Twenty-nine
year old Luis Miguel Portilla Tuesta smiled when asked about his age.
He referred to a birth date in 1986 and said it was a rainy day.
Since
that date, it seems that the heavens have been pouring out deluges of
artistic triumph: Portilla's vibrant contemporary paintings,
evocative of Peruvian cultural history, and his folkloric band
Illarek's
haunting songs which commemorate the people and land of Amazonas.
Portilla
is a descendant of the Pizarro and Tenorio clans, families who have
lived in Chachapoyas since the 1600's. His affinity for his ancestral
homeland motivates all he paints and every song he composes.
Growing
up with four brothers, he was influenced by his uncle Marco Antonio,
who encouraged all five boys to learn to play guitar or charango,
the
mandolin-like Peruvian instrument. Three of the brothers became the
core of Illarek
(https://www.facebook.com/illarek.oficial?fref=ts)
–
Julio, recording engineer and maestro of the charango;
and
Luis and his brother César who share vocals, guitar and songwriting.
Portilla tells the story of their Nicaraguan tour in 2013. “We were the
first Peruvian musicians invited to perform at the
Ruben Darío Theatre in Managua, one of the largest theaters in Latin
America. The messages of social justice in our songs resonated with
the Nicaraguan people, who have been developing a socialist country
for some time. They especially responded to our song about the
Baguazo - the 2009
demonstration of indigenous people in Amazonas protesting oil
exploration that resulted in 34 deaths.”
“Illarek
is not just a musical group. It's an ideology, an ideology devoted to
humanizing the world, to spreading the truth that we are all brothers
and sisters.” Portilla says that Illarek
will soon release their fifth CD, possibly sound-engineered in France
where brother Julio now lives.
Portilla interrupted his university studies in engineering – he lacks a year
for his degree – to enroll in the Bellas Artes school
of Chachapoyas to pursue his love of painting. “I felt the need to
express and share with the world those things that are my origin, not
my colonial origin, but my indigenous, Andean origin.”
He
often works in natural pigments – extracts from leaves, mushrooms,
clays, and even animal fats.
His range of subjects and styles is
truly varied, from impressionistic portraits to abstract and
dreamlike images incorporating indigenous archetypes and symbology.
In
2011, an opportunity to work with inmates at the local state
penitentiary turned out to be one of the most spiritually rewarding
experiences of his life. Although a salary never materialized, Portilla continued for two years as an advisor and teacher of art. “It was a
beautiful project. In the beginning I had 5 students, and soon I was
working with forty. After nine months, eighty inmates were learning
painting and sculpture.” An exhibition in Chachapoyas was arranged,
and “Freedom Through Art” became a sensation. “People could
begin to understand that these prisoner artists were also people,
people who had made mistakes like all of us make mistakes, and that
they were re-inventing themselves and improving their lives. And art
gave them a chance to find a kind of freedom behind the prison bars.”
Portilla has been recently acclaimed at an exhibition in Lima at the Mercado
Del Arte gallery in Miraflores.
He's
also busy with his wife, Spanish-born poet Lucia Zapata Cornejo, with
the recent opening of their art gallery and crafts store, JUKU WASI,
in Chachapoyas at Jiron Triunfo 850.
They are displaying paintings by Luis, photographic works of youngest
brother Mario Portilla, and selected artesanias
of extremely high quality from throughout Peru. Lucia and a Spanish
photographer, Sara López Juliá, have recently published Mujer
Salvaje; Esencia Feminina, an
impressive photographic essay that explores feminist ideals within a
pictorial background of Amazonian and indigenous motifs. The book is
available at JUKU WASI.
While Portilla is a talented artist and musician, he is also a serious young
man. Deeply philosophical, he has this to say about his calling. “Art
exists not simply to decorate a home; music isn't just for dancing.
Both are forms of education. Paintings and songs are messages. Art
exists to humanize the world. It is difficult to understand in this
era of the supposed evolution of mankind....how humans continue to
wage war, commit terrible acts of destruction and murder. Artists are
obligated to concern ourselves with this world, to sensitize people
and raise awareness. Everyone can make small changes. This is our
role.”
Luis
Portilla's works can be viewed on his Facebook page -
https://www.facebook.com/Portilla-500706006699803/timeline/