catalogue
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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…

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.

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

–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/senses/ http://www.rossanamartinez.com/2010/11/senses/#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:00:08 +0000 Rossana Martinez http://www.rossanamartinez.com/?p=1534

So scary — it’s November already. What happened to 2010?

Hope you all had a great Halloween. Brooklyn looks beautiful in fall colors.

Enjoy!

On the Run, a blog about the New York City Marathon. The Marathon this year is on November 7 and will have about 43,000 runners. So looking forward to it!

A Running Start, a free online coaching resource developed by New York Road Runners in response to rising obesity levels in children.

Enjoy and wishing all a happy healthy weekend!

Among the many reasons I couldn’t find time to write is that I have been having longer, deeper runs. Yes, my usual 3-mile runs have matured into 6, 7 and lately 8 miles. Longer runs make me feel great and have me inspired and playing in the studio much more. I’m still thinking about it, but I may run a half-marathon next year. As you can see in the photo, I have an incredibly active trainer who keeps me on the move in running and non-running days.

As part of my job, I’ve been taking an interesting class and traveling around the city. I like that I’m spending more time meeting people, and visiting and learning about new places in the city. There are days that my commute is so long, but to see the positive side of it, at least I’m not in front of a computer all day.

At the beginning of the month, we traveled to Miami for the opening of Matthew’s two-person exhibition (with David E. Peterson) at Alejandra von Hartz Gallery. It’s nice how art takes you to places. Loved her gallery space and the exhibition (on view thru Oct. 30) has great energy and dialogue. The art world needs more galleries like hers. Alejandra has such a friendly and welcoming personality. Congratulations Matthew and David!

Image:
Michelangelo
Sistine Chapel
fresco
ca. 1511

Happy weekend everyone!

“Rather than entering any situation wondering how it will serve you, let your entire motivation be to serve the greater good. Ask yourself constantly, how do I serve here, rather than how does this serve me and you put yourself in the great flow, which paradoxically causes life to serve you far better.”

Enjoy!

Finding of the week:

“We always need to remember that behind almost every great moment in history, there are heroic people doing really boring and frustrating things for a prolonged period of time.”

From New York Times, My Favorite August by Gail Collins.

If you want to get a real view of what an artist’s life is all about, check out Julian Dashper (1960-2009): It Is Life at MINUS SPACE. On view from August 7 until September 4, 2010. A must see, read, experience, feel.

In 2007, I wrote the post, Your Heart Makes Me Feel, after I read a wonderful tribute to artist Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) in The Brooklyn Rail. Since then my feelings about the connection between art & life have only deepened more…

As Robert Gober wrote: “…art comes out of life, and that you had better pay attention.”

Image:
Julian Dashper (1960-2009): It Is Life, MINUS SPACE

Hope you’re all having a great summer. Here are some of my summer thoughts after having a wonderful time with family and at my favorite place: the beach.

It pleases me immensely to see how my boy loves the ocean. He was born in NYC, but his blood is Caribbean…and I truly love that!

Fruit and vegetable stands, surf shops and Rex Cream’s Ice Cream are my kind of places.

<3 running barefoot on the beach. I know I’ll be fine in a couple of days, but it was hard to run this morning and wear running shoes.

A bikini never goes out of fashion.

My nieces and nephews are awesome! When I grow up, I want to be just like them.

Photo:
7am swim with mama.

Swimming in the Caribbean. Surrounded by family and nature. I’m counting the days…

Where is yours?

Where is My Mind
By The Pixies

Oh
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there’s nothing in it
And you’ll ask yourself

Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin’

I was swimmin’ in the Caribbean
Animals were hiding behind the rocks
Except the little fish
But they told me, he swears
Tryin’ to talk to me, coy koi.

Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin’ ?

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
If there’s nothing in it
And you’ll ask yourself

Where is my mind

Oh
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Oh
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Oh
Oh

“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.”

-Oscar Wilde

“Yoga is about the union and integration of breath, movement and body, both on and off the mat. Our practice on the mat should hopefully guide us towards actions in the outside world: if we observe our actions on the mat, perhaps we can all try to apply them to the outside world, and together, in a united way, we can make a difference.”

Green Goa: Green Yoga, Karma Yoga and the Art of Transforming Practice to Life by Inna Costantini. UK Yoga Magazine, July 2010.

Happy summer!

Here I am, thinking of tomorrow’s NYRR New York Mini 10K. My first “big” race after baby. Feeling excited. I ran this race in 2008 and the experience was awesome. This is a women only race and it is truly amazing to see a sea of women running in Central Park.

My main goal tomorrow is to apply what I’ve learned from my active 15-month old boy and that we as adults forget to do often — run, run, run and just have fun!

A friend sent me this quote a couple of weeks ago — and it is so true:

“You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.”

-Dogen Zenji (1200 – 1253)

My first experiment with triangle pose was a couple of years ago. I created an installation with colored rubber bands entitled, Space Between. I didn’t set many rules while installing, I just knew I wanted to create a connection between triangles and colors. I began the installation — on what first felt as a huge wall space — slowly and carefully making triangles. But as I continued making triangles, the installation felt as a yoga practice — it began to flow naturally.

These days I continue to explore triangle pose — both — on my mat and in my home/studio. I’ll be posting images of this new set of triangles soon. I’m excited.

Oh, and how much I love google… While researching triangle pose, I found these great articles: Angle of Repose by Julie Gudmestad and Triangle Pose by Teri Leigh.

Enjoy!

Image:
Rossana Martinez
Space Between, 2007
Rubber bands

I’m happy to write that the site-specific installation, Crash into Me will be on view this summer at el Museo de Arte de Caguas (MUAC), Puerto Rico.

