The Ninth Floor by Jessica Dimmock

The most beautiful piece of work!

In an apartment above Fifth Avenue, some thirty young people live in a vortex of drug addiction and despair. In The Ninth Floor, Jessica Dimmock enters this world, exploring, in human terms, what has been lost and what may be recovered. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/the-ninth-floor

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: 

"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..

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."

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

Quote

"It takes a lot of money to look this cheap!" - Dolly Parton

Who is Dolly Parton? Sorry for my ignorance.. But I heard this quote on TV last night and I thought it was phenomenal! So, I decided to research who had said it. I didn't know about Dolly's existence until then. 

She's an actress/singer/song-writer, famous for her country music.

Fish Tank, directed by Andrea Arnold

(*****)

Fish Tank is the story of a girl, Mia (Kate Jarvis), who is excluded from her family's and friend's life. She was kicked out from school, fought with her friends, and has constant fights with her [very young and alcoholic] mother daily. Mia lives in housing projects in Essex and her only true passion is dance. Until, her Mom brings home a new boyfriend, and Mia suddenly encounters her new obsession.

This film is absolutely beautiful. It has many P.O.V. (point-of-view) shots, lots of hand-held, in which you feel as if you are beside the character. The entire film is told through Mia's perspective. There is a beautiful shot where Connor, (Michael Fassbender, Mom's boyfriend), puts her to bed, and she pretends to be sleeping while he unties and removes her shoes, the shot is of what she's seeing, underneath her arm.

Besides the beautiful shots, and the intriguing story, this film also brought to me a lot of senses? I hope I'm explaining myself. There is a shot when Connor gets close to Mia so she can smell his new perfume, when she inhales, you can feel what she is feeling. If you know what I mean... Connor is the only one who understands and supports Mia.

The story is intense... Sad... Beautiful... Funny. And even though sometimes she is cruel, you love her, you defend her. Her character has a beautiful heart, even though those around her don't see it. She falls in love with a horse, whom she petted twice. But cries with the horse's death. She falls in love. She goes for what she wants.

It's slow in its way.. The pace is perfect. You get into the story and feel it.

You relate to the character, some how!

Her acting is PHENOMENAL! --- I heard she was discovered while fighting with her boyfriend at the train's platform!

The actress who plays her sister, Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths), is also unbelievably good!

This is the kind of film I wish I had done myself. There is so much more to it that I can't even write about it. It is UNIQUE, PROFOUND. There is NO film like it. You cry with Mia!

BEAUTIFULLY SHOT!!!

* It won the 2009 jury prize at Sundance.

Watch the Trailer:

Poster:

Stills:

"Before Breakfast" Directed by Moema Umann

BEFORE BREAKFAST was accepted and will be screened at the SHORT CORNER @ CANNES FESTIVAL. I had the pleasure to be a part of this project, and I would like to share a bit of it with you.

Moema Umann is the type of person whom anything she touches will turn out to be successful. She does it with passion, and she does it with love and commitment.

ABOUT: 

--- Alfred Rowland finds himself trapped by an unaware life of self destruction. His tormented wife, emotionally and physically, reminds him in order to face what he has created. Alone in his room, will he discover the answer? ---

TRAILER:

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT: 

Many years ago I worked on the one act play “Before Breakfast” by Eugene O’Neill. On this play we see only a woman on the stage and we know, through her words, that her husband Alfred is in the other room. During the whole play we never see him, we just imagine him. As she speaks and points out their personal problems, we get to understand that Alfred is hung over, waking up, getting dressed and shaving in the bedroom. And that is all the information we get from her about what he is doing in the other room. As the action happens, at the end, again, only through her words and actions, we assume that he just killed himself.

