Month: May 2016

Abelardo Favela

Paintings by Abelardo Favela

Born in Mexicali in 1948, Abelardo Favela was a Mexican multi-faceted artist known for his simple, carefree scenes of everyday  life done in a palette of primary colors without shading or blending. He studied in Guadalajara and later in Mexico City, where he began painting in 1970. Favela, in addition to his artistic pursuits, was a television producer for the cultural public television network Channel 13; he later became the general director in 1977.  

In 1982, Favela founded and became director of the advertising agency Grupo Match, where he produced over two-hundred fifty commercials before retiring to focus on his artwork. Favela moved in 1994 to Cuernavaca, Mexico, to paint full time. Over the course of his lifetime, he produced over five-hundred paintings and three-hundred drawings. Abelardo Favela passed away in January of 2020 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. 

Abelardo Favela painted scenes inspired by man’s life at sea and the area around Puerto Vallarta. The figure of the sailor, a model of masculinity and survivor by his own skills,  played an important role in many of his paintings. Favela’s work also included images of muscular athletes, foreign tourists, androgynous dancers, and romping dogs set in scenes of charm, self-confidence and a slight touch of humor. 

Favela’s work had been shown in many collective exhibitions including Mexico City’s Galileo 100 Gallery, the Oscar Roman Gallery, and the El Carmen Museum in 2005. He had also entered his work at the various “Contemporary Ex-Votes” exhibitions held in Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador and Jamaica. 

Favela’s solo exhibitions include shows at the La Pulga Gallery, Morlet Gallery, the Status Gallery and the Galileo 100 Gallery, all in Mexico City. Favela had a solo exhibition in 2005 at the Contemporary Art Museum, Jose Luis Cuevas in Mexico City. From 2008 to 2018, Abelardo Favela has been represented by the Contempo Gallery in Puerto Vallarta Jalisco. 

Bottom Insert Image: Abelardo Favela, “La Gran Reunión”, Date Unknown, Oil on Canvas, 162.6 x 142.2 cm, Private Collection

Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell, “Spanish Elegy”, Lithograph, size , 25 3/8 x 21 3/8 inches,  printed in black on Chine Appliqué and red Japanese Gampi paper mounted on white Arches Wove Paper

Robert Motherwell was a major figure of the Abstract Expressionist generation. His work encompassing the automatism of the Surrealists, the expressive brushworks of action painting, and the saturated hues of field painting.

At the age of eleven, Robert Motherwell was awarded a fellowship to the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, and went on to the California School of Fine Arts in 1932. He received his BA in philosophy from Stanford University in 1936. Beginning his career as a painter in 1939 in Paris, he had his first solo exhibition of his work. Motherwell returned to the United States and studied art history at the Columbia University from 1940 to 1941. 

It was there that Matherwell met Roberto Matta, Meyer Schapiro, and other exiled European artists associated with Surrealism. Emotionally charged brushwork and severely structured abstract were painted during this period, but in 1943, Motherwell produced a series of dark, menacing works in response to World War II. 

The work for which he is best known, the series “Elegy to the Spanish Republic XXXIV” (1953-1954), are large abstracts that reflect his generation’s despair at the lost cause of the Spanish Civil War. During the 1950s, Motherwell spent most of his time lecturing and teaching, notably at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. It was during this time he worked on his most influential literary achievement, “The Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology” published in New York in 1951.

In 1952, Robert Motherwell and abstract painter Ad Reinhardt produced the journal “Modern Artists in America.” Motherwell was married to Helen Frankenthaler, also an abstract artist, from 1958 to 1971. During the years 1968 to 1972, Mortherwell worked on a series of paintings called “Open,” which reflected the new style of color field painting. His later works returned to the more traditional Abstract Expressionist style.

Costa Dvorezky

The Artwork of Costa Dvorezky

Costa has drawn inspiration for his prolific works of art from board travels and his abundant life experiences as both a visitor and resident of numerous countries around the world. Born in Russia in 1968, Costa developed his unique brand of art through his extensive schooling at the Art College and the Academy of Arts in Moscow. His passion and talent for art was recognized by Russia’s Union of Young Artists when he received the Development of The Year Award in 1997.

Through his paintings Costa goes beyond the obvious to uncover the symbolism within the human aspect of daily life. His creativity and style come alive through his works depicting dark and surreal imagery. As a viewer of Costa’s images, one is transported to a world of fictional proportions that exists in the recesses of the artist’s mind.

Metamorphosed human and animal figures shrouded in darkness, suggest the existence of a distorted world-order. These images evoke one to closely examine and question the reality of what one sees. Through his artwork, Costa challenges the observer to not only understand the scope of the actual image, but to also comprehend the feelings that the image provokes. His paintings are as bold as the statements that they make, and it is up to each individual to decipher what the meaning behind the image really is.

A Decorative Flourish

Photographer Unknown, (A Decorative Flourish)

A flourish of approval, or a ‘krul’, is mostly a Dutch symbol used for grading schoolwork ot to show that one has seen and agreed with a paragraph. Historians believe that the symbol, first appearing in the early 19th century’s bureaucracy, derived from a hastily written ‘g’ which would stand for good (good) or seen (gezien). Dispite its usage throughout the country and its former colonies  there is no unicode symbol for it.

 

 

The Padlock

Photographer Unknown, (The Padlock)

“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites.
The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.
Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.”
― George Orwell,1984

Paul Le Blanc

Paul Le Blanc, “Alchemical Queen”, Illuminated Assemblage with Turkey Wings, Oil Paint, Eggshells, Silver/Gold Leaf, 44 x 44 x 14 Inches

“Within my work I have developed a personal interconnecting system of symbolic and metaphorical structures. I use esoteric symbolism, new physical theory, and comparative psychology to create this interconnecting system. By combining these disciplines I hope to create a common context in which all are welcome to participate. This seems to be an activity of alchemy, a subject of study for both philosophers and physicists.

I study alchemy as a source for artmaking. Its symbolism and metaphor provides for me a rich source of inner discovery and reflection. I am especially fond of Carl Jung who has done so much work and grounded research. I also read about the new sciences such as particle physics.

I gather my collection of objects from secondhand stores, dumpsites and salvage yards. When gathering these things I respond to shape texture or use. I couple these objects with painted images to build on a concept or theme. More unique arrangements develop through an improvisational and intuitive process that creates a common connection. Larger themes evolve from these connections which build a network of support. This synergy produces a complex symbology that draws on a mind pool of thought.” – Paul Le Blanc