(Bodo, otros tiempos, otros lugares/Derechos Reservados – Bodo, other times, other places/All Rights Reserved)
En el arte hay solo dos estilos, aunque hay muchas formas de pintar, dibujar y esculpir, pero la obra cae en una de dos columnas: La figuración o la abstracción. No existen términos medios, si la pintura, et al, tiene figuras o cosas claramente reconocibles, es FIGURATIVA. Si no tiene nada que corresponda al mundo donde vivimos o a las cosas que estamos acostumbrados a ver, es ABSTRACTA.
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In art there are only two styles, although there are many ways to paint something, draw or sculpt, but things have to end up in one of two columns: Figurative or abstract. There is no middle of the road. If the painting, et al, has any recognisable features of our common daily, earthly, existence, or figures, it is FIGURATIVE. If it does not, and contains nothing easily recognisable, then it is ABSTRACT.
(«Abstrakta 2»)(«Abstrakta»)(«Abstrakta 3»)(«Abstrakta 4»)(Obras de Art Digital originales de Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Derechos Reservados – All images are original Art Digital by Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)
“PROMISES ARE FORGOTTEN BY PRINCES, BUT NOT BY THE PEOPLE”
Hay que acordarse siempre de las falsas promesas y las mentiras, no de los príncipes pero de los que aspiran a gobernar o a continuar su mandato. Ya bastante nos ha mentido el que okupa ahora la Moncloa… No hay derechas ni izquierdas, hay honestidad o corrupción.
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We cannot forget the false promises and the lies, not of the Prince but of those who govern us or hope to be elected to do so. We’ve been lied to enough… There is no right wing or left wing, there is only honesty or corruption.
(FBC en algún lugar del Mar Mediterráneo/Derechos Reservados – FBC somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea/All Rights Reserved)
Jazzart en Valencia
Vamos a ver, ¿Qué rayos es Jazzart? Ale, sabemos que el Jazz es la música clásica Norte Americana y el invento más grande musical del S. XX, pero no entiendo eso de mezclar el Jazz con el arte. ¿Puede hacerse?
Tranquilo che que sí se puede y yo lo he logrado. Bueno, no seré el único, habrán otros que igual lo han logrado, pero lo mío es muy, pero muy particular…
Te explico: El Jazz surgió del ragtime allá en Nueva Orleans al principio del S. XX. Fue música bailable desde esos inicios hasta ya entrada la década de los años 1940, cuando se empezó a bifurcar en diferentes ramas. Primero el Bebop, después el Cool, seguido de varios estilos que juntos componían el Free Jazz, el Jazz experimental, el Fusion y hasta el Jazz abstracto. Esa música ya no era bailable. La estructura dejó de ser melódica y se hizo más compleja, pero lo que permitía que siguiera llamándose Jazz era que cumplía con los tres requisitos. Estos son: La improvisación, la maestría del músico que toca y compone simultáneamente, y el swing, o sea, el ritmo.
Pero de los tres el más importante siempre fue…y sigue siendo…la improvisación. Además, que el Jazz tiene la característica, exclusiva, de ser la única forma artística donde el arte se hace sobre la marcha. El intérprete es intérprete y compositor simultáneamente.
Esos son los tres pilares del Jazz y yo los aplico a mis pinturas, a mis cuadros, dibujos, a mi arte. Venga, también, hasta cierto punto a mis poesías…
Ahora, ¿Cómo lo hago? No es fácil pero lo logro llevándome esos principios, o normas, al atelier para luego ponerlos sobre la tela. Primero la improvisación que me lleva, prácticamente de la mano, a crear una composición que fluye, que vibra con energía, y que luce su clara espontaneidad y fuerza y dinámica. La improvisación no es intuición, sino que es un proceso artístico que surge de ideas muy bien curradas que uno luego deja sueltas para que fluyan. La improvisación no se saca de la manga, tiene su faena. Segundo dejo que los “personajes” que pueblan mis composiciones se definan y que me “digan” cómo debo representarlos, por ejemplo, en lo que están haciendo y lo que quieren hacer. Son músicos creando y tocando y todo esta hilvanado con el swing, el ritmo que identifica la obra y le da su identidad.
Pero la mejor manera de explicar el “Jazzart” es enseñándotelo. Aquí te dejo con el JaZzArt, pues así le he puesto…
Kathleen Blackshear was a North American Modernist artist who painted mostly the Black folk of her country. She was born on June 6, 1897 in Navasota, Texas, (US). She did emigrate to New York where she studied at the Arts Students League on West 57th Street, Manhattan, a school known to professional as well as amateur artists. In 1924 she attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her most active years were from 1924 to 1940 when she painted mostly the Negroes of North America.
