20th-21st Century Spanish

Avia began studying art in the 1950s at Academia Peña and then furthered her training at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts. For reasons of artistic affinities and friendship she joined the group of realist artists from Madrid encompassing Antonio López (1936), María Moreno (1933-2020), Isabel Quintanilla (1938-2017), the brothers Julio (1930-2018) and Francisco López Hernández (1932-2017) and also Lucio Muñoz (1929-1998), whom she married in 1960.

She had her first exhibition in 1959 at Galería Fernando Fe in Madrid. While Avia always remained loyal to a representation of the real, her subject matters evolved from social concerns focused on Castilian rural life to a more contemporary sentimental and poetic evocation of solitary cityscapes devoid of human presence. The artist depicted unassuming nooks and crannies of the city, dilapidated façades or old doorways that she transferred to the canvas with her signature greyish and soft hues.

In 1997, the Centro Cultural de la Villa de Madrid organised a survey show of her work to honour her career as an artist, and she was awarded the Medal for Merit in Fine Artsfrom the Madrid City Council. Avia published her memoirs in 2004 under the title De puertas adentro.