JaZzArt en València

Courtesy of a phenomenal collector who has owned it for over a decade…

This was JaZzArT (Surreal-Expressionism) in its earliest stages…

There you see it in details and also see the actor portraying me, Bodo Vespaciano.

CHEERS

Well friends, those who know Bodo Vespaciano, know that he transfers part of VALENCIARTIST/Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia, to Turkiye* every summer and here we are…

*Yes, it may look strange or misspelled but that is the official name of the Republic of Turkiye, formerly known in the US, UK, Australia and Canada, as Turkey. They want no confusion with the fowl of the same English name. In my country (Spain) it’s never been an issue.

VALENCIARTIST will be reporting, transmitting and enjoying this summer place on a daily basis. Pardon for the adjustment period but we will be on track ipso facto. And for those who wish to participate as writers/poets/artists protagonists on FEATURES, please send us your email address so that we can be in contact and «feature» you!

CHEERS

The celebration of the days that Kemal Ataturk arrived in this wonderful peninsula called Cesme and in the town of Ilica. It is remembered on the 8th and 9th of July and this is how they have remembered…

There was much singing and dancing and a happy time was had by all.

CHEERS

Search, you are a yellow ball floating on the ocean; if you do not search for a place to make land, where will you be tomorrow?

We have lived many lives,
cannot you remember?
Remember them?
Release your spirit
surrender to God,
and change will come,
and change you will see.

Yeshua, Buddha, Mohammed,
Confucius, Arjuna,
Moses, Paul, Judas,
Mary, Isaiah,
Sri Krishna,
We can all find them there,
in the waters of life,
in the nothingness of eternity,
living.

Alive. They are alive and if you search, you will find…

The body is energy,
sensations abound,
surrounded by movement,
by rhythms,
by light,
be aware,
be awake
and seek
intensity.

If you notice and feel,
you would realise,
you’re absorbing
what’s out there,
get up,
and arise…

You can walk, start today,
your partner is walking your way.
He is wisdom and fairness,
love and compassion,
with Him by your side
every movement is action.
search…

Search in the waters beneath you, yellow ball that continues to move, search for the land where you’ll find your true love.

C.2025, Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 08/07/2024 – Ilica, Turkey

Ok, so my artwork is surreal-expressionism. You know that and you already know that It has nothing to do with your visual reality or your impression of reality. It has everything to do with how I think things should look like and appear in «life». In other words, it is my vision of reality. Everything about surreal-expressionism is internal, including the original reference. In that way it has a lot to do with abstract expressionism, or abstract art (properly stated).

So… This means that to paint an abstract, an abstract expressionist work or a surreal-expressionist one, one faces, or encounters the same problems that any strictly figurative artist encounters. One must consider the subject matter, what is to be «expressed», the size, the colour scheme, the composition and a million other things that continue to travel with you on the road to completing your painting. Abstract art, and abstract expressionism ends up being much more difficult to manage and finish because the reference is not readily available, so one has to continually imagine it, (as it is internal). This means that it may be hard to determine when the painting is actually finished or if it can take a few more brushstrokes.

The example above is of my latest painting «Nilo» (like the River Nile). It started off being surreal, then changed to expressionist, then to abstract expressionist and now has ended up being a hybrid, surreal-expressionism. It is the portrait of an owl, therefore it is figurative. But in abstract expressionism certain aspects of figuration are permitted (not in abstract art) so I could have followed that road to the finish. However, I did not think the message was being said correctly (the first problem).

By changing the style the message changes, so I found that by solving that first problem I could continue on to the finish. But I did not want a realistic owl, or one that was fully surrealistic. So I changed the colour scheme and the second problem was solved. From there on it became rather expressionistic. Again a problem arose. It was not «talking» to me, and I pity the artist that does not listen to his paintings!

If I would have left the painting as an abstract-expressionist work, the owl could not have been so well defined and I wanted some precise definition. So again a problem. This time it was solved by changing the style again to something I could work with happily and thoroughly. And that can make my painting say what I wanted, have the colour scheme I chose, the size and the composition in the way I had prepared it through several sketches. Surreal-expressionism was the only way.

Only now… I am not sure it is finished… What do you think?

NOTA BENE

The image of «Nilo» above does not properly represent the painting. I have manipulated the digital photo and changed the intensity, hue and shadings. I have done this because, as I said before, the painting is not finished.

