Marcia Zegarra artist recommended by Pedone Association
Peruvian paintress Marcia Zegarra is an artist, recommended by Pedone Association, who teaches Art History and Architecture at the Saint Paul Catholic University of Arequipa, Peru.
Zegarra signing autographs for visitors of her personal exhibition
Hacedores de sueños … ángeles y memorias
at the French Alliance Gallery of Arequipa in 2010.
Retrato de familia milanese 2014
Note: as Marcia Zegarra is bilingual, most titles of her works are either in Spanish or Italian (I translate the Italian ones only).
Marcia Zegarra has lived many years in Milan, where in 2018 Pedone Association‘s President and Founder Zhiying Li (bachelor’s degree from the Qinghua or “Tsinghua” University of Peking, master’s degree from the Brera Academy of Milan) curated for her the personal exhibition Avete visto l’amore dell’anima mia? (“Have you seen my soul’s love?”).
Poster of Marcia Zegarra‘s personal exhibiton curated by Pedone‘s President Zhiying Li in 2018 in Milan.
Opening of Marcia Zegarra (3rd from left)’s personal exhibition
curated by dalla Pedone‘s President Zhiying Li (4th from left) in Milan in 2018.
in Milan in 2018 was a huge success.
Pedone Association-recommended artist Marcia Zegarra during her stay in Milan was elected General Coordinator of Italian Women for Peru (Coordinadora General de los Estados de las Mujeres de Italia para el Perú), National Secretary of Culture for the Federation of Peruvian Residents of Europe – Italy (Secretaria Nacional de Cultura de la Federación de peruanos residentes en Europa – Italia) and to other offices entailing social responsibility in a high degree.
Marcia Zegarra (right) with ex-consul of Peru in Italy José Ramiro Silva Delgado (left)
For her unceasing social contibution, particularly the help she offered to the integration of female Peruvian immigrants to Italy, and the noticeable results obtained in such domain, in 2016 Marcia Zegarra, artist recommended by Pedone Association, was bestowed the Donne che ce l’hanno fatta (“Women who have made it”) prize by the University of Pavia, with the official reason of having being able to use her excellent paintings to increase the value of female Peruvian immigration to Italy.
Marcia Zegarra collecting her prize at the administrative headquarters of Lombardy in Milan on 31st March 2016.
In 2017 Marcia Zegarra was awarded the Premio IntegrAZIONE – MigrAZIONE (“Integration – Migration“) prize by the “United Latino-American Women in Italy” Association (USDLI), with support from the European Parliament and the Municipality of Milan. The prizegiving took place at the Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan.
Apart from the prestigious awards celebrating her social endeavours, internationally Marcia Zegarra is especially appreciated by critics, public and “colleagues” for her oil paintings on canvas. Among her Italian admirers, let us remember mourned illustrator Enzo Facciolo, mostly famous for his characterisation of the Diabolik comic series.
Eva Kant and Diabolik by Enzo Facciolo.
Enzo Facciolo and Marcia Zegarra (some of her works on the wall).
Peruvian Marcia Zegarra, an artist recommended by Pedone Association, has held 19 personal exhibitions in Italy, France and Peru, and participated in 35 collective exhibitions in Italy, France, Peru, South Korea and Switzerland. In addition to the aforementioned Avete visto l’amore dell’anima mia? personal exhibition curated by Pedone Association‘s President and Founder Zhiying Li (bachelor’s degree from Qinghua or “Tsinghua” University of Peking and master’s degree from the Brera Academy of Milan) in Milan in 2018, among Marcia Zegarra‘s most recent personal exhibitions, let us stress: in 2019, Hashtag #UMANITÀ (“Hashtag #Humanity”) at La Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan and L’AMOUR, les tableaux fantastique de l’artiste internationale Marcia Zegarra at Palais Royal Maison de la vie Associative et Citoyenne du 1er et 2e Arrondissement in Paris; in 2022, Gracia y belleza at the Cultural Centre of the San Agustín National University of Arequipa.
Marcia Zegarra used to deal daily with the complex problems related to such a delicate part of the human social life as immigrants’ integration. This kind of matters requires not only a certain sensitiveness but also much pragmatism. In spite of that, Marcia Zegarra has never lost the childlike spirit necessary to a true artist, as her canvasses show. The characters painted are, mainly, unconscious transfigurations (sometimes deificating) of that particular kind of femininity, at ease due to its maturity, that those artist’s compatriots whom she has known and helped, incarnated. That being said, Marcia Zegarra‘s poetics are much more than this, as it will become evident in the following.
The Three Graces: Luck, Prosperity and Love 130 x 100 cm oil on canvas
Let us start analysing Marcia Zegarra‘s poetics from the oil on canvas titled The Three Graces: Luck, Prosperity and Love: the three possible-deities there painted have latino features and are wearing matched dresses and shoes of the three primary colours; meanwhile, they are holding a rabbit, a fish and a bouquet. Another difference, her collected hair, sets the female figure in the centre apart from the other two.
The Three Graces from Botticelli’s Primavera (Uffizi).
