Windows of the World
By Christie Seeley published in Vallarta Tribune
vallartasounds.com
I was surprised by a friend’s inquiry while vacationing with her daughter in Mallorca, Spain this Spring. Had I ever heard of Joan Miró? I thought having spent so much time with me in Berkeley, California during her younger years, she would have looked on the walls of my home and seen reproductions of his work and that of many other European artists of his period, but I guess they escaped her attention. It made me realize how many Americans and others who have not had the benefit of travel or the curiosity to engage in the history of 20th century art are missing out on this wonderful adventure.
Joan Miró was of the generation of and certainly influenced by artist Pablo Picasso and by André Breton who wrote the surrealist manifesto. He was born in Barcelona in 1893 and became a very famous Catalan artist, one of the world’s most outstanding artists of the 20th century. Miró had a great interest in the language of color. He is reputed to have stated, “I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music”. His ideas would not be foreign to Mexico then or today nor would his whimsical style be a stranger to the artistic sensibilities of the Mexican people.
What exactly was surrealism? According to Wikipedia it was “a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s…” in which “…Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects, and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself”. Its aim was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality”.
The end to the horrors of World War I and the onset of the Spanish Civil War did bring a new reality to most of Europe. The economy was ruined, the conditions of the working class were sadly wanting and people in general were looking for new solutions. Many European, Latin American and American intellectuals believed they found these solutions in the teachings of Lenin (what became Communism) and many others looked to the rising new right following Franco, Hitler and Mussolini (Fascism). There was also a new society brewing with the rise of industry which increased incrementally with the war efforts. One imagines that the total upset of people’s lives caused thinkers to see their reality in a very different light. We see some of that in the works of three very famous surrealist painters; Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and Mexico’s own Frida Kahlo.
In her lifetime and until fairly recently, Frida Kahlo was little known in the art world, more known for her marriages to Diego Rivera and their tumultuous life together. Only in 1984, when Hayden Herrera’s biography, Frida, came out with a generous serving of reproductions of her work, did she emerge the well-known painter and icon of feminism she is today. Her independence and perseverance in spite of the many set backs caused by injuries suffered early in her youth, her political activism, plus her unusual outlook on life and the choices she made now cause considerable interest. Little known to many, Frida Kahlo was recognized by the French surrealists as a force of her own. Father of surrealism, André Breton organized solo shows of her work to an enthusiastic public in France in the late 1930s.
Having lost control over much of her physical life, Frida represents herself in The Broken Column, painted in 1944, as an object, her body a crumbling architectural site. This painting and many others can be seen in the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Xochilmico, Mexico City when they are not traveling the world. The paintings are currently in Milan, Italy, and if you happen to be in Chicago this Fall, you will find them there.
Miró and Dalí were affected by crushing turmoil with the emergence in Spain of Franco and the subsequent Spanish Civil War which transformed their country from a haven for art and music to a place to flee if one wished any kind of freedom and in many cases, one’s very life. Both spent time in Paris and became part of the active artistic surrealist movement there. Miró’s later works certainly reflect the pain of loss of freedom to live and express oneself under a suppressive regime.
Dalí’s emerging new sense of reality and time were expressed in many of his surrealist paintings, one of his most famous being “The Persistence of Memory” (1931) where clocks melt into the landscape showing the relative and fleeting nature of time and reality itself. It is on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
As my friend recently learned, works of Miró can be seen in Mallorca, but primarily in the fundació Miró in Barcelona (including May 1968 dipicting the unrest in Paris and the rest of the world in those years) as well as in many prestigious museums throughout the world.
The good news is, even if you do not have the luxury to take off and travel in search of these delights, the internet is a window to the world for the armchair traveler. With little effort you can take a trip through the museums of the world and enjoy what you may have missed or just refresh your memory.
A friend and I recently flew the short 1 1/2 hour flight to Mexico City to see some of Frida’s works in person. While there, we were fortunate to take in a concert on the terrace of the Museo del Estanquillo where a group from Mexico City who often perform in Puerto Vallarta as guests of Cuates y Cuetes played overlooking historical buildings surrounding the zocalo. The talented group Faralae thrills their audiences with innovative jazz manouche.
While on the topic of great music, we can still catch the marvelous Flamenco group Tatewari at Cuates y Cuetes on Wednesday evenings at 8:00 PM. They are treating us to brand new compositions by Esau Galvan for the group as well as the great music they have accustomed us to over the almost 12 years they have been performing together. You can also hear them on YouTube or on their websites: Tatewari Music on Facebook and www.esaugalvan.com.
Whether you venture out or stay at home, keep the arts in your mind and your heart.
Happy web surfing and listening!
