MARÍA MARTELO ( Ordes / Galiza)

MARÍA MARTELO (Ordes / Galicia)

📍Painting at: Casillas, 4, 15680 As Casillas, Ordes, A Coruña, Spain

María Martelo del Río (Ordes, Galicia, 2003) is the Galician representative of the 19th edition of DesOrdes Creativas and also a source of pride for the festival as the local artist representing Ordes this year.

She belongs to a new generation that grew up in a context where urban art had already become part of the everyday landscape—a reality she lived alongside and that, perhaps (hopefully...), played some role in awakening her artistic concerns.

Although painting has accompanied her since childhood, it was during her Fine Arts studies that she expanded her practice to include photography, video, and object-based work, developing an interdisciplinary approach that continues to shape her artistic practice. In recent years, her pictorial research has evolved towards large-scale formats, making the transition to mural painting through her final degree project.

Through expressive brushstrokes, translucent layers, and continuous blends of colour, she creates chromatic landscapes that, when viewed up close, verge on abstraction while evoking the memory of the places from which they emerge. Bringing these images back to the spaces that inspired them becomes a way of establishing a dialogue between past and present, personal experience and shared memory.

She has participated in video festivals, collaborative audiovisual projects, and group exhibitions in Ordes, Vigo, Monção, Santiago de Compostela, and Barcelona. In 2025, she received the Xuventude Crea Urban Art Award, recognising the promising trajectory of an emerging artist with a distinctive voice.

For DesOrdes Creativas, it is a pleasure to welcome María to this edition and to provide her with the support and resources needed to develop and present her work on a larger scale. Since its beginnings, the festival has been committed to nurturing local talent by supporting new generations and organising educational activities in every edition to complement their artistic development. We strive to bring together established artists and emerging voices, fostering dialogue between different generations and approaches to public art while encouraging mutual learning. It is always a joy to see new generations taking up the torch and continuing this shared path of valuing and reclaiming public space through artistic practice.

More info:
https://www.instagram.com/mariamartelodelrio/