Carne Trémula (Live Flesh) by Almodovar

(*****)

Yesterday I finally watched "LIVE FLESH".. A film by my favorite director, Pedro Almodovar. 

Even though this film was made in 1997, he is always capable of surprising me.. He has certain hooks to the film that you can't stop watching, or guessing what will happen. His stories are SO well told and his characters are extremely well-developed.. You understand each and one of them.. 

Starting from a prostitute who has her baby in a bus late at night, to her son after growing up - having to go to jail because of a gunshot after falling in love/going crazy about another prostitute addicted to crack. 

This one, I specifically love one shot.. Where he shows the Point-of-View of the gun. Its unbelievable! There is also a beautiful sex scene! One of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen! 

You SHOULD check it out, its online on netflix!

Official Trailer


Curiosities: The lady who delivers the baby with Penelope Cruz in the bus, on the first scene, is Javier Bardem's mother, Pilar. 


Quotes: 

Pedro Almodovar, Under His Skin

My favorite film director, Pedro Almodovar will be present at the annual funding event at the MoMA, and guess what? I can't go, because each ticket is $10,000. So, here is a tribute for him:

Pedro Almodóvar: Under His Skin on Nowness.com.

Cy Twombly

Cy Twombly a.k.a. Edwin Parker Twombly Jr. was born on April 25th, 1928 [Taurus], and died some weeks after his exhibition started on the MoMA, July 5th, 2011. He was born in Lexington, VA and in 1957, when he was 29 years old, he moved to Rome where he met Tatiana Franchetti - and married her in New York 2 years later. 

He calls himself "Cy" after his father, who has this name, a baseball pitcher. 

He is well-known for his large, graffitti-like, "scribbly", free, and caligraphic styled work. Its a mix between a drawing and a painting, and his titles are always interpreted visually through shapes, forms and words. 

"When I work, I work very fast, but preparing to work can take any length of time."

"My line is childlike but not childish. It is very difficult to fake.. to get that quality you need to project yourself into the child's line. It has to be felt."

Cy's painting began as non-figurative and soon transformed into "romantic symbolism". 

He has a son, who's also a painter, and is now living in Rome - Cyrus Alessandro Twombly. 

I still didn't get the opportunity to see him at the MoMA, but I've seen him before somewhere, I think it was at the Whitney. 

Cy Twombly is at the MoMA until January 2nd, 2012. 

Here follows an interesting article I found. 

Who's in NYC?!?!

Wondering what to do on a Friday night?!?!

"Scopophilia" by Nan Goldin

@ Matthew Marks Gallery

From October 29th - December 23rd

522 West 22nd St.

Scopophilia: "Love of Looking"

Nan Goldin, my favorite photographer/idol, went to the Louvre and took 400 photographs of paintings and sculptures. From that, she selected some of her own photographs, and compared them in an amazingly beautiful 25 minute slide-show installation. [Note: Beautiful music!] She compared all the photographs through body & shape, light, mood, and style - and placed them together. 

I got a text message that day (on a new phone, so I had no idea who the angel was): "Nan Goldin will have her opening tonight at Matthew Marks Gallery!". I couldn't believe it. I was finally going to see her! 

Unfortunately I went alone (which makes me shy and vulnerable).. I watched the installation twice, had a wine in the gallery, and waited having my cigarette, since I know she also enjoys smoking. From when I went inside for the 2nd time to watch the slide-show, to when I left, the gallery was packed, and they were only serving water! I walked around the gallery to see the prints again, when suddenly I see some crazy white boots and some wild red hair. THERE SHE WAS. 

I thought I would go crazy and have an anxiety attack, but her presence just made me feel light and calm. 

I stopped and just starred at her for a good 30 minutes (Yes! She looked at me and probably noticed the stalker I am). I watched everyone approaching her, telling her things. I couldn't move. She had a glass of wine in one hand, and a cigarette on the other, and she simply lit her cigarette right there! (My hero!) 

A few minutes later, I turn around and I bump into Terry Richardson, my other favorite photographer.. He was humble, the show wasn't for him.. I watched him going up to Nan Goldin, and asking her if he could photograph her for his blog. I'm a follower of his blog, I actually did one for me, (which I will announce by the end of this year), and the photograph is finally online.

