A fine art, film, history and literature site oriented to, but not exclusively for, the gay community. Please be aware that there is mature content on this blog. Information on images and links to sources will be provided if known. Enjoy your visit and please subscribe.
Mick Palarczyk, “Castle of Zafra”, Campillo de Duenas, Spain
Castle of Zafra in Spain, now partially restored, was built in the late twelth century. The castle holds the distinction of never having been conquered. It made ist appearance in three episodes of the show “Game of Thrones”.
Santiago Calatrave, “Auditorio de Tenerife”, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary islands, Spain
The auditorium was designed by architect Santiago Calatrava who publicly presented his design in 1991. After site location changes and bureaucratic delays, construction began in 1997. The auditorium complex was finally completed in 2002.
The main hall or Symphony, crowned by a dome, has 1,616 seats in an amphitheater. The chamber hall, with 422 seats, reproduces the symphony hall amphitheater on a smaller scale. Much of the exterior srufaces are covered with white trancadis, mosaics made from cemented tile shards and broken chinaware. Colored trancadis act as decorative elements in the retaining walls of the plaza.
The building is famous for its great arc, which marked a first in the history of architecture. It is the only large arch supported by only two points, whose tip appears to be suspended, defying gravity.
Reblogged with thanks to https://oznagni.tumblr.com
Spencer Means, “Balcony at Casa Calvet”, Barcelona, Spain
Casa Calvet is a building, built between 1898 and 1900, designed by Antoni Gaudi for a textile manufacturer which served as both a commercial property and a residence. It is located at Carrer de Casp 48, Eixample district of Barcelona.
Gaudí scholars agree that this building is the most conventional of his works, partly because it had to be squeezed in between older structures and partly because it was sited in one of the most elegant sections of Barcelona. Its symmetry, balance and orderly rhythm are unusual for Gaudí’s works.
However, the curves, the double gable at the top, and the projecting oriel at the entrance are almost baroque in its drama. Modernist elements are evident in the isolated witty details. Bulging balconies alternate with smaller, shallower balconies.
illustrations by Alfonso Casas Moreno
Alfonso Casas Moreno was born in Zaragoza, Spain in 1981 and studied teaching and later fine arr, specializing in illustration. For the last seven years, he has lived and worked in Barcelona.
Alfonso Casas has worked as an illustrator for several companies including Vodafone, Reebok, ING and others. He is the author of several books, including “Amores Minúsculos”. He is also the illustrator of “No Without My Beard” , written by Carles Suñé and published by Lunwerg Publishers in 2015. Alfonso Casas’ illustrative work has appeared on the poster for the Teatro Lara Theater in Madrid.
Enrique Toribio, Title Unknown
Enrique Toribio is a photographer from Madrid, Spain. Since the mid-1980s, he has worked in design and patterns in couture costume collaborations in the theater. He was also, at that time, a designer for cabaret and dance, both classical and Spanish and also for movie productions.
Since 2000 Toribio’s artistic activity focused on the universe of the image. He had an exhibition of erotic drawings entitled “Eidolon” at Berkana in 2002. His inexhaustible curiosity led him to the world of photography. Since 2003 Toribio has worked intensely as photographer specializing in portrait and figure. He is very interested in the aesthetic treatment of facial and body expression and textures.
His work can be seen in the photobook “Turnon Tattoos” by Joris Buiks published in Berlin by Bruno Gmuender Publishers in April, 2011.
The artist’s site: https://etoribio.com
Francisco de Goya, “Vuelo de Brujas”, 1798, Oil on Canvas, Museo del Prado
“Vuelo de Brujas” or “Witches’ Flight” is an oil on canvas painting completed in 1798 by the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya. It was part of a series of six paintings related to witchcraft that was acquired by the Duke and Duchess of Osuna in that year. The painting decorated the Duke and Duchess’ villa, La Alameda, on the outskirts of Madrid; and eventually it was acquired by the Prado in 1999, where it is displayed today.
The general scholarly consensus is that the painting represents a rationalist critique of superstition and ignorance, particularly in religious matters and notably the violence of the Spanish Inquisition. The accusations of the religious tribunals are implicily equated with superstition and ritualized sacrifices. The donkey seen in the lower right corner is the traditional symbol of ignorance.
Manolo Franco, Abandoned Ship
Manolo Franco is a Spanish photographer.
Carlos Santero, “Ghost Town of Belchite”, 2015
The ghost town of Belchite in the Spanish province of Aragon is a powerful reminder of the devastation of the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. It remains today as it was at its surrender on September 1937
Photo Shoots of Quim Gutiérrez
Joaquim Gutiérrez Ylla, better known as Quim Gutiérrez, is a Spanish actor born in Barcelona, Spain.. He won the 2006 Goya Award for Best New Actor for his perfomance in the 2006 film “Azuloscurocasinegro (Dark Blue Almost Black)” directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo. He was also in the 2013 film “The Last Days” and “Spy Time” in 2015.
ICON Magazine Photography by Pablo Zamora; Givenchy Ad Photography by Riccardo Tisci
The Salvador Dali Theater and Museum, Figueras, Spain
The Dali Theater and Museum is a museum of the artist Salvador Dali in his home town of Figueras, Catalonia, Spain. Dalí is buried there in a crypt below the stage floor which is located under the geodesic dome cupola.
The heart of the museum is the town’s theatre that Dalí knew as a child. It was where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dalí’s art was shown. The old theatre was burned during the Spanish Civil War and remained in a state of ruin. In 1960, Dalí and the mayor of Figueres decided to rebuild it as a museum dedicated to the town’s most famous son. In 1968, the city council approved the plan, and construction began the following year. The architects were Joaquim de Ros i Ramis and Alexandre Bonaterra. The museum opened on September 28, 1974 and it expanded through the mid-1980s.
The museum displays the single largest and most diverse collection of works by Salvador Dalí, the core of which was from the artist’s personal collection. The museum also houses a small selection of works by other artists collected by Dalí, ranging from El Greco and Bougereau to Marcel Duchamp and Joh de Andrea; a second floor gallery is devoted to fellow Catalan artist Antoni Pitxot.
“I want my museum to be a single block, a labyrinth, a great surrealist object. It will be a totally theatrical museum. The people who come to see it will leave with the sensation of having had a theatrical dream.” -Salvador Dali
Elia Tomás, Title Unknown
Elia Tomás is an incredibly talented artist based in Madrid. His first memories of art stemmed from his uncle who painted landscapes devoid of a human element yet full of personality. After years of carrying his uncle’s artistic influence through a different path including a psychology degree, he moved to Madrid and embarked on his own artistic journey.
Unlike his uncle, Elia’s gaze is directed towards a human element and he uses the portrait as a means to develop a narrative of the individual. Real life people end up becoming fragments where he explores vulnerability. Hence the election of the main characters of his work: men, children and teenagers in a continuous redefinition process. They either look back in time searching for parts of themselves that remain incomplete or live with such an intimate intensity a moment of solitude. They struggle to assert themselves and sometimes to compare to others. They often feel they are victims of certain hormonal euphoria and some degree of disappointment.
Hyperrealistic Oil Paintings by Eloy Morales Ramiro
Eloy Morales is a 39 year old painter based in Madrid, Spain. He has been practicing his craft since 1995. Morales’ oils paintings are hyperrealistic facsimiles; the attention to detail in his work is uncanny. It ceases to be representation at this point, as the renderings are an almost-exact copy.
Observing his process, it appears that he patiently works in tiny pieces at a time, filling in pigment and blending it as he goes. The painting spreads and grows rather than being built up upon by layering. What is also impressive is the scale and size of his pieces, as his paintings are fairly large.
The majority of his subjects tend to be of himself. Usually, the self-portraits consist of his visage smeared with various types of mediums and color, to capture the light in a myriad of ways.
Sergio Otero, “Diego”
Sergio Otero is a photographer from Spain.
Joan Dausa, “Jo Mai Mai”
Joan Dausà is a Spanish actor, known for “Arròs Cova”t (2009), “Barcelona, Nit d’Estiu” ( 2013) and “Barcelona Christmas Night” (2015). As a musician, he is a member, leader and visible face of the group Joan Dausà i els Tipus d’Interès , with which he has recorded four albums, and has performed several concert tours. He is the author of the BSO of the films “Barcelona, Noche de Verano” (for which he received a Gaudí award) and “Barcelona Noche de Invierno”.
Jose Moreno Carbonero, “Gladiators After the Fight”, 1882, Oil on Canvas