What do you think of this artist and her work Scottish Economist?

[PRgirl]

Scottish Economist,

Since you liked Rafael Tufino (it is pronounced TOO-FIN-YO). I will put in a painting of his you will like, it is called "Psicoanalisis del Vejigante". Psychoanalysis of the Vejigante. I think now that you are suitably enlightened about who the vejigante is, you will get the humor he used for this painting.

Look:



Here is another work of his. I used to sell Rafael's art as a teenager for minimum wage at an art gallery in the old part of the city.




Then there is Francisco Oller. He was a Puerto Rican painter. I will see if I can get a link for you. Check out these paintings. He studied in Europe.



It is called "El Velorio", "The Wake".

[PRgirl]

Originally Posted by TheScottishEconomist

I must confess I am not the worlds greatest art critic, however there is no mistaking the Madonna and Child! And a couple of angels too! Is the painter interested in religious or spiritual themes? I like that picture of Rafael Tufino's mother too, that is a fantastic picture.

PRgirl: The painter is doing a combination of two themes. The sacred with the 'profane' or the ordinary. For example you have the iconic Madonna and Child and then you have the plastic table cover (ordinarily kind of common place and a bit plebeian), broken doll limbs and other less than sacred things happening. Because how does one identify the sacred? By contrasting it with 'common things used by humans in less than spiritual environments. Eating, playing, living in humble surroundings but thinking of the spiritual beyond. Sort of like those pictures sold cheaply allover Latin America of the Last Supper, or the Madonna and Child and it iseen under some rickety furniture with rotting fruit. Keeps things in perspective. Yes, Cristina Emmanuel is very very feminine. Let me see if I can find some painting of hers to post. I got one of her paintings in my living room. It is called "Cristo en el Caribe". "Christ in the Caribbean". And it looks like a normal regular European depiction of Christ. Until you look closely and see Christ has an earring and dread locks like the Jamaican rastafarians have with small little palms and tropical plants in the background. You see that if you look closely.



I am a bit pushed for time at the moment, so I will leave you with one of my favourite paintings:



I will try and write more at the weekend.

Blue and deep brown. It is a simple contrast. Heaven and Earth. Balance. Both seemingly opposite, but really working together to create a feeling of satisfaction. That is my opinion on it. Why do you like it darling Scottish Economist?

[PRgirl]

SE, here is a more 'modern' style of Puerto Rican art. By N. Ruiz



What do you think?

[TheScottishEconomist]

Originally Posted by PRgirl

Blue and deep brown. It is a simple contrast. Heaven and Earth. Balance. Both seemingly opposite, but really working together to create a feeling of satisfaction. That is my opinion on it. Why do you like it darling Scottish Economist?

Firstly thank you very much for the story behind the first two works that you posted. Your husbands mother sounds like she was a remarkable woman, and do you know she reminded me of a young woman I used to know. I worked with her years ago and she was a divorced mother (I don’t know anything about the father as I didn’t like to pry) who had a young daughter, I think she was about seven years old, and she was raising her daughter in one of Glasgow’s poorer districts. She was very worried about what would happen to her and about the kind of people she was mixing with. However she did not think she could prevent her daughter mixing with people she considered a bad influence, but instead she told her “just because they do this, or speak like that, doesn’t mean you have to”. I don’t know what became of her, she married again to a fairly well off business man with whom she had another baby, so she may well have done fine. But I thought there was a parallel in their stories about trying to raise their children against the odds.

So to Rothko, to me that particular picture is an abstract landscape, (from bottom to top) a field, a river, a high mountain like you get in America, and at the very top some sky. Why do I like it? Because it is beautiful, it has an aesthetic appeal to me. For years I had it as the back ground on my PC.

I once heard somebody say Rothko’s paintings looked like what you might see in the womb:


I did recognise the vejigante as soon as I saw it, you can take credit for elucidating me on that figure, I like the way the picture mocks psychoanalysis which I actually think is a slightly sinister concept. Psychiatrists sometimes seem to be setting themselves up as the priests of the secular age who, rather than mumbling in dog Latin, mumble in psycho-gibberish (and get paid for their efforts!). The second Tufino painting looks like a homage to the musical culture of Latin America, I like the way half the picture is in shade and the other half is bright (and the inside of the building , were I presume music is played, is bright).

With Francisco Oller, when I first looked at the picture I did think of Europe, however when you look more closely it is clearly not Europe but Latin America. At first I thought it was quite a happy picture, then I saw the title! However the people on the right of the picture are looking upwards (to God?) There is also a man playing a guitar (I think), is that usual at wakes?.

