Vera Berv's Pastels

What an honor to know that Ruben and I are the subjects of one of Vera's artworks! You can see more of her work on Facebook. She lives, works and dances tango in Boulder, Colorado, with regular forays to Buenos Aires.

I See You! by Vera Berv

Pink October

It's that time of year again when the media wants us to be aware of breast cancer, get checkups, and above all, find a cure. Should we have to be reminded every October to take care of ourselves and others?

So once again I'm contributing my story, Cancer Dancer, which you can read here.

During my first cancer treatment, I visited a multi-media art exhibit in the big beautiful central library where I worked in downtown Los Angeles
  Art.Rage.Us.: Art and Writing of Women With Breast Cancer. The very moving pieces of art and poetry comprising the exhibit were all by women at various stages of their breast cancer treatment, depicting their emotions about their own personal battles with disfigurement, disease and possible death. And in so doing created a call-to-arms for progress in diagnosis, treatment, and attitude.

Out of this traveling exhibition came a beautiful book published by The American Cancer Society, The Breast Cancer Fund, and the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. featuring illustrations from the exhibit along with the artists' biographies and writings.

available at Amazon

Here are two examples of the art, but many of the sculptures, paintings, collages, photos are very graphic images of the physical trauma of the treatments, showing especially the artists' feelings about mastectomy. And so the exhibit and the book are considered controversial.

"Venus Revisted" painting on silk by Carole Bonicelli

"Diagnosis 1" mixed media by Mary Ellen Edwards-McTamaney

A few years earlier, in 1993, the New York Times Magazine published a daring self-portrait cover photo of artist/photographer and former model, Matuschka, with a story on her stunning series, Beauty Out of Damage.

Many people were appalled and offended at the in-their-face photograph, which the NYT titled, You Can't Look Away Anymore.





 But have things changed so much in the almost 20 years since? Last year Facebook banned photos of cancer survivor Sharon Adams who wanted to share her mastectomy scar pictures to make an impact on women in a stronger way than a delicate and subtle pink ribbon.  Supposedly the photos were reinstated after a hue and cry went up on FB, but now there is only a very tiny one of her surgery scars.

It's hard for me to understand how such photos or depictions could be considered lewd, obscene, pornographic, disgusting, macabre, etc. I find them brave and heroic in celebrating the beautiful women within; femininity is more than a body. Not suitable for children? Not suitable for the sensitive? Anyone can get cancer and they have to deal with it. The more aware people (men get breast cancer too) are of the consequences, the more active they will be in prevention. Because of the efforts of women like these, cancer is no longer a dirty word--at least to most people. Being afraid to look at images of the damage cancer brings is simply outrageous.

 Oscar Wilde said one can either make
a masterpiece or be one. Artist
Matuschka has managed to do both.
Linda Vaccariello
Cincinnati Magazine

Feliz Primavera!

Here in the Southern Hemisphere, today is the first day of Spring! Called the Spring Equinox, the September Equinox, or the Vernal Point (you can read more about the celestial explanations here and here.)
 

Spring Tulips by Elizabeth Brinton


Spring is celebrated big time in Argentina, especially Buenos Aires, where there are special Primavera parties and milongas, and everyone salutes their friends with Feliz Primavera! Maybe because Porteños tend to love hot weather and the vacation and leisure that summer promises. It's a bit weird for me because my March birthday was always celebrated in springtime, along with Easter, and now suddenly it falls in autumn. But any occasion to celebrate is a good one, I say.


A tango print by Elizabeth Brinton illustrated my last post on the Embrace, and I'm using another one of her stunning prints from her beautiful new website now for spring.

Fileatado -- Pure Porteño

Nothing says Buenos Aires more than the decorative art of fileatado. This century-old design style is even more porteño than tango, with a similarly vague history including laws against it in the '70s. I love it because it's original, happy, elegant, colorful and fun.

Purely decorative, it used to be seen on signs, buildings, and especially, vehicles. Nowadays it's mainly found where tourists go. Fileatado serves as a neon arrow pointing to local tourist sights, particularly in San Telmo, La Boca, tango shows. Tourism can be thanked for reviving this unique art form. (And some say that tourism is saving the tango as well.)

