|
Hey, Kevin! Good Morning!
First of all, I hope that you had a great Chuseok, that you were able to spend it well with your relatives (your adorable niece oh my gosh) and eat some good food! I'm glad you had some downtime as well and were able to binge watch some series. (I sooo envy you for that by the way, I barely have time for leisure I'm so busy I cry.) But yeah! I'm super happy. Seeing you happy over there brings so much joy to me.
I was gone for like a week, I think? That's because I have been preparing for today's launch.
AAAAA!!
Remember? The art exhibit?
Okay, the public launch isn't today per se but the vernissage is today! It's the private viewing of the paintings and other artworks before the exhibit goes public. I'm so excited !! And I also can't wait for all of this to be done already because ya girl is tired. Despite the exhaustion though, I really feel great and happy. I can't believe it's finally here, my first ever gig in the art industry as a curator, not artist. It's not even big because our art studio isn't well-known but it still makes me happy. From meeting the artists, hearing their stories, seeing their works for the first time (which always makes me smile), organizing them, designing them in a way to make them more presentable, stressing over last minute changes in their series or damaged frames.. and now it's finally here!! I hope everything goes well and that the artists' works get sold to a new loving home.
Now onto today's art recommendation!
I'm not too sure but I think you will like this one.
Artist: Raúl de Nieves
He was born in Mexico but is now based in Brooklyn, New York, with a studio in Bushwick. He is an interdisciplinary and contemporary artist, performer, and musician. (Very much like you, Kevin, if I may say so). He's known to be an interdisciplinary artist because his art ranges from stained glass-style paintings, to performances, to adorned figurative sculptures that are embellished with bangles, beads, bells, sequins, ceramics, copper, pearls, toys, yarn, and other materials that you see or use on the daily. A lot of his works are inspired and heavily influenced by the Mexican culture like the colorful clothing, craft traditions, folktales, and more.
“I’m visualizing and fetishizing what it is to be able to create with something really basic. My studio practice is in a basement with very basic tools. That’s what is special about creating these experiences. You make whatever you can with whatever is in front of you.”
He said this in an interview with Whitewall, pertaining to his practice and how he planned to go to school and study art but ended up not going (Another similarity with you, Kevin? LOL).
Raúl de Nieves
"The Battle of Saint George and the Dragon," 2016-2021
(Courtesy Institute of Contemporary Art)
Detail images of Raúl de Nieves'
"The Battle of Saint George and the Dragon" and "The Fable, which is composed of wonders, moves the more."
(Courtesy Institute of Contemporary Art)
Not only do the colors remind me of Rubber Boots but also its medium reminds me of you! de Nieves is known for his use of vivid colors and plastic beads. I honestly love mixed media art and how art doesn't have to be done in a certain way, that it doesn't have to be fit inside a box. There is just something so fascinating with going beyond the usual paint on canvas, placing random objects together that you least expect to be on a painting, and all of that ending up to be a gorgeous artwork.
"There’s plenty of bling for quick-impact visual appeal, but something deeper lurks here too — allusions to mythology, folk tales as well as possibilities for personal and spiritual transformation." (Reynolds, 2021. WBUR.)
So that artwork above is actually inspired from a personal obsession of de Nieves, the legend of St. George and the Dragon. It's the story or fable about St. George, the patron saint of England, arriving in a village that was terrorized by a dragon and St. George offers to slay the beast, which he dispenses quickly with a piercing lance to the armpit.
“I use the story of St. George and the Dragon constantly in my work because I feel like what I've learned from this fable is that it asks a lot of questions in my mind of the characters involved...the horse, the dragon, the victim — and sometimes you have to put yourself in all perspectives in order to see what the actual outcome is.” — de Nieves
This is becoming a bit too texty so I'll just attach more of de Nieves' works. Enjoy viewing them! I really wish I could know what you think of these, Kevin >.<
Sometimes I fear that I should probably stop sending you these cus I worry it's not bringing something positive to you but personally, I am enjoying myself too much writing these to you. I really grew closer to art because of this, because of you. And for that, I am very grateful, Kevin.
Installation view, “Who Would We Be Without Our Memories?” at Apalazzogallery, Brescia.
This one above is the famous stained glass-style of art that he did using paper and tape!
"beginning & the end neither & the otherwise betwixt & between the end is the Beginning & the end"
2016
Days(Ves) of Wonder
2007-14
(Yup, 7 years of making this)
That's all for de Nieves! I hope you liked it! If not, give me a hint on what kind of art you like pls! Any hint 🤲🏼😩
Before I end this letter, I also painted!!
Nude Skies
Oil and Acrylic on Panel
2021
And I also sketched you and your niece if you don't mind 🥺 If you do mind though, I would like to apologize!! 🥺
It was just so cute I immediately grabbed a pencil...
Okay, I'm gonna go now! I haven't slept yet LOL Yes it's 7am here. I couldn't sleep so I wrote this!
I pray to the Lord everyday that you are healthy, safe, well, and happy. Thank you for always making my life more bearable no matter how tough it gets. Thank you for constantly reminding me that it's worth it to get up every morning, because there is you to look forward to. Ily!
Your artsy best friend,
Trish Arie
응원 횟수 0
|