About this edition
We truly enjoyed the process of creating this edition. At last the
team is happy to say, that beside the shortage of time and the big
amounts of stress the magazine is finally finished. We are pleased
to see that our project is now in the hands of the reader. It was
fully a teamwork and nothing of it could have been possible
without the inspiration of our Contemporary Art teacher Angelica
Salcido. A lot of what you can find in “XXX” was taken from the
semester; also sections such as “To wake up your
curiosity” and “Recommended Events” are here because of
our art class influence. As it happened to us, we want you
to wake up the same feeling, so you can start looking for
info on your own in order to enjoy art in the different ways
it is presented.
You will find artistic expression in everything, in
everywhere, and surely the things that surround you have
their artistic touch, you just need to discover it. To help you
with this task, we write some pages about a few artistic
events you will surly love.
It will be amazing!
Open your mind, and just enjoy it!
Arely, Gabino and Rebeca
Contemporary Art A little BRIEF
To wake up your curiosity. Damien Hirst
Victor Rodriguez
MUAC museum.
Special Articles New market opportunity.
The day of the death
Artist of the Month. Fernand Leger
Juan GRIS
What you can
find in this
edition
You mustn´t get lost… Recommended events
Our own art
Art museums guide.
Classifying Contemporary Art can prove to be a challenge as some of the movements
took place at the same time. To make it easier, just take a look into the next diagrams
so you can have a general idea about each one of them.
JJ
Second half of 20th century
“Dynamism of a dog on a leash” Giacomo Balla
Art
from the
mass to the mass.
No more social classes!
Art must be useful.
CONSTRUCTIVISM.
FUTURISM. It celebrates the esthetic
of contemporary life: machines (as they
wanted to be one) and the movement
(the sensation they try to catch)
“Letatlin” Tatlin
EXPRESIONISM. Exaggerates the author´s feelings and emotions, and reveling it with no filters. It shows the pessimistic side of life.
“El grito” Eduard Munch
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
Now, in order to be art, it must
include an image + an idea + a
whole process. The process
means to get freedom, to liberate
us from the rules of producing
and to do it from the inner us,
with our internal eloquence.
“Full Fathom Five” Jackson Pollock.
POP ART
It is supported in the mass media becoming in which the consumerism of “all and nothing” borns. It means to include in art simple and superficial elements of daily life. Art is mass produced and it is supposed to be popular and transitory.
“Drowning Girl” Roy Lichtenstein
CUBISM
Geometric representation of reality could be the core of this
movement. Cubism breaks down with
perspective, and volumes. In here are so many points of view and seeing these work requires linking the sum of different and
autonomy parts.
First half of 20th century
MINIMAL ART
It is a reaction against the superficial of pop art.
Now, the artist tries to reduce art to the
essential excluding the unnecessary.
It involves a new language were the
importance resides in the idea behind the object.
IMPRESSIONISM
It tries to capture a snapshot
of life, a point of view, just an
impression instead of just
representing what is in front .
It also shows movement and
changes.
“La Parade” George Seurat,
“Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”
Pablo Picasso
DADAISM. It is just a game. Dadaism is nothing but at the same time everything. It is unconventional, ironic and controversial because it questions instead of answering, and change the values of essence or art.
Ready Made Marcel Duchamp
BAUHAUS “House of construction” It is a collection of attitudes which try to create clean and simple objects, that at the same time had to be functional and beautiful. The challenge includes the use of geometric forms
SURREALISM
This movement was backed by the desire of total freedom. It tries to liberate us getting in contact
with the unconscious mind, opening the gates to
our parallel universes, full of irrationality and absurd. The impossible now is possible.
“The persistence of memory”. Salvador Dalí.
“Equivalent VIII” Carl André
CONCEPTUAL ART
Artists reject to create physical
and traditional artworks in order
to fit their ideas; instead, they
try to introduce a concept to the
audience in most cases giving
textually the theoretical words.
“Meaning”
Joseph Kosuth
PERFORMANCE ART
It was born from the need to express concepts through an
action of the body but without trying to play someone else like
in theater, but a self interpretation without limits.
The body is at the same time the character, the place, the
material… It is the way to be.
“Rhythm 0”
Marina Abramovic
This iconic artist is known for using unusual materials
and animals in their well-paid extravagant creations.
With conflictive early years, Damien, although introduced in the decadent world of
drugs and alcohol, was able to study Art and Design at the University of Leeds, and
Fine Arts at the University of London. Making the most of their artistic qualities after
being influenced by the work he did in a morgue. Death was the main theme of his
creations.
