The morning light is
the most beautiful light

If I was a painter
I would paint while I run

I’m so uber proud and grateful to be part of the exhibition, Voces y Visiones: Gran Caribe at El Museo de Barrio; Curated by Rocío Aranda-Alvarado. I simply love everything about this place: the staff, building, colors, cafe…!

VOCES Y VISIONES: Gran Caribe
Drawn from El Museo del Barrio’s wide-ranging Permanent Collection, this exhibition features works that explore the vast diversity and complexity of the Caribbean basin, as an accompaniment to El Museo’s upcoming exhibition, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, presented in collaboration with Studio Museum in Harlem and Queens Museum of Art.

The Caribbean has been both a subject and a source for visual expression prior to its relationship with Europe. This history, marked by a constant flow of people, objects, ideas, and images into and out of the region, has affected artistic development and practices in the Caribbean basin as well as in its counterparts in the Diaspora. This installation of Permanent Collection objects takes a narrative approach to some of the themes developed in the larger exhibition, exploring the connections between personal experiences and visual expressions. The works seen here explore the human need to move from one place to another, the urge to make epic narratives from personal stories, and the desire to share one’s love for a homeland with others. As the title implies, the islands, the coastlines and the waters that unite them are all part of this study.

The exhibition explores four related themes that focus on the connections between spirituality and daily life, the shifting of people into and out of urban spaces, the persistence of abstraction as a visual language, and the constant presence of the water. Among the featured works is a large-scale painting on hand-made paper by Puerto Rican artist Rossana Martinez. This work considers islands: small, golden, irregularly shaped forms that cover the rich cobalt blue of an endless sea. Other featured objects include a selection of Haitian paintings, featuring a work by Prefet Duffaut; Puerto Rican and Guatemalan masks; sculptures by Charles Juhasz -Alvarado and Federico Ruiz; photographs by Ana Mendietaand a trio of En Foco artists, Charles Biasiny Rivera, Roger Cabán and Felipe Dante; and a costume worn by Coco Fusco in a performance as Queen Isabella, created by Pepón Osorio.

Gran Caribe considers the significance of race and ethnicity, language and dialogue, affinities and differences throughout this part of the world. Artists for whom the Caribbean is both a point of departure and a homecoming are included, as are critical voices that explore new ways of thinking about how Caribbean bodies and voices are represented.

catalogue
exhibition images

The Weight of Jupiter
By Megan Dunn

The day of the opening the hue above the hills of Upper Hutt was apricot. The light diffused, faint as a Rothko. The sea a blue sliver of shining knifae. The students were graduating and I came out of the shop at lunch time and watched them walking along Lambton Quay in their black caps and capes, each degree a splash of colour. Pale pink for the arts. The bagpipes ushered the smiling students along. It was a day to reflect on success, a rite of passage. The future awaits and it doesn’t always come with a ribbon. Later, I trudged towards the exhibition opening in the dark of night, abandoning another day in retail and preparing for the satellite world of contemporary art.

Up the top of the narrow stairs the three works at Enjoy exhibited a lightness of touch, their meaning was vaporous, difficult to grasp. Planes of color – or its deficit washed over the walls. On the wonky wooden floorboards, 50 yards of bright green ribbon was curled into a nest. This work had so much kinetic potential. I wanted to drop a cat, wild of temperament and claw, into its midst. Once, years ago, I arrived home to my Fathers house to find reams of toilet paper curling along the corridor. My Father’s cat (the artist) sat at the end of this trail, licking its paws.

The ribbon was the most problematic work. Splashed on the floor the loopy green ribbon accentuated the pink blush of Lisa Benson’s nearby abstract photograph. These two works were clearly getting on well together. But how was I meant to respond to the ribbon? With delight or quiet outrage? Or perhaps just a cynical smirk? At the very least I managed not to step on it during the opening. That’s one of the many problems of installation art: you have to be careful not to put your foot in it. Sprawled on the floor like a drunken gallery goer, the ribbon was an organised mess. But who said contemporary art has to behave?

