"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method". Herman Melville

"I know nothing but miracles." Walt Whitman







domingo, 30 de janeiro de 2011

Art in Space!

I just send this email to NASA:
"Hello there!
I was wondering, besides your missions concerning the advance of science, health and technology, why not do some art too?
It would be cheap and easy: you would just give some white sheets of paper to the next astronauts on ISS and some water soluble, non toxic paints (a small amount would do), and let them do some watercolors in orbit. I imagine they could put some drops of diferent colors and sizes floating and then "catch" them in the sheet of paper, with diferent angles and diferent speed. Or any other process they would invent, taking advantage of the lack of gravity. That would make a good hobby for the astronauts, they could film it, and, back on planet Earth, make an exhibition and sell the watercolors.
Best wishes"

sábado, 29 de janeiro de 2011

Akira Beard

Akira Beard is a nice young american painter. He makes this excelent portraits with text. This one just arrived in the mail yesterday:
(click photos to enlarge)



quinta-feira, 27 de janeiro de 2011

PORTO. Rua Miguel Bombarda Art Walk. 22.1.2001

Chronicle of a flight of imagination fully anchored in reality.

Last week-end I accepted a lift from a friend and traveled to Porto. Saturday after lunch I walked to the rua Miguel Bombarda, where most of the city art galleries are located, to see some art, not sure if they would be open. I asked for informations in a café and was told that at about 4pm there would be oppening exhibitions in all galleries! Unexpectedly I was in for a real art feast (plus cookies and port wine). The people in charge of the galleries were kind enough to let me take photos at the art. That afternoon I felt like an amateur Alan Bamberger.
Next are some photos (I should have taken more, but the battery in my camera went out) of that memorable day. Scrol down and click to enlarge.




Among the art galleries there was this temporary shop on the second floor of an old building, selling good quality, formerly very expensive clothes at a fraction of the original price. I bought this shirt with a quote by JFK inside the collar! (It can´t be seen outside). Is this conceptual art, or what?

Outside looking in.

Outside looking out.

These are paintings by Rogerio Silva. They remind me of Neo Rauch, but without the feeling of threat and latent violence from lands of central Europe. I like them.







I saw this drawing by walter hugo mãe.





This photo was taken in rua Miguel Bombarda. Aparently the show in this gallery was a blast.

Fractals for housewives. This could be the name for an avant-garde film.

The famous stairs inside the famous Lello bookstore.



On the streets of Porto.




Street art from the early XXIst century, in and around rua Miguel Bombarda.









Street art from the early XXth century.


This mix media paintings by Pedro Quintas are great. He took photographs of the paint tins in his studio, printed them on canvas and painted on them.





My pick of the day are this geometric clean wooden scupltures by Jeanine Cohen. They hang 1cm from the wall, and the inside surfaces are painted with vivid colors that project a soft glow on the white wall, as if they had small lamps (people kept looking for some small light bulbs against the wall). They remind me of Mondrian, and I would definetly like to have one. They look better live.



quinta-feira, 20 de janeiro de 2011

A painting from 2005

This one is diferes from my ususual style...


domingo, 16 de janeiro de 2011

Castelo de Vide e Salgueiro Maia

Yesterday, saturday 15/01, I went to Castelo de Vide, a beautiful old small town. I visited João Barreta, a man who makes cork and wood handcrafts. I first saw this sculpture called "Vidas" (Lives) that represent a man´s live from cradle to tomb:



I bought him a small (40cm) sculpture of Capitão Salgueiro Maia, a man who participated in the militar coup that ended dictatorship in Portugal, in 1974. He was born in Castelo de Vide, was motherless from a very young age (his mother was hit by a car, in Lisbon) and was raised by his grand mother, who was a neighbour of João Barreta. The sculptor told me he was almost like an old brother to Salgueiro Maia. I always thought this militar was a good person. Not one of those plastic revolutionaries Van Morrisson sings about
"Have you herad about the plastic revolutionaries
The ones who take the money and run,"
He was not a rich bougeois oficer, like others who partook in the same events. His dificult childwood, and the lost of his mother so early , probabily tought him compassion towards his fellow citizens and disdain for the riches of this world.

By the expression in his face, he seems very worried:

Other photos: