2011 May
May 12

Between the 10th of May and the 17th of July, the Valencia Instituto of Modern Art presents exhibition Gigantes por su propia naturaleza, which is dedicated to art from Brazil today, and the vanguard artists of the last century.

giants nature

The idea behind the show is to capture the essence of Brazil through art, and consider the influences of its exuberant beauty, multicultural richness and the expressiveness of its people on the formation of generations of artists – who, in spite of all the historical highs and lows, have always represented its reality with a passion. Which is why the show takes the phrase from the beginning of the Brazil national anthem: Giant by nature, you are beautiful, you are strong… And your future reflects this grandness.

Just like the Rio Carnival, which is full of colour, music, sensuality and expression, the show is a kind of summary of a society which has become known for its musical creativity, cinema, literature, and architecture.

Amongst the artists taking part are Emmanuel Nassar, Lygia Pape, Hilal Sami Hilal, Adriana Varejão, Rosa Magalhães, Arthur Bispo do Rosario, Beatriz Milhares, Ernesto Neto, Volpi, Guignard, and Ana María Maiolino.

Emmanuel Nassar was born in Para, Brazil in 1949. He studied architecture at Para University, and went to teach at its Visual Arts School. His painting work is reminiscent of Pop, but with a profound sense of Brazilian pop – particularly that of the north of the country. He uses intense tones, and precarious materials, and participated in the Venice Biennale in 1993, and the XXIV Sao Paolo Biennale, receiving the Cultural Merit of Brazil in 2006.

Lygia Pape was born in New Fribourg in 1927, and died in 2004 in Rio de Janeiro. She was a sculpture, engraver, filmmaker and a precursor to contemporary art in Brazil. Involved in concretism, she then joined the Group of the Front, and participated in the Neo-concrete manifesto. Concretism was a vanguard art movement born in the 1930s, and it placed the representation of abstract ideas into a universal kind of reality, using geometric elements, related to architecture. Lygia’s work is marked by freedom using language, and incorporating the spectator.

Ernesto Neto is a young conceptual artist who found immediate success at the end of the 1990s. His large-scale installations, in white and neutral tones, built using synthetic materials, encourage an interaction from the spectator – they can touch it, smell it, and feel it as though it is something live. The interesting artist represented Brazil in the 2001 Venice Biennale, with the work Vik Muniz.

For more information http://www.ivam.es/exposiciones/2858-gigantes-por-su-propia-naturaleza

 

Nancy Guzman Only-apartments AuthorNancy Guzman

If you love “bossa nova” and all things related to Brazil, rent apartments in Valencia and discover a part of the vast country through its art and artists.

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Poppy Only-apartments TranslatorTranslated by: Poppy
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May 10

I can’t help complaining about most new musical acts that emerge these days. I’m so tired of the indie sound and all those insufferable hipsters who wear their skinny jeans, keffiyehs and sunglasses as if this was Williamsburg. And I’m tired of scrawny, weedy little indie boys. Delafé y las Flores Azules make music for these sorts of people, and, despite everything I’ve just said, they make music for you too.

delafe <b>las</b> flores azules valencia

The band formed in Barcelona, 2002, and found success after winning a talent conquest organized by Masnou’s town hall. Their first hit, “Mar el poder del mar” was used as the soundtrack of an awful spring fashion campaign for El Corte Inglés. Musical integrity? Who cares about that? The point is to keep making and selling music, isn’t it? Well, they’ve certainly done that. Just have a look on YouTube to see how many hit songs they’ve had.

Delafé y las Flores Azules blend sensual trip-hop style rap with a dreamy, elegant indie-pop sound and tender lyrics. Without quite being emo, these guys wear their broken hearts on their sleeves for your entertainment as they take you for a lonely springtime stroll around Barcelona. Being romantic does not mean being miserable for these dandies of the Ramblas.

In 2010 they released “Las Trompetas de la Muerte”. This album kicks off with “Hoy”, featuring electronic drums accompanying a distracted female vocal which manages to be both melancholic and yet full of life at the same time. Another song, “Río por no llorar”, is an oddity, with keyboards swimming in reverb and echo, and punctuated by cheerful rapping. “Mejor” is another rap backed by keyboards. This is not gangsta style. This is “barna style”. The lyrics are tender more than transcendent, but they fit with the music perfectly. “La Primavera” might well be your favorite song from the album.

It seems that Spanish pop still grows from the long roots of Elefant Records and Belle and Sebastian. The question is how much longer will this continue? I don’t know who said that pop couldn’t be sexual and sexy, angry, dramatic and searing. Nonetheless, a live Delafé performance is fun: you’ll see people leaping around on the stage and you’ll probably be entertained. You may even be eyed up by some flirtatious guy, although whether he’ll take you to bed or not is another matter. I’d recommend going for the ones in Motorhead t-shirts. The concert takes place in Wah Wah. You can find more info here: http://www.wahwahclub.com/

 

SISTER RAY Only-apartments AuthorSISTER RAY

I think it would be good to get apartments in Valencia and go to see Delafé y las Flores Azules. You learn something new from every concert and this one will be no different: new sounds, new people, exciting new sensations.

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Ben Palmer Only-apartments TranslatorTranslated by: Ben Palmer
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May 6

A graphic designer from San Francisco, Michael Tompert, chose as art project as the destruction of all Apple products. The result of this costly experiment was a series of large format photographs. Each product was new before being destroyed.

tompert

Tompert spent the last few months buying the latest Apple technology to destroy it in various ways. “They had to be new products. This work is about our relationship with new things”, the artist said. Some equipment was victim of a firearm; other was put on a train track. “The most difficult to break was the iPad” Tompert said, “it’s practically indestructible”. The device withstood the blows of several tools without breaking so Tompert used a torch and heated the device until the inside began to boil and the equipment exploded.

According to the designer, his purpose is make people think about their relationship to these popular gadgets. The artist wanted to realize the classic cliché that Apple products are, in themselves, works of art and design, taking them further on by turning them into sculptures after hitting them, puncturing them, crushing them and burning them. And immortalizing them through photography.

According Tompert, the inspiration came last Christmas when he gave his children an iPod Touch. The boys began to fight for the gadgets, and Tompert, tired of the dispute, took one of the iPods and threw it angrily to the ground. “They were shocked, told the artist, the screen broke and the liquid spilled. I took my camera and photographed it”.

Thus, the destruction of an iPad, an iPhone and a Macbook embodied in twelve large-format images represent, according to Tompert, a critique of the obsession with Apple products and technology consumerism in general.

Customers who felt affected by Tompert’s work and statements defend argue that they do not use Apple products because they are more beautiful or because they have better design, but because they are useful, their applications are productive and because they don’t create problems. Others say they would have preferred the equipment as a gift to their destruction.

For some viewers, the work is actually a critique of consumerism and people’s current submission to technology, but for others, the work also highlights Steve Jobs’ company, resulting in good publicity for the brand. Some see it critical, others a tribute. Maybe both. Tompert himself claimed to be “a fan of Apple since the first day”.

Laura Aurelia Only-apartments AuthorLaura Aurelia

Criticism, tribute or a desire to attract attention. You decide. If you are interested in art and technology, in Valencia there are the best modern art galleries, rent apartments in Valencia and draw your own conclusions about the importance of the work of contemporary art.

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Maria Only-apartments TranslatorTranslated by: Maria
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