Monday, March 25, 2013

INTERNATIO​NAL SURREALISM NOW - LISBON 2013



Caixa Central de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo

Art Gallery CA
April 10th to May 6th



The International Surrealism Now is an initiative of the surrealist painter of Coimbra, Santiago Ribeiro, who has devoted much of his time to the promotion of international surrealism of 21st century, which is currently in Portugal and worldwide.
Thus has invited artists from all parts of the planet in order to participate in this project and then has received works of artist from various countries.

The International Surrealism Now began in 2010 in Coimbra, where Santiago Ribeiro prepared a major exhibition organized by the Bissaya Barreto Foundation. This same event was also already in Conímbriga in Paris with the support of GAPP-Art Gallery Portugal Present and Liba WS, once again organized by the Bissaya Barreto Foundation and Santiago Ribeiro, organized in Moscow by Andrei Nekrasov, in Madrid in support Yamal Din and followed to Setúbal and then to Amadora in great Lisbon in November, and the exhibition continues to grow in participants.

Santiago Ribeiro urged the partnership of artist Victor Lages, who has developed the project Utopia of Fantastic Art, with the purpose of organizing this exhibition in Lisbon region, which has happened in Setúbal and now in the Art Gallery CA in the heart of Lisbon.


The International Surrealism Now account right now with artists from 27 countries: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Spreads, USA, Philippines, France, Holland, Indonesia, England, Iran, Iceland, Italy, Mexico , New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Vietnam.
Among the participating artists are: Isabel Meyrelles born in Matosinhos 1929. She studied sculpture with the Masters Américo Gomes and António Duarte. Settled in Paris in 1950, continuing his studies at the Université René Descartes - Paris V-Sorbonne and l'École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. In 1952 she studied with Master Zadkine Sculpture in the 'Grande-Chaumiere' in Paris. And made part of the surrealist movement, which she believes immortal. The French surrealism (whose engine was André Breton), Isabel watching them all such as with your friend Triston Tzara, but without leaving the Portuguese surrealist movement, living in friendship with António Pedro, O'Neill, Cesariny, Cruzeiro Seixas, among others, and also with Eugénio de Andrade and Natália Correia, as having published several books. Poetry is therefore an integral part of her life.
Isabel Meyrelles was awarded Commander of the Order of Sant´iago da Espada by the President of the Portuguese Republic.


Oleg Korolev, Russian artist of high artistic level, was the contact link to the participation of artists of the "Surrealism Now" in Russia with Andrei Nekrasov from Moscow, President of The International Vanguard-Surrealistic-Esoteric Art. His project "Geysers of Subconsciousness "has been regular since 2007 and dozens of surrealist artists, esoteric, mystical, symbolist, abstractionists vanguards of several countries participating in this project. Andrei Nekrasov is the most outrageous iconic artist and the owner of a gallery "Underground" in Moscow.
By way of tribute, as it has recently died, Daniel Hanequand, is also one of the leading names in international surrealism of 20th and 21st centuries. Born in Paris in 1938, but still young, he moved to Canada. Julie Oakes said in 2007: Daniel Hanequand threw out the old and created a new sociology with the arrogance of a true revolutionary French. He was released from the forms "boring" and established and invented a different race of humanoid and then put the relations of these beings, in a context with its own creation.
Otto Rapp is an Austrian artist, surrealist with his "Art of the mystic" and develops the project Visionary Art Gallery.

All other artists in great quality and talent are on the list that follows below.

The Art Gallery CA, is managed by the Centre for Culture and Sport from the Agricultural Credit, association created in the universe of the Agricultural Credit Group in order to promote cultural, physical, intellectual and civic its associates, through cultural, sports and solidarity activities. It features an art gallery, Gallery CA located in the headquarters of the Central Agricultural Credit and conducts various exhibitions and other events throughout the year with artists already conceptualized and launch also new talents


.

