Millennial City Highlight: ISTANBUL MODERN

Inci Eviner, New Citizen I-II-III, 2009.

Istanbul MODERN (IM) is cool like the summer is hot. After a tumultuous year of violence and political unrest, the culture of Istanbul has been quiet with fewer visitors moving about this dynamic millennial city. Major International Art Fairs have cancelled their expositions due to the current instability. This tension adds to the exceptional emergence of the new exhibitions at IM. In addition to the main gallery floor, the subterranean floor has opened with two new exhibit halls, a pop-up space, and a cinema hall.

Artists in Their Times is on display until December 31, 2016. The focus on contemporary artists as important to place and time highlights the intersection of history and present. Walking through the gallery, you can see the many dimensions and influences of past artists at play in the ideas and artworks of contemporary makers. It's exciting, brilliant, and all encompassing.

People Attract People is the photography exhibition on display through December 18, 2016.  It contains photographs of Turkey from past to present as a fascinating tour through lives and times.

The greatest surprise is the Inci Eviner Retrospective: Who's Inside You? on view until October 23, 2016. A powerful and prolific Turkish artist who works in 2D, 3D, and film bringing insights to the internal clash of identity within the context of politics and gender in Turkey.

Don't miss the chance to see and experience Istanbul Modern this fall.

Contemporary Art on Ancient Shores

Art International (AI) Istanbul at the Haliç Kongre Merkez, September 5-6 2015, kicked off the Fall Art Exhibition season bringing with it new visual experiences and ideas to a very old city. The gathering of Contemporary Art Galleries and Artistic works from around the world showcased a variety of mediums, ideas, and cultures that mirror the unique location of the event in the city that straddles two continents.

By the Waterside was an outdoor sculpture exhibition. The signature mosques of the Golden Horn line the opposite shore of the Haliç Congress Center and reinforced the greater historical significance of these new artworks. Javier Pérez's bronze sculpture, Rosario (2009) sent shivers through my spine as I walked around and over this extraordinary work. With the alternate title, Memento Mori, I was struck by the open chains leading to the water. Considering the current Syrian refugee crisis, with images of children who have drowned in the sea while fleeing for freedom from war, the meaning of Pérez's artwork shifts with mercurial opacity across culture and historical context. I find this ability for an artwork to hold multiple interpretations is what distinguishes the good from the bad and strengthens the power of contemporary work.

The thing I noticed most about the exhibition halls, was the overwhelming presence of texture in the artworks on display, whether they were 2D or 3D. There were textured paintings, low relief/reverse relief panel sculptures, shiny metallic ribbed paintings, textile works, recovered construction material sculptures. Every artwork seemed to scream, "TOUCH ME". It was a very stimulating experience. I witnessed children and adults alike reaching out and touching the work.

Taking into account that the vast majority of the work was created in the past seven years, and that artwork responds to the life and times in which it is created, then what does this emphasis on texture say about contemporary society?  I was feeling saturated from looking at so much art at once, I took a break and carried this thought with me to the water closet. In this convention building, as in many modern facilities throughout the developed world, I encountered automatic revolving and sliding doors, automatic faucets, soap dispensers, and hand dryers. Our modern life is constantly seperating us from our sense of touch. Flattening our experience to smooth, flat touch screens that we control with as little contact as possible. When do we use our hands? When is it ok to touch something or someone? How do we do it if we hardly use our sense of touch to engage with the world? What kind of information are we missing out on? What does our sense of touch tell us about ourselves and the world?

I left the Art International Istanbul cool air-conditioned exhibition hall for the warmth of the Mediterranean sunshine. The evening breeze blew, as I sat by the waterside and watched the sunset behind the Golden Horn. Boatmen cruised by while I drank a chilled glass of red wine. My bum and hands were warmed by the sun-soaked concrete. I felt inspired, uplifted, and recharged from the incredible array of artworks that Contemporary Artists around the globe had made for us to see and contemplate. This is what Art is suppose to do, to have us stop and contemplate our world. Sometimes we understand it and sometimes we don't. I think at the end of the day we are lucky to have experienced Life at all.

    Photo credit: Cheryl Bond 2015

Fashionistas at the Rijksmuseum

Strike a pose!

                      New for Now: The Origin of Fashion Magazines is currently on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It is a delightful and enchanting exhibition that provides a panoramic view of European fashionistas from across the centuries. The collection of fashion magazine prints compiled by the Rijksmuseum spans from 15th-19th century providing a unique and fun exploration of personal human aesthetics. We see the bouffant hairstyles and wide-brimmed skirts of 18th century trendsetter, Marie Antoinette. The original long-hired hipsters was known as 'Les Incroyables'.  To the new shorter, looser silouettes of the 20s and 30s. To walk stroll through, you see the evolution of fashion, illustration, and technology. In addition to the hundreds of exquisite prints on display, there are two new animated commissions by Piet Paris and Quentin Jones inspired by and created for this exhibition. 

Don't walk. Glide.

Original Hipsters. 1785.

New for Now: The Origin of Fashion Magazines is now on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam until September 27, 2015.

CARAL: ATMOSFERAS Y GEOMETRIAS “Ritual Solar”

Ritual Solar. 2010. Oil on canvas. 100x150cm.

Jorge Arce is a Peruvian artist and musician with a passion for Abstract Expressionism and Music. His latest artistic work called “CARAL”, name that was given by the artist who was inspired by an ancient Peruvian place with the same name; with more than 5.000 years old the artist found inspiration among big spaces and geometrical ancient structures of this place, to give the viewer a complete view of abstraction that exposes the viewer´s imagination to be in front of big paintings with strong and vivid colors accompanied with geometrical figures.

“Ritual Solar”, oil on canvas painting that the artist categorized as part of his “Geometrias” category, gives the viewer a complete view of an entire yellow painting with a strong Black color with circular shape in the middle of the painting, the artist also use some of the primary colors of Art. As the tittle says “Ritual Solar” referring to a normal activity that tribes or ancient cultures usually did to the Sun long time ago. Since the artist was inspired by “CARAL” an ancient site of Peru, the viewer can directly know that the artist is referring to how important the Sun was for the unknown tribe that used to live in this site called “CARAL”.

 The prominent Yellow color that is surrounding the Black circle could be seen by the viewer as the Sun itself that has emitted all of its brightness through the canvas and since the Sun has emitted all of its brightness, it ended up becoming a perfectly Black circle that is slowly spreading the darkness of what it has become. At the bottom of the painting the artist has created a type of effect that could it be seen as if the Black circle is entering or coming out from the prominent Yellow color.  Arce refers to the Sun, the White and Black color in real life when it is about a solar activity such as an eclipse, these colors (black and white) are the first thing that people see, the artist might tried to refer to a solar eclipse too, because long ago some, not all ancient cultures use to perform a type of “Ritual” when a solar eclipse was about to happen. 

 The Black color in Art represents power, sexuality, sophistication, elegance, mystery, evil and sadness, but due to the artist's place of inspiration is 5.000 years old, the meaning of the color black could simply be viewed as a “Mystery” to what happened to this ancient Peruvian site and its people. This is for the artist, to hold the greatest importance and beauty; many mysteries remain of how exactly they lived, how their rituals were and what was the Sun for them and its importance, facts remain intriguing for the artist. 

What purpose or message does Arce want the viewer to receive when seeing his painting, most likely the awe and mystery he himself feels for his birthplace, his cultural identity.  Arce is successful in his transmission of harmony, peace and relaxation through his complex color field paintings. 

“Ritual Solar” has also geometrical figures and lines. One geometrical figure can be seen in the middle along with the perfect geometrical shape of the Black circle; it seems to be another circle inside the Black circle, but this time its lines are thin and with a lighter color that it could be White, the artist may have used White in order to contrast the figure and lines for the viewer to have a clear sight that not only color is the passion of this artist but also the perfection of lines that can be seen in a geometric figure. 

The artist, as a musician, he might have found inspiration on music while drawing his geometric lines and the prominent Black circle we see on the middle of the canvas. Music has inspired many artists that have painted a lot of famous paintings that have been pure abstraction, such as the famous painter Wassily Kandinskv who associated his colors with musical notes, and how music sounds, the flow of the rhythm, all of these can inspire an artist to try to paint music´s physical form or by trying, and then show it to the viewer, it is why the lines on this canvas are not straight lines but they take different directions and forms, some lines on the canvas mix together to form the geometric shape that is on the middle along with the Black circle, that it could be the half of a Square or an Octagon.

The pass of the brush stroke through all the canvas does look like it has had a type of rhythm at the time that it was being painted by the artist. Jorge Arce whose purpose on his collection of Art is to give the viewer a free view and thought about this Peruvian place is seen through all of his paintings, how he was inspired by his passions, music, art and the geometry of this place. Aspects that can be seen in his painting “Ritual Solar”.

- Julio Lama,  December 12, 2013

References

McNee, Lory. "The Color 'Yellow': The Hidden Meaning for Your Art & Design." Fine Art Tips With Lori McNee. Lori McNee, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://www.finearttips.com/2010/07/the-color-yellow-the-hidden-meaning-for-your-art-design/>.

McNee, Lory. "The Color 'Blue': Use the Hidden Meaning for Art & Design." Fine Art Tips With Lori McNee. Lori McNee, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://www.finearttips.com/2010/08/the-color-blue-use-the-hidden-meaning-for-art-design/>.

"Color Symbolism and Culture." Symbolism of Color: Using Color for Meaning. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/color2.htm>.

Books

Kleiner, Fred .Gardner´s Art through the Ages.  New York: Cengage Learning, January 2012.

Oscar Villegas, Olympe, 1989.

        

         Éduard Manet’s portrait of a young white prostitute, Olympia, as Venus was a scandalous composition for the French public when it debuted in 1865. Viewers were shocked because of this “professional” woman’s verging gaze. Manet received widespread critiques from a horrified public who saw moral depravity, inferiority, and animalistic sexuality with the dramatic contrast of skin colors between the white prostitute and a black maid.  Olympia revealed the racial divisions and tension that were arising throughout society.

