José Pérez Ocaña Cantillana , 1947-1983

José Pérez Ocaña was born in 1947 in Cantillana, a small town in Sevilla. He grew up in a harsh and hostile rural environment during the post-war period. His passion for drawing and his desire to escape reality made him stand out as a poor student in a national-Catholic education system, which marked his childhood with strict censorship and repression of many of his ideas and aspirations.

In the 1970s, he emigrated to Barcelona, where he went through various stages before settling in Las Ramblas and Plaza Real. There, he became part of the most bohemian, marginal, and intellectual scene in the city, at the heart of the underground culture. After a trip to Paris and his return to Barcelona in 1976, Ocaña's image became recognizable thanks to his public performances. That same year, he held his first solo exhibition, Un poco de Andalucía, at the Mec-Mec Gallery.

Ocaña became an iconic public figure of a different, underground Barcelona. Through his performances and works, he narrated episodes of his life, such as his arrest on July 24, 1981, and the first demonstrations of the Gay Liberation Front (FAG), as well as clear representations of the religious life of his hometown Cantillana and his Andalusian culture.

After his death, Ocaña became a myth for those who knew him and fought alongside him for freedoms in a festive and daring manner, in a country in continuous transition towards democracy. His figure and work have remained in the collective memory of his generation and have served as an inspiration for other artists