(Image by and property of Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)
STATUS AND REDEMPTION (Wile listening to L’Histoire du Soldat/Stravinsky)
Where is the status you sought out to have, sitting in classrooms, waiting on tables, mopping up washrooms and cleaning the stables, of a noble patrician descended from Rome degenerate, misogynist sick and alone?
Now you wipe off his drool and you wince with disgust, but he does not see you as ignore you he must, this cynical spectre of mansions and theatres, with political influence like a fattened old realtor, who displays all the land in hopes that a buyer comes licking his hand, his hand, stained with faeces mucous and urine, and all forms of filth and dead cells.
They’ve all rotting skin that will fall from their faces as they seek to win one more day at the races. One more day, to the good folks dismay, who will forever be thankful when they’re all on their way to a horrific paradise just made for their type, filled with varmints and parasites torture and strife. Which is what they deserve, which is what they have given to all those who wanted to just to make a good living.
So where is the status, my charming young lady, that you wanted to gain when you wondered if maybe, within that golden castle you’d find your reward, but you just found corruption and a perverted old man who promised and promised but proffered quite nothing but a stain on your soul and a rip in your clothes.
Status is nothing to search for in life, seek first your redemption. Everything else you will get in due time.
C.2025, Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 16 APR 2025 – Valencia, España
(Francisco Bravo Cabrera/actor portrayal/All Rights Reserved)
It seems to me that when artists are asked to speak about art they usually go into their artist «character» and begin to talk about art as something almost esoteric, or religious. It would almost seem as if they are making the artists as being the new priests of the creative world. I don’t buy it.
Sometimes art lovers, non-artists, also begin to define art as something that is beyond the means and the reach of «ordinary» folk. I have heard people say that artists are born like that, with that «gift» or «ability» with statements such as «Van Gogh had so much talent». Good grief! Is being an artist now a genetic condition? Is talent a genetic trait? As far as I know Mendel did not name it as one.
Art is nothing like that at all, in my opinion. Artists are as ordinary as anybody else. Art is a profession, and a craft, like being a plumber or a neurosurgeon. One likes art, one is inclined, (is that the «gift»?), one first gets into it in High School. Then one enrols in college and takes art courses. Finally one majors in Fine Arts and graduates from University. Then one begins a professional life as an artist with one goal in mind, to make as much money as possible.
That is all there is to art. Actually the great Renaissance masters never thought of themselves as artists. They considered themselves as skilled craftsmen. And when a client came to their studios, they would show them samples of their craft. Usually they were small portraits, as portraits were the paintings commonly commissioned from them. Then they would negotiate a price and offer different plans like the good plan, the most expensive one being that the master artist paints the entire portrait. A second option would be that the portrait is partially painted by the master and the rest by the other artists operating in the studio. And the cheapest option would be a portrait painted entirely by the studio assistants. That is how the «art world» functioned in the old days.
But believe me, no one is born with a gift for art, or for the piano or for the ballet stage. One trains, rehearses, and one practices tirelessly. One realises that practice makes perfect so one practices all day, every day. The more one works the more one develops talent. And that is another issue that is greatly misunderstood by many. No one is born with talent. I cannot stress that enough. Talent is something that is developed, like muscles. One trains, one gets stronger and the body begins to show muscle development. The same thing with artistic talent. The more you paint the better you get. The more you play the tuba the better you get. In other words, the more talent you develop.
So, as an artist, I am asked all the time about the process of art and my reply is always, more or less, the same. Art is a profession. Not everyone is an artist, and not every one can make art of the same quality. Let us say that we all have the potential, but not all have the will, the drive or the desire to be an artist. And no, your five year old who just drew a «beautiful» picture of your family that you proudly hang in the refrigerator, they are not an artist. They might want to be, some day. I mean would you say just because that same five year old built a lego structure that they are an engineer?
And please do not misunderstand. I am not saying that every artist must go the academic route and graduate from uni. An artist can train at a private academy, or at any type of school. Or they can train themselves through books, videos (nowadays videos are the new books and there are many), or with other artists. But remember, no one teaches themselves, we all learn from someone or some thing. So if you have the inclination, go for it!
(Francisco Bravo Cabrera/actor portrayal/All Rights Reserved)
It seems to me that when artists are asked to speak about art they usually go into their artist «character» and begin to talk about art as something almost esoteric, or religious. It would almost seem as if they are making the artists as being the new priests of the creative world. I don’t buy it.
Sometimes art lovers, non-artists, also begin to define art as something that is beyond the means and the reach of «ordinary» folk. I have heard people say that artists are born like that, with that «gift» or «ability» with statements such as «Van Gogh had so much talent». Good grief! Is being an artist now a genetic condition? Is talent a genetic trait? As far as I know Mendel did not name it as one.
