Patterns on a Wall, and Through History (Pic de Jour)

Posted on Friday, 10 May, 2013 by BobR

This is a detail from a large piece by Bogota-based street artist Guache on Jiron Lampa in Lima, created for the Latido Americano festival held in the Peruvian capital this past March. This second annual event brought together more than 25 street art and graffiti aficionados from a dozen countries. Brooklyn Street Art has a terrific two-part showcase of the event here and here. Another participating artist has an account and plenty of photos here. Check ‘em out, the pieces are colorful and vibrant, sensational.

Pattern is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge; this mural which I walked past several times last weekend in Lima, one that vividly brought that city block to life, immediately came to mind.

There are several patterns at play here. There are those on the wall of course, not quite uniform, that piece together the pride, courage and conviction emanating from the man’s portrait.

And there is also the cyclical pattern in which the mural exists, in both its historical and contemporary contexts: the repeated pattern of harsh treatment, discrimination and neglect the subject and those he represents have endured for more than five centuries.

Cubism, pre-Columbian Style

Posted on Sunday, 5 May, 2013 by BobR

Vase, Huari Transitional Period, AD 800-1300

This depiction of a wild-eyed, snickering warrior caught my eye the other day at the Museo de Arte Precolombino, or Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, in Cusco.

At least 600 years before Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso came this small vase created by a Huari artist that incorporated all the essential elements and style of what came to be known as cubism. Both Braque and Picasso credited pre-Columbian artists in the Americas –in this case, from a civilization that flourished about 1,000 years ago in the south-central Andes and Pacific coastal areas of modern-day Peru– with their experimentation and exploration with Cubism in the early 20th century.

Museo de Arte Precolombino, Cusco, Peru, 03-May-2013

Earth Day 2013

Posted on Monday, 22 April, 2013 by BobR

Tierra en Agonia (Earth in Agony) by Ramiro Machaca, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Plaza, La Paz, Bolivia.

The Trash Bin Sculptures of El Chalten

Posted on Tuesday, 16 April, 2013 by BobR

El Chalten, Argentina, is best known as a gateway for excellent hiking and trekking in the mountains near the iconic Mt. Fitz Roy, but it’ll also stand out –in my mind anyway– as the home to the finest assortment of trash bin sculptures on the planet. A typical example above, stands in front of a call center.

I was told by one townsperson that the sculptures were created by a local mountain guide and spread around town. I don’t know his name – my apologies. If anyone knows, or is on their way to Chalten and can find out, I’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy!

Exhibit: Prints, Independence and Revolution – MAC Santiago

Posted on Monday, 25 March, 2013 by BobR

La Patria, Demian Flores, 2010

Here are about a dozen shots I snapped from the exhibit Estampas, Independencia y Revolucion last week, currently having a second run at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo (MAC) in Santiago.

It includes fifty-one limited edition prints and one sculpture by renowned contemporary artists, mostly Mexican, works donated by the Mexican government to MAC as a birthday present for Chile’s bicentennial in 2010 and the 100th anniversary of it’s revolution. I really liked La Patria, by Demian Flores, above and Monica Mayer’s Yo no celebro ni conmemoro guerras, or I do not celebrate or commemorate war, below.

Yo no celebro ni conmemoro guerras, Monica Mayer, 2010

Through May 19. More from the museum’s website (Spanish only) here.

Presagios de lo que va a suceder, Alejandro Perez Cruz, 2010

Patria, Adolfo Mexiac Calderon, 2010

Patria o muerte, Mimmo Paladino, 2010

Mensajeros, Pilar Bordes, 2010

El cincuentenario de MI independencia, Boris Viskin, 2010

Alma libre, Luis Ricaurte, 2010

No la tires, Helen Escobedo, 2010

La vida y La muerte (diptych), Rene Derouin, 2010

The Real Santiago

International Women’s Day, in Bariloche

Posted on Sunday, 10 March, 2013 by BobR

A day late is better than never, right? I came across some great murals during a long walk through Bariloche, Argentina, today which fit perfectly into this weekend’s International Women’s Day theme.

These first seven photos are from a larger mural still on display on the busy Moreno thoroughfare in the center of the city, created for the 26th Encuentro Nacional de Mujeres Bariloche, or National Women’s Gathering which took place here in October 2011.

These last two below appear beside the entrance to the Dr. Ramón Carrillo regional hospital. Both are dated 2011 so I’m assuming they were created for the same national gathering as the mural above. The second pic is a lyric from the song Mujeres by Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez. Here’s one translation I found:

I was shaken by women
that history has placed among laurels
and other ones unknown, giants,
that no book could ever contain.

Like Earth Day, International Women’s Day is every day. Let’s work on that, ok?

Now Showing, at the Strait of Magellan

Posted on Friday, 15 February, 2013 by BobR

One way to kill the 30 minutes or so you have while waiting for a ferry to take you and your bus across the Strait of Magellan from the island of Tierra del Fuego is to check out this open air exhibit that faces the narrowest (but still quite wide) part of the waterway at Bahia Azul.