Photograph in Terry's Diary.com

On the first day that I don't carry any kind of camera in my bag, this happens to me. So, maybe I shouldn't carry any more cameras? 

Her new photographs were beautiful. For the first time, there were MEN as subjects, (besides David Armstrong, her Ex, or Drag Queens), and that really intrigued me. 

The crowd was beautiful and colorful, and Kiki Smith also went to see her!

What a night! October 29th, unforgettable! 

Special Thanks: Allen Chen

The Body Stories

Two dear friends of mine, 

have a story to share. 

But they can only do it, with our help. 

I've been a part of this project, I know its beautiful, I know its worth it!

:)

A Story that HAS to be Shared with the World.

This is what I think Indiegogo/Kickstarter, are for.. Thank You, Angelo & Jennifer, for SHARING.. To Help..

Nelson Leirner, Assim É Se Lhe Parece

After the small research I did on Nelson Leirner, (whom I couldn't even pronounce the name) - I fell in love. I hope to meet him!

I'm going to confess: I had seen some of his art, but I never knew who it belonged to, and I could never put a face to the name. Now I can!

I didn't watch the documentary, but I read a bit about this artist in Vogue Brasil, and on the same day, I went to see his exhibition at Fiesp. My favorites are the monkeys, or even better, the FEMALE monkey with the lipstick. Although, I have to say: its not his ART that I fell in love with, its his CHARACTER, his HUMOR, his irony.

Who am I to talk about art? But I don't care, that's why I'm researching, reading, learning. Back to our subject...

Nelson Leirner was born in Sao Paulo, January 16th (Capricorn), 1932. He lived in the Unites States for years, and said he went to watch a lot of theatre, and never to museums. But his parents made him go for art.

He uses strategic strategies to create questions in people, even if he ends up causing strange feelings. He is considered to be one of the most polemical artists, and wants to popularize the "object of art" and introduce the participation of the audience.

"Art, while still being art, it has no end."

Shoes Shoes Shoes!

I recently saw this older lady, dressed beautifully (how I want to dress when I'm her age), she was a mix of class with hip. Something caught my attention, and for the past week, I was trying to find it online.

I have something with the "oxfords", I love them. 

These are "oxfords", + a platform! Take a look:

(order: price)

$50.37 @ stylenanda

About $170.00 @ Jeffrey Campell

or, if you can/want to afford it, here we go:

 

$795 @ Prada (Saks Fifth Avenue)

::: I'm in love with the Prada ones, now.. Let me go find a job!

CYOULATER

Here is the blog of a friend of mine from Barcelona, Mark Rabadan. His blog is CYOULATER, where he photographs people in clubs, parties, and does his own photoshoots! Worthwhile checking in out!

Louise Bourgeois: "o retorn do desejo proibido"

This Sunday, In Sao Paulo, I had the pleasure to see the work of Louise Bourgeois in Instituto Tomie Ohtake, that will be exhibiting until August 28th. "The return of the prohibited desire" would be the exact translation. 

I went, without doing my research, and not knowing much about what I would see. I knew about the "Maman", her huge spider sculpture, but that was about it.

"I have been to Hell and back and let me tell you it was wonderful."

Her Story:

Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris, December 25th (Capricorn), 1911. She had a big childhood trauma: discovering her English governess and nanny was also her father's mistress. Eventually, all her traumas and tensions triggered her creative impulse. 

Bourgeois' parents owned a gallery that dealt with tapestries, and she would fill in designs that would become worn. She studied math & geometry at the Sorbonne (used to be the University of Paris), but when her mother died in 1932, she abandoned math to study art. 

Her father, whom she'd always disliked since the incident with her nanny, obviously didn't support her decision. She said he would always tease her, dominate the household and he had an explosive temper. 

She would write all her memories in her diary, since she was a little girl. The Ecole de Beaux-Arts was Bourgeois' next school, and she turned to her father's infidelities for inspiration. 

"Art is a guarantee of sanity. That is the most important thing I have said."

Bourgeois opened a print shop next to her father's tapestry shop/gallery, where her soon-to-be husband, Robert Goldwater [art historian], one day came in asking for a print of Pablo Picasso. She soon got married and went to New York City. She could not conceive, so she adopted her first child, but soon gave birth to her other two children. 

"I am not what I am, I am what I do with my hands."