Although according to the Greek myth the Three Graces (Euphrosyne, Aglaea and Thalia) respectively represent joy, elegance and prosperity, in addition to sharing beauty in the highest degree possible, in Marcia Zegarra‘s imaginary such source becomes linked to a zoological symbolism based on which fish means luck, rabbits prosperity and flowers the love between the two sexes.
The Three Graces by Canova (Hermitage Museum).
Another crucial difference with classical mythology is the central figure, as this goddess (?) in red is not only combed in a distinctive manner but plays also a different role from the other two: she is María Anastasia de los Ángeles, Marcia Zegarra’s alter ego.
María Anastasia de los Ángeles, Marcia Zegarra‘s alter ego, with a “prosperity rabbit” and an angel
What does Marcia Zegarra‘s alter ego “goddess” María Anastasia de los Ángeles stand for exactly?
“María Anastasia de los Ángeles – Marcia Zegarra explains to Pedone Association – is a long-standing presence in my soul; she is my depiction of the universal feminine that conveys the love that, joining with male love, serves as the foundation for motherhood and family“.
Maternidad: la estrella 2013-2014
enjoys the support from her beloved man (the long hand) in a triumph of vital fertility.
María Anastasia de los Ángeles, regalos de mi hija Tirsa 2012
Why is Marcia Zegarra‘s alter ego named María Anastasia de los Ángeles?
As the artist answered to Pedone Association‘s Vicepresident Dr Stefano Giovannini (author of this article): “Once I drew her the first time, I asked her what her name was, and she happily replied in a sweet voice ‘I am María Anastasia de los Ángeles, nice to meet you‘ “.
Marcia Zegarra‘s alter ego María Anastasia de los Ángeles as a bearer of luck and prosperity.
Due to the importance of the relationship between woman and family in Marcia Zegarra‘s poetics, man is a co-protagonist as the receiver and reciprocator of love: “Choice of one’s husband – Marcia Zegarra states addressing Pedone Association – is the most important choice in a woman’s life”.
Novias
Marcia Zegarra, an artist recommended by Pedone Association.
The series Novias is dedicated to new brides.
Enjoy your choice! 90 x 70 cm
In Marcia Zegarra‘s Enjoy your choice! there are five men different in height, which symbolises their different degrees of goodness, but a huge hand is there too. The woman who is about to choose her husband is wise and sensitive, therefore looking towards the big hand, which represents true love’s bestowed protection: hence, surprisingly the best husband is almost entirely invisible, off-screen, signifying the greater importance of soul and substance compared to matter and form.
El bouquet de la novia 100 x 60 cm
Camino al altar 81 x 60 cm
La familia de Marinne
Marcia Zegarra‘s alter ego María Anastasia de los Ángeles is also getting married, of course:
María Anastasia de los Ángeles novia de la madeja
The background of María Anastasia de los Ángeles novia de la madeja is rather dark for such a joyful occasion as a marriage, but that is useful to highlight Marcia Zegarra‘s alter ego’s dress, red as to symbolise the light of love.
The next painting is even more difficult to decipher:
Novia del extraño vestido azul antes del día 16 90 x 60 cm
In spite of the initial instictive eeriness, one may regard those ornaments as propitious signs, for rabbits, flowers and angels respectively are related to prosperity, love between the two sexes and divine grace. There remains the date to be explained: a possible numerological interpretation would direct us to decode it based on the notion of 16 as the number of confidence, intuition, balance and erudition, but wiseness most of all, in addition to be a symbol of the constant vicinity of those deities supporting us.
Novia del extraño vestido azul antes del día 16 is therefore an artistic expression perfectly balancing the opposites, by using an ostentatiously cold exteriority to convey a hiddenly joyful interiority.
Cantar de los Cantares
and
Amado y la amada
Marcia Zegarra, an artist recommended by Pedone Association.
Distancing ourselves from the introversion of the last painting analysed, let us take advantage of the next one to bathe in the dazzling light emanating from the shining lovers, whose iconography is inspired by Song of Songs, one of the texts of reference for Marcia Zegarra‘s poetics:
Series Cantar de los Cantares, work Claros
“Love between the two sexes – as described by Marcia Zegarra to Pedone Association – is an unstoppable force unfolding through our imagination, gestures, images and texts. The rapids of love leading us to the vortex of passion purify our soul”.
The next work is chosen from the series Amado y la amada:
The Dance 150 x 100 cm
The Dance clearly shows that in Marcia Zegarra‘s poetics man is not only “husband” but also “king”. Indeed, this series shares its inspiration with the one stemming from the dialogue between Solomon and Shulamite. The leaning of the woman against her husband-king represents her search for the support given by one’s faith in God, Who gifts humanity the love between the two sexes.
I am the narcissus 80 x 60 cm
The king in I am the narcissus by Peruvian Marcia Zegarra, an artist recommended by Pedone Association, symbolises one’s faith in God, Who gifted humanity love between the two sexes. God, in His infinite goodness, uses the weapon there depicted to imprison the evils menacing mankind. Such imposing scenes apart, in Marcia Zegarra‘s series Song of Songs (Cantar de los Cantares) one also finds paintings of balletic sweetness.
