Lola Mora- First Argentine Sculptor

I just came from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Every time I go, my eyes can't get enough of that masterful work "Las Nereidas" done by the first Argentine sculptor, a woman known as Lola Mora (1866-1936).

I want to write about her and share with you some photos of her work.

She was born Dolores Candelabra Mora Vega de Hernandez in the province of Salta, Argentina although her birthplace is subject to discussion as the province of Tucuman considers her native of its land. Born in Salta or Tucuman could be irrelevant if you consider that she became the first Argentine female sculptor in 1866!

At the age of 20 she obtained a scholarship to study in Rome, Italy where she created her most magnificent works of art, many of them requested by the Argentine government.

Her style and exposure were controversial. In 1903 her "The Nereids Fountain" created for the city of Buenos Aires, met with a lot of bureaucratic problems and the sculpture was moved from place to place. It was considered too sensual and provocative.

She is considered the author of the first underground and underwater gallery project for the city of Buenos Aires. She also foresaw the layout of the streets in the city of Jujuy.

She died in poverty and obscurity on June 7, 1936. The National Congress of Argentina established her birth date as the Sculptors and Plastic Arts National Day in her memory.

Fuente de Lola Mora- Universidad Nacional del Sur

La Justicia

La Patria

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Monumento Libertad

Celebrating Chicago Artists Month 2014-Crossing Borders

I have a strong dislike for designated dates such as "mother's day", "father's day", "valentine's day", "Latino Heritage month", "African American month", and the list can go on and on.
October is considered Chicago Artist Month. No sure how this month became "the" month to honor artists... The city build up momentum toward "the artist's month" by designating a theme for it.  Artists need to develop programs, artworks, and/or events around the theme. This year the theme is "Crossing Borders". 

My studio is at the Fine Arts Building where I am the art coordinator for a small membership base collective of artists. This year's theme really applies to who we are. I wrote for the Chicago Artists Month web site (http://www.chicagoartistsmonth.org/2nd-fridays-fab-studios):

"We are a patchwork of creative energy intersecting the lines of our cultural, artistic, and personal views in our practices under one roof. A painter inspired by a fiber artist, a musician playing a tune in response to artwork in our gallery, a writer who finds inspiration in the sound of a practicing voice or the melody of the piano or violin.... an artist who finds refuge in the meditative space of a yoga studio, another painter who explores the crossing paths of spirituality and art with her vibrant symbolic imagery....inviting all those who appreciate art and music, seek the pleasure of walking into the used bookstore (complete with guardian cat), or want to try a quick tap lesson at the dance center. Every 2nd Friday of every month we open our studios to the public. 

The event is free."

In celebration of the theme "Crossing Borders" the artists of the Fine Arts Building present an exhibition of exclusively collaborative artwork "Outside of the Box:  Collaborative Works by Artists at the Fine Arts Building"  This show will be a fusion of styles and backgrounds, all coming together in one show, all created by artists working in the Fine Arts Building. "Outside of the Box:  Collaborative Works by Artists at the Fine Arts Building". The opening is Friday October 10th

I collaborated with Shakta Kaur, a Yogi owner of Kundalini Yoga in the Loop, housed at FAB on the 5th floor. We created a mosaic with beach glass Shakta found on the 12th St. beach during her morning walks. We titled it "Meditation Peace".

Meditation Peace. Mosaic. 12" x 12"

We did have a lot of fun! I hope you have a chance to stop by the Fine Arts Building, view the gallery

-where our mosaic will be exhibited among many other wonderful collaboration pieces of artworks-, and take the time to visit many studios within the building.

To see all the activities taking place this month go here http://www.chicagoartistsmonth.org

Want to break free from some old patterns? ...

Here... This short article is kind of food for thought...

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/03/train-brain-let-go-habits-10-methods-creating-new-neural-pathways.html

IDA

Ida a 2014 movie by filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski has been playing at the Music Box. I was intrigue about the topic, the fact that it is a black & white film, and I was told that the shots were exquisite.
The movie takes place in 1962 Poland. The main character is a young novice about to take her vows where she is offered the opportunity to visit her aunt, the only survivor of her family. She reluctantly followed the suggestion and meets her maternal aunt and in doing so she learned that her real name was Ana and that she was jewish.
The movie is beautifully filmed and some shots are fabulous. "Ida" reminds me of the painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring by J. Vermeer.

She is the epitome of youth and innocence. She has grown up in a convent; all her life was sheltered away from the realities of the world. Meeting her aunt put her in direct contact with the past cruel reality of a world under Nazi's occupancy and the murder of her parents and brother.
The movie is a constant confrontation with the identity we grew into, the dichotomy of two worlds- one raw, painful, full of emotions and feelings, and the one full of religion's rules and regulations. One in constant conflict with our humanity and the other so shelter that never grows out of its cocoon.
At the end, the viewer toys with the question of what Ida/Ana will choose ...

"Paris Street; Rainy Day" by Gustave Caillebotte

Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894)

See conservator Faye Wrubel in the Art Institute's conservation studio cleaning Caillebotte's 1877 masterpiece "Paris Street; Rainy Day":

Follow the link below to view the video

http://youtu.be/RK9x16RsITU

Free Hand Drawings

This post was motivated by one of my studio visitors during May Open Studios event.
She saw me working on the drawing of the girl and the flower (shown below) and asked me how did I trace it. At first I didn't understand what she was asking; my question for clarity brought up the same response. Her air of intellectual arrogance gave me the impression of not believing that it was a free hand drawing.

A free hand drawing is a style of drawing made without the use of guiding or measuring instruments.