Profession: Fine Artist/Feminist

Influences: Surrealism, primitivism, and modernism

(Alberto Giacometti, Constantin Brancusi)

Work: Abstract, symbolic, autobiographical

Themes: 

1. Childhood trauma & hidden emotions (anxiety and loneliness)

2. Architecture & memory (betrayal)

3. Sexuality & fragility (women, and human figures)

"Once I was beset by anxiety but I pushed the fear away by studying the sky, determining when the moon would come out and where the sun would appear in the morning."

"Art is manipulation without intervention."

Cells.

"Bourgeois stated that the Cells represent “different types of pain; physical, emotional and psychological, mental and intellectual… Each Cell deals with a fear. Fear is pain… Each Cell deals with the pleasure of the voyeur, the thrill of looking and being looked at.”

During the 50's she made the transition from would and other upright structures to marble, plaster and bronze. 

In 1982, she received her 1st retrospective at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). 

In 2010, she used her art to speak up for the LGBT equality, and soon died in New York City. She finished all her work one week before her death.

Death: Heart failure.

Maman

::: The exhibition I saw was beautiful, her art expresses her feelings and transmits it to the audience. I felt her anxiety, her claustrophobia, and her hatred towards her father. 

This woman was beautiful and fragile, and her art work had to be huge, involving whoever wants to be in it (literally). 

My favorite quote from her:

"CLAUSTROPHOBIA AND OMNIPOTENCE

I WANT THEREFORE I CAN

I CAN BUT I'M AFRAID

I'M AFRAID THEREFORE I LIVE."

NOWNESS

One of the best websites ever, a tip from my friend Fernanda Pavao.

www.nowness.com

"Based on luxury storytelling...", projects, films, photographs on art, culture, entertainment, and so on.

Basically, it's what I wish my blog would be! Totally worth checking it out... But prepare yourself a good 2 hours (at least), to surf the website. 

I found a story on Nan Goldin, that of course made me very happy! Apparently she photographed for an Australian fashion brand that I didn't know about, followed by a section with an interview with the model (with questions about Nan).

Happy Sunday!!!

Quote

"Some people say I live in my own world, that's OK, they know me there."

- Alix Smith (American Emerging Photographer)

Frida Kahlo, our colorful Mexican

Frida!!! How can I start writing about this amazing woman? 

She was born July 6th, of 1907 (Sign: Cancer), in Coyoacan, Mexico, under the name: Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderon. 

When she was 6, she developed Polio, which made her right leg seem much thinner than the other one. Because of this, Frida would use long skirts and dresses, to disguise. She suffered from various health problems because of the accident that she suffered when she was 18/19 years old. An iron handrail pierced her abdomen and uterus, which left her childless, but full of dolls and pets. She was in bed for a long time, but her parents found a way so that she could PAINT, she had just abandoned the idea of becoming a doctor. 

Frida always witnessed a lot of violence. During the Mexican Revolution (1910) she was hearing gunfires on her street, in her teenage years she boxed and had dated violent men. She went through more then 35 operations after her accident. So, her work always showed a lot of pain. 

"I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best."

This sentence describes a lot about her. Out of 143 paintings, 55 were her self-portraits. 

Her symbol was a monkey - in Mexico, a symbol for LUST. 

Frida was an admirer of Diego Rivera, her soon to-be husband in 1929, and met him to ask him an advice in pursuing an art career, and so they married. It was a troubled marriage, they were both temperamental and has affairs with other people. She was bisexual, (one of the most interesting things I read), which Diego tolerated, but he just couldn't deal with her affairs with other men (i.e. Trotsky). She once had an affair with Josephine Baker, a dancer, actress, and singer. On the other hand, Diego was having an affair with her younger sister, Cristina. 

"I never painted dreams, I painted my own reality.

Influenced by the Indigenous Mexican Culture she always used bright colors and dramatic symbolism. She became more well-known with the artistic style: NEOMEXICANISMO, before she was just know as "Diego Rivera's Wife".

Before Frida died, she wrote in her journal:

"I hope the exit is joyful - and I hope never to return."