Thanks also for the info re Cristina Emmanuel, it is good that that people are reminded Jesus wasn’t a blue eyed European! Sorry I don’t have time to write more, I have some oppressive paperwork that needs to be read through before work tomorrow, and if that weren’t bad enough I also have to work late tomorrow! I will write something about Ruiz later in the week.

I will leave you with a picture by Munch that I have liked since I was a teenager. It was when I was getting to know the city of Glasgow better, I thought it a good picture about any city:



Hasta luego

[PRgirl]

[quote=TheScottishEconomist]Firstly thank you very much for the story behind the first two works that you posted. Your husbands mother sounds like she was a remarkable woman, and do you know she reminded me of a young woman I used to know. I worked with her years ago and she was a divorced mother (I don’t know anything about the father as I didn’t like to pry) who had a young daughter, I think she was about seven years old, and she was raising her daughter in one of Glasgow’s poorer districts. She was very worried about what would happen to her and about the kind of people she was mixing with. However she did not think she could prevent her daughter mixing with people she considered a bad influence, but instead she told her “just because they do this, or speak like that, doesn’t mean you have to”. I don’t know what became of her, she married again to a fairly well off business man with whom she had another baby, so she may well have done fine. But I thought there was a parallel in their stories about trying to raise their children against the odds.

PRgirl: That is what is so human about the experiences of so many people all over the world. The universality of it all. The same human problems found in many societies. My mother-in-law had the opportunity to marry a rich Cuban businessman whom was enamoured of her. But, my husband at the time about twelve years old did not like the Cuban at all!! And was quite possessive of his mother (share her with that Cuban!! Stop being the only apple of her eye! No way!! Children who are only children tend to be a little too attached to their parents at times. How he loves females, my husband does. He adored his mother and respected her deeply but wanted to keep her a bit to himself. Now as an adult he regrets stopping her from pursuing a new life. He thinks he should have been less selfish. But children are selfish. I think Angelica should have married the Cuban and my husband would have adjusted to the new situation after a while. But woe be to the Cuban if he ever would have mistreated his mother. I only have seen my husband furious and red hot angry a few times in life, I was sure he was going to murder someone over his mother's incident. And it was when he found out some junkie drug addict in the barrio had assaulted his mother and stole her money. Oh, Scottish Economist, I knew if he would have gotten a hold of the perpetrator of the crime, the cops would not have found out or found the dead corpse. He would have killed for sure!! No doubt in my mind over that. Thank goodness he never found the scoundrel!

Angelica worried about him and made him her top priority in life and she felt if he did not accept El Cubano, she would not accept him either. BTW, Angelica was a great dancer. People would stop dancing to watch her dance, and the Cuban and her made a show stopping couple there.

Do you know even my husband's ex-girlfriends who live far far away back home, occassionally call him twenty five or twenty three years later and leave little messages on the answering machine "Te adoro. Te amo." I am not a jealous type and I laugh so much!For I know for a fact that if I had any serious ex-boyfriends leaving love messages decades later he would be really angry!! I just think it is kind of sweet. He is remembered for being so kind and gentlemanly always and never left a bitter taste in their minds or hearts. I tease him about it and he just tries to change the subject. Hmmm. Do you know now as an adult he feels guilty about not letting his mother say 'yes' to the Cuban. She could have gone on expensive vacations and stayed home and not worked. But I tell him not to feel guilty, if Angelica would have been really in love she would not have let his opinion stop her. She probably did not love the Cuban all that much. Money and all.

Scottish Economist said:
So to Rothko, to me that particular picture is an abstract landscape, (from bottom to top) a field, a river, a high mountain like you get in America, and at the very top some sky. Why do I like it? Because it is beautiful, it has an aesthetic appeal to me. For years I had it as the back ground on my PC.

PRgirl: It is appealing. And it grows on you. At first it feels really simple, but as time goes on, you kind of like it more and more. I understand your fondness for it.

I once heard somebody say Rothko’s paintings looked like what you might see in the womb:


I did recognise the vejigante as soon as I saw it, you can take credit for elucidating me on that figure, I like the way the picture mocks psychoanalysis which I actually think is a slightly sinister concept. Psychiatrists sometimes seem to be setting themselves up as the priests of the secular age who, rather than mumbling in dog Latin, mumble in psycho-gibberish (and get paid for their efforts!). The second Tufino painting looks like a homage to the musical culture of Latin America, I like the way half the picture is in shade and the other half is bright (and the inside of the building , were I presume music is played, is bright).