Hirst's works are almost all about dead animals preserved in formalin or great and
original compositions; his work is entirely original by its visual impact, for example,
“Lullaby Spring”. It is a glass and steel cabinet containing more than 6,000 colored pills,
Hirst has became the record holder for the most expensive artwork sold at auction for a
living European artist.
Hirst has been criticized because his strategies to get as much money as possible for
each of his creations, he had to hire several assistants to produce more and faster, and
planned strategies to save on commissions to galleries, that is why many people from
the artistic field wonder if Hirst is still making art or is it just business.
About the aesthetics of his creations, one can say many things about the work of Hirst,
but there is no doubt about the author qualities: originality, audacity, aggression, and
probably above all: controversy
The hyper-realism, which comes from pop art, takes the iconography of the
everyday’s life producing neutral and static images, seeks to reflect reality as seen in
a photograph. The hyper-realism emerged in the late 60's in the United States, and
polarized opinions regarding the validity of its aesthetics.
Hyper art continues with
contemporary artists such as
Mexican Victor Rodriguez, who in
the late 90's was presented for the
first time with a painting style
which was appreciated by its
mystical relationship between
photography and painting,
reflecting experiences both real and
fictional.
For nearly two decades, the Mexican
Victor Rodriguez has developed a
career in which his artistic quest led
him to achieve a masterly style that
has been exposed in Spain U.S., France, Italy, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico,
as well as winning countless awards, most notably in 1997 the award "Abeno SoHo
Project” in Osaka, Japan and in 2002 the first prize at the Biennial Tamayo, Tamayo
Museum in Mexico.
Victor uses mainly the technique of acrylic over fabrics using airbrush, a common
but difficult to use tool according to the author.
What is surprising, unique and new about the work of this author is that although
his work seems to recreate the photography, he adds some mystery and surrealism to
the gestures of his muses, making the contemplation of his works not only an
amazing thing but an experience of discovery and interpretation.
As can be seen in his works, the selected
themes are limited, almost all of the
creations are about him, his wife and his
daughter. Those creations are focused on
their faces.
A psychological approach of the author
would suggest some kind of narcissism, or
self observation (definitely his art
expressions are all about his perceptions of
his own reality).
Casualty is another element in his works
as seen at the images below, a woman
taken in the exact moment in which she is
drinking water or a child taken in the exact
moment in which he trying to eat a whole
fruit.
Colors and illuminations are
also important in his
creations; the management
of those elements helps the
author to create the hyper-
reality (the recreation of a
very detailed reality).
Special Article.
Suppose you are starting in thieve
business, you don’t have a lot of experience
nor a criminal master mind. Your resources
as well as weaponry are limited but the
thing is you want to make some good
money. Which place should be your main
target?
a) A bank b) A diamond jewelry c) An art gallery
If your answer was “c) An art gallery” then
you must probably have some thieve skills on you. In general terms, stealing
art is far easier than stealing from a bank vault or diamonds for example.
But it is as rentable as many other criminal activities. Today, art robbery
ranks number third in money making criminal activities, just surpassed by
drugs and arms.
It seems that if a thieve is lucky enough then all he needs to steal a famous
work of art is a gun or machine gun and some attitude.
Art galleries, museums, and art possessors in general, usually do not have
the capacity to stop a bugler from stealing art. There are not heavily armed
guards and not all of them have fancy security systems.
There a lot o cases of “simple” art robbery, for example:
The Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911 by a worker of the Luvre. He just hid
and waited for the museum to be closed. He went where the Mona Lisa
was, lifted it, took it out of its frame and hid the painting in his clothes.
Then he simply walked out of the museum.
In 1990 in Boston, two men dressed like police officers approached the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. They tied the security guards (the
tow of them college students), then they took the surveillance video, to
finally stele several pieces of art including a Manet. These two
individuals were probably not fully aware of what they were doing
because they left untouched the most expensive paintings.
In 2000 the Swedish national museum was robbed by some men
armed with machine guns. They had dropped spikes on the road to
stop coming police cars
In 2004 tow masked men stole the “Scream”, the Madona from the
munch museum in Oslo. They did it at day time armed just with a
handgun. All the paintings were worth 100 million Euros. This was the
second time the Scream was stolen in the last 15 years.
Why to steal art?
Simple, making money is the main and certainly in many cases the only
reason.
A stolen piece of art is usually worth a tenth of its legal value, which might
be an excellent deal if the stolen painting is worth 50 millions.
As art is not very fluent, it has to be sold in order to make a profit. Selling
stolen art is probably more difficult than stealing it. You cannot just sell it in
the regular market. There are 3 ways to turn stolen art into money:
1. - The stolen piece of art can be sold to an “unuscrupulese” dealer
(someone who knows that particular piece of art is not legitimate but are
willing to buy it any way)
2. - Sell them as high quality replicas. In this way stolen art can enter into a
legitimate collection being considered replicas. The owner might not know he
is in the posetion of stolen art. Then legitimacy blurs: The art collector
bought what he thought was a replica, using “fair and clean money”. So in a
way he would be the rightfully owner.
This might be the easiest way to transform stolen art into money, as they can
be sold on the legal market.
FBI believes that a good amount of stolen art is located inside legal
collections. After buying and selling the painting couple of times, it might end
in the hands of a certify collector and the stolen art is likely to be legalize.
Something like laundering money but with art.
3. - Sometimes museums and art collectors will give a considerable ransom
to anyone how return the stolen piece of art. This “transaction” is supposed
to be done “underwater”.
It is believed that legal action houses in Netherlands work with pieces of art
of questionable precedence. Again, if someone buys from them the line of
legitimacy blurs.
To avoid these cases, there are some rules when buying art. The first step
involves due diligence. A process to verify that what you are buying is not
illegal. The process might take some time.
If an art good is stolen from you or if you are going to buy art, you have to
register both cases. One way to do this is through the Art Loss Register, an
international foundation dedicated to slow art crime, to help local authorities
to identify and recover lost art and to keep a record of all transactions inside
the art world. For example Picasso´s “Woman in white reading a book” was
stolen in 1940, and thanks to the support of Art and Loss register the
painting was recover in 2004.
All of Art Loss register data is up in the internet for easier access to it.
Why is art theft business so big?
Beside from the clear opportunity
to make some “easy” money there
are a couple of reasons.
1.-General art prices are going up.
Until the world crisis of 2008, art
prices were reaching record limits.
Higher prices usually means higher
profit margin to thieves.
2.-An important number of times,
art thefts are not reported to
authorities. Art collectors and
galleries sometimes think they are
better on their own or with a
private investigator than with the
local police.
This fact can be understood by
taking a look at for example the
FBI recovery percentage of stolen
art: between 5% and 10%. So when
the authorities are notified about a
robbery, and a lot of noise and
movement starts, the stolen piece
might be even more difficult to
recover. The thieve knows they are
looking for him so he hides.
Instead, a common practice has
been giving rewards to whoever can
get the piece of art back assuring
there would not be any
prosecution.
FBI effort
Art theft business has proven to be so rentable (6 billion annually) that the
FBI has what they call “the art crime team” or “ACT”. This relatively new
branch (was born on 2004) is formed by 13 special agents “supported by
three special trial attorneys for prosecutions”. The agents are trained in art
and “cultural property investigations”. They are also in charge of the
“National stolen Art file” a date base with stolen art information. Similar to
the Art loss register mentioned above.
Since 2004, they have recovered more than
2600 items or $142 millions. Which is not a
bad number, but if we take those 142 millions
divided into the 7 years of life of the agency
and compare it with the 6 billion loses
annually then the figures are not that
optimistic: it represents the .34%.
Why is art so expensive?
What is art? The answer is not a simple one
and besides, there is probably more than one
good answer.
But what happen if we
ask this same question
to an economic guy?
Then the answer
would be very narrow
and simple, art is a
product. Art is a
product that follows
the same basic rules
as any other product:
Supply and demand.
In simplistic terms
when a good is wanted
by a big number of
people, its price goes
up. If this particular item happens to be unique or scarce the price would
also rise.
Some few tips from the FBI
-As a general thumb rule quick transactions done
in the art world are most likely to be illegal.
-If you have valuable art you might want to have
a very clear record of it. With pictures, measures,
weight, year of the period from which they
belong and every detail you can. So if they got
stolen, the probability of identifying them would
be higher.
-If a buyer is caught with a stolen piece of art he
will lose the piece of art and his money.
In the art market there are more people interested in buying art than
successful artists (measuring their success on if they are accepted in the art
society) selling their work. In other words the demand is greater than the
supply (at least at some degree) which as a consequence boost art price.
From another angle what is considered as art comes from a well respected
artist. Which means that not everything is art but rather a few selected items
(at least in market terms). Art is the result of not common skills or abilities
that gave birth to them same piece of art. By implication art is scarce.
Conceptual art seems to escape from the rule, as many times the pieces of
art alone are not worth a lot but they still make millions of dollars. If
conceptual art is made from common easy to find and abundant items how
can the piece of art be so expensive? for example Andreas Gursky’s “99 Cent
II Diptych”. A photography of a 99 cent store sold for more than $3 340 000.
