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Glass Mirrors and Serial Codes: A Glimpse into the Self Portrait
‘You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.’ George Bernard Shaw The self portrait in its most potent form offers the viewer with a direct insight to an artist. On an superficial level we are granted a glimpse of the artist’s face. For the viewer it is interesting, exciting, and dynamic thing to be afforded this opportunity, as I believe it adds unconsciously to our perception of the artist. But why certain artists engage in this practise so frequently is a tricky one to answer. Is the self-portrait an exercise in convenience (no easier/cheaper model to arrange than yourself) or…
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Cuando el artista se mira de cara
Un artista, bueno o malo, no deja de retratarse nunca. Da igual que pinte un bodegón, escriba unos versos o toque estos acordes o aquellos: cada obra de arte es un resumen más o menos explícito de una manera de ver el mundo. De igual modo, cuando un buen pintor -o fotógrafo, o escultor- retrata a alguien, debe esforzarse por hacer de su representación una suerte de resumen biográfico. Sin contar con las facilidades descriptivas del escritor, el artista plástico debe, ante todo, volver visible el ser profundo del retratado, o sea, lograr casi lo imposible: que, al mirarlo, uno sienta empatía hacia un total desconocido.
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C’est toujours un peu mégalo un autoportrait.
Surtout lorsque l’on sent une préparation minutieuse. Un autoportrait me fait toujours penser à la mode du dukeface et autre sparrow face complétement ridicule. Mais le vrai autoportrait, celui qui est qualifié d’art ; mégalo ou pas ? Peut-être qu’à force de peindre les autres, les artistes avaient envie d’étudier leurs propres traits. Ceci dit, je crois avoir déjà dit que j’aime beaucoup Frida Kahlo et notamment ses autoportraits où elle parvient à mettre à nu toute sa douleur.
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I’m not crazy; my mother had me tested.
Arguably, most forms of art worth lengthy discussion have a bit of madness behind them, whether it is a painting, film, or novel. Personally, I find that my creative work suffers a bit when everything in my life feels completely balanced. Think about the mental states of various actors, painters, and authors. Off of the top of my head, I can come up with Tilda Swinson, Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, Hemingway, Tolstoy, Poe, Wolfe, Caravaggio, (cough) Hitler… I could list tons and tons, but I’d much rather hear from you. But madness is rather subjective, isn’t it?
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Una acción discutible
Todo empezó una mañana del 8 de julio de 1853. El comodoro Matthew Calbraith Perry a bordo del USS Susquehanna llegó a las costas de Japón, al puerto de Edo (actual Tokio), con la intención de negociar un tratado comercial con EE.UU. Sus demandas eran la apertura de al menos un puerto al comercio extranjero y la seguridad de que las propiedades y pescadores americanos serían respetados. Al verse opuesto por una negativa amenazó con emplear la muy superior fuerza armamentística de que disponía. Ante semejante disparidad, los gobernantes japoneses no tuvieron otra opción que ceder. El tratado se firmó el 31 de marzo de 1854. Este singular evento tuvo drásticas…
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Art from the Land of the Rising Sun
Japan, in comparison with many other countries, is rather small, though it ranks tenth amongst the world’s highest populations. More fascinatingly, it has one of the richest and most eclectic art histories to speak of when considering it on its own. Yes, various countries in Europe do this or that, and Africa has a slew of artistic variety, but we’re just talking one country – 6852 islands, if you really want to talk about how amazing Japan’s universally-acknowledged solidarity is. Continuously infiltrated by other powers (China, Russia, Germany’s money, and the United States), art in Japan has successfully maintained a focused and healthy presence in the art world since the…
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Van Gogh – délit de copie japonaise
Non Van Gogh n’est jamais allée au Japon, même si les plaisirs asiatiques (opium et autres geishas), auraient certainement convenu à sa nature artistique. On connaît bien sûr les épisodes scandaleux de sa vie : sa mélancolie/folie, son oreille coupée, son alcoolisme, son errance à la recherche d’un havre de paix. On sait moins spontanément qu’il a trouvé une source d’inspiration formidable dans les estampes japonaises qui arrivent en Europe avec les expositions internationales. Après les impressionnistes, le japonisme a engendré une seconde mini-révolution artistique en France. Quelle ironie : l’Asie est aujourd’hui accusée de plagiats, de copies et de produire de nombreux faux. À l’époque au contraire ce sont les Européens…
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A Love-Letter to the Land of the Rising Sun
For those of us who have never been to Japan, we can only picture the beautiful vista of the Land of the Rising Sun with the help of popular films such as Memoirs of a Geisha, Babel, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Lost in Translation, and The Last Samurai. For me, it was Memoirs of a Geisha which truly began my love affair with Japan. (Although, Tom Cruise did give it his best effort!) A hauntingly beautiful story, love, betrayal, hope, the mystery of the Orient: despite the controversy of a Chinese actress portraying a Japanese geisha, I personally feel that Zhang Ziyi was perfectly cast. To top…
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Lessons to be Learnt from The Wizard of Oz and Matisse
Imagine you’re Dorothy. You have just escaped Auntie Em and a life of rusticated farm-life. You step out of your house, and no more black-and-white, but BOOM! It’s a colour explosion, where you are literally on the other side of the rainbow. And never mind those Munchkins… What would you think, honestly? That you are in some strange kind of fever-dream? Or that you have accidentally ingested a potent hallucinogenic (let’s forget for the moment that Dorothy probably doesn’t know what that is)? Or, simply, that you’ve just gone crazy? I think it fair enough to say that these feelings may be eerily similar to those experienced by Matisse and…
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Más allá de la oreja de van Gogh
En el mundo en que vivimos, el cotilleo anda a la orden del día. Si es sobre alguien famoso, mejor. Y si es algo malo o políticamente incorrecto que dicho famoso haya hecho o dicho, tienes la seguridad de que cientos de miles de personas pagarán por saberlo. Y eso no ocurre sólo en los «corrillos» (donde, seamos sinceros, el nivel intelectual es muchas veces inferior a la media de la audiencia de HMYV*), sino a niveles artísticos, donde un desliz del pintor/cineasta/músico/… puede provocar el ostracismo de un talentoso individuo. ¿Qué hubiera pasado si, llevados por juicios morales, hubieramos decidido que Quevedo no era digno de atención? Pudo ser…
This is an interactive art blog in multi languages, you will find new articles on artists, art history, exhibitions, etc. Contributions welcome.
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