I considered the artist, Rossana Martinez, in her moment of play, like the cat, working freely with her materials. The forces that drove her were probably mostly sub-conscious. Later I found out the artist emailed the gallery a set of instructions from New York. The ribbon was hard to find, eventually located in a bridal shop in the depths of Palmerston North – via cyberspace. Martinez requested that her work be arranged in a hill formation – a homage to New Zealand, home of many hills and paintings about hills! A volunteer had stood on a ladder and looped the bridal ribbon into a mound. This seemed a satisfying conclusion for the ribbon, freed at last from the bridesmaid’s skirt.

Lisa Benson’s photographic work on rice paper was that touch of early morning Rothko I glimpsed over the glittering lights of Petone. This was a delicate work, pink hued and pretty but not in a Katy Perry kind of way. The lines of colour were at once reminiscent of Wellington sunrises, frequently salmon over a metallic wedge of sea. Yet, there was also a futuristic angle at work – the palette and planes of Logan’s Run. There was a quiet confidence here and the process was subtle too: the artist’s materials consisted of gathered light. John Hurrell has called Lisa Benson ‘the most exciting photographer’ working in NZ today. Trawling her website, I’m not surprised to find photographs of sparkling snowscapes, decidedly lunar in appearance.

The long and large wall painting by Zoe Rapley was hard to see at the opening. People were standing in front of it, wine or beer in hand – white shoes worn with panache, a whiff of corduroy. Rapley’s work was slightly buckled like a massive piece of a house coming away. For an ant this work could have been the surface of the moon. My first instinct was that I’d like to look at the painting (is it a painting?) lying on the floor. This would also have been easier for the ant. Intricate charcoal swirls covered the right hand corner. The gases of Jupiter? The doodles of an obsessive day dreamer? Or the topography of a map taken from a satellite suspended in the depths of space? The work emitted a sense of melancholy. It felt distant. Although I was told the artist’s studio is in Lyall Bay. This seemed apt. Lyall Bay has always been a windswept place, the houses along the beach are battered and worn by the onslaught of sand and sea. I could imagine the wind howling off the shore as Rapley, rolled her paint. She had presented us with a panoramic view of the surface: but what do we see?

Just what is the weight of Jupiter – 50 yards of green bridal ribbon? When is a photograph like a vapor? The hands of the artists dipped in and out of each work. Erica van Zon, the curator, wanted the exhibition to touch on the sublime. Enjoy is a gallery that supports these strange migrations into the mind. On earth we like to look at the solar system and marvel at the planets as though we are something apart. Back down on the ground in Wellington, the national Budget was about to be announced, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. Somewhere underneath Jupiter’s surface of gases there must be a solid crust…

A claymation movie by Madison Blinn
Based on the book Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
Song is Goodnight Moon by Said the Whale

About the book
Little Blue and Little Yellow are best friends, but one day they can’t find each other. When they finally do, they give each other such a big hug that they turn green! How they find their true colors again concludes a wonderfully satisfying story told with colorful pieces of torn paper and very few words. Leo Lionni launched his children’s book career in 1959 with Little Blue and Little Yellow, and this 50th-anniversary edition, complete with Lionni’s own explanation of how the book came to be, is sure to resonate with children today.

“Abstract art with heart.” —School Library Journal’s Top 100 Picture Books Poll (voted #66)

More info…

You Can Sing Me Anything, 2011
Installation at Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Green ribbon
Photos: Lance Cash

You Can Sing Me Anything was part of a three person exhibition entitled The Weight of Jupiter in Wellington, NZ. The exhibition, curated by Erica Van Zon, included work by Lisa Benson and Zoe Rapley.

For the installation, I wanted to create a hill of green with the simplest materials. The idea was to convey my experience visiting New Zealand in 2007. During my visit, I made a note about how the landscape, shapes and colors reminded me of the Caribbean — where I grew up. But at the same time, I noticed how different the types of trees, hills and green hues are found in New Zealand to those found in the Caribbean. This connection to me represented the perfect balance of nature.