In conceptual art superior craftsmanship skills are not essential then again,
how is that simple photograph worth more than a house?
With conceptual art what is scarce is not the work of art itself, but the idea it
carries behind. The physical object is almost irrelevant, but what boosts the
price is the idea, the concept it represents. An idea is probably one of the
scarcest “items” one can get.
Of course there are other
variables that set the price of
art but this is a way to
understand the art market in
general and simplistic terms.
How much is an idea?
…Evidently millions and
millions of dollars.
Top5 Most Expensive Painting
1. $140 millions “No.5 1948” by
Jackson Pollock
2. $137.5 millions “Woman III” by
Williem de Kooming
3. $135 millions “Portrait of Adele
BlochBauer I” by Gustav Klimt
4. $106.5 millions “Nude, Green
Leaves and Bust” by Pablo Picasso
5. $104.2 millions “Garcon a la pipe”
by Pablo Picasso
“The Day of the Dead” tradition is a pre-Hispanic Mexican celebration honoring the
dead people on November 2, beginning on November 1, coinciding with the Catholic
celebrations of “All faithful Souls and All Saints Day”. The tradition has been declared
an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO since 2003.
For us Mexicans, “The Day
of the Dead” is more than
the veneration to our
ancestors; one might say
that this tradition is the
collective soul of our
people, that’s why we
mention it as a myriad of
known and unknown
artists who have based
their creations on this
celebration.
Among the known art
pieces it is very important
the traditional image of the
“catrina” with a large hat
adorned with feathers and without clothes (“the catrina” is a Spanish term for a dead
lady –seeing only the bones- who is alive doing many things), a work of cartoonist José
Guadalupe Posada. We also see the Catrina character more recently with a big hat and
dress that first appeared on a mural entitled "“Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in
Alameda Park”, which was done by Diego Rivera.
Artistic expression by unknown artists are even more abundant during the month of
November, we can see everywhere in Mexico big and small catrinas made with crepe
paper or drawn with the largest variety of techniques, although the vast majority is
made in factories. There are also many artists that make this tradition an art.
Mexican cemeteries are popular museums of this kind of art every November, it is a
kind of celebration-remembering date, it means Mexicans remember their dead
relatives and fiends and celebrate
with them. For this reason it is not a
sad date. The explanation of the
celebration allows foreign spectators
to understand the art associated to it.
People from many countries usually
think the tradition is aggressive and
rude to the inner feelings and
beliefs of many cultures (as long as
it is about the dead), but it is not,
what really happens is that the
celebration is melancholic, reflexive
and religious. The personality of a
common Mexican citizen is very
special compared to other countries,
Mexicans laugh of their own
fatalities, laugh of their problems, in
a phrase, laugh of themselves.
Popular artists know this fact and expressed in their works and creations.
“My era was one of great contrasts, and I am the one who made the most of it. I am the witness of my time” Fernand Léger 1954 Fernand Léger lived from 1881 to 1955, which means
he said the quote above one year before his death. In
many years, when death would be on its way to claim
my soul I would like to remember my life. Remember my
achievements, my goals and then say out loud “I am the
one who made the most of it”. I can almost imagine
Fernand smiling when he said that, wondering how
many more were able to say the same thing.
Léger’s time was indeed one of great contrasts, he witnessed huge technological
improvements and at the same time he experienced both of the great wars. But again, at
the end of his days, it seems that he was truly satisfied, like if he had discovered a giant
truth. The purpose of the essay is to argue that what he discovered was the place of
human beings along with technology and machines.
Fernand Léger was a French artist, mostly a painter, associated with the cubism. He was a
versatile artist always looking for new idea, a pioneer and a dreamer. During his life he
experienced painting, films, mural painting, photography, theater, book illustration and
ceramics.
The evolution of his style is interesting; he started with “pretty” impressionist paintings
such as “My mother´s garden”. Then he followed the tendency towards cubism giving a
rough turn to abstraction as we can see in “Nudes in a forest”. From then on he will
continue with the basics of cubism, geometric shapes, different point of views, and
simplified two dimensional objects, but adding the technological revolution that was taking
place. This meant two aspects that will lead the way in almost all of his work:
machines/industry and human beings.
As many other artists of the time, Léger had to serve during the First World War. He
witnessed it from the front lines. His involvement was in my opinion, the most influential
aspect in his artistic career. There was when he notices the huge potential that machines
represented. If a machine gun was able to extinguish something as complex as life, than
what can´t a machine do? He was optimistic, he almost dies but he was optimistic.