(«Black Woman with Barbed Wire 1939/photo Illinois Women artist Project)
(Somewhere close to the Aegean Sea/All Rights Reserved)
Francisco Bravo Cabrera, a.k.a. Bodo Vespaciano
I am a graduate of Florida International University (Miami, Florida). And I have been engaged in the art world since 1998 when I began painting and selling my watercolours which I titled “Jazz-Art”, (later they became «JaZzArt»). The name comes from my love of Jazz, and of course it relates to the themes and compositions of my drawings and paintings. I developed my studio, Omnia Caelum in Miami where I lived at the time. Presently I live and work in Europe, Spain to be precise.
My first professional exhibition was in 2003 at the PG Gallery in Istanbul, Turkey. Following the success of my first show, I returned to Miami and began exhibiting in galleries in Sarasota and Bradenton, Florida. In Miami as well, where I was named “Artist of the Month” several times when I participated in Miami’s “Cultural Fridays” programme.
I have exhibited in Sarasota and Bradenton, two Gulf Coast cities in upstate Florida; New York, (SoHo, Manhattan and Brooklyn); Zaragoza, Fuendetodos, Barcelona, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Spain and again in Turkey, this time in Izmir. Then in Ireland. My paintings hang in many private collections throughout Europe, the United States, India and Turkey.
My preferred style, a style which I developed, is Surreal-Expressionism. But I don’t limit his work, or perspective, to just one style or approach. I base most of my paintings on musical themes and I use instruments as well as bodies to represent players and dancers which exist in the world of jazz and fantasy I am creating. I use colours boldly to express feelings and emotions. Many times I paint an abstract background to my mostly figurative paintings.
However, being that I believe that «art is the search” I continuously experiment and investigate new and different approaches to create paintings that truly communicate and transmit the message that I wish to share.
Besides my figurative work, I have developed a way to approach abstract art thinking it as something spiritual, almost a meditation.
Another big aspect of my work are my drawings. I do them using various types of graphite and ink. These I have done in different seriases titled “JaZzArt” and the seriases are separated into phases. And although most are in black and white, some are of the phases are drawn with ink upon a colourful abstract background of watercolour.
My present work seek the expansion of colour, as well as a desire to explore other styles. This would allow me the use of more symbols and abstract forms. I also looks to continuously delve deeper into expressionism. My “search” is to discover the true essence of this historical art movement and to try to more clearly and effectively reach out and communicate with its audience. And of course to continue drawing JaZzArt because for me the black line is the clearest and most visual manner with which to bring forth the spirituality of art.
My upcoming projects are in my home base of València, Spain. In October of this year, 2023, I will be exhibiting in the Cultural Centre of Ciutat Vella, one of the museums of the city. Next year, God willing, Germany…
(Getting ready for the Summer/Somewhere in Southern Europe/All Rights Reserved)
Here are two paintings from days of old. They are from my days in Miami, Fla… The first one goes back to 2005 and the second one to 2007. Both paintings are now in private collections in Europe but the images remain and the reasons I painted them as well remain. Here’s a little more about my Surreal-Expressionism and my JaZzArt.
LA VIOLINISTA
(Image property of FBC/Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia/All Rights Reserved)
“La Violinista” is a prime example of my style, “Surreal-Expressionism”. The violinist as the every-woman-musician. She is faceless and nameless. Yet she exudes style and grace as well as a clear, and well defined, femininity. The Violinist is in motion, walking among those that look upon her and either understand her work or are perplexed by it. No one is indifferent to her as she moves. The painting, true to Surreal-Expressionism, has an abstract background where three flowers bloom and grow and form an acute triangle within the composition.
Moño Azul
(Image property of FBC/Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia/All Rights Reserved)
An example of early Surreal-Expressionism which keeps up precisely with the precepts of JaZzArt. I was still researching both at the time, (2007), when «Moño Azul» was painted. It is done with acrylics on canvas. The background is abstract and filled with color. The principal part of the composition is the blue silhouette of a woman whose hair is combed into a bun. She is looking to the right side towards a very stylized, Egyptian-style flower. To the left of the main part of the composition one sees the more surreal aspect of the painting where a face seems to hover above a hand-drum, symbolizing the creation of music which rises, like black smoke from the drum.