Known for art that celebrates the virtues of community, hard work, and living gently on the planet, Nikki McClure here explores a topic close to her heart: the farmers market. Alternating between story and fact, this lovingly crafted picture book follows a mother and son to the weekly market. As they check off items on their shopping list, the reader learns how each particular food was grown or produced, from its earliest stages to how it ended up at the market. To Market, to Market is a timely book that shines awareness on the skill that goes into making good food.

-Editorial review from Amazon

Happy summer!

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”
-Eleanor Roosevelt

Teaching Kids to Think Big
By Caleb Gardner

My parents always focused on the outputs of what they saw as a successful life: get a steady job, get married, have kids, open a 401(k), die as materially well-off as possible… But I think this is where we can change the definition of success for our son. I’d much rather encourage him to do something he loves, to make a difference, to think for himself – to live life to the fullest. The outputs can be a natural extension of that, but I’d rather focus on the outcomes of a life well-lived.

story continues…

The Bilingual Advantage
By Claudia Dreifus

There are two major reasons people should pass their heritage language onto children. First, it connects children to their ancestors. The second is my research: Bilingualism is good for you. It makes brains stronger. It is brain exercise.

story continues…

Thank you Erica and Enjoy for this opportunity!

The Weight of Jupiter
On view May 19 – June 11, 2011
Opening next Tuesday, May 17, 6pm
Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand

Consisting primarily of gaseous and liquid matter, the atmospheric composition of Jupiter renders the gas giant without a solid surface; seemingly appropriate, considering it was named after the Roman God of Sky and Thunder. To navigate the landscape of Jupiter’s surface, would require a submarine type vessel – one that could withstand the sheer mass of Jupiter’s gravitational force, without surrendering and being subsumed into it’s string of satellite bodies. The works of Lisa Benson, Rossana Martinez and Zoë Rapley in The Weight of Jupiter captures the possibility of a momentary exploration. The nature of the works evoke a delicate and ephemeral experience through the simplicity of materials. Somewhat fleeting in nature, their dynamic offers a quiet consideration into the ways the processes of production were able to develop and unfold.

Martha Graham’s choreography embodied by a Google doodle
By Ben Quinn at The Guardian

Martha Graham, the American dancer and choreographer whose name became synonymous with ‘modern’ or ‘contemporary’ dance, is celebrated in Google’s latest doodle today, marking her 117th birthday.

In an eleborate piece of animation, the doodle is based on a dancer who performs a series of striking, Grahamesque routines to spell out the six letters of the search engine’s name.

Graham, whose influence on modern dance has been likened to the legacy of Pablo Picasso and Frank Lloyd Wright in their own spheres, passed away at her home in Manhattan in 1991 at the age of 96.

However, she had sealed her place long before then in the pantheon of great artistic revolutionaries of the 20th century, having been credited with developing a new and codified dance language that smashed the traditional mold and established itself as a lasting alternative to the older ballet tradition.

According to Time magazine: “Her fierce choreography sometimes amazed and sometimes horrified, but in it she embodied modern dance — arrogantly and spectacularly.”

Initially acclaimed as a great dancer in her own right, the Pittsburgh-born daughter of a Victorian-era mental health physician, she contined to perform late on in to her life and left the stage at the age of 75 when she gave her final performance in 1969.

Graham choreographed more than 180 works, looking on enviously later in life at young dancers performing in her signature style, based upon contraction and release of the body.

Her legacy lives on in the techniques used by dance companies around the globe, including the Martha Graham Dance Company, which has continued to develop contemporary dance since its founding in 1926, often rooting works in contemporary social and political contexts.

I went to Socrates Sculpture Park and was glad to see their current exhibition entitled Vista. It was refreshing to find a clever group of sculptures/installations in one place. Three dimensional is my kind of place — especially if it welcomes public interaction (try to follow that arrow on a windy day) and includes a great view of Manhattan. A must see this summer, Vista will be on view until August 7, 2011.