Fernand’s experiences during the war gave him a new appreciation of life, and he wanted
to share it with the rest of the world. His works started with machines alone (“The
propellers”), but then he introduced human beings into the picture (“The mechanic “1920).
He wanted art to be accessible to all people, showing some kind of a communist tendency,
so he diversified his line of work reaching mural painting, theater and movies (“Ballet
mecanique” 1925)
Not all of his works were machine with humans but during all the stages of his life, they
were a common denominator. For example one of his final paintings was “The builders” in
1950.
I think of his work as a path of discovery involving humans and machines. The path started
with almost no abstraction (my mother´s garthen) moving to higher abstract level (The city
and Ballet Mecanique). Reaching at the middle of his life (more or less) its highest
intangible point with some of his murals and his “close-up type” paintings (The compass).
At the end, like if he had discovered what he was looking for, his paintings returned to a
more realistic point of view (“The builders” 1950)
I think that what Fernand was trying to say is that machines had a huge potential, but
probably more important, that human beings were able to manage them properly achieving
progress and strength.
As an example to this potentially positive human-machine interaction I will discuss some of
his works from the 1919-1925 periods.
The City 1919
“The city” is one of the most well known paintings
of Fernand in which he followed the idea of
machines interacting with humans.
The painting shows the different “faces” of the
city using vivid and strong colors. The
composition is abstract, like a collage of pictures
merged into one single image. It is made of
different small scenes backed by geometric
figures. The painting lacks of depth, showing
everything in two dimensions.
In the lower middle of the painting we can see two figures probably representing the
human inhabitants of the city. They do not have much detail. Similarly we can see two
more human figures above the first ones, showing even less detail. They seem like human
robots standing by. The human figures of the picture could represent the changing from
the typical human to a more robotized one showing the importance of the machines in the
daily life.
The author uses a pair of more or less straight vertical lines (in the right middle of the
picture) suggesting a factory pipe and probably representing industrial growth. We also
see buildings again alluding to the interaction between humans and machine/factories.
Fernand’s city shows his admiration towards the changes that were going on in modern
cities, their complexity, and the speed in which they were developing. I think it represents
the diversity and new opportunities emerging from the world based on industrial
tendencies. As I see the painting trying to figure out its pieces, I imagine the inhabitants of
the city exploring and discovering what it has to offer.
The Mechanic 1920
The mechanic is painting, is one in which the relation
human-machine becomes elemental: A human worker
that knows about technology, and not just knows about
it but works with it. It represents machines and people
working to achieve a goal.
The image is very direct and less abstract than the last
one. It shows a man smoking in the first layer. Even
thought the man is not completely flat it does not really
shows depth. The background is more abstract and
completely tow dimensional, composed mostly of
straight lines and circles with few colors. Most of these
lines converge in the medium left side of the painting (above the right shoulder of the man)
representing, in my opinion, the factory in which this mechanic works.
The man seems confident and strong, empowered by the mechanical context surrounding
him. It seems that he does not belong directly with the background, but he is not against it
either. Léger is saying something like the machine plain joins the human plain to create
something new. The man is strong because the factory behind him makes him strong.
The painting is not that shocking since the mechanic does not face the spectator directly
but instead he is looking towards the factory. I think he is facing one side because
although he is the main character in the painting, the factory is also important. If he was
facing the front, then the background’s importance would decrease.
Ballet Mecanique 1924
Ballete mecanique is a good example on Léger’s interest in exploring new chapters of art.
Ballete Mecanique translates Léger´s cubist ideals into film: It is a non narrative film
composed by several and independent segments. They show fast moving images of
different machines. These images follow a sequence repeating several times probably
referring to mass production. Some of the segments are shown in a kaleidoscopically way.
Geometric figures like circles, triangles and squares are a persistent theme in some
scenes. It also shows images of people seen from different angles, and in some cases
following the repetition pattern shown in the machine scenes (for example the woman
climbing the stairs over and over again). The abstract level of the film varies, going to
really abstract during some machine scenes, but being more specific whit most human
scenes.
In my opinion, the author was trying to create a mixture
between “the real world” and “the mechanical world”. He
was shouting that life was changing rapidly with the rise
of machines and technology but that human beings were
also an important part of that new world. At the end, we
were behind and in charge of what was happening.
Léger transmit that human and machines are not that
different.
Fernand Léger had an optimistic view of the relationship
between humans and machines. From his point of view
machines empowered our society opening infinite
possibilities. He was almost obsessed with the idea of
industrial growth, but never losing its biological part:
humans
that were behind it. Léger discovered that the place of human beings was next to the
machines leading their way to progress. I wonder what he would paint if he saw the actual
interaction between our society and its inventions. Maybe he would not have such an
optimistic opinion.
