The renowned artist Miguel Mairena recalls the history of the Dianense municipality through his new exhibition 48 moments in the history of Dénia, which opened this Thursday at the House of Culture, although the artist confessed that the moment he likes most about her is not the past, "it is what comes in the future."
In an interview given to Dénia.com after the inauguration, Miguel Mairena told how he fell in love with the city of Dénia when he arrived in this land forty years ago: "I have found my place in the world, I know where I am from." However, two years ago he realized that he did not have "not even the faintest idea about the history of Dénia."
At that time, he began reading about the subject from the work of 32 authors, which took him a year. Then the idea of making this exhibition about moments in history occurred to him and he chose a period that spans from the creation of his "beloved" Montgó until the Civil War in 1936.
From the beginning, he started from the premise of creating small paintings due to the number of works he intended to create, but "I could play," he explained, with the techniques. In this sense, the artist uses methods such as pencils, colors, acrylic or ink intervention and even the computer. This process took another year.
"My intention is to contribute a little to the people of Dénia knowing their past, because they know little," said Mairena. The choice of historical events to show the public was made based on elements that "can be seen" in Dénia, such as plates, vessels or streets.
Furthermore, the artist's intention is "for visitors to ask themselves questions." Therefore, along with each illustration and its text, a "universal" question appears to reflect on history. «History helps to know the past, to understand the present. And it should serve to create a better future and maintain our identity.
History of the artist himself
Mairena is a peculiar artist, a craftsman - as he describes himself - who began studying painting at the age of ten at an academy in Valencia, then with an Italian painter and at the age of 16 he went to Paris and, while working as a waiter, I learned about art. However, he renounced his artistic career: "When I returned to Spain, I burned all my paintings and decided that it was better to be a regular engineer than a regular painter."
"I didn't dedicate myself to painting because to do so you have to be born in a less protective and more open-minded family," he commented. However, he never stopped painting and it was after his retirement that he developed his artistic side.
The exhibition that will not die
"The exhibition does not die on the 24th," Mairena mentioned. The painter declared that he is working on a project so that in the institutes, once the scheduled lessons are given, the history of Dénia can be studied from the compilation of his works.
In addition, the legacy will be distributed in more hands. At this stage of his life, he considers that he is a painter of those who "does not sell paintings, but gives them away." With this purpose he invited as a surprise the relatives of well-known figures in the history of Dénia who appear in this exhibition, since, on the 24th, he will give them the corresponding paintings.
In them we can find figures such as Francisco Torrent, scientist and researcher, nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1978; Antonio Cortis, tenor who triumphed in theaters in America and Europe, or Raquel Payà, teacher and professor, as well as a researcher in experimental pedagogy.
The exhibition can be visited between February 1 and 24, Monday to Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m. and from 17:00 p.m. to 21:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 13:30 p.m. at the House of the Culture of Dénia. Those who want to visit the exhibition on Friday afternoons or Saturday mornings can enjoy guided tours by the author himself.
