top of page

EN 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

     
 • Leticia  Miranda  Meyer,   “Manina  Lara”  -­‐ Vanidades   Magazine,  August  2014,  p. 20 -­‐ 23,  La  Paz--Bolivia.       
     
“Having  barely  turned  sixteen,  the  painter   Manina  Lara, a  native  from   La  Paz, received  the  Gold  Medal  awarded  by  the  “10 th  Annual   Youth   &  Children’s   Art   Expo”   held   in  the   Republic   of  China.  She earned   the    award  in  a  contest  over   30,000   other  participants   from   around   the   world.   Since   then,   Manina  has  redirected  her   life    and   has   made   herself  a  constant  in  the  narrow  world  of  the  plastic  arts  until       
the  present.  She  is  free,  and  reflects  this  freedom  on  her  canvas,  where  she       
combines  her  life  experience  using  a  variety  of  techniques,  using  oil,  ink,  pencil,       
collage and engraving; which are generally mixed with one another as a reflection       
of life and its constant movement.        
       
“I have been lucky, not only to have been born in such a diverse country as Bolivia,       
but also for having travelled and known many other countries and cultures. Thanks       
to this, I have been able to prove that beyond cultural and idiomatic differences,       
we  wind  up  being  very  much  alike;  we  are,  ultimately,  mankind,  and  that  is       
something, I believe, that we should think about more often. It’s becoming more       
urgent each day”, she tells us.       
       
Over  the  last  six  years,  Manina  has  lived  in  Munich,  the  historical  capital  of       
Germany,  where  she  showcases  her  work  –  her  last  exposition  was  composed  of       
engravings,  and  was  held  in  November  2012.  Living  there,  her  horizons  have       
broadened,  be  it  as  a  result  of  the  new  language,  or  due  to  the  great  cultural       
movement  that  emanates  from  one  of  the  most  populated  capitals  in  Germany.       
Her  art  is  reflexive,  and  deals  with  the  subject  matter  of  the  great  family  that       
constitutes  mankind,  where  she  explains  the  experiences  she  has  lived  based  on       
her  art  and  her  family  life.  In  August,  the  painter  will  arrive  in  Bolivia  to  present       
this same subject matter.       
       
“We are all in this together, and this is the only place we have to live in” she says,       
and  adds,  “during  these  last  few  years,  my  paintings  have  started  to  become  more       
populated,  my  family  enriches  my  life,  and    there  is  plenty  of  movement  in  daily       
life.  As  years  go  by,  new  elements  have  been  added  into  my  work.  I  think  that  one       
thing gets added onto another”.       
       
From  her  years  back  in  Bolivia,  she  was  inspired  and  marvelled  by  Andean  textiles.       
The hands that weave these looms transmit a very particular vision of the world, as       
well as the paintings that we can appreciate in her exhibition.”       
       
Mario  Ríos  Gastelú,  “Manina  Lara”,  “Creadores  de  luz,  espacio  y  forma”,  edited  by       
“Taipinquiri Centro de Cultura, Arquitectura y Arte”, 1998, p. 77 -­‐ La Paz, Bolivia.       
       
“The work that Manina Lara carries out before the virginity of a defying canvas, is       
not  just  a  mere  chromatic  transformation  of  her  ideas,  but  a  constant  search  for       
the  final  work  through  a  firm  decision  that  the  painting  has  been  worked  on       
enough so that it speaks for itself.       
       
Tidiness and professionalism. Manina lights that fire in her mind that transforms,       
eternally,  to  make  way  for  the  deepness  of  the  shadows.  The  human  being  is       
present in her work, in its eternal mystery. “       
       
Armando  Soriano  Badani,  introduction  for  the  catalog  of  Manina’s  solo  exhibit       
“Entre el furor y la calma” -­‐ April, 1997.       
       
“The  professional  firmness  of  her  restless  brush,  well-­‐disposed  for  the  exploitation       
of  subjects  and  polychromatic  nuances,  is  projected  by  a  constant  figurative       
inclination of original edgings.        
       
Manina Lara, a natural sensitivity, with academic formation in the plastic arts, has       
given a fortunate sample of her skills in different individual and group exhibitions.       
       
The figurative tendency of her painting does not suggest the submissive imitation       
of the model with realistic criteria, which implies a scrupulous formal refinement.       
Manina Lara does not pretend to make a true representation of reality, but rather,       
an  interpretative  mimesis,  manifested  through  her  own  personal  and  expressive       
plastic language.       
       
