UTRERA has pretty well deserved his reputation as a sensational painter -not to be mixed up with unspecified sensationalism- through a good deal of happenings and about a hundred exhibitions; which, since his first one-man show at the Gallery Moises Alvarez (Palma de Mallorca) in 1968 until his retrospective exhibition at  La Roche-on-Foron (Hte-Savoy) lately,  has enabled him to show his works from one corner to another of the European geography. Highlights from such a tour worth to remember : the Gallery Marie (Stockholm, 1969), the Gallery Tretakiov (Moscow, 1992), Santillana Castle (Santander, 1992), Galleria Carbone (Torino, 1996), etc. In France: introductory display of the artist's philosophy and paintings in front of a panel of initiates at the House of the Latin America (Paris, 1982). Later on, in this City of the Lights, followed his noteworthy appearances inside the group-shows of Critical Figuration at the Grand Palais; as well as inside those of BAC-Off, in Lyon. And so many other places and events quite as exciting... As for the above-mentioned expression  sensational, laying at the root of ultrarealism in painting promoted by Utrera, one can assert  –without needing to go back to Aristotle- that it is aimed to indicate a system of creativity fitted both to shake up the minds and arouse the spirits. Sensation, sensibility,  sensuality : same sort of fighting. Of avant-garde !