She was born and died in the same place, The Blue House, on July 13th, 1954, when she was 47 years old. Diego said is was the most tragic day of his life, and that he realized that the most wonderful part of his life had been his love for her (realized too late). 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Frida. This was in front of her house, with her pet, smoking her cigarette. She was always using drugs, whether they were painkillers, cigaretts, alcohol, or whatever. Between her friends/family she was known to have a great sense of humor, which you can see in this picture - Can you?

After her use of alcohol with her painkillers, her painting began to change - they were looser, hurried, with a lack of detail. 

Self Portrait with a portrait of Diego on the Breast and Maria Between the Eyebrows

Self Potrait with Stalin

I found something interesting, an explanation of the colors she uses in her art, in her diary.

GREEN: good warm light

MAGENTA: Aztec. Old TLAPALI blood of prickly pear, the brightest and oldest

BROWN: color of mole, leaves becoming earth

YELLOW: madness, sickness, fear (part of the sun and of joy)

COBALT BLUE: electricity and purity love

BLACK: nothing is black - really nothing

LEAF GREEN: leaves, sadness, science; the whole of Germany is this color

GREENISH YELLOW: more madness and mystery, all the ghosts wear clothes of this color, or at least their underwear

DARK GREEN: color of bad advertisements and a good business

NAVY BLUE: distance... also tenderness can be this blue

RED: blood? Well, who knows?

:: Researching this woman was so inspiring. Understanding the story behind all those colors and her unibrow was catalyst. ::

"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?"

"I love your more than my own skin."

George Santayana Says

"An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world."

- George Santayana 

(Spanish Philosopher born in Madrid in 1863).

Serie: "In Dumbo with a Leica"

The Italian Man Who Went To Malta

In a city like New York - this is very FAMILIAR! 

It made me laugh too much! 

Richard Serra, the Steel man

Richard Serra was born on November 2nd, 1939 (will be 72 soon), in San Francisco. He is a minimalist sculptor and video artist. His work is large and normally made of steel metal (metal formed into thin and flat pieces).

Serra studied English Literature in the University of California, in Berkley, and helped support himself by working on steel mills, which became a strong influence for his work. He then studied Painting at Yale University and continued his training abroad..  He lived in Paris, Florence, Rome - and since then has been living between Tribeca, New York City and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Sculptures:

Serra's first sculptures were made out of non traditional materials such as fiber, glass and rubber - very abstract. (Circa 1966).

In 1981, "Tilted Arc", 3.5 meter high arc of rusting mild steel in the Federal Plaza in NY. In 1985, a public hearing voted that the work should be removed and Serra replied with "To remove the work is to destroy it", but there was no turning back.

Serra made a lot of films concerning his favorite material, the steel.

Hand Catching Lead (1968)

:: Serra's first film, a single shot of a hand in an attempt to repeatedly catch chunks of lead dropped from the top of the frame. 

Boomerang (1974)

:: Serra taped Nancy Holt as she talks and hears her words played back to her after they have been delayed electronically.

Serra also drawed and painted, using various techniques. I believe some of his drawings are currently being displayed at the MoMA and at the Dia Art Foundation, and I'm looking forward in checking it out tomorrow!

The Art Market:

The record auction price for a Serra sculpture was paid at Sotheby's in NY in 2008, a work consisting of 3 steel plates, sold for $1.65 million!

"When I first started, what was very very important to me was dealing with the nature of process."

* Serra has been acclaimed for his challenging and innovative work, which highlights the process of its fabrication, the qualities of its materials, and the engagement with the audience. Viewers were encouraged to move around, through, under, so they could meet different perspectives of its physicality and to create awareness of its size.

"Steel becomes something other than Steel."

"Work out on your work, don't work out on anybody else's work."

A friend of mine saw Serra yesterday at Strand Book Store. Maybe I should shop there more often! Can't wait to see his work, live.

Philip Glass at the Metropolitan Museum

"Self-esteem comes from your parents. Somebody tells you that you can do whatever you want, and you believe them."

This Saturday, June 11th, I had the pleasure to be just a few meters away from the genius of minimalism, Philip Glass! He was present at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for a quick Q&A, followed by an orchestra playing his compositions... 

I confess I did not know much about him, before I went... I knew I knew his name, and I knew he composed soundtrack for films, but that was about it...

So, I researched:

Philip Glass was born January 31st, 1937 (74 years old), in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a composer who brought "art music" (serious music/erudite music) to the public and one of the most influential of the 20th century. 

