The painter María Luis Martínez León made in record time, in just three weeks, the paintings that decorate 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 has taken three weeks to make the new murals that appear on the façade of the Folding Room of the Méndez Parada de Alcantarilla Military Skydiving School. In total, almost 900 square meters where the sewer artist pays homage to the Air Force with figures of paratroopers 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 carried out, according to the Air Force Parachute Sapper Veterans, “an extraordinary and prodigious job, working at high altitudes with cold and heat, non-stop, with his masterful hands that paint the history of the Air Force Paratroopers with colors, turning it into a stunning work of art.”
The proposal to give life to 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 they finally selected 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 have been amazed by her magnificent work. She has impacted us ».
The project, carried out on the occasion of the commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the creation of the Méndez Parada Military School of Parachuting, an act that was presided over by King Felipe VI this week, takes a tour of yesterday and today of the school. On the left side, as the artist herself explains to LA VERDAD, there is a parachutist in the clothing of the first jumps, in black and white, and a Junker, the first of the planes used at the Base for the first jumps, parachute and skydivers in automatic and manual opening. On the right is the aviocar, the current aircraft used, and in the drying tower, 25 meters high, a current automatic opening parachute and a halo parachutist, a sapper (elite paratrooper) with current clothing and instruments (cameras, parachute opening systems, backpack, night vision…) in a manual opening jump.
In record time
«On December 30 I started with the mural and during these three weeks I have been working on a platform for almost 900 square meters of the façade, alone. I am very grateful for all the facilities offered by the Base to finish the work, combining it with teaching at the School of Art, and with my family. Very happy with the result, in the end it is a challenge for oneself. I have been lucky enough to have favorable weather, cold, but it has not rained, and the wind was not strong enough to stop working. Very large temperature differences between noon and nights.
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 highlights. «And the pride of having been part of the programming of such a special day as this 75th Anniversary is, with that jump of 114 paratroopers, 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, without a doubt, that they have counted on and trusted me to carry out this work, working alone and in record time».
The Colonel of the Air Base, Alberto Lens, and Lieutenant General Pedro José García Cifo, the oldest active paratrooper and Director of Recruitment and Military Education for the Defense, congratulated the artist for her speed and impeccable work.
Martínez León is already called at the Sewer Base “the painter of the Air Force”. In 2019, the PhD in Fine Arts was selected for the Air Force painting awards, and on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the first skydiver jump, the doors were opened to her to see training sessions and investigate from an artistic point of view. She presented 25 portraits of Army professionals, to whom she feels nothing but gratitude.
The Colonel of the Air Base, Alberto Lens, and Lieutenant General Pedro José García Cifo, the oldest active paratrooper and Director of Recruitment and Military Education for the Defense, congratulated the artist for her speed and impeccable work.
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