VISTA
On view May 8 – August 7, 2011
Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY

Artists:

Ivan Argote
Jillian Conrad
Priscila De Carvalho
Blane De St. Croix
Michael Clyde Johnson
Leif Low-beer
Steven Millar
Slinko
Howie Sneider
Rob Swainston
Jason Tomme

Vista explores the ways that methods of viewing and observation determine the assessment and evaluation of an object or scene. The works in the exhibition will employ visual alignment, perspective, and the framing of a site-line or point of view to dictate perception. The show will re-examine themes and ideas that were initially laid out in the Park’s 2002 show View and is being curated in response to a reemergence of these topics in current artmaking practices. The Park’s location along the East River provides a spectacular view of Manhattan that is the backdrop for all the exhibitions presented at the Park. This show will take particular stock in the Park’s location and the outlook that it affords of urban greenspace, iconic cityscape, river and open sky. Curated by Alyson Baker with Lars Fisk and Elissa Goldstone.

Image:
Ivan Argote
One Way, 2011

Mother’s Day is every day, but I welcome all the love this weekend and…since tulips are my favorite flowers — I’ll take them!

Running after a very active toddler and attempt to find balance as an artist is a challenge. But this active and happy boy is a huge part of what I am. Having kids gives us busy adults such fresh perspective on how to enjoy great and simple things.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Toddler Behavior Adults Should Try
By Chemistry Mama

What I Am
By Will.i.am

If what I am is what’s in me
Then I’ll stay strong – that’s who I’ll be
and I will always be the best
me that I can be.

There’s only one me, I am it
have a dream I’ll follow it
It’s up to me to try.

Oh! I’m a keep my head up high
Keep on reaching high
Never gonna quit
I’ll be getting stronger.

And nothing’s gonna bring me down (no!!)
Never gonna stop, gotta go.
Because I know
I’ll keep getting stronger.

And what I am is thoughtful
what I am is musical
what I am is smart
and what I am is brave
what I am is helpful
what I am is special
There’s nothing I can’t achieve.
Because in myself I believe in oh

Gonna keep our heads up high
Keep on reaching high
Never gonna quit
Just keep getting stronger.

And nothing’s gonna bring us down (no!)
Never give it up, gotta go.
Because I know
I’ll keep getting stronger.

What I am is super
what I am is proud
what I am is friendly
what I am is grouchy
what you are is magical
what you are is special

There’s nothing I can’t achieve.
Because in myself I believe in oh

Gonna hold my head up high
Keep on reaching high
Never gonna stop
I’ll be getting stronger.

Nothing’s gonna bring me down (no!)
Never give it up gotta go, oh… yeah…
I’ll keep getting stronger.

“I went from being an artist who makes things to being one who makes things happen”

-Jeremy Deller

Living as Form presented by  Creative Time
On view May 18-October 16, 2011
Essex Street Market building and throughout the Lower East Side, NYC

Around the world artists and non-artists alike are blurring the forms of art and everyday life, creating cultural projects that emphasize participation, dialogue, community engagement, and activism around social issues. These socially engaged works emerge not only out of visual art, but also from a vast array of disciplines that use the tools of art to affect everyday living — from performance to architecture, and from activism to urban planning. Living as Form takes an unprecedented look at over 20 years of these alternative practices, and the role artists have played in reshaping our world…

-Grete Waitz (1953-2011)

From NYRR:
Grete Waitz, nine-time New York City Marathon winner, four-time world marathon record-setter, and four-time Olympian, has died after a long battle with cancer. She was 57.

A native of Norway, Waitz kept a home in New York City and was a great friend of NYRR. She was instrumental in founding our now-nationwide youth programs and was a current NYRR board member. We all mourn the loss of a great champion in life as well as in sport.

Statement from Mary Wittenberg
“We are sad to lose a dear friend and our most decorated champion, Grete Waitz, who passed away today. Her strength and grace throughout her fight with cancer were incredible, and when so many people would have crumbled she stood strong and positive.

“Grete was a great champion in life as well as in sport. Grete is forever part of NYRR, and we treasure every moment we had with her. Her legacy lives on through the ING New York City Marathon, Grete’s Great Gallop, the NYRR New York Mini 10K, and our youth programs. She was deeply important in making our marathon what it is today, and she inspired generations of women, including athletes like Paula Radcliffe and Deena Kastor. That inspiration will continue.

“We will forever celebrate Grete in our hearts and as an inspiration and role model for women’s running.

