Cuba 2010/1
yeah, first time in three years that i’ve been there due to different reasons, but things went smooth right away. what surprised me most was that my Spanish is still pretty good although i’m not able to practice it much over here. of course things change, even in Cuba, although sometimes for the worst. transport in Havana is bad, and more expensive, but there always is a way around. when i drove onto the Malecón the first thing i noticed were the new police cars with a big blue cone shaped siren on top, which immediately gave away the only patrol car that didn’t have a blue but a dark grey one - obviously not carrying a siren but a 360 degree camera accompanied by a cop on the passenger seat holding a laptop. furthermore, the same street cameras that can be found in the city where i live i saw again in Obispo, Havana’s central shopping area. the same goes for Santiago. in that respect Cuba is way behind America and Europe on citizen control, or crime prevention, whatever you want to call it.
first surprise though, beforehand, was that Raciel Gómez Golpe had moved to Miami, Fl, permanently. as a painter in Cuba he was doing pretty good the last couple of years, got a lot of attention publicly and interest from galleries, museums and collectors internationally. his work – authentic, sincere and of high quality – certainly deserves it.
Charcoal and acrylic on paper 25 x 35 cm 2005
as Raciel has his own website for sometime now, i won’t be updating much about him on mine, only now and then on my blog when something special will occur. there’s a recent online interview with him – in Spanish – that can be read here. he is also selling his paintings online via Artelista.com here. don’t say i didn’t warn you back then about his work rising sky-high. there’s still more to come as i see it, especially now he moved to Miami and things could evolve more rapidly.
09.6.10RETRATO DE UNA DAMA – por Eugène Carrière 1
Nothing I had expected -
I fell in love
right away.
Her transparent slight
unhealthy skin,
her fragile cheekbones and
preciously curved
lips.
Those eyes…
A couple of careless
strokes -
outlined the pattern
of her high-necked
19th century
dress.
Sadness? Yes.
Proudness?
That too.
What femininity
mastered.
I went back and
went back,
and stood in front -
silenced.
Finally saying goodbye
aloud.
Portrait of a lady 1894
well, i just got back from a cuban fortnight and damn, i couldn’t find a better and bigger picture on the net than the one above. what is stupid is that i probably stood in front of it about half an hour, going back and back, and totally forgot about taking a picture while i was all alone in the room and had my camera with me; it just never entered my mind!
retrato de una dama can be viewed in the French section of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana – Arte Universal – which is the Austuriano building – not the new one behind the Museo de la Revolución which houses Arte Cubano. in all of these years i never went there because it was always closed due to renovation or i just had other things to do and/or on my mind.
i had never heard of Eugène Carrière before, and thought of him as a late impressionist. but it seems he is regarded a symbolist and was close friends with Auguste Rodin. he also painted a portrait of Paul Verlaine whom he met and gave the portrait to in friendship. most other paintings i found of him aren’t really my kind of thing, and it looks as if above one was done in commission as it is very different from his other work, which reminded me of Fidelio Ponce de León, a Cuban artist i saw a couple of days earlier. the selection of his oil paintings in the Arte Cubano museum is stunning; an artist with a very sad life.
there was a small Jongkind in the room beside retrato de una dama which surprised me; a couple of boats on a beach in a further empty landscape. a typical Jongkind – my all-time favorite. but, retrato de una dama, fuck! excuse me, my dear… nothing at all i normally fall for. the painting is small in size, dark, she has a sad glare and there is absolutely no direct visual attraction as far as color is concerned. it’s all about her face, her expression, getting direct contact even from afar. the technique added a lot to my admiration, but it was really she herself who captured me. the brush strokes are minimal, the paint is so thin and put on the canvas so delicate and rapidly. the varnish is old and the painting should be cleaned, but i guess it also adds to her aura. i would like to see her again, though, sometime. clean and fresh. i bet she would even smile.
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STÖBERWALD
Alles was nicht brennt
oder zerfetzt.
Lumpen.
Ameisenverein -
in Lumpen.
