SALÓN INTERNACIONAL SOLO PINTURA II-IV
2019-2020
MANIZALES (COLOMBIA)
to my dear brother on his birthday (January 4th)
IV. Febrero a Mayo de 2019
February to May 2019
El Salón Internacional "Solo Pintura" IV es una exposición colectiva organizada por la Facultad de Artes Universidad de Caldas en tres circuitos culturales de la ciudad de Manizales (Museo de Arte de Caldas, Centro Cultural Universitario Rogelio Salmona y Pinacoteca Universidad de Caldas), de febrero a mayo de 2019.
The "Painting Only" International Hall IV is a collective exhibition organized by the Arts Faculty of the Universidad de Caldas at three cultural circuits of the city of Manizales (Caldas Art Museum, University Cultural Centre Rogelio Salmona and the Picture Gallery of the Universidad de Caldas), from February to May 2019.
Museo de Arte de Caldas
LA PINTURA ENTRAÑABLE (Y de concepción aural): Me atrevo a referirme así a esta pintura que técnica y conceptualmente ha sido una búsqueda acerca de las formas propias de hacer no sólo como artista, sino como mujer. Éstas piezas son el resultado preliminar de mi experiencia pintando de vuelta en mi casa, después del recorrido académico que contrasta y enriquece esa pintura que llevo dentro. Que es el relato del choque, los desencuentros, y también los afectos que se ponen en marcha cuando intento hacer desde la “Escuela” pero bajo la mirada y el signo familiar y nariñense, en pleno contacto con las materias y los quehaceres que configuraron mi vida infantil, sobre todo el reencuentro con mi abuela materna y el mal extraño, su Alzheimer.
BOSOM PAINTING (and aural in concept): I dare to refer this way to this painting that technically and conceptually has been a search for the own forms of doing not just as an artist, but as a woman. These pieces are the preliminary result of my experience painting while back at home, after the academic journey that contrasts as well as it enriches that painting I carry within me. That is the account of the clash, the failed meetings, and also the affections that are set in motion when I try to do from the "School" but under the gaze and the familiar and nariñense sign, in full contact with the materials and the labors that configured my child life, most of all the reencounter with my maternal grandmother and the foreigner ailment, her Alzheimer.
Esto determinó un trasfondo temático cifrado por esa recuperación de la memoria que llamo “entrañable” al lado de ella, una más allá de la “condición” mental. Compartir de nuevo las dinámicas del hogar y los cuidados de mi abuela Marina con mi mamá me puso en la tarea de buscar coherencia entre los elementos expresivos que estaba incorporando a medida que los descubría, y ver qué tanto podía hablar mi pintura a otros: Una voz plenamente femenina, y no por el hecho de que provenga de una mujer. No es mi estilo silenciar o canjear la curiosidad por un “buen modo de hacer”. ¿Quiero hablar con las palabras enseñadas por los hombres? Bueno, se podría decir que acá lo estoy haciendo. Por eso mi pintura debería sí, hablar, para que el discurso sea sólo acompañamiento. Lo que me interesa es el relato.
This defined a thematic background ciphered by that recovery of memory I address to as "bosom" felt by grandma's side, a one beyond the mental "condition". Sharing again the home dynamics and caregiving of Marina along with mom put me in the task of seeking for coherence in the midst of the expressive elements I was incorporating in the process of discovering them, and see how much my painting could speak to others: A fully femenine voice, and not just for the fact of coming from a female. It's not my style to silence or trading curiosity for a "right way of doing". Do I want to talk with the words taught by men? Well, it could be told that I'm doing it here. That's why my painting should talk, indeed, so the discourse be just an aftermath. What I'm interested in is the relation.
“210B”. Díptico. Técnica mixta sobre lona costeña. 1.54x1.0m. (2017)
"210B". Diptych. Mixed technique on canvas. 1.54x1.0m. (2017)
¿Qué es lo femenino? (en este caso). ¿Poder hablar de la ternura o la dureza de mis entrañas (sintiéndome libre para hacerlo)? Veo mucha contradicción en esa libertad. Porque la ejerzo dentro de unos cánones, unos modos, un lenguaje y formas de ver y de decir que pueden considerarse masculinos. Una salida es decir del conflicto de hablar como los hombres de esto “indecible” que es lo femenino. También pienso que no hay que temer situarse muy desde lo que uno es: en espíritu, pasando por el filtro de un origen geográfico y local, un así llamado “género”… Y un número, el de la resistencia quizá. Lo femenino tiene tendencia a lo efímero, mientras lo masculino parece localizarse en la permanencia; no hay lucha entre ambos mientras cada uno pueda oír y apropiar el lenguaje del otro sin miedo. Así lo veo pensando en las labores domésticas, o bellos trabajos manuales, vueltos comunes y destinados al desgaste del uso… Y no veo por qué la pintura deba ser algo distante e inaccesible. Entonces opté por materias más bien frágiles, complejas de manejar, que algún día toqué o vi en manos de mi mamá o de mi abuela. Con el cuidado (enseñado por los maestros) de un buen equilibrio técnico y conceptual.