The sign above I purchased in San Telmo in 1997 and took back with me to Los Angeles, carrying it to Mexico where I lived for several years, and then here to Buenos Aires. I just bought this one as is, but you can special order signs or plaques to say anything you want. They are perfect souvenirs because you won't find fileatado anyplace else.

You can read more on fileatado in The Argentimes, and find some history here, and if you're really into it, you can read Alfredo Genevose's definitive book pictured and linked below.

Vettriano and His Secrets

I've always been a fan of the surreal. (Maybe my life has seemed surreal to me, even before I knew the meaning of the word.) My earliest art memories (late 1950's) are of dreamlike paintings in the halls of the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles; my mother and I would always go there for lunch after a concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium across the street, and soon I became quite adept at spotting a Robert Watson painting from afar and among all of the landscapes, portraits, and still-lifes displayed for sale. The paintings' lonely mood touched and moved me. I fantasized about saving up my allowance and buying one, which at that time was around $200.

Years later I went to a Salvador Dali exhibit at Hollywood's Barnsdall Gallery, and by then the art of the surreal had hooked me. And I had yet to discover René Magritte!

So, as a tango dancer, I too was attracted to Jack Vettriano's painting of The Singing Butler before it became kitsch and on the walls of every dance studio in the world. He also paints other dance scenes that are lesser known, but tangueros are especially drawn to The Singing Butler because the mirrored leg position shows it's a tango on the beach, and not a waltz or a foxtrot.













The Walzers





















Dance to the End of Love










Billy Boys, who sure look like a group of tangueros on their way either to or from a milonga.








But the most well-known is The Singing Butler. The dancers here are not lonely, but in their own private world of the tango embrace, while sheltered by paid help who modestly look away. Perhaps the butler is singing "Por Una Cabeza?"

People have been inspired by this painting to do take-offs and photo recreations, but what most don't know is that Vettriano himself was inspired by the depictions of dancers in an art textbook! Didn't you wonder why the dancers are portrayed backwards?






C.Dedeene designed the choreography for this Vettriano take off and the photo is by Greta Colpaert


Vettriano in Devon photo by Steve Morrall

Vettriano's secret

Works by Jack Vettriano, Scotland's most famous artist have fetched record prices at auction. But his paintings may owe a lot to teach-yourself manuals. Some of his works show strong similarities to an artist's teaching manual. His most famous work, the Singing Butler, was last year sold for almost £750,000. It was revealed that its characters, and many others, can be found in The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual, published in 1987.

Another article on Vettriano's inspirations here.


Here are some other works which may have inspired The Singing Butler, or were rather inspired by Magritte. What is it about black umbrellas, water, and raining men?


















The Wolverine Magritte



Photo by Joseph Hancock



















Golconda by Rene Magritte

Expresiones Tangueras -- Last Chance to See

My lovely artist friend from Australia, Jan Rae, a tanguera herself, has an exhibition at the Borges Center of her tango paintings. Hurry, it closes soon.









Lunes a sábado de 10 a 21 hs.
Domingos de 12 a 21 hs.

Tarifas
Entrada general $ 10,00.-
Entradas estudiantes y jubilados $ 7,00.-

Centro Cultural Borges
Viamonte esq. San Martín



More Jan Rae on tangocherie here and here.

Wordless Wednesday

The artist is my tango dancing friend, Jan Rae, from Australia. Congratulations!

More Barsky Art!

Not only does he create tango maps, but he paints too!

Artist Howard Barsky presented this exquisitely soulful portrait he painted of Becka Minas in honor of Becka & Caro's big anniversary celebration last month at their home in Glendale, California.

Becka & Caro are adamant tangueros who host milongas in a special ballroom at home. They also have a beautiful large apartment on Mitre here in Buenos Aires, and soon they will be having tango parties there! I can't wait. Becka and Caro are so much fun, with lots of energy and joyful dancing.

If you're in Buenos Aires, you'll soon be seeing them at all of the milongas. Introduce yourself and you'll probably be invited to one of their fantastic parties!



Becka and I having a Southwestern lunch when I was in Los Angeles.