We live in a world where it is difficult to distinguish what is real and genuine as we are so use to "copy and paste" that it is difficult to believe that there are artists that enjoy working on a drawing in the style of free hand. I am one of them. Of course I do not rely on it all the time. There are some of my paintings that have some images in them that I have traced or that were informed by photographs but when in trying to perfect the art of drawing, there is nothing more challenging and demanding as a free hand style. It calls upon a combination of deep focus, concentration, and determination like any other drawing style, in my opinion and experience. 

My latest drawings- the girl and the flower and the six chickens are all done free hand. 

In order to satisfy the skeptical minds I am posting few pics at different stages of development of this latest drawing that is actually the basis for an upcoming painting- and by a way- the final drawing may have found a home already.

 

The Girl and The Flower.
Graphite on Paper
May 13, 2014

 I am working on my next oil painting of the series "Memories on Canvas". Below is a series of sketches and final drawing to get me into the mood.

Mandala del Pollo- Sketch. Pen on Paper

All the drawings below are graphite on paper

Six. Graphite on Paper

Ah... Yeah... The painting is in its infant stages...

Birds of Onix.
Graphite & Pastel on Paper
1993

Freud in a Comic Book

I did not read the book although the review gives me details of how pleasurable the comic book is. I read some comments indicating that some of Freud's life details may not be totally accurate. I may buy the book but if you do before me, let us know your thoughts- post a comment.


http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/02/24/freud-nobrow-corinne-maier/

Dismantle of the Night

 Here is my latest oil and part of the series "Memories on Canvas" and it relates to my mother.

Dismantle of the Night
Copyright Beatriz E. Ledesma
Oil on Canvas
$650

I grew up in a house that had a large back yard, full of fruit trees and flowers. In the middle of it, there was the clothing line where my mother used to hang the laundry that washed by hand. I used to love to move my body around the hanging clothing, getting wrapped on them when they were almost dried or totally dried. I particularly enjoyed moving around the bed sheets - closely moved by the wind when they were dry. The tactile experience was pleasurable and the smell of a piece of fabric drying in the open under the sun, priceless. By the time I woke up on a Saturday, the laundry was already done and hanging under the sun.
There was certain comfort on it; a sense that everything was good and alive.

Below there are few memory responses I got. I thought them all so wonderful memories that I decided to bring them into the blog. Here there are:

La textura de la sabana es una maravilla!. Desde el caldero surge la tela y viceversa.

Me gusta mucho la atención de los azules. Los broches son magia. Susana

I love this and your description.  A lovely memory..  One can relate to drying laundry and the smell of sunshine....Deb

It's GOR-geous...!!I appreciate also your story. I have my own association with drying clothes - there IS a certain comfort in those fabrics gently swaying in the breeze, no??:) Anna

I love this new painting! It's dreamlike quality and steamy water licking the sheets like flames with flying clothes pins... I love the colors, the motion/emotion. Funny that I have the exact same memory of wrapping myself in the sheets loving the fresh smell of clean laundry drying in the sun and the shadow play as the sheets billow in the wind. It was such an adventure as a small child to have that private space where imagination can run wild while still being so close to home. Eliza

It brought my fond memories of childhood when my mother hung out our clothes to dry.  Like you, I loved the smell of clean, sun-dried clothes--especially the bed sheets; and the movement of the fabric with the wind. Craig 

Video interview with Deborah Kass at Kasmin Gallery

Interesting and engaging video interview by Gracie Mansion, specialist in Modern & Contemporary Art for art net Auctions, interviewing Deborah Kass, USA artist, at the occasion of her retrospective exhibit.
Something that resonated with me after viewing and listening to the interview, is her statement that what we identify with is what is really important as opposed to what we are. What do you think?...


Video Interview with Artist Deborah Kass - artnet Insights: http://www.artnet.com/insights/art-market-trends/video-interview-with-artist-deborah-kass.asp#.UsxkCfRDt8E&utm_campaign=monthlynewsletter&utm_source=12913galleries&utm_medium=email via @artnet

Reading fiction these days anyone?...

I just finished reading the latest book of Gilliam Fynn, a Kansas born writer (http://gillian-flynn.com/about-gillian/) titled "Gone Girl" (2012); a large book of almost 500 pages. Before that
I read her two previous books "Sharp Objects" (2006) and Dark Places (2009).
It was by chance that I got introduced to her work- someone on the 6th floor of the Fine Arts Building, left a copy of Dark Places on the free table. As I did not know the author, I decided to pick it up as my traveling companion reading material.
I got taken by her writing from the first pages I read. Her writing has a way to engaging the reader to the point that you need to finish the book right away! Her plots are not simple, at times confusing, complicated stories. Her characters are emotional/psychological troubled people that force you to have a response, keeps you on your toes,  suspense feels your lungs and suddenly you find yourself holding your breath.
Worth the reading!

ARTE LATINO NOW 2014 @ Queens University of Charlotte

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    Friday, January 31, 2014
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    5:30pm until 7:30pm in EST

• Max L. Jackson Gallery, Watkins Building, Queens University of Charlotte Main Campus, 1900 Selwyn Ave. Charlotte NC

• Featuring Latino artists selected by a national competition, this show highlights the exciting cultural and artistic contributions of Latinos in the United States. Exhibiting artists include Jorge Arcos, Stanley Bermúdez, Carmina Cortes, José Esquivel, Pedro Fuertes, Soliana González, Raúl González, Rogelio Gutiérrez, Beatriz Ledesma, Dora López, Daniel Mendoza, Kurma Murrain, Victor Palomino, Nelson Israel Pedraza Ramos, Elizabeth Puckett, Alberto Roblest, Camila Santo and Carlos Solís. Sponsored by the Center for Latino Studies at Queens and the Departments of Art and World Languages in partnership with artist Edwin Gil and ArtSí. Exhibition: Monday, Jan. 27 - Friday, Feb. 28 Weekdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Weekends 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free and Open to the Public