What is the femenine? (in this case). To be able to talk of the tenderness or the hardness of my entrails (feeling the freedom to do so)? I see a world of contradiction in such freedom. Because I exert it inside of canons, fashions, a language and forms of seeing and telling that can be considered masculine. There's an outlet on saying of the conflict of speaking like men of this "unspeakable" that the femenine is. I also think I shall not fear to situate myself quite from what I am: in spirit, going through the filter of a geographical and local origin, a so called "gender"... And a number, the one of the resistance, perhaps. The femenine has this tendency towards the ephemeral, while the masculine seems to locate in the permanence; there's no fight between them while each can listen to and adjust the language of the other without fear. So I see it thinking of the domestic chores, or beautiful manual works, turned common and destined to the wearing out of use... And I don't see why painting must be something distant and unattainable. Then I opted for rather fragile materials, complex to handle, that some day I touched or saw in mom's or grandma's hands. With the care (taught by the masters) of a good technical and conceptual balance.
He preferido hacer esta introducción con un tono íntimo para describir pinturas que salieron de ciertas acciones (entre cotidianas y performativas) y posteriores agrupaciones, con un sentido fuertemente experimental y el propósito inicial de montar una instalación; dado que el proyecto se abría a experimentaciones no sólo matéricas sino de contenido, la estructura de las pinturas responde a la intención de explorar las nociones espaciales y temporales en que se mueve el ejercicio pictórico no sólo en su concepción, sino en su construcción y en su interacción con el mundo.
I've chosen to do this introduction with an intimate tone to describe paintings that came from certain actions (within the quotidian and performative) and subsequent groupings, with a strong experimental sense and the initial purpose of setting an installation; given that the project was open to experimentations not only of materials but of contents, the structure of the paintings responds to the intention of exploring the spatial and temporary notions in which the pictorial exercise moves not just in its conception, but in its construction and interaction with the world.
Centro Cultural Universitario Rogelio Salmona
“There, There”. Técnica mixta sobre lona costeña. 0.70x0.83m. (2017)
"There, There". Mixed technique on canvas. 0.70x0.83m. (2017)
“Marina (Cielo concreto)”. Técnica mixta sobre lona costeña. 1.10x0.52m. (2017)
"Marina (Concrete heaven)". Mixed technique on canvas. 1.10x0.52m. (2017)
“Sin título”. Técnica mixta sobre lona costeña. 1.10x0.46m. (2017)
"Untitled". Mixed technique on canvas. 1.10x0.46m. (2017)
Procedo a hacer la descripción general de la intención y desarrollo experimental con que trabajé las piezas acá presentadas. En cuanto a formato las pinturas fueron pensadas teniendo en cuenta medidas de cuerpos, objetos y relaciones espaciales. La espacialidad fue abordada desde el interés en la multiplicación o incluso la eliminación de las perspectivas como ejercicio primero intuitivo, luego de observación de lugares y composiciones determinadas experimentalmente con otros medios (dibujo, objeto, fotografía, sonido). La temática puede ser presentada como familiar e íntima, de manera que existe un cierto tono nostálgico que toca y se mezcla con la crudeza en el uso del material.
I proceed to make the general depiction of the intent and experimental development with which I worked the pieces here presented. Regarding the format, the paintings were thought taking into account bodies' measurements, objects and spatial relations. The spatiality was approached from the interest in the multiplication or even the elimination of perspectives as an exercise intuitive at first, then of observation of places and compositions experimentally defined by means of other media (drawing, object, photography, sound). The thematic can be presented as familiar and intimate, so it exists a certain nostalgic tone that touches and mingles with the rawness in the use of the material.
Hay un trabajo exhaustivo con respecto a las combinaciones de materia, con cuidados técnicos pero aún sin limitantes que se refieren más al orden de la conservación. Por supuesto se intentó formularlas de la manera que más alcanzaran no sólo el carácter sino la durabilidad de la pintura, pero con atención al sentido de lo efímero respondiendo a la temática y a la propuesta que quiero hacer al público. Y una seria preocupación por la importancia del fondo, no como simple información ni base/añadido complementario, sino parte estructural de la imagen como la figura.
There's an exhaustive work with respect to the blending of materials, with technical regards yet without limits pertaining more to the order of conservation. Of course I attempted to formulate them in ways that better achieved not just the character but the durability of painting, but attentive to the sense of the ephemeral responding to the thematic and the proposal I want to make to the audience. And a serious concern about the importance of the ground, not just as mere information nor a complementary base/add-on, but as structural part of the image as it is the figure.
En términos muy generales las imágenes tendieron a una cierta abstracción, dados los varios focos de este ejercicio realizado con voluntad eminentemente investigativa y procesual. Me parece importante señalar que, sin evitar para nada la figuración, la complejidad de los materiales los hizo protagonistas, otorgándole a las piezas su carácter y determinando su disposición orgánica. La composición responde fielmente a esas pulsiones del achiote, el color mineral, las cenizas, el carbón, el fique y algunas plantas. La textura es otro elemento clave para una propuesta sensorial y cambiante, que cuenta de lo frágil y móvil de la memoria y el cuerpo. Mónica A. Quijano L.
In pretty general terms the images tended to a certain abstraction, given the various focuses of this exercise made with a highly investigative and procedural will. I consider it's worth pointing out that, without avoiding in any way the figuration, the complexity of the materials made them protagonists, confering to the pieces their character and determining their organic disposition. the composition responds faithfully to those pulsions of the achiote, the mineral color, the ashes, the charcoal, the fique and some plants. The texture is other key element for a sensorial and changing proposal, that tells of the fragility and mobility of memory and body. Mónica A. Quijano L.
“Cantares 8 (El abrazo flotando)”. Técnica mixta sobre lona costeña. 2.0x0.95m. (2017)
"Song of Songs 8 (The fluttering embrace)". Mixed technique on canvas. 2.0x0.95m. (2017)
Painting Only
"Painting Only" is now a project of the University Outreach Management, implemented by the Universidad de Caldas' Plastic Arts Program. But this text is not meant to be an extensive catalogue about an Art exhibition, from which we would merely try to promote certain artists with regards to the world's odd art market. This text intends to be first and foremost a reflection frame about the contemporary pictorial practice developed worldwide.
The "Painting Only Hall" in its three preceding versions, was conceived as an independent pictorial exhibition. Now we want to establish it as a University and institutional event. By presenting a theory of this event, we should attempt a fundamental question: Which are the challenges the Universitary institution faces on an international level with respect to the teaching of painting?
Vicente Matijasevic
Painting Only?
Neither Video, nor Installation or Performance.
I want to suggest a reflection over two aspects that have quite caught my attention in this calling: one is the very name of the calling, Painting Only, and the second, the surprising reception it had on a national and international level.
Let's start with the name. Perhaps it is precisely because of its simplicity that this name is open to so many interpretation possibilities, and to say the truth in the world of Art it matters very little, if at all, the own interpretation of those who suggested it, so I'm not trying to delve into the true interpretation but justly in showing that the strength of the name consists in its significant openness: it could be understood as an excluding and dogmatic artistic calling, as if it was proposed by Avelina Lesper, and we were telling something like we do not want either videos, installations or performances, we admit ONLY PAINTING.
But there are other possibilities. The title can be understood as indication of a certain modesty: We are not calling to a National Artist's Hall (with all the pompous of the name ARTISTS), we neither have the pretension of having works of Art submitted as it is expected for an International Art Hall, the only thing we want to be sent to us is painting. Which is also alike to say for this calling the artists, the painters are not of interest, our only interest is the paintings. For this calling is of no interest the work of Art or the artists, just the paintings. And this could be understood in the sense of what Gombrich says that the Art with capital letters doesn't exist, as it's a recent invention, what it has always existed are human beings who like painting, singing or dancing.
Nevertheless it is also true that the word painting has gained a certain good reputation and nobility, to the point that at moments it has became a byword for the arts in general, and the painter has thus been understood without further ado as a model of what an artist is.
Adolfo León Grisales
[these couple of texts are the introduction of a major set which are part of a book edited by the Universidad de Caldas under the title "Solo Pintura", to be presented as a closure to this exhibition and as participation for the upcoming Book Fair at Bogotá (2020)]
Evento Académico
Academic Event
desmontaje
dismantling
PUBLICACIÓN
BOOK
"Solo Pintura", Vicente Matijasevic, Adolfo León Grisales, Carlos Fierro Quintero; Editorial Universidad de Caldas, Primera Edición Manizales, diciembre de 2019 (Colombia). (Universidad de Caldas, First Edition Manizales, December 2019).
Mis pinturas aparecen en: Pp. 19, 83, 147, 154 & 249.
My paintings appearing at: Pp. 19, 83, 154 & 249.
II. DICIEMBRE 2020 - ENERO 2021 (EXHIBICIÓN VIRTUAL)
DECEMBER 2020 - JANUARY 2021 (VIRTUAL EXHIBITION)
A bit of history
The Second Painting Only International Hall was born in 2001 as a meeting of students and artists around the field of painting. In 2018, the first calling was launched on a national and international level, with the aval of the Assistant Outreach Rectorship of the Universidad de Caldas, calling that had a large participation, 55 artists who sent 189 original works, a fact that allowed the carrying out of three exhibitions, with their correspondent catalogues, in three halls of the city of Manizales: Art Museum of Caldas, University Cultural Center Rogelio Salmona and the Picture Gallery, the last two belonging to the Universidad de Caldas. Furthermore, as a result it was published a book titled "Solo Pintura" by the Editorial Center of the Universidad de Caldas, in which the reflections around the contemporary pictorial field are collected along with a compilation of the more remarkable works participating in the event, something that allowed the consolidation of the exhibition in the national and international scope.
For 2020, and because of the mandatory preventive confinement, a measure adopted by the National Government to face the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus, the calling of the Secont Painting Only International Hall widens the formal vision of the pictorial practice by means of the immersive experience offered by virtuality. In this sense, we try to generate meditations in the field of painting under the actual circumstances that expand the exhibition frame, that broaden the visual spectrum and that provide access for a larger number of viwers. For this, we have arranged, from the Plastic Arts Department and the Connect team of the Universidad de Caldas, two virtual halls where the exhibition of the Second International Hall 2020 will be carried out. Likewise, the exhibition will be followed by a digital issue where all the reflections turning around the pictorial practice today and a selection of the event's more remarkable works will be collected.
Concept.
The Second International Hall Painting Only 2020, has the purpose of gathering professionals of the plastic and visual arts, independent artists and kindred careers, that present their creation processes around the painting field. The intention is to promote a formal meditation on the pictorial practice upon any support or surface, or that configured from the digital format. We will recognize the works that part from the creative experimentation and that, through the reflection of the role of painting in contemporary times, entail the tracing of the path of an artistic vision.
The decision on confronting the pictorial practice constitutes an option of reflection and a plastic expression that proves the potential of the poetical mechanics of art in its discoursive relations seeking for meaning in the occupations' multiplicity. The pictorial practice is a platform for translation and interpretation closer to the field, it is by itself a strategy for meaning and going round its spatial vision, from the sketch to the mutation of new materials and compositive media, deconstructions and segmentations that are synthesis when it comes to drawing up ideas. These places are matter and imagination to lead the gaze towards a visual exploration that recreates in the feeling of the plastic work and the pictorial meditation building knowledge.
h0ras. Carbón, tiza y acrílico sobre lienzo blando. 61x94cm. 2020
hOURs. Charcoal, chalk and acrylic on bland canvas. 61x94cm. 2020
night & day. Mixta sobre lienzo blando. 61x94cm. 2020
night & day. Mixed technique on bland canvas. 61x94cm. 2020
The objectuality of the materials/substances as well as the support come to play an essential role in this process of recognition and appropriation. The fabric in its various weaves and weights is subjected to transformations from the priming to the forms of appearing and dialogue in/from space, where the accident and contingency are part of the hint. Also there is the interest for the exploration of the support and the materials out of what could be considered the traditional format and compositive framework of painting through operations with substances and the spatial and temporal disposition of the piece, that I work horizontally for certain procedures. Materials: ephemeral and/or susceptible to transformations. Drawing, the hollow, folds, layers, bodily fixation procedures, insertions and displacement, signs and chaotic, truncated places. The still alien turns into composition of the objects and their substances. This set belongs to a route of pictorial ellaboration started 2020, reviewing the language and body of the line, the stroke and their driftings, rescuing the drawing actioning experimentations, the trail and the debris as a spatial solution and the temporalities of the pictorial surface. (Both pieces were cut from an only canvas stretched by sections).
Agradezco profundamente, y me alegra mucho haber participado de un evento organizado por la Universidad de Caldas, lugar por el que guardo el más grande cariño pues fue donde inicié mi camino en las Artes Plásticas. Mi mayor respeto por el trabajo encomiable de los organizadores en ambas muestras (Vicente Matijasevic, Adolfo León Grisales, Carlos Fierro y Jorge Lagos) y todo el equipo de la Universidad, quienes han hecho posible la continuidad de este bello proyecto en tan diversos espacios, desde la exhibición física y la publicación de un libro hasta el entorno virtual dadas las desafiantes condiciones de este 2020.
¡¡GRACIAS!!