Gemäldenhinblick,
Gemäldenrückblick.
Alles was ich nicht
malen kann -
im Vorausblick.
just a few words about an exhibition i visited yesterday in the local modern art: Ger Lataster. the man’s 90 years old and well known all over the place, and still painting daily it seems. what made me curious enough to cycle across the bridge on this wonderfully bright and hot friday, was his way of painting and his concern about and involvement with social and political issues which occured throughout his lifetime: the spanish civil war, concentration camps – my man! -, the capitulation of Berlin, the cold war, Vietnam, the fall of the Berlin wall, Afghanistan etc etc. all giant topics that had a huge impact spanning almost a century.
now, i couldn’t get much out of the paintings by how they were called, as the man is generally considered an abstract-expressionist. this was, however, not important from my point of view, as i only focused on the dynamics of his paintings and the materials and colors used. his canvases are huge, so not even that many are exhibited. there’s a selection from the mid-fifties until recently, and i have to say most didn’t touch me at all: too wild for my taste, thick layers of paint smeared out and scratched into frantically with some sharp object. disharmonic colors these had too, clung together. too crowded, clogged. but, i’m not questioning the man or the quality of his work here, i’m just getting to what did interest me.
there are a couple of later paintings that turn more figurative and transparent, the canvas is left blank, sometimes like ‘holes’ in the middle of the paint. subtlety kicks in, much more refined. the colors fade, swirl, turn into organic movement. that’s what started tickling me. these were way more harmonic, lighter, had a delicate sense, although his strokes were still very wild: the charcoal, the spray and the oil paint. in the center of the museum an entire wall is covered by a tetraptych which theme is Auschwitz. to be more specific: the piles of hair, glasses, shoes, and finally a pile of ashes that remained of the once owners. a shovel is stuck in all four. he calls it ‘the women’s hair, the poets’ glasses, the workers’ shoes, and the ashes of everyone.’
in the area beside a film is shown that almost entirely follows the creation of these four paintings in his studio. a camera is accompanying him close-up, which would’ve freaked me out for sure. he talks in between about the progress, the changes he makes, the paint he spills on the canvas which he tries to scrape off as delicately as possible and is in complete contrast to how he basically works. it is beautiful to see, but it makes you wonder and question things too. you sometimes begin thinking the camera is really in the way and it would have been better not to know at all. but still, despite all of that the film made me more aware, and observing the paintings longer i even grew fond on them.
in the background of the exhibition you will hear Jimi Hendrix’s Machine Gun being played continuously, recorded live at the Fillmore East in 1970, and referring, of course, to the Vietnam war. there’s a headphone on the wall to enjoy the song more intensly. pretty appropriate i must say.
so watching the film and especially the four ‘Auschwitz’ paintings, things started to pop up slowly and connect. i was thinking in english vocabulary, but on my way home i had to get off my bike to write down some words in my small notebook - in german. more appropriate in hindsight, of course, and a little while later above poem was materialized. sorry for not translating it, it always turns out worse than the original words used and i’m not really good at it either. i prefer putting down the language given right away.
the exhibition can be seen until the 6th of september 2010 in museum Van Bommel van Dam, in Venlo. it is definitely worth the four euros, and coffee or tea is for free.
02.12.10Cristo redentor
about two weeks ago, Lawrence requested me to send him some pictures of the Christ statue on mount Corcovardo in Rio de Janeiro, so he could have more details of it to make a series of paintings. he sent me the pic above just two days ago – it made me smile surprisingly. utter naive painting, loving it. you gotta give it to him working away like that at 70. i particularly like how he depicted mount Corcovardo; almost playing no role here, serving only as a modest pedestal but actually being the green lifeline to the figure’s blood. if there was no pedestal, no stage, nobody would ever be able to reach out for what they were trying to achieve or say, which in this case is the little red playful heart. don’t you think he gives it away on his face as well, slightly? his robe and its creases are done rather genuinely comparing it to the original. i’m loving it, truly. few contours and colors creating a warm maximum effect.
we were there in november 2008 for a short stay. unluckily it was pretty clouded when we were on top so we couldn’t see all of the surroundings, but all in all it was a beautiful trip. grand, green town, with all of its ports, tunnels, hills, miles of congested freeway and really nice people, in spite of all the warnings and stories. but, even in Copabacana there’s no getting away from harsh poverty: it is everywhere and influences everyone heavily.
for the moment i’m busy restyling my website completely. i hope it will be – at least partly – online soon. i still have to figure out some stuff, but it looks way better already and is much more practical. i hope to be of more service in that respect.
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New painting
My Dream with You – Acrylic on wood 32 x 24,8 cm January 2010
yes, after a mural i did about half a year ago. i thought the pose deserved a painting of its own. it is part of the Icons II series that can be viewed here. all titled in Spanish and as to settings very different from the first. Cuba inspired of course.
01.14.10Creative friends
just a spotlight for two creative long time friends of mine, who finally made it online (yeah, there still are some out there who don’t bother or take a long time getting here).
Martin van Kleef - paper and digital collage artist – and Timo - musician and producer who helped me more than a lot with my spoken word CD (free download on your upper right me boys ‘n’ gals).
listen to some funky music, have a look at life’s utmost beauty, make a wish and pop a pill. maybe it’ll come true… :)
Expositie Ketelhuizen/Bunkers
Vanaf 4 januari tot 1 april 2010 zijn 15 olieverfschilderijen van Der Peter te zien in de Bibliotheek te Blerick. Het betreft schilderijen uit de series ‘Ketelhuizen’ en ‘Bunkers’ ontstaan in de jaren 90. Het is voor het eerst dat de schilderijen voor het publiek langdurig te bezichtigen zijn.
Venlo en omgeving kende decennialang uitgestrekte velden vol tuinkassen met daarboven uitstekend gemetselde donkerrode schoorstenen van bijbehorende ketelhuizen. Vandaag de dag zijn er daar nog maar enkele van over en ook deze verdwijnen in rap tempo. De serie ‘Ketelhuizen’ laat er een aantal zien in toenmalige staat én omgeving.
De expositie wordt aangevuld met enkele werken uit de serie ‘Bunkers’, ook uit de jaren 90. Nederlandse kazematten en Duitse mitrailleurnesten uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog die in de regio Noord Limburg nog altijd te vinden zijn. De meeste daarvan zijn ondertussen op de monumentenlijst beland. Alle schilderijen zijn op locatie ontstaan.
Bibliotheek Blerick
Kloosterstraat 2
Openingstijden:
ma t/m do 13:30-17:30
di 10:30-12:30
vr 13:30-20:00
za 10:30-13:00
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Baracoa de Cuba – La Magia de sus Pintores
i finally got ahold of the book Baracoa de Cuba – La Magia de sus Pintores, of which i already wrote a while ago. first glance made me jump back across the ocean immediately; the nocturne streets with the few shady streetlights, the century old wooden houses with their red roofing tiles, the verandas, the open doors and windows amid humidity where families and neighbors are watching the immense popular novelas under bare lightbulbs, the sea rubbing its skin against the Malecón. one tends to vaporize into intertwining parallel times, taking a stroll under a mute starry night.
the book looks splendid i must say; cover, layout, the quality of paper and photographs taken. the introduction written by Alejandro Hartmann Matos to the town’s history has been done superb as well. it is accompanied by engravings and paintings, and a stunning photograph taken by Sumner W. Matteson around 1900; a north-american who travelled the entire area by bicycle back then. it’s the first time ever i saw a picture by him and my god what a picture it is! a young woman standing in a bohío – i presume – holding a whiter than white cup and saucer. she is bronzed by the sun through and through, rural life written all over her face and arms, her clothes a bit ragged but her eyes tell it all: a polite manner with a secure distance.
eight mainly senior artists – either living and working in Baracoa or born there – are represented here, followed by a much younger and lesser known generation. now some of them i met throughout the years, saw their works or visited their studios. names such as Caboverde, Piedra and Eliades were and still are pretty known. of course there’s Zúñiga, but it’s especially interesting to read more about their background, on how they developed their artistry. there was practically nothing going on in Baracoa at the time. they formed a group and wandered the area painting the landscape, the harbor, the bohíos, the farmers and fishermen, sharing the food they had between them. next to short biographies there are reflections about how they see themselves and their lifelong art.
you have to understand that there was almost no going over land to Baracoa until the 1960s, when La Farola was constructed; the only road leading through the mountains coming from Guantánamo. prior, the harbor was its main artery. transport has been – and sometimes still is – very difficult, especially in hurricane season. rocks fall down and it can rain for days when roads get totally flooded and the airport gets closed. but, once you’ve been there you’ll never forget it, even if civilization is rapidly catching up.
now, if you’re not that familiar with Baracoa – a relatively small rural town on Cuba’s eastern coast and Cuba’s oldest settlement – and if you love the subject and are interested in more specifics concerning it’s natural beauty and history, i advise you to go after two other books that have been published over the last few years:
- Baracoa, where Cuba begins by Miguel A. Castro Machado, and…
- Baracoa, un paraíso cubano by Alejandro Hartmann Matos (only available in Spanish as far as i know).
Baracoa de Cuba – La Magia de sus Pintores has been published in a Spanish/English limited edition by the St. Augustine – Baracoa Friendship Association seated in Florida, USA; soft cover, 112 pages of which 105 in full color, and can be ordered through their website here. thanks to Soledad Pagliuca!
09.11.09Interview Lawrence & new book
an interview with Lawrence, published earlier this month, can be read – in Spanish – on Radio Baracoa’s website. he was invited there following the presentation of a new book about painters originally from or still living in Baracoa. the book – Baracoa de Cuba – La Magia de sus Pintores -, has been released by The St. Augustine – Baracoa Friendship Association, and can be ordered here.
it’s a pretty funny interview. Lawrence is always upright and outspoken about things, especially when it comes to – his – art. the man doesn’t tolerate much bullshit. it’s nice to see him talking a bit about the start of his career and following success. i didn’t know Audrey Hepburn bought some of his paintings in the – i presume – eighties. i’ll ask him about that when i get the chance. maybe slowly a list will evolve where they all went.
08.5.09Archive Lawrence
three hundred and nine slides; the earliest being from 1970, until the last one dated 2004. spanning almost forty years of drawing and painting. finally i came around scanning them after having brought them with me in 2007, and having discussed them numerous times before with Lawrence. he handed them over in complete trust of which i ever will be grateful. but, before starting the actual work, i knew they had to be cleaned thoroughly first. front and back of each one were done with cotton swabs; getting the dust and grease off, and sometimes even the fungus. it helped a lot to regain their brightness. however, most remain in horrible condition. climate in Cuba is very humid and keeping them stored in sealed boxes doesn’t preserve their quality. some are damaged too, or have simply faded. a lot were shot out of focus. but, all in all i’m glad to see these paintings; they make me smile, saturated as they are with simplicity. especially the ones from the eighties i’m most fond of; they have a crudeness which perfectionate Lawrence’s naive style.
Obatalá, 1983
i had to make a choice on how far i would rework the scans. i decided to cut the edges pretty rough, to keep the attention on the paintings and not on the surroundings that were present in the slides as well. and as i’m not really a software expert who could do a much better job, i thought it would be best to only heighten the contrast and brighten the colors. not too much, though, as i don’t know how the paintings look like in real life, although i’m very familiar with Lawrence’s pallet. i must say, however, that the off-quality shown somehow even adds to their authenticity.
it is, of course, way more important to give the viewer an overall account of what Lawrence has been doing throughout his career, than keeping these in the drawer because of their poor quality. sliding through one can see how Lawrence – as an artist – developed himself. as you probably know, there is no such thing as valueing a work of art, whether it be in money or appreciation – and better would be both -, without knowing its context, evolution and influence.
a small representative selection can be seen on my website. unfortunately, the whereabouts of most paintings are unknown.
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