Entitled No Solo de Pan Vive el Hombre (Man Does Not Live by Bread Alone), the series was created by Jorge Lannin in 2004. That’s as much of a backstory that I can provide; my apologies. I like how well the grasses fit with the paintings.

Near Punta Delgada, Chile, 04-February-2013

Finding Love in San Telmo (Pic de Jour)

Posted on Thursday, 14 February, 2013 by BobR

Good lovin’ in San Telmo

This snap of some graffiti and murals in the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires was the most appropriate visual I could come up with on short notice for today’s St. Valentine’s Day holiday. To those of you who celebrated, I hope you celebrated well.

The Beatles in Punta Arenas (Pic de Jour)

Posted on Sunday, 10 February, 2013 by BobR

John, Paul, George and Ringo in Punta Arenas, Chile, 05-Feb-2013

It isn’t quite the Heavy Metal Murals of Kavarna, but this was nonetheless a pleasant find about a 30-minute stroll from the center of Punta Arenas and about 45 minutes after listening to ‘I am the Walrus’ in a collectivo taxi.

Rostro Sobre Hoja by by Enriqueta Gastelumendi de Santin

Rostro Sobre Hoja (Pic de Jour)

Posted on Monday, 4 February, 2013 by BobR

Eternal elegance

That’s the title of this woodcarving by Enriqueta Gastelumendi de Santin currently on display at the Museo del Fin del Mundo in Ushuaia. I liked its understated elegance and sense of power in evokes. I will be most grateful to anyone who can help with a good English language translation of the title of this work.

De Santin, a local artist who passed away in 2001, was a direct descendent of the the Selk’nam people, one of four indigenous groups who inhabited Tierra del Fuego. The group has been considered extinct since May 1974 when the last full-blooded Selk’nam died.

I also visited the Museo Yamana today, which chronicles this incredibly resourceful group who, like the Selk’nam, was quickly decimated following contact with Europeans in the late 19th century. More soon on both museums and these nomadic peoples who managed to thrive in this part of the world’s bitter conditions.

My journey north begins tomorrow with a 12-hour bus trip across Tierra del Fuego to Punta Arenas, Chile. Ciao, Ushuaia, it’s been a pleasure and privilege to meet you.

Flor Indigena (Indigenous Flower), by Podal Leguizamon Gonzalo

Flor Indigena – Pic de Jour

Posted on Saturday, 26 January, 2013 by BobR

Keeping watch

This is Flor Indigena (Indigenous Flower), a captivating sandstone sculpture by Argentinean Pondal Leguizamon Gonzalo, which has been serenely standing guard at the eastern end of the Buenos Aires Jardín Botánico (Botanical Garden) since December 1979. This was my second favorite sculpture at the Garden; No 1 coming soon.

Buenos Aires, 25-Jan-2013

Omara Portuondo mural on the Avenida Independencia, San Telmo, Buenos Aires, 24-Jan-2013.

Omara Portuondo in Buenos Aires – Pic de Jour

Posted on Friday, 25 January, 2013 by BobR

On the Avenida Independencia, San Telmo, Buenos Aires, 24-Jan-2013.

A lovely tribute to the legendary Cuban voice on the Avenida Independencia in San Telmo. Stopping to snap the pic also provided a good opportunity to clean the dog crap off the soles of my shoes. Come on, Porteños, it really is time to get that together, ok? My hostess and I thank you.

Here’s Portuondo with the Buena Vista Social Club in Buenos Aires in October 2011 at the nearby Luna Park.

Museum of Too Modern Art, near Litija Slovenia

35 Minutes at the Museum of Too Modern Art

Posted on Saturday, 12 January, 2013 by BobR

Museum of Too Modern Art, near Litija Slovenia

At a quick glance, Tomaž Drnovšek–Vinči’s roadside home and barn in Spodnji Hotič, a village just a few kilometers north of Litija, isn’t too different from many others you’ll typically find in smaller off-the-beaten path settlements in Slovenia: aging and modest, a bit rough around the edges, but functional.

Then you notice the quizzical look radiating from the nude life-sized burlap figure standing next to the first out building. When you catch a quick glance of a broken down van sporting a panoply of colors brighter than the clear afternoon sky, you know something quirky, and worthy of further exploration, lies just ahead.

It’s not easy to describe what is typical in present-day rural Slovenia, but this definitely isn’t it. A few steps later it all becomes less hazy. Towering over an extended tribe of those mangy burlap beings is a large barn with the words Muzej Premoderne Umetnosti, or Museum of Too Modern Art, stretched across the unfinished front. You really do come across the unlikeliest things on bike rides around here.

The roots of the museum date back to the late 1990s when some local frustrated artists were refused a show by a local gallery. Drnovšek–Vinči answered the call. In 1999 he sold his cows and turned the stables into a gallery. The space has since evolved into a contemporary art venue, a performance space for local and regional musicians and a hosting ground for numerous art workshops.

Its website has more info on some recent exhibits, but note that the English language section is woefully out of date. No worries, though – you’ll get the gist.

Muzej Premoderne Umetnosti/Museum of Too Modern Art
Spodnji Hotič 19, Litija, Slovenija
It’s located on the main Litija road that winds along the left bank of the Sava River. Look for a nude burlap gatekeeper.