Filete Porteño

What a great idea to cover the Obelisco with the quintessential Buenos Aires designs! (Or is it?) I do really like his name of Totem Porteno. It's so accurate and uh, masculine.

This artist Jorge Muscia won a grant in 1995 for his proposal above.
From the Portal de Tango website:

Etymologically the word “filete” comes from the Latin “filum” (thread) and it means "fine line serving as ornament". Its equivalent in English is fillet; in French, filet and in Italian, filetto. In Buenos Aires, the terms “Filete” and “Fileteado Porteño” are used interchangeably to refer to the popular pictorial art that emerged in this city between the late 19th century and early 20th century. “Fileteadores”, on the other hand, were the artists that developed this unique visual art. The Filete Porteño has its origin in the decorative art of greengrocers, milkmen and bakers’ carts, which later expanded to other animal-drawn vehicles and finally, trucks and buses. More recently, this technique has been used in architecture to embellish restaurants, bars, house interiors, furniture and objects.

Elizabeth Brinton Goes Out Tango Dancing

What a miracle is the internet, and what a blessing to those of us far from "home."
I absolutely adore getting to meet people for real after I've known them cyberly. Elizabeth is a fellow-blogger from Seattle, and we met in person a few days ago soon after she and her husband Alan arrived in Buenos Aires.



She is an artist, and she offered me a gift of one of her gorgeous silk-screened prints. And this is the one I picked! It's even more beautiful in person, as the layered colors and textures give it such life. (The photo doesn't show the bright copper color of the flowers and leaves, or otherwise do it enough justice.) I just fell in love with the man's glance! She also gave me a packet of stunning black and white tango notecards. Check out her website...Elizabeth is one talented artist (who also dances tango!)

Ruben and I had the fun of sharing our table with Alan and Elizabeth at Los Consagrados twice, and at Gricel. As we say here in Argentina, muy buena gente!

Expotrastiendas 2007

EXPOTRASTIENDAS 2007

feria de arte en Argentina

12 al 20 de Octubre

Centro de Exposition de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Figueroa Alcorta y Pueyrredon



My expat friend Ellen McKay invited us to the "vernisage" of this huge art exposition last night. She was displaying her lithographs (booth C105), and despite the wet and yucky weather, the huge hall was jammed with hundreds of art-loving lookyloos. I'm glad we arrived early because by the time we left, you couldn't get near the artwork for viewing for the crowds.

I was so pleased for all of the many, many artists represented, and proud of Ellen.

Of course there was free wine, (didn't find any cheese), and all of the artists were available for chatting. It's really an amazing exhibit of everything from fiber optics to collages to photography to assemblages to furniture to clothing to... And nobody minded if you snapped photographs.

Tell 'em tangocherie sent you!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY




Another gorgeous painting by Santiago Corral

Mexican Artist Santiago Corral

MEXICAN ARTIST SANTIAGO CORRAL illustrates in this oil painting (2003) how I feel about my life during the past ten years that I have been traveling the world and dancing tango.

When I lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, over an art gallery, I saw his exhibit of empty suitcases, empty boxes, yet not empty--to me they were full of possibility. Someone at the opening commented that the paintings made him feel sad. But they made me glad. Hopeful.

So I said to Santiago, "well, it's the story of my life, only the suitcase always has my tango shoes."
And Santiago said, "loan them to me."
And this is the result.
This painting was on load to the Santiago de Queretero Museo de Art in Mexico for one month in 2003. When the exhibit closed, I moved here to Buenos Aires with the crated painting (well I had to buy it, didn't I?) and 5 boxes of belongings, including a handpainted Mexican table. The 5 boxes went to Rio on vacation for 5 days, but the painting arrived safely.

I hope when my book, The Church of Tango, is published that this painting will be the cover.

The shoes, by the way, are Flabella's, and I'm still dancing in them. My artist friend Sheila from L.A. commented that the shoes in the suitcase look exactly like my feet! Art on the hoof!

I have a soul of a suitcase, but of a suitcase that returns ...
my life, really, was always that : a going and a returning. I am a boomerang by nature.
Like the criminals, like the fianceés and like the bill collectors:
I always return ... -- E. S. Discepolo, writer of tangos

Two more of Santiago's paintings: El Encuentro and Reconciliacion