Fue pintora impresionista, escultora, y diseñadora. Esta artista francesa nació en Étampes en 1853. Un hito en su vida, y en su carrera, fue cuando a los 23 años de edad pintó un retrato de la actriz Sarah Bernhardt. Es posible que haya tenido una relación sentimental con la famosa actriz ya que se conocía que era lesbiana. Desde el 1874 comenzó a exponer en el Salón de París. Pintó los murales decorativos de varios ayuntamientos parisienses y también hizo muchas pinturas para otros edificios de París. Abbéma fue una de las artistas cuyas obras fueron expuestas en el Edificio de la Mujer en 1893 para la Exposición Mundial Colombina de Chicago, con el fin de mostrar los aportes de la mujer a la historia. Una de las obras expuestas fue el busto de Sarah Bernhardt. En 1906 la nombraron Caballero de la Orden de la Legión de Honor. Murió en 1927 en París.
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She was an Impressionist painter, a sculptor, a designer and as well as a prolific writer. This French artist born in Étampes in 1853. A notable incident in her life occurred when, at the age of 23, she painted a portrait of the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt with whom she might have had a romantic affair. She was known to be a lesbian. In 1874 she began exhibiting at the Salon de Paris. She also painted the decorative murals for several city halls throughout Paris as well as providing paintings for other municipal buildings in the French capital. Abbéma was one of the artists chosen exhibit at the 1893 Women’s Building of the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, a hall dedicated to exemplifying women’s contribution to history. One of the items she exhibited was a bust of Sarah Bernhardt. In 1906 she was named Chevalier of the Order of the Légion d’honneur. Louise Abbéma died in Paris in 1927.
(De Louise Abbéma/Dominio público-By Louise Abbéma/Public Domain – 1894)
(Time is the best author: He always finds the perfect ending – Foto/Photo El Munudo)
Parece que se han olvidado de todos los logros sociales ganados a través de luchas y sacrificios… Lo que fue una revolución por la inclusion, de todos y para el bien de todos, se ha convertido en fragmentos de idioteces… El deseo de lograr la paz se ha convertido en el deseo de armarse hasta los dientes…
La consigna era que todos éramos hermanos y no había diferencia entre unos y otros. Se luchaba contra la pobreza, contra el dominio del «Big Brother», o sea del «Hermano Mayor,» ese ente que todo lo ve, todo lo escucha y todo lo controla. Ahora le hemos cedido, voluntariamente…y pagando…todos nuestros derechos, toda nuestra privacidad, a cambio de poder utilizar los «smart phones» que Big Brother nos ha dado.
Ahora dicen que luchan por la «igualdad» pero de quien y de que forma? Separándonos! Mucho interés por los colectivos particulares pero poco por la gran familia de la humanidad. A nadie le importa ahora los pobres, los salarios, las pensiones, las viviendas, la limpieza de los barrios, los precios de los comestibles, de la gasolina, del transporte, del ocio? Mucho interés en defender ideologías pero poco por defender a la gente, a la gente de a pie, a los que mas necesitan que alguien se acuerde de ellos y le eche una mano.
Que ha pasado aquí? Venga, el tiempo sabrá como será el final, pero lo sabéis vosotros?
Necesitamos hacer una revolución para restaurar el amor, la paz y la hermandad, como dijeron Lennon y McCartney y yo traduzco: «Si cargas la foto del Chairman Mao, nadie te hará caso y no lograrás nada.» Así que abajo con las ideas comunistoides y arriba la vida!
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It seems that they have forgotten about all the social achievements gained through struggles and sacrifices… What was a revolution for the inclusion of everyone and for the good of everyone, has turned into fragments of idiocy… The desire for peace has turned into the desire to arm ourselves to the teeth...
The motto was that we were all brothers and there was no difference between one another. We fought against poverty, against the dominance of «Big Brother,» that entity that sees everything, hears everything, and controls everything. Now, we have voluntarily surrendered…and pay…all our rights, all our privacy, in exchange for being able to use the «smartphones» that Big Brother has given us.
Now «they» say they fight for «equality,» but for whom and in what way? By separating us! There is a lot of interest in defending specific groups, but little for the greater family of Man. Now no one cares about the poor or about wages, pensions, affordable housing, the cleanliness of the neighbourhoods, the prices of groceries, gasoline, transportation, leisure. There is a lot of interest in defending ideologies, but little in defending the people, the ordinary people, those who need someone to remember them and lend them a hand the most.
What has happened here? Well, author time definitely knows what the ending will be, but do you know?
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I think we need a Revolution of Love, Peace and Brotherhood… «And if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow.» (Lennon & McCartney). So down with communistic ideas and Up with Life!
JaZzArt en València 