The opening is scheduled for 17.30 hours of the day April 10, 2013 at the Art Gallery CA, Rua Castilho, 233/233 A - 1099-044 Lisbon (on top of Parque Eduardo VII ).

Tel: 213 809 900/213 860 006, Fax: 213 870 840, Email: ccdcam@creditoagricola.pt

The exhibition can be visited from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 am to 19.30 pm daily until May 6, 2013.



Participating artistsAlexander Varganov - Russia
Anastasia Fomina - Belarus
Andrei Nekrasov - Russia
Andrew Baines – Australia
Brigid Marlin - England
Daila Lupo – Italy
Dan Neamu - Romania
Daniel Hanequand - Canada
Daniele Gori - Italy
Edgar Invoker - Russia
Egill Eibsen - Iceland
Farhad Jafari – Iran
Francisco Urbano - Portugal
Gromyko Semper - Philippines
Héctor Pineda - Mexico
Hugues Gillet - France
Isabel Meyrelles – Portugal
Keith Wigdor – United States
Konstantin Shahanov - Russia
Leo Plaw - Germany
Liba WS - France
Luís Fernandes - Portugal
Lv Shang – China
Maciej Hoffman - Poland
Magi Calhoun – United States
Maria Aristova – Russia
Martina Hoffman - Germany
Mehriban Efendi - Azerbaijan
Naiker Roman - Spain
Nazareno Stanislau - Brazil
Octavian Florescu – Romania
Oleg korolev – Russia
Otto Rapp - Austria
Paula Rosa - Portugal
Rudolf Boelee – New Zealand
Rui Silvares - Portugal
Santiago Ribeiro - Portugal
Sergey Tyukanov - Rússia
Shahla Rosa - United States
Shan Zhulan - China
Sio Shisio - Indonesia
Slavko Krunic - Serbia
Sônia Menna Barreto - Brazil
Steve Smith – United States
Svetlana Kislyachenko - Ukraine
Ton Haring - Netherlands
Victor Lages - Portugal
Vu Huyen Thuong - Vietnam
Yamal Din - Spain
Yuri Tsvetaev - Russia
Zoran Velimanovic – Serbia





ENCOUNTER ON THE S-BAHN

NONSENSE I SAID - THEY ARE ALREADY WAITING FOR YOU



The train was late. They said is was due to the weather - slush and snow in these past few days. The gloomy sky colored everything grey on the platform, the few people patiently waiting appeared like silent wraiths. A candy bar was stuck in the vending machine and a little boy was furiously punching all the buttons when all of a sudden the gears started turning again - on several items: jackpot!

I turned to look down from the elevated platform onto the empty street below. Normally the arrival of the train would be announced, but this time, it just snuck into the station quietly, and only the faint hiss of the doors opening alerted me to its presence. The car was nearly empty. Some of the passengers barricaded themselves with their shopping bags, some would stare vacantly at a point just a foot in front of their nose, others yet pretending to be busy with their cellphones.

A young lady across the isle was watching something on her i-pad, absentmindedly playing with a ring, twisting it in her fingers, when it suddenly slipped from her grip. With a sparkling trail it rolled across towards me and landed with a soft tinkle under my seat. I retrieved it and handed it to her. As our fingertips touched for a brief moment, the greyness disappeared - I caught a wisp of honey-blond hair, porcelain-blue eyes and a little smile, a silent thank you on her lips. She turned back to her i-pad, brushing the screen lightly with her fingertips - and disappeared. They late afternoon had turned into darkness.

Note: originally published as a note on facebook on February 25th 2013
Picture: drawing on paper - 2012

Friday, March 15, 2013

INTERVIEW OTTO RAPP by Brian Rhinehart

Originally published in Illustration Toolbox January 2011 by Brian Rhinehart - the original site does not exist anymore, the domain was sold and now is not related to art/illustration at all.