There is lots to see in Caguas. The city is called the heart of Puerto Rico. The community is so friendly — including my amazing sisters who live there. It’s truly an honor.

I thank artist and curator Elsa Melendez for inviting me to participate in the exhibition. And as always, it’s a pleasure to be in the company of great artists.

Gracias Elsa!

Image:
Rossana Martinez
Crash into Me, 2007-2010
Site-specific installation
Fluorescent orange and hot pink ribbons

Part of group exhibition, No fue un mal entendido, on view at MUAC from June 4-September 30, 2010.

Artists: Claudio Chea, Ricardo Hernández, Rossana Martínez, Néstor Millán, Omar Obdulio Peña, Brian Rivera, Miguel Angel Torres, Cristina Tufiño, Rafael Vargas Bernard y el grupo de teatro, Papel Machete.

I dedicate my miles to the memory of a wonderful person — a great friend, brother, father, husband, son, and so much more. My dear brother-in-law, Victor González Nieves (1963-2010). We miss you so much!!

Finding of the week:

“A arte é a minha forma de conhecimento do mundo”

“Art is my way of understanding the world”

-Lygia Pape

Image:

Lygia Pape
Magnetized Spaces, 1968-2002
Spaces of the city

Finding of the week:

The 5 Warrior Warm-Up by Margaret Burns Vap

What a pleasant surprise I received yesterday when Erin Loechner from Design for Mankind wrote about my new performance drawings. I feel honored to be part of this great community.

As many of you know and for those who don’t, Design for Mankind is an award-winning blog dedicated to showcasing the talents of the emerging art and design community. They receive over 11,000 visits per day (wow!) which makes them great hosts. I encourage all to take some time to look, read, subscribe and certainly to enjoy this awesome resource for art and design.

Muchas gracias Erin and everyone at Design for Mankind!

running with
my favorite music
creative thoughts
and a happy heart

returned home
found two beautiful smiles
and a cup of good coffee

simple things taste so good!

The last couple of weeks have been full of creativity. I found some time to draw, run outside and explore for titles. I like titles especially for abstract work. To me, titles are the little things that tell our story. They help us share ideas with others, and begin a dialogue…

Finding of the week:

“What is often overlooked in this modern world is that everything and everybody has value, that each atom in the universe does indeed have a place…”

-Aadil Palkhivala

Welcome to my new website/blog. There are so many positive things happening this year, I hope to find more time to write. As you probably know, 2009 was an amazing year for me because I had an incredible baby boy. But as many artists who are also parents know, it is extremely challenging to balance a family, a job, to stay healthy and making art. I’m breathless!

I am grateful to have the opportunity to live and enjoy this whole experience. There are not words to really describe it…but my heart has grown so much since I became a mama. And I am thankful to have such wonderful community: my family, friends, neighbors and readers.

As I mentioned on my last post, this web project is a work in progress…My goal is to create a place where we connect, share and have a dialogue. I want it to have the quality of a studio visit, a great run or a yoga class.

Lastly, I want to thank and highly recommend Brad Stephenson who helped me with the new website. Brad is an actor, amazing father, technology developer, and huge Steelers fan — Go Steelers! — maybe next year. Brad was fantastic to work with and so patient with my slow pace. His website is www.bradpstephenson.com. Muchas gracias Brad!

The list of things I would like to enjoy during these warm months is way too long. Sure I can do some of these things during the cold months, but the energy that the sun brings in the summer is unique.

I don’t know how it happened, maybe it was having beautiful Central Park as a background. I’m so excited that I’m running three miles again. Three miles isn’t a lot, but for me it feels like a marathon.

I also found a new yoga class that took me back to my very first experience with yoga. Everything felt so new and every muscle hurt the day after! I love when moments like this happen — when suddenly the things that we thought we knew how to do feel fresh and everything shines again.

Eating to Fuel Exercise, Runners Tell Their Stories both by Tara Parker-Pope, and The Reservoir in Central Park, an audio guide by the Central Park Conservancy are perfect to keep us moving and inspired.

I hope you’re all enjoying the summer and doing some of the things that you love to do!

My mind and body were ready for a little stir up so last week I found myself running at lunch time in Central Park. I usually run early in the morning around my neighborhood, but I’ve been wanting to run in the park since I started to work near it.

Although it’s been a challenge to keep up with all, it’s also been great to dedicate those beautiful green miles in the park — there’s nothing like running through nature — to think about my new little family, how to train for a race, yoga inversions I would like to explore, and just getting excited about new projects…

Getting excited about new projects reminds me to mention two wonderful exhibitions I recently saw even though they closed already. I wish there were more exhibitions like the Tangled Alphabets: León Ferrari and Mira Schendel at MoMA. Wow! I’m still digesting Schendel’s amazing works and ideas. And Ernesto Neto’s anthropodino at the Armory which was a fun experience.

Enjoy!

Image:

Yoko Ono, Wish Piece, 1996

Make a wish

Write it down on a piece of paper

Fold it and tie it around a branch of a Wish Tree

Ask your friends to do the same

Keep wishing

Until the branches are covered with wishes

It was during one of those tough runs when my attitude changed. I decided to give myself the chance to enjoy the process of slowly reaching my usual pace. Since then, I’ve been enjoying every single movement I make: running around the neighborhood, the treadmill and even cross training in the rowing machine — which I admit isn’t my favorite.

I keep telling myself something I think we all probably know, but surely always forget: patience is our best friend. When we feel different or everything is too new — a new business, moving to a new place or city, committing to a wellness plan — the word is patience, patience, patience…

Keep moving!