JaZzArt en València

Este es el movimiento artístico que muchos dicen que abrió el camino hacia las tantas vanguardias que surgieron en el Siglo XX. Para muchos es el estilo que mas les gusta, que prefieren. Cierto que hubieron muchos grandes pintores que fueron impresionistas. Hay que conocer este movimiento bien.

+++

This is the art movement that many say opened the way for all the many vanguards that surged in the XX Century. For many it is the style they like the best, the one they prefer. The truth is that many great painters did impressionist work. We have to get to know this movement well.

OMNIA CAELUM STUDIOS VALENCIA PRESENTA/PRESENTS:

Gracias…

Cheers…

Vive en Francia, en Normandía y le gusta pintar paisajes del oeste norteamericano. No voy a juzgar, os lo dejo así. Os mostraré algunos de los cuadros y vosotros juzgareis si es o no pintor este, el cuarto hijo de Osama Bin Laden.

+++

He lives in France, Normandy and he likes to paint landscapes of the western areas of North America. I will not judge, I’ll leave that to you. I will show you some of the paintings and you will be the judge of whether this, the fourth son of Osama Bin Laden is a painter (artist) or not.

«A mi madre le encanta pintar, y también a una de mis hermanas. Mi tío también era un muy buen artista. Por lo tanto, la necesidad de dibujar y pintar corre por mis venas», es parte de lo que comentó en una entrevista vía Whatsapp el pintor a esta revista, a la que también compartió algunos de sus retratos. (El Heraldo de México)

+++

El Heraldo de México published the following quote and I will translate it:

«My mother loves to paint as well as one of my sisters. My uncle also was a very good artist. Therefore the need to draw and paint runs in my veins», is part of what he commented in an interview vía Whatsapp that the painter gave to this magazine in the which he also shared some of his pictures.

Diría yo que es un pintor naif, más o menos y que ha aprendido el oficio fuera de las academias. Os dejo un vídeo de pintores naif para que lo comparéis.

+++

I would say he is a Naif painter, more or less and that he has learned the craft outside of any academy or school. I will leave you a video of Art Naif so that you can compare.

Gracias…

Cheers…

Hay decisiones que pueden llegar a desencadenar una serie de eventos que nos pueden hacer sufrir consecuencias inesperadas e indeseadas. Algo parecido al efecto dominó. Decisiones como, por ejemplo, permitir la censura en las redes sociales quizá puedan considerarse pendientes resbaladizas. Por una parte, censurar aquello que nos parece inmoral, de mal gusto o ilegal, a simple vista, nos parece una buena idea. Pero, ¿Hasta donde podrá llegar esa censura? ¿Estamos seguros que los censuristas van actuar siempre justamente? ¿Y si comienzan a censurar lo que a ellos no les gusta? Creo que son preguntas validas que nos tenemos que hacer.

Yo recuerdo que hace unos años el internet era mucho más grande y amplio que lo que es ahora. Ahora el internet es pequeño y las búsquedas no se extienden mucho mas allá de lo que quieren…¿Los censuristas?…que sepamos. Igual en YouTube, antes predominaban vídeos de particulares que se enfrentaban a muchísimas cosas, y se hablaba de todo. Ahora son casi todos hechos por corporaciones y con el mismo mensaje. Un mensaje blanqueado y purificado, apto para todas la familia. ¿Sera porque muchas de esas paginas de internet, o vídeos de YouTube, han sido censurado y eliminados de la plataforma? No se, pero me parece que sí porque muchos de ellos, que yo recuerde, hablaban de lo que «ellos» llaman «teorías conspirativas».

Venga, dime tu lo que piensas de la censura en las redes sociales…

+++++++

There are decisions that can trigger a series of events leading to unexpected and undesired consequences. It’s somewhat akin to a domino effect. Decisions such as allowing censorship on social media may be considered slippery slopes. On the one hand, censoring what seems immoral, distasteful, or illegal may seem like a good idea, at first glance. But how far will that censorship go? Are we sure that the censors will always act justly? What if they start censoring what they don’t like? I think these are valid questions that we need to ask ourselves.

I remember that a few years ago the internet was much bigger and broader than it is now. Now the internet is small and searches don’t extend too far beyond what they…the censors?…want us to know. The same goes for YouTube. A few years ago it was mostly filled with videos made by individuals that proposed and discussed many things. All sorts of topics were discussed. Now, almost all the videos are made by corporations with the same message. A whitewashed and purified message, suitable for the whole family. And on top of it filled with commercials. What happened to the other videos, the ones about «conspiracy theories»? Were those censored and eliminated from the platform? What happened to the «rest» of the internet? I don’t know, but it seems to me that way because many of them, as far as I can remember, talked about these so-called «conspiracy theories» which is simply «their» way of demonising what «they» do not like.

