The painter María Luis Martínez León made in record time, in just three weeks, the paintings that adorn the facade of the Sala de Plegados, so that they would be ready for the act of King Felipe VI on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the creation of the institution
The painter María Luisa Martínez León took three weeks to create the new murals that appear on the facade of the folding room of the Méndez Parada de Alcantarilla Military Skydiving School. A total of almost 900 square meters where the sewer artist pays tribute to the air force with figures of parachutists and airplanes. The sculpture teacher at the Murcia School of Art [pertenece a la cuarta generación de escultores murcianos, es hija de Anastasio Martínez Valcárcel, nieta de Nicolás Martínez Ramón y bisnieta de Anastasio Martínez Hernández] He has, according to the Air Force Parachute Sapper Veterans, “done an extraordinary and wonderful job, working non-stop at high altitude with cold and heat, with his masterful hands painting the history of the Air Force Parachutists with colors, to make it a beautiful work of art.”
The proposal to revive the white walls of the complex came from Colonel Alberto Lens Blanco, head of the Alcantarilla Air Base and director of the Méndez Parada Military Skydiving School. The institution asked different artists for a project and eventually chose that of María Luisa Martínez León. The result, according to the professionals of the House of the Paratroopers of the Air, are «paintings full of light, tenderness full of visibility, with a mixture of delicacy and strength. We were amazed at your wonderful work. It impressed us.”
The project, carried out on the occasion of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Méndez Parada Military Parachute School, an act presided over this week by King Felipe VI, takes a tour of yesterday and today through the school . On the left, as the artist himself explains to LA VERDAD, there is a paratrooper in the clothes of the first jumps, in black and white, and a Junker, the first of the planes used on the base for the first jumps, parachute and skydivers in automatic and manual opening. On the right is the aviocar, the current aircraft used, in the drying tower, 25 meters high, a current automatic opening parachute and a halo parachutist, a sapper (elite parachutist) with current clothing and instruments (cameras, systems parachute opening, backpack , night vision…) in a manual opening jump.
«On December 30, I started the mural and during these three weeks alone I worked on a platform for almost 900 square meters of the facade. I am very grateful for all the facilities the Base provides to complete the work, in combination with teaching at the School of Art and with my family. Very happy with the result, in the end it is a challenge for yourself. I’ve been lucky enough to have favorable weather, cold, but it hasn’t rained and the wind wasn’t strong enough to stop working. Very large temperature differences between noon and night.
The difficulty of the sizes and the satisfaction of having achieved the expected result and on time is something that the artist of these murals emphasizes. «And the pride of being part of the programming of such a special day as this 75th anniversary is, with that jump of 114 parachutists, the spectacular exhibition of PAPEA [más de 1.500.000 saltos paracaidistas en la Base Aérea de Alcantarilla, donde se realizó el primer lanzamiento paracaidista en España]the air-land parade… and no doubt that they counted on me and trusted me to carry out this work alone and in record time».
Martínez León is already called “the painter of the Air Force” at the Sewer Base. In 2019, the Doctorate of Fine Arts was selected for the Air Force painting awards, and on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the first skydiving jump, the doors were opened for her to see training and explore from an artistic point of view. He presented 25 portraits of army professionals, to whom he feels nothing but gratitude.
The colonel of the air base, Alberto Lens, and Lieutenant General Pedro José García Cifo, the oldest active parachutist and director of recruitment and military training for the defense, congratulated the artist on her speed and impeccable work.
Source: La Verdad
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