Like many artists has happened, José Victoriano Gonzales (1887-1927), better known as Juan Gris, also
had to wait until his death to be recognized at the level it is now thought, deserved in life. Although he had known at
the time of his death, living most of his career in the shadow of his fellow Picasso and Braque, the Cubist movement
leaders, condemned this character to be classified just as a follower of the great Picasso in early art.
Juan Gris had dedicated their works to illustrate Spanish magazines and newspapers, but once in France, he had the cunning to be influenced by the work of Picasso, Braque, Cezanne, and writers like Apollinaire and Max Jacob. Gris was Cubist, and although he joined the new artistic style when it had passed its most radical moments, he learned to adapt the concepts of his colleagues to his techniques and concepts to result create a new style: analytical cubism instead of synthetic cubism.
At that time his work was not understood as in these times and even now his work can be valued in large amounts of money, the road to success for Gris was fairly difficult. He didn´t quit, and throughout his life he faced some incidents that I defined the course of his career and maybe even gave him the tools and the ability to perform the works that today are internationally recognized.
The first event refers on being recognized just as a follower of Picasso and Braque when he started his career, rather than as a component of the Cubist movement itself, not even the great difference between the techniques (such as: they created abstract forms from certain specific objects, Gris did the reverse, use of color rather than a neutral color template, increased intensity and drama in his compositions, a classical conception to Cubism). While initially was stratospheric influence, Gris´s pictorial independence from Picasso and Braque was evident.
A second event has place in 1914 when Gris finally reaches the maturity of his principles and his style. Then World War I broke out, so some artistic movements were diluted in some way. Once the war ends, everyone assumes to Cubism as an artistic past that does not match the new postwar era. Again the recognizing of Gris´s talent was compromised, however, he would not give up his ideals of painting.
The third reason refers to his pulmonary disease, the way to deal with it, and what it represented in his career. His health condition brought about certain changes as interest on the human figure and the possibility of synthetic composition, at a time, was in this period when Juan Gris created his most renowned works.
These three events, among several others, set the tone for the success of Gris. Adversities such as fighting for his life, and not to get the prestige he desired, forced him to offer more of himself to excel in the group, perhaps if these 3 factors have made otherwise, we would have had a group formed by Picasso, Braque and Gris who follow exactly the same rules.
To illustrate some of the artworks of Juan Gris, we can see “Tavern and book”:
This painting is important since it concerns the first stage of Gris as a painter, before his full introduction of the Cubist trend. While there will be bi-dimensionality in all his future works, the colors, shapes and use of shadow still let us to appreciate the space and depth. Gris has not personally met Picasso at this point, so his work can be totally pure, with no more influence than to know the artist's work indirectly. At this stage his works have a naturalist air since it is possible to perfectly identify the objects, and these are grouped together in a harmonious way, in this case a teapot, a jug and a book with a small white cup above.
Another example could be “Guitar and glass”, which was the first appearances of a guitar in Gris´s works since he was following the trend of the guitars of Picasso. Here the author attempts to delve into cubism as it is known; however, as time goes on, guitars will continue appearing and evolving into his paintings but increasingly adapting his own style.
In Guitar and glass, Gris suits neutral color palette of the Cubist movement, makes use of charcoal, pencil, watercolor and gouache to achieve it. Similarly, the space is gone, and you can see the fragmentation in geometric figures arranged yet allowing the full appreciation of what is being observed. Although distorted perspective is appreciated, it is easy to distinguish the guitar, a score and a glass in this painting.
This painting is interesting because of the intention of the artist to adapt him to the cubist technique, however, as it was said before, Gris would be considered a follower of Picasso, perhaps for this, his work evolved to a unique colorful and more dramatic style than the leaders suggested. A clear example is “Violin y Guitar”, where Gris takes his own independent course of this vanguard. He didn´t delete the order and he didn´t adhere to the abstract, he used warm and cold colors and displayed the objects from different viewpoints. Though Juan Gris initiated influenced by Picasso and Braqué, the differentiation has been given, and he will take his own course.
A final example of the author work could be “Pierrot with Guitar” which had his beginnings in 1919 when Juan Gris began to implement a new theme in his works: the commedia dell'arte. He paint so many pierrots and he passed by a sculptor named Jacque Lipchitz, to painters such as Picasso and Cezanne, finally Gris added the guitar that he had already employed to form a new set. This work is important because it is doubly melancholy: pierrot´s expression and the hue of colors that are reflected in it. It may well be due to author's intention to convey what was a Parisian Pierrot (a mime'm in love with the moon) or because that is the feeling of mind that the author felt for those dates.
We can say that although Juan Gris is well known today, the way he had to go to achieve it was quite difficult. We finally can distinguish three separate stages of his time as an illustrator of magazines: The first refers to when he admired the leading cubist, and tried to follow their steps from afar. There, even with his own deficiencies and shortcomings, he had a unique style; The second one refers to the time when he knows them and follows his steps closely, eventually he became known as a Cubist, he try to follow the rules of Cubism and be part of the group, however it would not be enough to live in the shadow of them, so he have to start to develop his own style; The last phase refers to the final stage of his life where he developed his style more forcefully and ignoring the trends for his co-movement. That's where he made his most significant works.
We can finally say, as Juan Miguel Llondrá "does not mean that Gris is more than Picasso or better than he nor the other hand, is different and enough"
Orquesta Sinfónica
Nacional
Concert 28, in November
26 and 28. Concert 29 in
December 3 and 5. Free
entrance in “Palacio de
Bellas Artes” 12:15
Clay Modeling Workshop.
If you want to spend a nice
weekend, visit us every Saturday
and Sunday of November, from
11:00 to 14:00 in “Museo de los
Ferrocarrileros” located in Alberto
Herrera s/n, Col. Aragón La Villa.
“Cuentos de Horror,
Capítulo II”.
Centro Cultural José
Martí located in Dr.
Mora 1, Col. Centro
Del. Cuauhtémoc
until November 29.
19:00 hrs.
“5a muestra de Artes Escénicas de la Ciudad de
México”.
This amazing event involves more than 200 spectacles
about theater, dance, music, cabaret, child and
multidisciplinary events. We count with Brazil as an
invited country.
Visit us until November the 28, so check the schedule in
http://www.teatros.cultura.df.gob.mx/index.php/danza
Exposition “El México de los Mexicanos”. You can visit it until November 30 in CINVESTAV Galleries, which are the open galleries in México City. It could be a really good experience since there are 125 photographers which were the best between 28,000 participants in the contest organized by the Banco Nacional de México through Fomento Cultural Banamex. The images are all about the vision of our country in Mexico and also in other countries; they reflect the traditions and the colors that make Mexican culture so amazing. You cannot lose the opportunity to submerge into this spectacular exposition.
Cine Club de la Revolución
Mexicana.
You can see movies like “La sombra
del Cauditllo” or “Los rollos
perdidos de Pancho Villa” in
November 27 and December 5, 18,
25 at “Museo de los ferrocarrileros”
at 16:00.
Latidos de América
We really want to invite you to see this one of a kind
experience. It is fascinating since the pictures are
high quality and the message of the whole
exposition is grateful in meaning.
It is an artwork from Ariel Carlomagno who thinks
the richness of the world resides in the diversity and
in the differences between people. It is an approach
to the minorities, to get involved in their world
which is also our, to understand that personal
identity and diversity is something we have to
celebrate. And so on, if we met other people, we
can better understand them.
As the author says “by knowing the differences we
construct peace”
You can find it from December 13, in Chapultepec
Jails which conform a total of 1.5km with 150
images 24 hours per day.
“Ludwig Van Beethoven Cycle”
You shouldn´t lose the ninth
symphony “Coral”, with Gabriel
Camacho as the Director.
Next November 29, in “Centro
Cultural Ollin Yoliztli” from 8:00 pm.
A brief look
MUAC Museum. This time we will recommend you to visit MUAC museum, which is located at
UNAM complex. There is a temporal exposition you cannot lose about Art
Povera.
The exhibition is simple yet meaningful. The pieces of the exhibition look as
simple as possible, because that’s what Art Povera tries to represent. But at the
same time all of them have a “purpose”, and this is not as simple as it could
seem at first impression. They all exist because there is an idea or a big
concept behind each one and precisely this concept needs to appear, and to
transmit something in some way so the viewer can understand “some idea”.
That’s why the physical pieces are there just standing, because they try to
impulse the spectator to find out the hidden meaning, without mattering if it is
complex to find.
Take a look at some of the experiences of our authors. You can have your own
experience too!
“Stone with a compass”
This composition- objet is very accidental which would mean casualty, something which is not
planed, simple and with no importance. However, the compass in the composition is a very
important element, it give us a special sense of position (the compass would give a specific reading
according to the orientation of the whole objet), this element changes all the meaning of the
composition, it tell us than a simple movement of the objet would change everything.
The small size of the compass compared to object’s
dimensions is very notorious; it means it is small in the
composition but the most important element of it.