“If Grete had to go, it is somehow fitting that she lived until the day after one of the greatest weekends in the sport of marathon running.”

—Mary Wittenberg, President and CEO, New York Road Runners

more info…

slide show…

Lamentation
Choreography and Costume by Martha Graham
Music: Neun Klavierstücke, op. 3. no. 2 by Zoltán Kodály
Premiere: January 8, 1930 at Maxine Elliott’s Theatre, New York City

Body Geometry, 2011
Momentary performances
Blue and hot pink fabric, orange clothing

I just had a chance to see this wonderful installation after an early work meeting and on my way to the office. The experience was magical! Simple moments like this are the reason why I love this city…

Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts
The American Folk Art Museum has dramatically transformed the Park Avenue Armory’s historic 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall with the installation of 650 red and white American quilts, all of which are on loan from the collection of Joanna S. Rose. It is the largest exhibition of quilts ever held in the city. This magical but ephemeral moment will ultimately be captured in the pages of a fully illustrated catalog copublished by the American Folk Art Museum and written by Elizabeth V. Warren, guest curator of this spectacular presentation.

more info…

Color Moves: Art & Fashion by Sonia Delaunay
Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum
On view until June 5, 2011

From exhibition’s website:

“Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) was an a modern artist and designer who merged art and everyday life… More than any other medium, textiles proved her idea that color was ‘the skin of the world’…”

From New York Times review:

“I have lived my art,” she declared on more than one occasion, and indeed she had. Adamantly ignoring the stifling distinctions among the categories of fine, decorative and utilitarian art, she painted, sewed, drew, embroidered, stenciled and above all designed her way through a long, eventful life, guided by an inborn faith in color’s visionary force and a survivor’s instinct for adaptation. An important artistic turning point that confirmed her interest in the clash of forms and color that she and Robert called “simultaneity” was simply a patchwork coverlet she made for their son in 1911; in 1962 she proudly wrote a friend that it was “nowadays shown in art galleries as one of the first abstract paintings.”

complete review…

Image:
Still from film Le P’tit Parigot
Written by Paul Cartoux
Directed by René Le Somptier
France, 1926
Collection Antoine Blanchette

If You Never Did, You Should
By Jessica Bellofatto

“If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.” ~Dr Seuss

Happy birthday to Dr. Seuss (born March 2, 1904) and what a fantastic message to us all. As I prepare for our women’s Yoga and SUP retreat with my friend Gina Bradley (founder of Paddle Diva) here in Rincon, Puerto Rico, these words most definitely resonate with me.

story continues…

This is the beauty of five wonderful boroughs — and the space between — you just never know when you will be part of something creative and magical.

Enjoy!

Writing on the Run by Araina Bond, a nice read in Runner’s World about author and distance runner, Michael Collins. I totally understand the connection between creativity and running…it feels so good!

My favorite lines:

“Collins never hit the trails without a pencil and paper in his pocket… I began training hard, 80 miles a week, stopping here and there, writing down expressions that became the touchstones for what I would write about later that night after work, he says.”

“To Collins, writing and running are natural companions. Beginning a book on a run has always been the most natural process, he says. I could not imagine sitting before a blank computer screen. Having that pause in the day with the release of endorphins frees up ideas.”

Arevalo Gallery: Merging with the Greats
By Manuela Gabaldon

The whole article is wonderful, but loved this sentence:

“He is on a clear mission to communicate the importance of understanding the life of a piece – why it was made, where it was made, and how it came to be here, before our eyes.”

If you go or live in Miami, don’t miss this awesome space. Congrats Francisco!

Last week, I was fortunate to present a new project at Towson University in Maryland. The exhibition curated by Prof. Susan Isaacs and entitled Fluid celebrates the 75th anniversary of the American Abstract Artists.  I was in great company with friends and artists, Lynne Harlow and Marthe Keller. The whole experience was simply wonderful — from the train from NYC to Maryland, the university and all the beautiful community who joined us for the opening. Universities have the most amazing energy and are so full of creativity.

I’ll be adding more images and information soon, but for now here is an image of the evening’s performance/collaboration with TU’s Dance department students and Prof. Vincent Thomas (VTDance) …which was absolutely inspiring.