I re-published the screenshot on my posterous blog June 8, 2012, only to find that posterous will be discontinued at the end of April 2013. I recreated the interview from the screenshot (the JPG file is too large for Blogger) as a PDF document, which can be found on my website.

the PDF document opens in a separate window:

OTTO RAPP ­ INTERVIEW ON ILLUSTRATION TOOLBOX January 2011


detail from one of the sections of the screenshot:




Here is the text from this interview, plus a few useful links:


OTTO RAPP - INTERVIEW ON ILLUSTRATION TOOLBOX - January 2011



1. How did you get your start as an artist?


Ever since I a was a small child, I would use drawing as a means of constructing my own inner world, a place I could explore and enter at will. All that was needed was pencil and paper. I had very few toys. I loved to go and stay at my grandfathers place: there, I always had stacks of paper and sharpened pencils waiting for me. I'd sit at his desk and get lost in my drawing for hours on end.

2. How would you describe your style?

Initially, I would say my style was close to Surrealism, but I came to the realization that what I was doing had little to do with the abandonment of rational thought. While I readily immersed myself into a world of dreams and fantasy, aided by automatism and chance of subconscious doodling - the sort of absent-minded drawing on does on a blotter while talking on the phone, for example - I would subsequently pause from time to time to examine and interpret the directions my work was taking. I would consciously push certain areas along, and delete or surpress other things that somehow did not work within the overall flow.

Once I discovered the work of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism I realized that their methods, and particularly the work and process of Rudolf Hausner, were more like the way I worked also. I formulated this much later, in 1983, for an Exhibition Artist Statement as such:

BOGOMIL'S UNIVERSE
the Inner Universe of Otto Rapp


Bogomil's Universe is an excursion into the realms of the Inner Universe - a parallel universe that exists in the mind, and glimpses thereof are presented here. I am increasingly reluctant to speak of my work as strictly and exclusively surrealistic. While Surrealism provided the initial spark, and some of the methods of Surrealism are employed, I do not suppress the influence of the rational and selective focus. Thus, particularly in later works, there is to be found a conscious juxtaposition of the complementary forces of inspiration and reason.

I do not concern myself with the elimination of the rational, the exclusivity of the irrational and the absurd, but presentation of the conscious and subconscious world as an inseparable whole. I draw my inspirations from the layered labyrinth underground which represents the other side of life, which is an inner imaginative-inspirational counterpart to the outer world, expressed with the help of logic-alogic associations, analogisations and symbolism.

(Note: Bogomil's Universe is a title for a ongoing series of paintings that are based mostly on my decalcomania technique).


3. What tools do you use and what is your process?

I love drawing. When I draw, I work mostly with pencils. Occasionally I also use india ink with traditional steel nibs and/or ink pens such as Micron, Faber Castell or Koh-I-Noor. In painting, I started with oil paints, but I developed a sensitivity to solvents, so I switched to acrylics early on in my career. I learned how to adapt acrylics to some of the oil techniques such as decalcomania (I admire the work of Max Ernst). I am mostly self-taught, although much later, when I had already established myself, did I take formal studies (I eventually graduated from the University of Lethbridge with a BFA). My painting methods that I developed myself by trial and error, resemble very closely the so called Mische Technique of the old masters. It starts with a strong under drawing and imprimatura, picking out highlights with white (I later started using egg tempera in this process) alternating with color glazes.

4. Who or what inspires you most at the moment?

It has not changed much from my youth: my grandfather had taken me to the exhibitions of the Vienna School when they first started, and every chance I got, I went to the Academy in Vienna to look at the work in their gallery. It was mostly the Northern Renaissance that fascinated me. Artists such as Brueghel and Bosch. I watched as students copied these masters and internalized what they were doing. I was in a pre-teen then. Of international Surrealist Artists, Dali and Max Ernst I always held in high esteem. Of course the artists of the Vienna School, as mentioned before, were deeply influential. Aside from Hausner, I admired the work of Ernst Fuchs, particularly his early work.