Glass describes himself as "classicist", and his biggest influences were Beethoven and Schubert (his favorite composer). He is a minimalist [music with repetitive structures], and went to the Juilliard School of Music where the keyboard became his main instrument. 

He went to live in Paris, where he worked with Godard and Truffaut, and later Samuel Beckett. In 1967, he came back to NYC (where he currently lives),  and became Richard Serra's regular studio assistant, and lived in the art/gallery world. Glass also worked as a plumber and a cab driver!

His influences: rock, ambient music, electronic music and world music. 

Glass is a vegetarian, and a supporter of the Tibetan cause!

My point of view of Saturday: 

I was extremely excited to go see Philip Glass play the piano... I arrived there... Naturally you get inspired with all the art and just the simple idea of being at that amazing place... Seats were comfortable, our seats were pretty good, at the mezzanine, with the piano placed in the middle of the stage, and where it was faced our direction. It started 10 minutes late, interviewer Richard Guerin and Philip Glass finally enter stage and sit down. Philip seemed distracted touching the microphone to see if it was working, even though interview had began. (Was funny!). Interviewer asked a couple of questions, but I couldn't really understand the answers. In 20 minutes, the music began. I had understood wrong, I thought Glass would be playing, but 4 different people was playing his music. 

It was okay, until the last 30 minutes where an incredible violonist, Tim Fain, began to play. Absolutely unbelievable and inspiring young man who apparently did the soundtrack for "Black Swan"! 

I have to say, it was worth it. 

"Motivation will make up for a lot of failings."

"You practice and you get better. It's very simple."

 "I work every morning without fail."

"I always knew what I wanted to do and I did it." 

Andy Warhol Says

"An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have."

- Andy Warhol

Baboo Photo Gallery

For whom ever is in NYC tonight --- my 1st exhibition!

Join me... :)

37 W 20th St.

@ Baboo Photo Gallery

Alessandra Duarte @ Zipper Galeria

Para quem estiver em Sao Paulo, nao deixem de ir ver a Alessandra Duarte na Zipper Galeria. Ja falei sobre ela nesse blog, sera imperdivel e super merecido! Ah! Se eu estivesse em Sao Paulo!

Quando: 30 de Abril - 22 de Maio

Aonde: ZIPPER: R. Estados Unidos, 1494

Alessandra Duarte é graduada em Artes Plásticas e História da Arte pela Bard College, Nova York (2007). Em 2008 participa de mostras coletivas na A.I.R Gallery e Soho20 Gallery, em Chelsea, NY. Retorna ao Brasil em 2009 e é selecionada para mostra coletiva do Programa de Exposições 2011 do Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto (MARP) e para a exposição itinerante, Até Meio Quilo, tendo seu trabalho exibido na Pinacoteca de Santos, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Campinas (MACC), Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Jataí (MAC), e o Museu Eugênio Teixeira Leal (Salvador), entre outros.

Ale em seu Atelier, Sao Paulo, SP, Janeiro 2011




A Zipper: Zipper é a nova galeria de São Paulo, focada em novos artistas. Conduzida por uma equipe que há décadas atua no sistema da arte brasileiro, Zipper quer apresentar a arte de quem ainda não é conhecido: detectar o novo quando ele estiver brotando.


Na minha opiniao, sem exageros, a melhor galeria de Sao Paulo!

Nan Goldin

"I used to think that I could never lose anyone if I photographed them enough. In fact, my pictures show me how much I've lost."

- Nan Goldin

* My true inspiration

"Helena From The Wedding" directed by Joseph Infantolino

(**)

A film about 3 couples and 2 single friends, who travel to their cabin in the woods for New Year's. Everything is going on fine, until Helena, a young friend of theirs, whom is a model, arrives. The owner's of the house, a newly wed couple, begin to have problems after she is present, the wife notices her husband's attraction towards the young girl.

The film passes by fast, I do not know how. Nothing very special happens.. The characters are extremely boring.. There are a couple of funny sequences, but nothing very dramatic or intense. It's not a bad film, but definitely no my style. I wouldn't recommend it or watch it again. 

What I would have done differently? It is easy to say... But probably I would've casted younger actors. It would be easier to relate to them.

I would love to hear another opinion on this.

Stills:

Trailer: