JaZzArt en València

And they never told me a word about her at uni! What the hell! Everybody always said that cubism was developed (or invented) by Picasso, Braque and to a certain extent, Juan Gris, but never a woman. But here she is, María Blanchard, a Spanish painter, in spite of cubism… María was born in Santander, Cantabria in (curiously) 1881. She was deformed from birth and grew up walking with a limp, which caused her to suffer bullying at school. Yet, she was not discouraged. She moved to Madrid and attended one of the most prestigious art academies in Europe, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando… In 1908 she won a grant and used it to further her education in Paris where she was influenced towards cubism by Juan Gris and others… After WWI she returned to France and began to develop her own style of cubism in close association (and friendship) with Juan Gris… María sold her paintings at many galleries in France and Belgium to support herself until her death in 1932 at the age of 51, due to tuberculosis.

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Well, I think the song and the video says it all…

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¿No os parece que esto está ocurriendo?

I chose this image because I believe this is how Yoko Ono likes to be seen and remembered because without John Lennon she would have been nothing, although she still would have been quite rich… This is a scene typical of their hypocritical position on things. They are doing a «bed-in for peace» and for the end of the Vietnam War, and where do they do it? At the Amsterdam Hilton! What you do not see in the photograph are the teams of maids and of food and drink deliveries to their «bed-in». How wonderful it is to be rich and famous and still think of oneself as an «activist» for peace…

In any event I am doing this entry into the series «Art History in One Minute (videos)» because, although in my opinion, Yoko Ono is no artist (unless making tons of money is an art), but since she has been exhibited at the MoMA and at the Guggenheim and a lot of other places, she is regarded as an artist. She’s a conceptual artist. To me she is nothing but a rich woman who knows that with a lot of money you can do, and be, whatever you want. If she is an artist, then she is the worst one I can ever imagine…

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Picasso said many things, in the «style» of an artist, about art. He usually stuck to the practical side of the debate, but at times he went a bit philosophical. Or maybe he thought that people would expect that an artist talk like he was doing when he said such a thing as: «El arte es una mentira que nos hace darnos cuenta de la realidad.» («Art is a lie that lets us understand reality»). I would never think of art like that and I doubt that any artist works to «understand reality through the lie that art is…». I would prefer to turn the phrase around and work my art as the truth extracted from the lies of supposed «reality».

Picasso also said: «La inspiración existe, pero tiene que encontrarte trabajando.» («Inspiration exists but it has to find you while you’re working.«). I certainly agree with this thought. I don’t believe in the «magical power» of inspiration and I don’t believe in muses. An artist creates because he/she is a trained professional, not because he/she is inspired. Granted, like Picasso said, there may be times when inspiration does drop by, but it has to catch you on the stride.

Lastly, this quote by the great master: «Debes tener una idea de lo que vas a hacer, pero sólo una vaga idea.» («You must have an idea of what you are going to do but it should be just a vague one.»). Another thought that I can subscribe to. In my work, «JaZzArT», I do plan, but I leave lots of room for that great element that is found in jazz, improvisation.

And I have to say that I truly admire Picasso for his love of cats. Cats are, by far and wide, my favourite animals. They are superior to any domestic animal and a source of inspiration, wonder and education for me. I have always learned much from the cats I have had in my life. A cat is forever and one never forgets one’s cats…

And here is what I have to say about FACES. Of course, as an artist…

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Here are some of my cats throughout the years… And these works are available as fine quality prints through Fine Art America which is the only company I use to create fine art prints (of many styles) of my artwork.

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I have no use for uni… I mean when it refers to art, or to a Liberal Arts career. Unis are filled with communists or communist leading professors who are more interested in preaching their ideology than in teaching students how to think and how to create. And believe me, it makes a difference… And in any event, think of all the artists that shunned unis and made it. Think of: Picasso, Dalí, Louis Armstrong, Lennon & McCartney, Brian Wilson, Jagger and Richards, and on and on and on. My advice is don’t let them mess with your head. I did graduate from Fine Arts at a university in Florida (US) and I had to debate and refute many professors who professed a tremendous desire to indoctrinate instead of teach.

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One of my faves at one of my fave places to be, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. I started going in 1998 and did not miss one until I left the US in 2019…

And I have to feature Mark Rivera, the saxophone player for Billy Joel for the last 36 years or more… He was born in Brooklyn (a city I lived in and dearly loved), born in 1953, and a phenomenal musician. His father was Puerto Rican and I am sure that’s where he got his musical swing, rhythm and tempo from…

This is one of Billy Joel’s greatest. And this version, with the aid of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, is phenomenal!

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The French novelist known mostly for his works such as: Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) (1831) and Les Misérables (1862), was also a phenomenal illustrator and created some incredibly good drawings…

Victor Hugo was more than just a novelist. Besides being a romantic author, he was a poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. And now we can add illustrator, or at least I would after seeing his work.

He was born in 1802 and died in 1885…

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Surreal-Expressionism is a lot more than the sum of its component parts, it is another language and another way to approach the concept and the content of a painting, including the theme and message… Here are some samples of my surreal-expressionist works done at Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia.

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