"Alida Valli" Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Modern Portrait Painting by Mariona Millá

Description

Expressive and raw large-scale modernist portrait of the timeless film actress Alida Valli (Italian, 1921-2006) by contemporary Barcelona artist Mariona … more Expressive and raw large-scale modernist portrait of the timeless film actress Alida Valli (Italian, 1921-2006) by contemporary Barcelona artist Mariona Millá (Spanish, b.1954), 2010. Layers of black, white, and grey paint drip down the quickly rendered face, revealing the pencil drawing and rough surface of the masonite. The natural color of the masonite comes through, becoming part of the neutral color palette.

Signed and dated "Millá 10" on verso. Titled "Alida Valli" on verso.
Masonite is affixed to a wood frame backing for a frameless display.
Masonite size: 39.38"H x 35.38"W.


Born in Barcelona in 1954, with an extensive and constantly innovative professional career, Mariona has been exploring fine art and the teaching of art for over 35 years. She has had numerous exhibitions throughout Europe, and her work can be found in the US and Japan. She uses new and original techniques in her painting, mural painting, sculpture, theatre set design and props. In the publishing field, she continues working as an illustrator. This all demonstrates the originality of her work which can be defined as somewhere between New Figuration and Contemporary European Expressionism, but with Mediterranean soul.
Her exhibitions and projects, always on a large scale in terms of quantity and quality, include other artistic disciplines and presentations, and also analyses of her work by distinguished writers in the Catalan and European cultural circle.

Mariona has spent over 40 years teaching artistic technique and promoting fine art by giving seminars, courses and conferences about the theory of practice of painting. She has also featured on radio shows. She has published articles about painting and also written forewords for other artists and groups. Her first book, “VIATGE PER LA PINTURA” (A Journey through Painting) offers keys to understanding art and artists. It was published by Viena Edicions and is currently being translated into English and Spanish. Her work was exhibited at the Museum of Cervera, Spain, in the 2019 exhibition “Mariona Milla- Exhibition of Paintings of Witches, Devils, and Other Species”.

“Mariona Millà has a volcanic force in her painting that is born like an explosion from the bottom of its nature, it advances like a river of lava on the side of our sensibilities and solidifies in images with intense colors.” - Josep Maria Cadena (art critic, in review of "Bestiary", 2003) less