Tatewari, Cuates y Cuetes, Zona Romantica, Puerto Vallarta
By Christie Seeley published in Vallarta Tribune
vallartasounds.com
I was surprised by a friend’s inquiry while vacationing with her daughter in Mallorca, Spain this Spring. Had I ever heard of Joan Miró? I thought having spent so much time with me in Berkeley, California during her younger years, she would have looked on the walls of my home and seen reproductions of his work and that of many other European artists of his period, but I guess they escaped her attention. It made me realize how many Americans and others who have not had the benefit of travel or the curiosity to engage in the history of 20th century art are missing out on this wonderful adventure.
Joan Miró was of the generation of and certainly influenced by artist Pablo Picasso and by André Breton who wrote the surrealist manifesto. He was born in Barcelona in 1893 and became a very famous Catalan artist, one of the world’s most outstanding artists of the 20th century. Miró had a great interest in the language of color. He is reputed to have stated, “I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music”. His ideas would not be foreign to Mexico then or today nor would his whimsical style be a stranger to the artistic sensibilities of the Mexican people.
What exactly was surrealism? According to Wikipedia it was “a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s…” in which “…Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects, and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself”. Its aim was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality”.
The end to the horrors of World War I and the onset of the Spanish Civil War did bring a new reality to most of Europe. The economy was ruined, the conditions of the working class were sadly wanting and people in general were looking for new solutions. Many European, Latin American and American intellectuals believed they found these solutions in the teachings of Lenin (what became Communism) and many others looked to the rising new right following Franco, Hitler and Mussolini (Fascism). There was also a new society brewing with the rise of industry which increased incrementally with the war efforts. One imagines that the total upset of people’s lives caused thinkers to see their reality in a very different light. We see some of that in the works of three very famous surrealist painters; Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and Mexico’s own Frida Kahlo.
In her lifetime and until fairly recently, Frida Kahlo was little known in the art world, more known for her marriages to Diego Rivera and their tumultuous life together. Only in 1984, when Hayden Herrera’s biography, Frida, came out with a generous serving of reproductions of her work, did she emerge the well-known painter and icon of feminism she is today. Her independence and perseverance in spite of the many set backs caused by injuries suffered early in her youth, her political activism, plus her unusual outlook on life and the choices she made now cause considerable interest. Little known to many, Frida Kahlo was recognized by the French surrealists as a force of her own. Father of surrealism, André Breton organized solo shows of her work to an enthusiastic public in France in the late 1930s.
Having lost control over much of her physical life, Frida represents herself in The Broken Column, painted in 1944, as an object, her body a crumbling architectural site. This painting and many others can be seen in the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Xochilmico, Mexico City when they are not traveling the world. The paintings are currently in Milan, Italy, and if you happen to be in Chicago this Fall, you will find them there.
Miró and Dalí were affected by crushing turmoil with the emergence in Spain of Franco and the subsequent Spanish Civil War which transformed their country from a haven for art and music to a place to flee if one wished any kind of freedom and in many cases, one’s very life. Both spent time in Paris and became part of the active artistic surrealist movement there. Miró’s later works certainly reflect the pain of loss of freedom to live and express oneself under a suppressive regime.
Dalí’s emerging new sense of reality and time were expressed in many of his surrealist paintings, one of his most famous being “The Persistence of Memory” (1931) where clocks melt into the landscape showing the relative and fleeting nature of time and reality itself. It is on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
As my friend recently learned, works of Miró can be seen in Mallorca, but primarily in the fundació Miró in Barcelona (including May 1968 dipicting the unrest in Paris and the rest of the world in those years) as well as in many prestigious museums throughout the world.
The good news is, even if you do not have the luxury to take off and travel in search of these delights, the internet is a window to the world for the armchair traveler. With little effort you can take a trip through the museums of the world and enjoy what you may have missed or just refresh your memory.
A friend and I recently flew the short 1 1/2 hour flight to Mexico City to see some of Frida’s works in person. While there, we were fortunate to take in a concert on the terrace of the Museo del Estanquillo where a group from Mexico City who often perform in Puerto Vallarta as guests of Cuates y Cuetes played overlooking historical buildings surrounding the zocalo. The talented group Faralae thrills their audiences with innovative jazz manouche.
While on the topic of great music, we can still catch the marvelous Flamenco group Tatewari at Cuates y Cuetes on Wednesday evenings at 8:00 PM. They are treating us to brand new compositions by Esau Galvan for the group as well as the great music they have accustomed us to over the almost 12 years they have been performing together. You can also hear them on YouTube or on their websites: Tatewari Music on Facebook and www.esaugalvan.com.
Whether you venture out or stay at home, keep the arts in your mind and your heart.
Happy web surfing and listening!
Tatewari, Cuates y Cuetes, Zona Romantica, Puerto Vallarta