            Oscar Villegas was born in Bolivia in 1966 and raised in Ecuador since 1969. In the search for artistic expression, he studies compositions from the canon of art history and inspiration in the recreation of historical artworks. He currently lives and works in Madrid as an independent curator, photographer and film-maker. He obtained his MFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has worked as photographer and professor of art history in New York and Madrid. His art works has been exhibit in different countries. Oscar’s photography is held in private collections and has won awards in the United States.

            Oscar Villegas, Olympe, pays homage to Manet’s composition in this photograph from 1989. He recreates the general position of figures and composition but replaces the female figures with males. His contrasts the white female prostitute with who we can assume is a white male prostitute who lies nude upon the bed and staring intently towards the viewer. Manet’s black maid is then replaced by a darker skinned man with a large distinguished nose, with thick black hair and eye brows. 

            His choice of men in this work highlights the growing social awareness of homosexual culture and compares it to the Parisian brothels of Manet’s time. This statement of homosexuality is a bold statement for an artist from Ecuador whose culture is generally intolerant of homosexuality.  His use of black and white photography adds to his statement by questioning the black-and-white ideas of the highly-gendered Catholic country.

            126 years after the creation of Olympia, Oscar Villegas’ use of modern photography fully supports the ideas of Realism as he has created an image of ordinary people, using industrial technology, and embracing a cultural empiricism and positivism. Acting as an artist should by bringing our attention to the people and events of own time. 

The Silhouette of Anabela Acurrucada by Jorge Velarde

 
Anabela, my beauty Anabela, when are you going to wake up? With your softness body and commodity you seem to be relax and calm. Your face cannot be seen, neither your frontal silhouette. Who are you Anabela? Are you a serving girl, the artist mistress, or just a simple woman?

  Jorge Velarde is a contemporary Latin American artist from Ecuador. The oil on canvas composition was completed in 2011, located at the MAAC (Museo Antropologico y de Arte Contemporaneo) in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Velarde is known for his contemporary art works and his fascinating portraits. His portraits often portrayed his wife Anabela, and this work is one example of them. He presents his wife in a relaxed position that transmits tranquility and peace to the viewer.

Anabela can be seen lying on the bed with her back to the viewer. and, appears to be resting after a hard day’s work.  The artist’s wife is definitely his muse as he seems to captures every moment of her life in his artwork. Painting her is a way to express his flove. He painted her wife not looking at the viewer as a way to protect her identity.

 “Anabela Acurrucada” is painted in the style of photorealism. He represents his subject without artificiality, avoiding supernatural elements. The wrinkles on Anabela’s feet are an exquisite detail that makes the composition appear more real; similarly, the shadows in the lower back of her let the viewer to identify the backbone of the person. Moreover, the texture of the hair, cloth, and fabrics invited the viewer the urge of touching the artwork.

This horizontal composition is well balanced, with a female figure along shown lying in her bed, with her back to the viewer taking up the vast majority of the pictoral frame. Starting from the right with Anabela’s head, which is lined toward the pillow putting weight to the right but balanced with the weight from the woman’s buttocks on the left create a calm and stable image. Furthermore, the painter brings the buttocks of the woman to the front of the paint to help create more balance. Spaces used in a composition play a very important role, due to the fact that these details are what defines if a work is balance or not. The pale and soft colors evoke tranquility, peacefulness, and quietness that influenced in the viewer’s emotional response to the work, which is one that evokes mystery.

Velarde’s brushwork adds to the soft textures created in this composition. The fabrics of the bed, the hair and the clothes, all three have a lot of texture, which rivals the details of a photograph. The strong use of perspective makes it more seem hyperrealistic and three-dimensional. 

This artwork stands out within the exhibit because different from the others, because of the modern tendency to paint more abstract, simple, with a lot of colors, straight lines without representing the reality of what they see. In this case, Velarde focuses his artistic intention of representing exactly what he sees, the reality of his woman laying on the bed in the sunlight. In comparison with today’s artworks, “Anabela Acurrucada” is very interesting and unique; Personally, I appreciate Velarde’s figurative realism in today’s postmodern society more because of the ability to identify with central figure.

Though we do not know why he chose to portray his wife in this position but I would like to postulate that Velarde is trying to both evoke and express a feeling of love. He has painted the reality of his life in this quiet room of pale colors and his wife in pajamas, lying in bed, and gives the viewer a refresh and tranquil feeling.

Anabela Acurrucada invites the viewer to reflect upon this moment of repose, by appreciating as the painter has, the beauty within the minute details of this intimate domestic setting. It reminds me, quite poignantly, of Aristotle’s irreplaceable mind, “the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance”.  Bravo, Velarde, Aristotle would approve.

 Figure 1. “Anabela Acurrucada”

Amanda Vallarino

December 10 , 2013

Welcome to Art City International

Art City International is a forum of art criticism to generate dialogue about contemporary artists that are under-served or unknown by traditional art markets.  Please submit your writings about gallery exhibits, artists, specific artworks, and other inquiries to:  artcityinternational@gmail.com