Ocaña

"OCAÑA", JOSÉ PÉREZ OCAÑA (Cantillana, 1947-Sevilla, 1983).
"Priest".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 73 x 60 cm; 76 x 63 cm (frame).

This painting of Ocaña, with an aesthetic close to popular art, places us before the enigmatic figure of a young priest, with almond-shaped and green eyes, whose lost look in the emptiness suggests an inner world inaccessible to the spectator. His expression, ambiguous and restrained, reinforces the sensation of introspection or even internal contradiction. The scene is framed by a series of elements that reinforce the religious context: a crucifix, a statuette of Jesus with the orb in an attitude of blessing, the back of a chair and a curtain, all treated with a decorative and vibrant sense. The composition is dominated by colorful and ornamental patterns, where the forms are arranged in planes of bright color. In this sense, the work shows a clear influence of Henri Matisse, especially in his treatment of the background, seeking to turn reality into a theatricalized space.

Beyond the purely formal, the painting seems to contain a hidden commentary on Catholic education and its impact on individual identity, a recurring theme in Ocaña's work and life. Known for his transgressive spirit and his exploration of sexuality and freedom, Ocaña often used religious imagery to subvert it and transform it into an expression of his own personal universe. In this work, the priest does not embody an imposing authority, but seems lost in his own world, which could be interpreted as a critique of the rigidity of dogma or a reflection on the internal conflicts that repression can generate.

Ocaña began his artistic career in Barcelona, where he moved in 1971, in the midst of Franco's repression. He studied at the Narciso Galiat Art School. Protagonist of the cultural revolution of the spirit of 75 in Barcelona, which transformed Las Ramblas into a space of freedom, Ocaña participates, together with the also Andalusian Camilo and Nazario, in the bohemian, provocative and marginal world of that great multicultural city. A devoted follower of Marc Chagall's painting, Ocaña practiced an artistic attitude close to Dadaism, with his own personality made art. In 1977, Ventura Pons vindicates his figure in the film 'Ocaña, retrato intermitente' (Ocaña, intermittent portrait) and holds his first major exhibition at the Mec Mec gallery, which brings him international recognition and allows him to travel around Europe and America to discover new trends, which he incorporates into his own creativity, based on the icons that are part of the Andalusian popular mythology. In 1978 he exhibited at the Quatre Gats Gallery in Palma de Mallorca, and created a mural for the Bodega Bohemia in Barcelona. Considered a multifaceted and transgressive artist, precursor of the performance, he is the model that Pedro Almodóvar would take in his first productions of the character of Kike Turmix and the reference of fanzines of the time, such as STAR. In this album of drawings, resolved with loose and spontaneous strokes, he immortalizes the people in his circle of life. His painting, expressionist and naïff, was inextricable from his way of living and thinking, so these drawings become a kind of visual diary. Ventura Pons, after directing more than twenty plays, shot his first film in 1977, "Ocaña, retrato intermitente", officially selected by the Cannes Film Festival.