PRgirl: You got Tufino's sense of humor allright. He thinks trying to figure out with some 'psychobabble' what something is, when it just should be something about life and living and not over thought about, to over think something made to be about fun is foolish. I think you might like Rafael. He is a sweetie pie. I adored him as a young woman. And he loved my cooking abilities and thought me very pretty, and wanted me to date his son. Hmm. Nope. I hope he is doing well wherever he is. He is very fun too!

With Francisco Oller, when I first looked at the picture I did think of Europe, however when you look more closely it is clearly not Europe but Latin America. At first I thought it was quite a happy picture, then I saw the title! However the people on the right of the picture are looking upwards (to God?) There is also a man playing a guitar (I think), is that usual at wakes?.

PRgirl: Quite perceptive again Scottish Economist. Wakes in 19th century Puerto Rico (Oller is not a contemporary artist), along with Jose Campeche he is from the 19th century, wakes are HAPPY occassions usually. Not really, but iBAQUINES are how Puerto Rican coastal people used to celebrate a death. It is based on old West African traditions and usually it would be a child's death. The parents and relatives and community would dance, sing and keep up festivities until the wee hours of the morning and beyond. It is based on the belief that children have a special place in heaven, where the innocent go to directly to be protected and have a perfect existence. And the life on earth is suffering and pain and to be released from that is a blessing. Baquines seem strange to many used to Roman Catholic faith and traditions. But Puerto Rico has a lot of synchronism between West African traditions and Roman Catholicism. Almost a subversive sense of breaking tradition. Check out Willie Colon's "Baquine" album. It is one of the finest pieces of music you shall ever hear. In fact a British Ballet company dancer went wild with excitement when Iplayed the music for her and told her they recorded a ballet of the baquine for public television in New York City in the early 1970's with Puerto Rican ballet dancers. She wanted to see if someday they could produce it for Europe. I don't know. I think it is a culturally specific thing really Scottish Economist. But check it out. I will see if I can give you a link. I will be back later on.



Hasta Luego

[PRgirl]

I tried to get a downloadable version but that album was hard to get even when it first came out. Now it is nearly impossible. I have had people try to steal it, beg, cry and carry on trying to get my only copy. Over my dead body!! It is great music!! It has it all. Classical, Puerto Rican folk, Latin Jazz, salsa, plena, orchestra type of music all in one master work. It is spectacular and few people know much about it. Except you now and a few others!! Lol.



Let me see if I can track down that music.

Here is a short biography of Willie Colon that you might want to read:

http://music.yahoo.com/ar-304240-bio--Willie-Colon

SE, none of the spectacular songs of his "Baquine de los angelitos negros" is available to download. But you can sample some of his older 1970's hits here. Some of my favorites are "Che che cole" My husband and I danced that one together when we were young. Hector Lavoe was his star singer though Willie sings some of the songs. He is not much of a singer but a great composer and musician instead. I think Hector Lavoe's life will be produced for the movie theater soon. He had a tragic life "Hector Lavoe" but he was quite loved in Puerto Rico, especially in his home town of Ponce. Sample some of the songs if you are interested.

http://music.yahoo.com/ar-304240-dow...--Willie-Colon

[TheScottishEconomist]

Originally Posted by PRgirl

SE, none of the spectacular songs of his "Baquine de los angelitos negros" is available to download. But you can sample some of his older 1970's hits here. Some of my favorites are "Che che cole" My husband and I danced that one together when we were young. Hector Lavoe was his star singer though Willie sings some of the songs. He is not much of a singer but a great composer and musician instead. I think Hector Lavoe's life will be produced for the movie theater soon. He had a tragic life "Hector Lavoe" but he was quite loved in Puerto Rico, especially in his home town of Ponce. Sample some of the songs if you are interested.

I tried to open the sound samples for Willie Collon, but I couldn’t get them to work. I tried to see if I could find them on Amazon, but they had a review of the album though no samples. However I did come across this highly enthusiastic review:

"This seminal album is the apotheosis of musical art, especially when it comes to Latin (en español) dance music, and it changed me forever. God bless you, my amazing friend and mentor Willie Colón. I agree with the other reviewer (from Texas) here who awarded this five stars--and there aren't ten other popular music albums I can think of that deserve five stars."

However you can tell your would be record snatching friends that the American Amazon site has “seven new & used” copies of Baquine De Angelitos Negros, I looked to see if it was on the British Amazon site, but it has been discontinued. This reminds me of my attempts to buy a La Monte Young record several years ago (The Second Dream of The High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer from The Four Dreams of China). I never found it.


I read the biography of W.C., ran for Congress in New York? Not something many artists do.

I know I said I would write about Ruiz picture, but the truth is I don’t quite know what to say about it! It is a bit small for me to see it clearly. It did make me think of this other picture I seen recently:


though I doubt there is much similarity!