So what do you think of censorship on social media?

City and province of Andalucía, España. Founded in A.D. 955 from what had been a Roman port city. It joined the Crown of Castile in 1489… It is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean Sea with mountains to the north and west and a beautiful valley and river delta to the east. If you have not visited Almería, i will guide you through this brief visit. Take a look…

CHEERS

This was the first book which incorporated the characters that Anne Hillerman’s father, Tony Hillerman developed back (1970) when he wrote his first novel of the Navajo Nation Police, «The Blessing Way.»

Okay, I am not a book reviewer, so be patient with me. I bought «Spiderwoman’s Daughter» at the Miami International Airport…in 2014…while I waited for a flight to New York, en route to Istanbul. I began reading it on the plane and continued reading it after I made my connection, JFK to Istanbul. Once I got to my summer Turkish destination, on the southern Mediterranean coast, I must have read a few chapters. But sailing and the beach were too engaging, and I left the book.

Fast forward to 2024. I was looking through the things I had left here and I found the book. It was still marked at the place where I had left it ten years ago. Funny how all those other years that I had come here I had not even thought of looking for it. But I am glad this summer i did. And I just finished reading it, and I loved it. Plus it got me back to one of my old favourite pastimes, reading. I’ve already started on her second novel «Rock With Wings» which I had not realised I had purchased and was in my e-book library.

Tony Hillerman’s books focused on two principal characters, and many others that appeared, re-appeared, or disappeared according to the needs of the plot. The books were all mysteries that took place on the area of the Navajo Nation and the surrounding US states, like New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. His descriptions of that area were incredible to me and I would imagine them as I had never been to the US Southwest. The main characters were Lieutenant Leaphorn (The Legendary Lieutenant) and a few books later, Jim Chee, both officers of the Navajo Nation Tribal Police.

Tony Hillerman, who was born in Oklahoma (1925), sadly passed away in 2008. He was a prolific author…New York Times bestseller always…with a phenomenal ability to create believable, and memorable characters. From 1970 to 2006, he wrote 18 novels about the detective work, lives, loves and hardships of Jim Chee and Lt. Leaphorn. And towards the end he added a new protagonist, Bernadette Manuelito, also a police officer of the Navajo Nation.

I had read all his books. I was totally hooked on these characters and the descriptions of the life and geography of that mysterious region that I had only seen in the old cowboy movies. Then when he passed away I thought it was all over. But it wasn’t.

Thankfully his daughter, Anne, also a fabulous writer…New York Times bestseller…continued the saga of these incredible characters her father had developed. «Spiderwoman’s Daughter«, her first book, is a sort of like a bridge from her father’s books to her own. She goes back to many of the mysteries solved in his novels and shows us another part of the plot. But she has developed Officer Bernadette Manuelito (Bernie) to perfection.

Needless to say, I am thrilled with her series of Jim Chee/Bernie/Leaphorn books. If you like adventure stories with incredibly well developed characters that confront mysteries and difficulties like «real» people, and not like characters in a video game (or modern movies), then you will love the series.

And happily, I can tell you that I will be busy, very busy reading, Here is my reading list for the rest of the year as these are the books that Ms. Hillerman has written since 2013. I hope she writes many, many more…

2013 Spider Woman’s Daughter ISBN 978-0-06-227048-1.
2015 Rock With Wings ISBN 978-0-06-227051-1.
2017 Song of the Lion ISBN 978-0-06-239190-2.
2018 Cave of Bones ISBN 978-0-06-239192-6.
2019 The Tale Teller ISBN 978-0-06-239195-7.
2021 Stargazer ISBN 978-0-06-290833-9.
2022 The Sacred Bridge ISBN 978-0-06-290836-0.
2023 The Way of the Bear ISBN 978-0-06-290839-1.
2024 Lost Birds ISBN 978-0-06-334478-5.

So, sorry if this was not a proper book review, it’s my version of one and you know as an Expressionist painter, I paint what I see inside, as a book reviewer I do the same.

