Alicia (Icha) de Woodman

Alicia (Icha) de Woodman

A PERUVIAN AMBASSADOR OF ART

Alicia de Woodman opened her attest exhibition of painting at the Berlin Plaza Hotel on October 10th, 2000. Dr. Felix C. Calderón, the Consul General of Peru welcomed the visitors. A short speech was given by the Peruvian artists Mrs. Carolina Kecskementhy, who resides in Berlin.

Immediately at first sight, the paintings evoked enthusiasm because of their intensive and vibrant colours. The paintings portrayed women in graceful garments, some of them adorned their hair with sophisticated decorations. The wonderful still lives with exotic fruit were practically calling for attention. The paintings of the Archangels and of Mary with the Child, strongly influenced by the Peruvian “Colonial style” were just outstanding.

Alicia de Woodman explained that her studio is in Barranco at the seaside, a small place where many artists live, particularly painters, sculptors, and pottery makers. She is being called “Icha” by her friends. In the North of Peru “Icha” is the diminutive of Alicia. She works in her studio for 3 to 4 hours every day. Once a week her friends come there to paint under the supervision of an art professor from the Academy of Art.

Alicia did her fist paintings in 1980. In 1988 she participated for the first time in a group exhibition in Lima. Several art shows followed in Lima, Ancón, Madrid, Toledo, Berlin, Miami, and Vienna.

The exhibition in Vienna took place in the castle of Princess Stephania Furenberg, where 17 painters from Central and South America came together.

At the beginning of her career, Alicia was inclined to cubism. A period of melancholy followed. During this time she loved to paint unhappy people and sorrowful clowns.

She describes her style as “a kind of expressionism, sometimes being figurative, other times being abstract”. Abstract painting is a spiritual necessity for her. “I am moving between figurative and abstract painting – some months I do paint in one style and some months in the other”, explained the artist. Her basic colours are red, blue, and green, with a preference for red.

To keep in contact with international art scenes and getting to know the latest friends she goes on information tours to the United States (New York, Washington, Philadelphia) lead by a professor of art history.

This is Alicia de Woodman´s second exhibition in Berlin. Her daughter Lizette lives here with her family since three years. The exhibition is open every day from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will last until December 31st, 2000.