Flowers are blooming in the garden 80 x 40 cm
A flower among flowers: beautiful Marcia Zegarra in Stresa (Italy).
Mujeres Andinas
Marcia Zegarra, an artist recommended by Pedone Association.
In Marcia Zegarra‘s work, flowers, representing love between the two sexes and hope, are only one of the many kinds of plants semantically charged. Notwithstanding the fact that the paintress has lived in Italy for a long time, being Peruvian she is naturally linked to Andean culture, which she knows in great detail, as shown by the agri-food symbolism in the series she dedicated to Andean women.
A satellite photograph of the Andean mountain range (source: Wikipedia).
Italy, Japan, China, France and Peru share the cultural importance of food, conceived as an indispensable heritage from a traditional identity’s viewpoint. As for the Andean people, they have always fed on maize, potatoes, chili pepper and quinoa. Thus, in the work of Marcia Zegarra, an artist recommended by Pedone Association, maize is very meaningful.
“We humans – Marcia Zegarra tells us, defining human sociality – are boxes filled with surprises, awaiting to be opened by our neighbour: this process of mutual opening and understanding makes us happy”.
On the next canvas, chosen from the series Mujeres Andinas, “you can see a maize-box – Marcia Zegarra notes – for according to Andean cosmology this cereal is a symbol of new beginning and prosperity”. Maize is accompanied by a colibri, traditionally associated with joy and vitality.
Micaela with maize 55 x 66 cm
Colibri aside, another important bird in Andean culture is the parrot, as a memento of the freedom bestown by God to mankind. As such, parrots are privileged subjects for golden jewellery and other ornaments, as reflected by the following painting, wherein the winged one in flesh and bones is sided by a decorative figure shaped in its image. The couple highlights the concept of freedom, which is to be intended here as the free will donated by God to humanity.
Peruvian woman with parrot 60 x 50 cm
Peruvian culture has some of its fundamental components deriving from the Inca tradition: the Inca Empire, despite lasting only for a century or so, has generated relevant legacies in various fields, such as, for example, architecture (see Machu Picchu), agriculture (see Moray), hydraulics (see Tipón). Another distinctive area of that part of the Andean culture which stems from the Inca tradition is textiles: to date, the most refined Peruvian clothes are worked by skilled artisans following the ancient techniques to produce multicolor wefts and intricated patterns.
Ruins of the Inca city of Machu Picchu (source: adventure-life.com)
In the next work we can admire a small Inca bag:
Woman with Inca bag 50 x 60 cm
In this work Marcia Zegarra painted a Mestizo woman (37% of the Peruvian population is made of this ethnicity, which is the result of the mix of the Amerindians, the most widespread ethnic group, with the conquistadores) holding a chuspa containing the secret of femininity.
Marcia Zegarra‘s alter ego, the maybe-divine María Anastasia de los Ángeles also is depicted as a Mestizo woman.
Peces, el regalo sagrado de un padre 60 x 40 cm
Descabelladas
Marcia Zegarra, an artist recommended by Pedone Association.
Mestizos apart, a great variety of ethnicities is listed in Peruvian paintress Marcia Zegarra‘s works, as it is strikingly apparent in 2014’s painting Un barquito para ti:
Perhaps the four little-boat-holding women’s hairstyles are somehow related to the cardinal directions?
In Un barquito para ti there is, among the others, a somatically Far-Eastern woman: flowing, jet-black hair like hers is a fundamental component of East-Asian women’s charm. As it is clear from this work, in Marcia Zegarra‘s poetics hairstyle plays a key-role: whenever the paintress aims at ceonveying a sense of mystery, she paints hair black. This premise is essential to decode the Descabelladas series, dedicated to women who hide their innermost secrets within unlikely hairstyles, in turn innervated by passionate souls.
(work hung on a black wall) Ternura 140 x 40 cm
The descabellada in pink is holding a pink rose and wearing pink roses in her hair. At the same time, she is carrying a cat. “Pink – Marcia Zegarra helps us understand – represents the feminine soul’s gentleness, suggesting that a woman should always keep herself fresh and vital”. As for the feline, “it’s a decise companion, a brave and independent one”.
(work hung on a black wall) Hope 140 x 40 cm
The descabellada in green is ornating her hair by various flowers, all alone if not for a blue butterfly on her hand. “This work – Marcia Zegarra explains to Pedone Association‘s Vicepresident Dr Stefano Giovannini (the author of this article) – symbolises hope by using the colour green, traditionally linked to this concept”. The butterfly is blue for it is a “bearer of good news“.
Una noticia azul 2013
Murmullos entre las rosas 100 x 40 cm
Marcia Zegarra‘s alter ego María Anastasia de los Ángeles.
Thanks for Your kind attention, please be informed that if You wish to receive more information about Marcia Zegarra‘s works, you can get in touch with this article’s author by writing to stefanogiovannini87 [at] gmail.com, writing “Marcia Zegarra’s works” (or a similar wording) as the e-mail subject.