Vienna has such a rich culture, and the era of the Vienna Secession, artists such as Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele were high on my list, and still are. Now I draw a lot of inspiration from the many artists within my worldwide network. There is a new wave of very talented young artists emerging today that embrace the old craftsmanship but also bring a new approach with the use of new media processes. Tradition and new innovation in a symbiotic relationship.


5. What are you working on right now?

At this time, my studio work has taken a backseat to my work in organizing and managing a growing network of likeminded artists. But the urge to create cannot be denied - I need to draw. It is like taking a vacation. Currently, I do mostly small drawings. I will be collaborating with a few artist friends on "Exquisite Corpses" very soon. I also have a few unfinished canvases on hand that scream for attention. I do plan on doing more painting, following the mische technique. There are ideas swirling around in my mind that demand to be put on canvas. The "Inner Universe" is a vast expanse, and so far, I only explored a very small corner of it.

6. Any last words of advice for anyone just starting out as an illustrator or artists?

Do art for the love of art. If you want to make a lot of money, become a stock broker or real estate agent. But if you are a true artist, then it is in your blood, you couldn't be anything else.

I always held that a strong foundation in drawing is the basis for everything else. Explore, learn new things. Don't follow formulas religiously. Be inventive, make your own rules. Don't be a clone of your teacher or your idol. Take the best from wherever you can find it, adapt it, reconfigure, internalize it and make it your own. If you start repeating yourself, move on. By this I mean: don't become a clone of yourself either. Always learn. Always grow.


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Note:

This interview is no longer on line, since the Illustration Toolbox website has been discontinued by its publisher, Brian Rhinehard. Prior to publishing it in January 2011, Brian Rhinehard sent me a screenshot of the post.

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Links:


Decalcomania  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decalcomania

Mische Technique 
my friend Cynthia Re Robbins demonstrates this old master technique of painting here: http://www.art4spirit.com/Mdala10.html - on her website: http://www.art4spirit.com/

Vienna School of Fantastic Realism - I wrote an essay about the Vienna School back around 1980 and recently reworked it and published it on line: 


 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

LISBON SURREALISM NOW 2013

LISBON SURREALISM NOW 2013
Art Gallery CA - Grupo Crédito Agricola Hours: Mon to Fri: 9am-19.30 # Association created in the universe of the Agricultural Credit Group in order to promote the cultural, physical, intellectual and civic of his associates, through cultural activities, sports and solidarity. It features an art gallery, Gallery CA located in the headquarters of the Central Agricultural Credit Mutual and conducts various exhibitions and other events throughout the year both artists have conceptualized and launch new talent. # Address: Rua Castilho, 233/233 A 1099-044 Lisbon Telephone: 213 809 900/213 860 006 Fax: 213 870 840 E-Mail: CCDCAM@creditoagricola.pt

Albertina Museum Bosch Bruegel Rembrandt Rubens

Stiegenbeklebung Bosch Bruegel Rembrandt Rubens

Stairs pasting Bosch Bruegel Rembrandt Rubens

 

Zur Feier unserer Jubiläumsausstellung haben wir unsere berühmte Stiege neu beklebt. Seht selbst!

To celebrate our anniversary exhibition we newly plastered our famous staircase. See for yourself!




 
 
(to view the website in english, please click the name logo above)
 
 

Peter Gric - Paintings From the First Decade of the New Millennium

Peter Gric - Paintings From the First Decade of the New Millennium


 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Angel of the Odd - Dark Romanticism from Goya to Max Ernst

"L'ange du bizarre. Le romantisme noir de Goya à Max Ernst" 
Exposition du 5 mars au 9 juin 2013
The Angel of the Odd. Dark Romanticism from Goya to Max Ernst



This exhibition, which borrows its title from one of Poe's Tales, provides a first overview of the various ways in which Dark Romanticism found expression in European visual art from the 18th to the 20th century. Today's entertainment industry draws heavily on this dark realm, with its ghosts, vampires, castles and sorcerers, which have now become clichés of "dark fantasy". read more



see related post on Fantastic Visions

Sunday, March 3, 2013