When Umberto Valverde (b. 1947) published this article, María de la Paz Jaramillo (b. 1948) was working on her exhibition Veintitrés posibilidades de una mujer [A Woman’s Twenty-Three Possibilities]; at the same time, the Universidad del Valle (in Cali) was presenting the Salón Regional de la Zona Suroccidental [Regional Exhibition of the Southwestern Zone] (which includes the Colombian Amazon) where Jaramillo was awarded second prize for her La novia-La viuda [The Girlfriend-The Widow]. As stipulated in the submission guidelines for the exhibition, the regional winners would be eligible to participate in the XXVI Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales [XXVI National Exhibition of Visual Arts] (September–October 1976).Jaramillo’s series Veintitrés posibilidades de una mujer was a powerful statement on behalf of women. She was particularly interested in exploring women’s conventional roles or phases (girlfriend, widow, wife, housewife, nun, singer, lover, and model). Her work at that time protested against the passive role imposed on women throughout history. Much of her production during the 1960s addressed the idea of women using makeup as a “mask.” In fact, the makeup worn by Jaramillo’s women was somewhat exaggerated because in her opinion makeup was used as a social mask. María de la Paz Jaramillo’s work in the 1960s should be viewed through the cultural prism of Cali, Colombia, where she explored the world of salsa dancing, bars, and brothels that she frequently documented, camera in hand, accompanied by other local Cali artists. These photographs were generally the basis for her work; that is, she focused on the deterioration and transformation of people as the night wore on. They were the inspiration for the deformed faces that Valverde refers to in his article, “Una niña ‘linda’ que pinta mujeres ‘feas’” [A “Pretty” Girl Who Paints “Ugly” Women]. The Cali women who danced in nightspots like the Bar de William caught the artist’s attention; in Jaramillo’s opinion, salsa dancing was a way for women to express their freedom because the dance granted them total equality with men. Valverde’s piece is one of the few articles that present a broader perspective on Jaramillo; mainly because it expresses her opinions on galleries and the difficulties of being an artist enjoying commercial success. It is no coincidence that she decided to use prints to express her view of prostitution as yet another form of human exploitation in the capitalist system. Jaramillo explains that this medium allowed her to produce her work as a series and to exhibit it in several cities at the same time, as well as to offer it at a lower price than was usual. The large number of newspaper articles published about Jaramillo prompted the local press in her home town of Manizales to state that “they are pampering a girl from a good family who paints” (La Patria, Manizales, 14 November 1976) and “the critics have reviewed her work very kindly” (La Patria, Manizales, 29 November 1976). Umberto Valverde published regular critical reviews in his column (Barcarola) in the liberal newspaper El Pueblo de Cali. At the time he wrote this article, he had already published his first book Bomba camará (1972), a collection of stories about the partying lifestyle of those living in the poorer neighborhoods in Cali.