A  post-­‐impressionistic  insinuation  illuminates  her  compositions,  with  a       
conscientious  treatment  of  color  where  pigments  reveal  the  subtlety  of  her       
coloring, harmonized in the thematic intention of the composition. Hence, in the       
background  of  the  painting,  where  the  leading  figure  is  prominent,  one  can       
distinguish  the  fortunate  combination  of  color,  simulating  the  degree  of       
illumination, appropriate for the preconceived atmosphere of the work of art.       
       
Human  figures,  with  suitable  morphological  rhythm,  translate  the  impulse  of  the       
thematic  proposition,  showing  gentleness,  meditation,  happiness  and  other       
moods, in a competent and correct expression of the defined symbolic content of       
her painting.       
       
Light wanders radiantly through wide spaces that welcome the figure, livening up       
the composition with pleasant lyricism.       
       
Oil,  the  favorite  medium  for  Manina’s  conceptions,  settles  down  on  the  canvas,       
with  subtle  brushstrokes,  which  do  not  leave  a  notorious  trace  of  impasto.  Her       
paintings have captivating transparency and clarity.       
       
Her painting explores the intrinsic and autonomous chromatic value of colors, and       
therefore,  the  uniqueness  of  a  color  plays  its  own  expressive  function  within  the       
composition.       
       
There  are  circumstantial  glimpses  of  a  shy  fauvism  through  the  presence  of       
illuminated colors which do not conform to a defined style the art school pretends       
to  follow,  but  rather,  an  appropriate  resource  which  gives  a  breath  of  vivid       
expression  to  the  transparency  of  the  painting,  in  order  to  promote  the  emotional       
effect of the aesthetic message.       
       
Manina  Lara  is  a  fresh  and  renewed  inspiration  who  grants  her  work  the  accent  of       
her sensitive willingness to capture the intensity and intimacy of life. “       
       
       
Pedro Querejazu, catalog introduction for the solo exhibit “Soliloquios de Manina       
Lara”, November 1994, La Paz – Bolivia.       
“Her name is not unknown because, being the owner of an early artistic vocation,       
she  had  already  obtained  numerous  awards  while  still  a  teenager.  After  long  years       
of  studying    drawing  and  painting,  she  gave  way  to  her  professional  artistic  career.       
Her insistent and lengthy learning process is manifested in a good management of       
the  pictorial  subject  matter  and  color.  Her  works  have  a  good  structure  and       
composition.       
       
Of a somewhat retracted nature but a lively spirit, Manina develops in her art an       
intimate  subject  matter  showing  a  particular  world  whose  domain  lies  in  the       
interior of its chambers, where the light that filters through the windows acquires        
a chromatic as well as a symbolic value; the luminous exterior universe that enters       
closed  worlds  and  fills  them  with  color  and  optimism,  making  evident  the       
unsuspected  experiential  richness  of  these  reduced  spaces,  in  which  solitary       
characters pierce, in soliloquies, the most profound mysteries of their beings.”       
       
María Elisa Martinic, “Arte que va de la mano: 4 artistas”, La Razón, June 1993, La       
Paz – Bolivia.       
      
       
“Manina Lara ́s work reminds us of García Márquez’ finished fantasy: “we did not       
have to force the front door as we had thought, for the main door seemed to open       
at  the  sole  impulse  of  a  voice...”  and  we  saw  open  spaces,  walls  and  doors,  friends       
looking  outside  the  window,  light  and  color.  The  paintings  are  executed  in  dark       
tones, intense colors, well-­‐distributed light and shade effects, a bit of poetry and a       
bit  of  mystery.  Her  work  has  solidity  and  aesthetical  quality,  it  has  conviction.       
Some time ago, in an interview with the famous Bolivian painter Alfredo La Placa,        
he told me that “if an art piece has what the Spaniards call a “goblin”, or soul, then       
the  piece  has  been  well  executed”.  Drawing  from  this  concept,  we  see  that       
Manina’s art has that “goblin”; it transmits something similar to imperturbability,       
to the sensation that nothing is missing, and that there is, however, something still       
left to discover. It reminds me of and old phrase that says: ‘I fear that somebody       
may dream of this room and move my things around’. “       
       
            
       

bottom of page