While working on the play it was Alfred’s character that always intrigued me the most.  I kept asking myself, what was this man doing while his wife was talking restlessly? How miserable his life could be? Why he never answered her, not even once? Etc. This question also resonated a lot with my own personal life. Being a suicidal survival (that is how people who lost a loved one to suicide is called) I felt the necessity of bringing the theme up. There is still a big taboo around this subject, no ones talk about it. Now looking back, I wished somebody would have talked to me about how to cope with it. Having all that in mind, I decided to do the opposite of what Eugene O’Neill brilliantly did.  On this movie I show only Alfred’s point of view of the situation. On the movie we only hear her, we never see her. And throughout her lines, we see what is happening to him in the bedroom. Differently to the play, on this movie version we never see her, we just imagine her. It is very important to make clear that this film is not based or inspired on Eugene O’Neill’s idea of what happens to Alfred. Even though we hear the words he wrote, Ms. Rowland doesn’t mention what he is doing in the room throughout the whole time of the play, and personally, I do not believe it is fair to assume that what I imagined he was doing in the room is also what O’Neill would have had imagined for him. And by choosing not to show her, and choosing just to hear her how Alfred hears her, we only understand a less deep facade of her character, what is also not what Eugene O’Neill shows on his brilliant play with all the details that can be explored. Saying all that, I strongly affirm that this movie is purely telling a story of a man fighting his personal battles, in the way he sees his situation at that specific morning after all he put himself through.

To achieve that idea, the camera plays different roles on this production. At some moments it is an observer, sometimes it is his eyes, sometimes his memories and at last it is an emotional commentator about how the story ends.  

Moema Umann

For More Info Visit: BEFORE BREAKFAST
Press Kit will be available on the website, soon.

Felipe Morozini

I found out about Felipe Morozini some months ago. I went to Pinta Art Show, and discovered Zipper Galeria located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Felipe's photography called my attention. He has a certain "voyeuristic" style, and that intrigues me. 

A couple of days ago, since I'm visiting Sao Paulo, my home city, I went to Zipper to see their new exhibition. Talking to the owner, I told him what attracted me in photography, and I love, when women are subjects or themes. He told me he had a picture I would love, and showed me this one below. 

Bico, Photograph by Felipe Morozini (c)

I can't forget this picture. It's as simple as that. Every time I talk about art or photography, this picture comes to my mind.
Obviously, the subject is not looking at her wallet, or herself in the mirror, she is looking back at the voyeur, or so I believe. Felipe was able to capture in perfect timing, a very sexual part of her body, and while the wall covers another one.
I love the colors, the framing, the story behind the picture. And this is for sure, one of my biggest inspirations.
Below, you can find some other of his photographs. 

 Both Photographs above: "Untitled" by Felipe Morozini (c)

Click HERE to see his Flickr.

Marina Abramovic talks about Performances to Phaidon

I wish I knew about this event, so I could be present.

Alessandra Duarte

Alessandra Duarte, what can I say? 

Whoever knows her, knows her talent as well.

She is that kind of person, that inspires. You watch her draw, or paint, and you get into trance - wishing you had that gift. 

Ale, graduated from Bard College with a BA in Studio Arts and Art History. Her work is fantastical-abstraction, influenced by Klimt, with the use of blue/green tones.

Some of her other influences are: Lucian Freud, Janaina Tschape, Rothko, Paul Gauguin,  Matisse, and Peter Doig.

I'm not the best person to "criticize" paintings, so I'm going to stop right here. I'm just so happy she can finally show her work to the world!!!

Below are some of my favorite paintings for her recent work.

Lina Scheynius

I recently discovered this photographer that I'm a big fan of, Lina Scheynius. I discovered her through Flickr and today I finally had time to go through her website and see all of her pictures. She also has a section there, of FAQ, where she answered many of my the questions I had in my mind. For example, she uses an OLYMPUS MJU ii or her Canon SLR, to shoot; she loves the film Ilford Delta B&W; she is from Sweden but lives in between Paris and London; she hates Digital; and the part that I most love --- she photographs who is important in her life. 

Lina also takes a lot of self-portraits, and has diaries in her website, very worth taking a look. 

An inspiration.

Here are some of her pictures that I most loved:

She never went to Photography school, but was always surrounded my photographers, including her father. 

"We, Women" (Working Title)

Documentary should be completed by December. 

Director/Producer: Marina Nacamuli

Director of Photography: Borja Campillo

BLOG: "We, Women"

Painter from "Flyer": Larisa Colantonio