There is a geological fact in the stone, several layers can
be seen at a lateral point of view, (perhaps this fact is just
casualty but it can be the artist decision). I would give it
the meaning of random or fortuitous concepts.
Rebeca
As a consequence, I was part of the work of art, I was inside it. And then, one is asked a fundamental
question: in with side of the mirror I am? In that precise moment, there is no right or wrong answer to the
question. As the spectator is in both sides simultaneously loosening consciousness of what is real and
what is not. The author is saying “I don´t want you to stare at my creation, I want to stare at how my
creation evolves” At that instant time stopped, and nothing else mattered. Except me, being a work of art
and my camera with which I pretended to capture stopped time.
This interaction between art and the spectator makes them feel the work of art; it makes it their own
work of art. The spectator no longer feels distant with art, but on the contrary, feels part of it.
Gabino
I have a connection with this piece because it makes me think about what big could be my own
“best experiences ball” if I would started to collect it. These must be about something in specific
and so it could take years in order to be a substantial sphere. I guess people forget about the
things they really enjoy or really matters, even the best experiences in their life; we just forget or
we focused our attention in daily problems, but we never collect the amazing things, or even
the bad ones, but just to maintain it in order to remember, to have the possibility to look
forward and then back and discover how much we pass through. Personally I consider it could
be funny and at the same time grateful.
“Where I am?”
In minimalist art as well as art Povera the spectator has to interact with the
work of art in order to understand it. This work of art is an excellent example.
The work of art was simple: a mirror showing picture of its author’s back,
printed on its right side.
When there is no one in front of the mirror, the work of art probably looses
sense. In other words, it is not complete until the spectator can see his or her
own reflection (as well as the reflection of the museum and everything that is
going on, on that instant).As the picture of the artist is facing towards the
mirror it seems that he is the one admiring the work of art instead of the
actual spectator.
In the middle of a salon, a big newspaper ball is located. At first
impression you will like it because the way it looks. How could the
artist compress the newspaper up to doing such a big and a perfect
shape? It really provokes the spectator to be there, just waiting for
nobody to be looking so you can push it and roll it in the entire
space. It could be funny until you know something about the art
work and it acquires a biggest meaning. In this piece, the artist
collected the notices about something specific, some events that
were important in his life, and then he put them together.
“Newspaper ball” Arely
Our very own Art
Who determines what can be considered as
art? This is an old and complex question…
In order to be considered a true artist,
some kind of validation from art world is
needed.
Regretless of what the “art world” may
think, the authors were feeling a bit
artistic. This was the result:
“Sister of Mercy” Hand
painted plaster mask
“Those years”
f/4.3
1/60 seg.
ISO-3200
“Bee on a
flower II”
f/5.6
1/160 seg.
ISO-64
Guide of Art Museums
you should visit Centro Cultural de España. Guatemala 18, Col. Centro http://www.ccemx.org Centro cultural estación Indianilla. Claudio Bernanrd 111. Col. Doctores www.estacionindianilla.com.mx Colección Andres Blaisten. Av Ricardo Flores Magón no. 1. www.museoblaisten.com Laboratorio Arte Alameda Dr. Mora 7 Col. Centro. www.artealameda.inba.gob.mx Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felgueréz. Calle Colón esq con Seminario s/n. Zacatecas. www.arts-history.mx/museo felguerez Museo de Arte Carrillo Gill. Av. Revolución 1608 Col. San Ángel. www.macg.inba.gob.mx
Museo de la Basílica de Guadalupe. Plaza de las Américas No. 1 Villa de Guadalupe Del Gustavo A. Madero. www.mubagua.org.mx Antiguo palacio del Arzobispado. Moneda 4, Col. Centro Histórico. www.shcp.gob.mx/dgpcap Museo del Estanquillo Isabel la Católica 26, Centro Histórico. www.museodelestanquillo.com Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes. Av. Juárez y Eje Central s/n. Centro Histórico. www.museobellasartes.artte.com Franz Mayer Museum. Hidalgo
45. Centro Histórico.
www.franzmayer.org.mx
Museo Dolores Olmedo Av.México 5843 Col. La Noria, Xochimilco. www.museodoloresolmedo.org.mx Museo Mural Diego Rivera. Balderas y Colón s/n, Centro Histórico. Museo Nacional de Arte. Tacuba 8, Centro Histórico. Museo Nacional de San Carlos. Puente de Alvarado 50. Col Tabacalera. www.mnsancarlos.inba.gob.mx Museo Tamayo de Arte Contemporáneo. Reforma y Gandhi, Bosque de Chapultepec. www.museotamayo.org Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros. Tres Picos 29, Polanco. www.saps-latallera.org