CHEERS

City and province of Andalucía, España. Founded in A.D. 955 from what had been a Roman port city. It joined the Crown of Castile in 1489… It is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean Sea with mountains to the north and west and a beautiful valley and river delta to the east. If you have not visited Almería, i will guide you through this brief visit. Take a look…

CHEERS

Berenice Abbott was an American photographer born in Ohio in 1898…

She started her studies at Ohio State University, then in 1918 she relocated to Manhattan and started studying painting and sculpture. In 1921 she went to Paris to continue with her studies and studied sculpture with Emile Bourdelle. Bourdelle, French sculptor, was a student of Rodin, and a teacher to Giacometti and Matisse. He was a vanguard artist and a major proponent of Art Deco and an important part of the Belle Époque movement…

In France she met Man Ray and became his assistant. She then began to develop her art and started taking portraits of other artists…

Man Ray was an American photographer born in Philadelphia in 1890 but spent most of his life in Paris. He is renowned as a fashion photographer and for the many portraits he took of famous people…

But we are focusing on Berenice Abbott and you can see many of her incredibly delicious photographs that I have placed in this video. Don’t miss it!

Cheers…

According to the «experts»… oh my, those «experts»… there are proofs and evidence to declare that the «theory» of evolution is a reality, but… I am not convinced by either Darwin or Alfred Russel Wallace… Man, like art, is not a product of evolution.

«How? But what are you saying? Well, I’m going to tell you…»

First, I will tell you about humans, I mean, those who’ve not descended primates (only a lunatic would believe that). If someone wants to have simian ancestors, well, they can enjoy them and go visit them at the zoo. But it is absurd to think that we descend from monkeys. If that were the case, there would no longer be any monkeys because they would have all evolved into men and women. Yes, I know, it’s a somewhat frivolous argument, but it remains valid. Sometimes the simplest things are the truest. That we resemble each other in certain aspects or that we have similar organs that serve the same function, well, dogs, cats, ferrets, otters, lizards, and even fish also have them.

And what of art?

Art does not evolve because it has always been. From the first sketches, drawings, and paintings made in caves to the graffiti done by vandals on the walls of our cities, art is, has been, and will always be a fait accompli, let’s say a done deal.

That times and styles have changed, yes, no doubt. But that is not evolution, that is development. Until the era of the Impressionists, artists only painted what they were asked for. That is why many of the oldest artists did not consider themselves «artists» but rather artisan painters who fulfilled the commissions they were given.

Art changed according to the success of the searches/experiments/trial and errors made by artists who became pioneers and avant-gardists. But until that precise moment in history arrived, it couldn’t be. After the liberty that art achieved in the 19th century, the vanguards of the 20th century came and art completely changed. But it was all due to the search and what they found, as Picasso said, «I do not seek, I find…»

So let us stop thinking about these pseudo-scientists, half mad, half crazy that have put these fireflies in our heads. Let us instead look with a critical eye at the life that surrounds us, at the people too and at art. Art shines, surges, and embraces us with unquenchable strength, the power of truth. Man, like art, did not evolve, but was created perfect.

CHEERS

La pintora italiana, la monja, Sor Plautilla Nelli, fue una gran innovadora pues fue la primera mujer artista en hacerse un autorretrato y lo hizo delante del caballete, cosa que ningún artista había hecho pero que muchos hicieron después. Dicen que fue autodidacta pero eso es imposible, se aprende de alguien o de algo, no de la nada. Rompió esquemas, sin duda alguna y vosotros lo habéis reconocido en el articulo… Mi interés es divulgar, informar, entretener y también recalcar un poco sobre la necesidad de darle cabida…verdadera…a las mujeres artistas que han existido y que deben tener su merecido puesto en la historia del arte y en los museos. Creo que la historia…en general…hay que re-escribirla y hacerla mas objetiva y mas veraz pues hay mucha propaganda y muchas mentiras y en la historia del arte muchos y muchas ausentes… Os agradezco la participación pues así debe ser, esta es una trinchera para discutir y para transmitir ideas de forma compartida y llevar el conocimiento del arte a más y más lugares…

+++

The Italian painter, the nun, Sister Plautilla Nelli, was a great innovator as she was the first female artist to create a self-portrait, and she did so in front of the easel, something no artist had done but many did afterwards. They say she was self-taught, but that’s impossible; you learn from someone or something, not from nothing. She definitely broke the mold, and you have recognized it in the article… My interest is to disseminate, inform, entertain, and also emphasize the need to truly give space to the women artists who have existed and who deserve their rightful place in art history and in museums. I believe that history in general needs to be rewritten to make it more objective and truthful, as there is a lot of propaganda and many lies, and in art history, many are absent. I appreciate your participation because that’s how it should be; this is a trench to discuss and transmit ideas in a shared way and to spread art knowledge to more and more places…