No conocía mucho de esta mujer que ejerció su arte en Cuba y fue parte de la generación de los vanguardistas. Nació en 1896 en la provincia (tradicional*) de Las Villas, y murió en 1968 en La Habana. Comenzó a los 20 años en la Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, «San Alejandro» y recibe su diploma en 1924. En 1927 se traslada a Francia y hace muchas cortas visitas a España y a Italia. Regresó a Cuba en 1934 y lamentablemente tubo que vivir bajo la represión del sistema usurpador que desgobierna a Cuba hasta su muerte.

+++

I did not really know much about this woman artist from Cuba that was part of the avant-guarde generation of artists. She was born in 1896 in the province (traditional*) of Las Villas and died in La Habana in 1968. At the age of 20 years she enrolled at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes «San Alejandro» and graduated in 1924. In 1927 she moved to France but made many short trips to Spain and Italy. She returned to Cuba in 1934 and lamentably she had to live under the repression of the usurper government that mal-governs Cuba until her death.

OMNIA CAELUM STUDIOS VALENCIA

Gracias…

Cheers…

Ok, so my artwork is surreal-expressionism. You know that and you already know that It has nothing to do with your visual reality or your impression of reality. It has everything to do with how I think things should look like and appear in «life». In other words, it is my vision of reality. Everything about surreal-expressionism is internal, including the original reference. In that way it has a lot to do with abstract expressionism, or abstract art (properly stated).

So… This means that to paint an abstract, an abstract expressionist work or a surreal-expressionist one, one faces, or encounters the same problems that any strictly figurative artist encounters. One must consider the subject matter, what is to be «expressed», the size, the colour scheme, the composition and a million other things that continue to travel with you on the road to completing your painting. Abstract art, and abstract expressionism ends up being much more difficult to manage and finish because the reference is not readily available, so one has to continually imagine it, (as it is internal). This means that it may be hard to determine when the painting is actually finished or if it can take a few more brushstrokes.

The example above is of my latest painting «Nilo» (like the River Nile). It started off being surreal, then changed to expressionist, then to abstract expressionist and now has ended up being a hybrid, surreal-expressionism. It is the portrait of an owl, therefore it is figurative. But in abstract expressionism certain aspects of figuration are permitted (not in abstract art) so I could have followed that road to the finish. However, I did not think the message was being said correctly (the first problem).

By changing the style the message changes, so I found that by solving that first problem I could continue on to the finish. But I did not want a realistic owl, or one that was fully surrealistic. So I changed the colour scheme and the second problem was solved. From there on it became rather expressionistic. Again a problem arose. It was not «talking» to me, and I pity the artist that does not listen to his paintings!

If I would have left the painting as an abstract-expressionist work, the owl could not have been so well defined and I wanted some precise definition. So again a problem. This time it was solved by changing the style again to something I could work with happily and thoroughly. And that can make my painting say what I wanted, have the colour scheme I chose, the size and the composition in the way I had prepared it through several sketches. Surreal-expressionism was the only way.

Only now… I am not sure it is finished… What do you think?

NOTA BENE

The image of «Nilo» above does not properly represent the painting. I have manipulated the digital photo and changed the intensity, hue and shadings. I have done this because, as I said before, the painting is not finished.

Search, you are a yellow ball floating on the ocean; if you do not search for a place to make land, where will you be tomorrow?

We have lived many lives,
cannot you remember?
Remember them?
Release your spirit
surrender to God,
and change will come,
and change you will see.

Yeshua, Buddha, Mohammed,
Confucius, Arjuna,
Moses, Paul, Judas,
Mary, Isaiah,
Sri Krishna,
We can all find them there,
in the waters of life,
in the nothingness of eternity,
living.

Alive. They are alive and if you search, you will find…

The body is energy,
sensations abound,
surrounded by movement,
by rhythms,
by light,
be aware,
be awake
and seek
intensity.

If you notice and feel,
you would realise,
you’re absorbing
what’s out there,
get up,
and arise…

You can walk, start today,
your partner is walking your way.
He is wisdom and fairness,
love and compassion,
with Him by your side
every movement is action.
search…

Search in the waters beneath you, yellow ball that continues to move, search for the land where you’ll find your true love.

C.2025, Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 08/07/2024 – Ilica, Turkey

Algo para estimular el pensamiento…

Regresando a mi querido barrio…

Siempre se vuelve a su primer hogar…