures as well as to Venecian carnivals. It was raining heavily in Buenos Aires. Amid strange feelings of being wafted through time, I felt surrounded by those spirits coming to life through the masks of their talented creator Marta Díez. Congratulations!