The Moon of José Pérez Ocaña
Created by José Pérez Ocaña at 15th of February 1982
Restored by Samuel Mestre in 2018 and placed with a celebration ritual at Ocaña
Piece aquiered from Pere Pedrals, avid collector of José Pérez Ocaña
Creative Project Generator & Manager : Dessislava Pirinchieva
Trapeze artist: Eva Clapp from Cabaret Plata
Installed by Amaia Arzua & Ocaña Team
Photos: Isaac Flores
Produced by Joaquima Laguna & Ocaña Barcelona
June 2018, Barcelona
“Created to crown his exhibition Spring (April and May 1982), this papier-mâché crescent of almost three meters hung from the ceiling of the Capella de l'Antic Hospital in Barcelona, flying over more than 200 works, including drawings, watercolors, oil paintings, and other sculptures.
The moon had a detachable angel sitting on its lap that recalls the image of Pierrot swinging on it. It is known that Ocaña identified with both, with the sad clown and with the moon, so it is not surprising that he painted her with the typical make-up of the white-faced clown: the arched eyebrows, the red lips,and tears that, being from Ocaña, They are colorful. By the way, the little angel is no longer preserved, like so many other papier-mâché figures from Ocaña.
This moon, in short, becomes the image that represents Ocaña. For example, not only did he use it to illustrate the posters of the following exhibitions in Palma, Santander, and Donostia (although not all of them could show the moon due to its size), but he even stamped, with huge letters, his iconic signature on one of their faces.
After Ocaña's death, the moon has only been seen four times: welcoming the people who entered the Plaza Reial where a party was held in his name (1984), briefly in the Comediants film, Karnabal (1985 ), in a Marató de l'Espectacle eclipsing the Sun (1999) and in the Beata Ocaña exhibition (2008), which commemorated the 25th anniversary of her death.
Now, 10 years later, Ocaña's moon returns to the Plaza Reial to illuminate the night.”
Pere Pedrals
Samuel Mestre restored
The Moon of Ocaña
for
six weeks.
Pere Perdrals, who owned the iconic piece The Moon by José Pérez Ocaña at the time, was a friend, and we agreed that Joaquima Laguna, founder of Ocaña, would be in charge of the costs of the restoration and would, in exchange, expose The Moon in her local for five years. I was overseeing and managing the restorative process of the piece. In the end, Joaquima purchased the piece, as the space couldn´t be imagined without it.
The Moon is associated with the silver color, so we decided to create a silver evening for a celebration ritual cheering the reintroduction of the piece in the city. All guests were asked to be dressed up in silver, and one of the cocktail makers at Ocaña came up with a silver cocktail.
I remember one day when Pere and I were visiting Samuel Mestre´s studio. Pere told me, “Can you imagine a trapeze female artist swinging above The Moon?” I not only imagined it, but we made it possible, as Joaquima Laguna is the owner of the iconic cabaret in Spain, Cabaret Plata, where Eva Clapp is a trapeze artist.
