Some folk live lives in black and white on rocky shores that rise towards rubbish heaps, In the ocean they discard most everything, their creeks are putrid, sick and sour, they fish to live from day to day, they’ve never seen colours or smelled a flower.
Others live in the stifling heat of valleys and watch their cattle roam, they build a fence to separate the land where crops are grown. They commune with nature and in this life well isolated, they’re thankful for their sacred, blessed soil, knowing no one has the right to desecrate it, they labour and they toil.
Some live in megacities where not a tree remains, among steel structures tall and proud, counting riches, counting gains. They feast in fancy restaurants, own limousines and jets, they really think they own the land, and they lecture us on how to save it, so they can have it all for them, and leave us hungry, poor and waiting.
Some live in tree-less deserts, some in inhabitable slums, some in old, forgotten villages far from the cities in areas quite depopulated, where one by one alone they die, Some live in the mean streets of the boiling inner city where they daily risk their lives, struggling to survive, fighting to stay alive to suffer one more rainy day in places made of flesh and bone, of illusions, salt and clay.
NOTA BENE: At the risk of sounding naive, I will say that the land belongs to all. However, because of the hardness of men’s hearts, hierarchies were established that separated the land into ours and theirs. Kings, pharaohs, sultans, popes and governments took the best parts, made us work to upkeep them and left us whatever was left behind that they did not want and charged us for it. Mankind has forgotten that they are made in the image of the God that created them and that we do not have to live subjugated by anyone. The meek will inherit the Earth, Jesus said. But where are the meek? Everyone has grown and oriented themselves towards some kind of evil, lamentably.
(«Louis Blau»/Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Derechos Reservados/All Rights Reserved)
De todas las formas que existen en el mundo la cara es la que con mayor facilidad identifica nuestro cerebro. Esto es debido a que desde que abrimos los ojos por primera vez lo primero que vemos es la cara de nuestra madre. Nos fijamos mucho más en los ojos, porque se mueven, que en la nariz o en las orejas, que no. Más adelante, cuando hayamos crecido un poquitín y comenzamos a pintar…o garabatear…una de las cosas que más nos gusta pintar es a nuestra familia. ¿Y como la pintamos? Usualmente con caras grandes donde brillan ojos también muy grandes, quizá pintemos grande también el pelo de nuestra madre, si lo tiene largo y siempre los brazos largos y energéticos, las piernas muy cortas y los pies, si es que los pintamos, pequeñitos. ¿Por qué? Porque el cerebro infantil no capta esas partes del cuerpo y no les da importancia. Se fija en los brazos porque se mueven mucho más que las piernas y claro, la cara sigue siendo lo principal. Por eso me gusta pintar caras porque se que a todos nos atraen los ojos que nos miran. Además, ¿No es cierto que vemos caras por doquier? Venga, pues aquí están…
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From all the shapes that exist in the world, the face is the one that most easily identifiable by our brain. This is because from the moment we first open our eyes, the first thing we see is our mother’s face. We focus much more on the eyes, because they move, than on the nose or the ears, which do not. Later, when we have grown a bit and we start to paint…or scribble…one of the things we most like to paint is our family. And how do we paint them? Usually with big faces where the eyes also shine, large and brightly, maybe we paint our mother’s hair big as well, if it is long, and always with long and energetic arms, very short legs, and the feet, if we paint them at all, tiny. Why? Because the child’s brain does not perceive those parts of the body and does not give them importance. It focuses on the arms because they move much more than the legs, and of course, the face remains the main focus. That’s why I like to paint faces, because I know that we are all drawn to the eyes that look at us. Besides, is it not true that we see faces everywhere? Come on, well here they are…
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(Obras originales de Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Derechos Reservados/Original artworks by Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)
I aquií una jeta más, la de un cuñado…
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And one more face, from a dear and distant cousin…
(«Buddy»/Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Derechos Reservados/All Rights Reserved)
(«Wedding Picture»/Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)
THE PHOTO OF THE WEDDING DAY
In between a picture of you, and one of great grandma, on top of the piano that nobody plays, framed in silver now quite tarnished is the photo of our wedding day.
Seventy years have passed and our loved ones still smiling, as they look at us through time. The old ones have all long passed away but on that day they danced and sang, vibrant and happy. And the ones who then were young, handsome and beautiful, time has led them through life’s paths, some have suffered, some we’ve lost, yet some, thankfully, are still near us and together we’re here growing old.
Such is life, such is destiny, so pass the years, towards eternity…
Today, thinking we are seventy years younger, we joke, we laugh, we toast the good old days. We dream with our feet as we dance cheek to cheek, a few more drinks and we’ve lessened the stress of all the years we’ve lived, ninety years old and we still exist.
So as I look at the piano that holds that dear picture, I thank the good Lord for the blessings we’ve had. I live thankful and knowing we’re blessed, and lean back in my chair, perhaps one more highball perhaps one more prayer.
C.2024, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, Izmir, Turkey, 21 AUG 2024
(Bodo Vespaciano/Actor portrayal/All Rights Reserved/Representado por un actor/Derechos Reservados)
¿Qué es arte? ¿Como podemos saber si algo es obra de arte o no? ¿Como definimos a un artista? Bueno… Estas son preguntas que se hacen por la calle, en los bares, quizá en los vernissages o a la medianoche mientras te terminas una botella de Dyc y te fumas una cajetilla de Gitanes. Si me lo preguntáis os diría que no lo sé, venga ni puta idea. Solo os diría que para mi el arte es la búsqueda, y la manera de encontrar algo que se pueda reproducir…con buen gusto…coleccionar, vender, y que transmita un mensaje… ¿Y vosotros, gente maja, que decís?
Observad el siguiente vídeo y me decís si eso es arte, ¿Vale?
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What is art? How can we know if something is a work of art or not? How do we define an artist? Well… These are questions that are asked on the street, in bars, perhaps at vernissages, or at midnight while finishing a bottle of Bushmills and smoking a pack of Marlboro. If you ask me, I’d say I don’t know, not a fecking clue. I would only say that for me, art is the quest, and the way towards finding something that can be reproduced… with good taste… collected, sold, and that transmits a message… And you, lovely people, what do you say?
The following video refers to the post on the Viennese Actionists. Do you think this is art?
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(Another sample of censorship, but you can still watch if you follow the link)