Thank you Susan, Vince and all at TU!

Image:
Rossana Martinez
Wrap Yourself Around Me, 2011
Installation/performance with reused fabrics, artist book and ribbon

Love is in the sweet details… These photos from the photoblog For the Love of Brooklyn remind me why I love to run in the city.

Enjoy!

Kyle Jenkins: Sunken Treasure, MINUS SPACE, Brooklyn, NY.

Your Eyes Give Me Something to Dream is an ongoing series of multiples made out of recycled newspaper and words. The words are taken from tags I frequently use in the blog, art & life.  Everyone is invited to take pencils by making a small donation. The money collected is donated to an organization related to the environment and protection of trees.

–John Lennon

You and Me
By Dave Matthews Band

Want to pack your bags something small
Take what you need and we disappear
Without a trace we’ll be gone, gone
Moon and the stars will follow the car
And then when we get to the ocean
Gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world

Oh and when the kids are old enough
we’re gonna teach them to fly

You and me together
We could do anything baby
You and me together yes, yes
You and me together
We could do anything baby
You and me together yes yes

You and I were not tied to the ground
Not falling but rising like rolling around
Eyes closed above the rooftops
Eyes closed we’re gonna spin through the stars
Our arms wide as the sky, we’re gonna ride the blue
All the way to the end of the world
To the end of the world

Oh and when the kids are old enough, we’re gonna teach them to fly

We can always look back at what we did
Always remembering how you and me did
Right now it’s you and me forever girl
And you know, we could do better than
Anything that we did
You know that you and me
We could do anything

You and me together
We could do anything, baby
You and me together yeah, yeah
Two of us together, we could do anything baby
You and me together yeah, yeah
Two of us together yeah, yeah
Two of us together, we could do anything baby

It’s so small
Till we reach the end of the world ]]> http://www.rossanamartinez.com/2011/01/together/feed/ 0 http://www.rossanamartinez.com/2010/11/cultivate/ http://www.rossanamartinez.com/2010/11/cultivate/#comments Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:40:52 +0000 Rossana Martinez http://www.rossanamartinez.com/?p=1560

Cultivate

1) to prepare and use for the raising of crops; also: to loosen or break up the soil about (growing plants)

2)
a) to foster the growth of — cultivate vegetables
b) culture — the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education
c) to improve by labor, care, or study: refine — cultivate the mind

3) further, encourage

4) to seek the society of: make friends with

Maybe is the cooler weather, but lately this fascinating word has kept me thinking about how we use our time. How do we cultivate creativity, health, love, community and all the other good qualities we want to see and experience?

I use a simple practice that works for me. Everyday, I try to dedicate a couple of minutes to do things that move me. Of course, I’m not always successful at it, but I happily write that most days I find a good balance between work and play. There are also special days when those dedicated minutes become hours…very special hours.

As with any process of growth, finding a practice that is uniquely yours takes time. But to me, the most important moment is when the idea is planted. Once the idea is definite and clear, nurturing happens naturally and gracefully.

For those lovers of books, language and life, here is a wonderful children’s book. The story and illustrations are beautiful. Happy nurturing!

De como nacio el amor (How love was born)
By Mrinali Alvarez Astacio
Published by La Editorial, Universidad de Puerto Rico

Desde los primeros tiempos, existe el día…
…y la noche.

Cuando el día se aleja a descansar,
la noche, vestida de estrellas, sale a pasear.

Y cada vez que se encuentra a la luna,
la invita a bailar.

Danza la luna en el cielo,
sobre las montañas y entre las estrellas.

Y el cielo se llena de danzas,
cada una diferente.

Baila nueva, baila llena,
a veces creciente, a veces menguante.

Tanto baila que siente el latir
de su corazón.

Y queda enamorada…
…de la vida.

Summary from publisher: The author uses a metaphorical story of love between the Sun and the Moon to explain the continuous cycle of night and day. The constant cycle is then presented as a passionate dance between two beings that love each other, and this in turn becomes the means to explain courtship to children. The author explains the origin of romantic love as something natural.