Art is nothing like that at all, in my opinion. Artists are as ordinary as anybody else. Art is a profession, and a craft, like being a plumber or a neurosurgeon. One likes art, one is inclined, (is that the «gift»?), one first gets into it in High School. Then one enrols in college and takes art courses. Finally one majors in Fine Arts and graduates from University. Then one begins a professional life as an artist with one goal in mind, to make as much money as possible.
That is all there is to art. Actually the great Renaissance masters never thought of themselves as artists. They considered themselves as skilled craftsmen. And when a client came to their studios, they would show them samples of their craft. Usually they were small portraits, as portraits were the paintings commonly commissioned from them. Then they would negotiate a price and offer different plans like the good plan, the most expensive one being that the master artist paints the entire portrait. A second option would be that the portrait is partially painted by the master and the rest by the other artists operating in the studio. And the cheapest option would be a portrait painted entirely by the studio assistants. That is how the «art world» functioned in the old days.
But believe me, no one is born with a gift for art, or for the piano or for the ballet stage. One trains, rehearses, and one practices tirelessly. One realises that practice makes perfect so one practices all day, every day. The more one works the more one develops talent. And that is another issue that is greatly misunderstood by many. No one is born with talent. I cannot stress that enough. Talent is something that is developed, like muscles. One trains, one gets stronger and the body begins to show muscle development. The same thing with artistic talent. The more you paint the better you get. The more you play the tuba the better you get. In other words, the more talent you develop.
So, as an artist, I am asked all the time about the process of art and my reply is always, more or less, the same. Art is a profession. Not everyone is an artist, and not every one can make art of the same quality. Let us say that we all have the potential, but not all have the will, the drive or the desire to be an artist. And no, your five year old who just drew a «beautiful» picture of your family that you proudly hang in the refrigerator, they are not an artist. They might want to be, some day. I mean would you say just because that same five year old built a lego structure that they are an engineer?
And please do not misunderstand. I am not saying that every artist must go the academic route and graduate from uni. An artist can train at a private academy, or at any type of school. Or they can train themselves through books, videos (nowadays videos are the new books and there are many), or with other artists. But remember, no one teaches themselves, we all learn from someone or some thing. So if you have the inclination, go for it!
(Imagen propiedad de Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Derechos Reservados/Image property of Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)
No es lo que se ve, o lo que está delante del artista lo que pinta el artista expresionista. No importan los colores auténticos del sujeto. No importa por donde viene o va la luz, ni la perspectiva clásica. Lo único que importa es lo que está dentro del pintor; eso es lo que va a plasmar sobre la tela. El arte del pintor expresionista no tiene mucho que ver con la realidad objetiva, si no con lo que piensa el pintor de ella. Tampoco tiene mucho, o nada que ver con la realidad. O sea, la realidad como la ven los demás. El pintor expresionista crea su propia realidad. Que carajo, no importa el raciocinio ni la lógica! Lo único que importa es plasmar sobre la tela lo que el pintor ve desde dentro y la emoción que busca transmitir.
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It is not what is visible, or what is in front of him that the expressionist artist paints. The true colours of the subject do not matter. It doesn’t matter where the light comes from or goes, nor classical perspective. The only thing that matters is what is inside the painter; that is what he will transcribe onto the canvas. The art of the expressionist painter is not closely related to objective reality, but rather to what the painter thinks of it. It also has little, or nothing, to do with reality as others see it. The expressionist painter creates his own reality. Frankly, reasoning and logic do not matter! The only thing that matters is to capture on the canvas what the painter sees from within and the emotion he seeks to convey.
(«Bass & Dancer»/Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Derechos Reservados/All rights Reserved)
(Bodo Vespaciano/Actor portrayal/All Rights Reserved/Bodo Vespaciano representado por un actor/Derechos Reservados)
El surrealismo es algo surreal, como el expresionismo es algo que sale de la mente, no tiene que tener nada que ver con la realidad, lo pilla a uno durmiendo, andando, trabajando o simplemente pensando en como son las cosas o en como deben ser, menudo esfuerzo, ¿No?
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I think surrealism is something surreal, like expressionism that comes out of the mind and has nothing to do with reality. It grabs you while you sleep, or while you’re strolling, working, or simply thinking on how things are and how they should be. Takes a little effort, no?
(Derechos Reservados/All Rights Reserved)(Derechos Reservados/All Rights Reserved)(Derechos Reservados/All Rights Reserved)(Derechos Reservados/All Rights Reserved)(Derechos Reservados/All Rights Reserved)(Derechos Reservados/All Rights Reserved)(Obras originales de Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Derechos Reservados/All original artwork by Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)
JaZzArt en València 