Ticino – A trip to the Italian part of Switzerland

A few years ago, answering my inner nomad’s call, I left my hometown for a 3-days trip to Ticino. For us Swiss people, this Italian-speaking region is kind of « exotic », in its positive meaning. It’s like travelling in your own country, but also at the same time travelling to another country. The language spoken there is one of the reason, the palm-trees near the lake and the italian-influenced architecture are other one. During my (very) short trip, I visited Bellinzona and its three wonderful castles surrounded by mountains wich belong to the UNESCO world cultural heritage. The second place I visited was Lugano and its small streets reminding us of Italy. I walked along the water and then went on the top of San Salvatore Mount, enjoying the breathtaking scenery on lakes, mountains and forests. As usual, I took quite a lot of pictures. Back  home, I modified some of them with a basic computer programme. Some look psychedelic, other have strong contrast between flashy blue, lemon yellow and the grey-white-black austerity of old stones. Then I printed those pictures, cut them and created new one using pieces of different pictures. On one of them, I also added acrylic paint to decorate it.

Path to the lake

Horizonte Spirituale

Courbes Aériennes

Sogni

Château Azur

Sogni Luminoso

The art as a bridge builder : from Switzerland to Brazil.

The story of those four paintings is a bit special. At first, there was a great picture made by my dear Brazilian friend Patricia who is a very gifted photographer (check her artist website to be absolutly convinced : http://patijeronimo.wixsite.com/patriciajeronimo). This picture of a friend of her inspired me as soon as I saw it. Four paintings were born after a very creative process. The first one remind us of Venice carnival masks. This one has been part of the first exhibition I participated in (Delémont - Switzerland). A copy I sold to a friend is now exposed in his flat in Luxembourg. The second one is a collage using pieces of the picture pasted on an acrylic painting. The third one represent a mask (a part of Patricia's picture) on a dune in the desert, below a pure blue sky. Finally, the fourth one is the product of a collaborative artistic process. At first I painted a face inspired by the picture Patricia took. Then I sent it to her who showed it to a friend who is a Brazilian poet. She got inspired by my painting and added on it a poem she wrote : « Being jealous, the sun painted the face bronze ». To be honest, I’m not totally satisfied by this painting, I’m thinking about doing a better one. But I love this concept of collaboration between artists coming from different countries and cultures. Between artists using different means of artistic communications : painting, poetry and photography. Art is global. Each art’s family is connected the one to the other. The American painter Edward Hopper has been deeply influenced by the cinema. Mafia movies has influenced thousands of rappers. Many movies are novel’s adaptation (one of the best being Kubrick’s Shining). So long and so forth. Art is also a bridge builder between different countries and cultures. To bridge the gap is one the most noble missions of art.

When Mexico meets Peru - Part II (collages + acrylic)

In the latest article, I explained why and how I created an artistic bridge between Peru and Mexico using collage. Here are two new collages about the same topic. The only difference : I painted on the collages to add more dynamism and colours on them. The moon-sun is a very famous Mexican symbol you can also see in most Latin America countries. Walking in the streets, it's not rare to see it painted on walls or printed on t-shirts. It represents duality : life-death. masculinity-feminity, night-day. good-bad,... Since my nearly initiatory journey to Mexico, this symbol appears very often in my paintings and drawings. It keeps fascinating me. The tree represents life, wisdom and nature. The building on the first one is the aztec temple I've seen in Palenque (Mexico). Visiting this place, I felt something very strong, nearly spiritual. The sky above it is in fact the Pacific Ocean I photographed in Trujillo (Peru). The mountain on this one, but also on the other picture are the one that surround Trujillo in a very arid landscape which was the homeland of Moche's Pre- Colombian culture.

When Mexico meets Peru (collages)

Mexico and Peru are countries that share many things in common. They are the cradle of great historic civilizations : Aztecs and Mayas in Mexico – Incas in Peru. Even if they have been dramatically eradicated by human ignorance, they are still very alive. Mexico and Peru are countries where the present and the past live together, simultaneously. Pre-colombian cultures, spanish colonial influences and modernity create a surprisingly coherent mosaic. It feels like the word « syncretism » have been invented for those countries. Pre-colombian religions have been integrated in catholic believes (or is it the opposite?). Everything is about mixing different cultures (american, european and sometimes african), different influences. It’s true for the religions, but also for the food, the painting, the music, the languages (spanish with many quecha words in the peruvian Andes), the people,… Using pictures I took in those two countries and making collages out of them, incorporating mexican aztec temples in peruvian landscapes, I tried to underline how similar (and also different) those nations are. That was also my way to give back what those countries and more than anything their people gave me. An ode to Mexico and Peru.

Literature & paintings (acrylic + collage + pencil)

Since I was a child, I’ve been a bookworm, a voracious reader, even before being able to read. Books have always had a very strong attractive force on me. I used and I still use to get lost in books, to travel while reading. My love for litterature can be seen in some of my paintings. The two paintings of the day are dedicated to Gabriel García Márquez, the great Colombian writer, one of the most famous representatives of the „magic realism“. He’s one of the many Latin-American authors (with Jorge Amado, Pablo Neruda, Isabelle Allende and Marío Vargas Llosa) who became part of my reading environment since my Spanish was good enough to understand his books correctly. For those paintings, I copied and printed pages of books by the Colombian writer and pasted them on acrylic paintings of mine. Enjoy !

Literature & paintings (acrylic + collage + pencil)

Since I was a child, I’ve been a bookworm, a voracious reader, even before being able to read. Books have always had a very strong attractive force on me. I used and I still use to get lost in books, to travel while reading. My love for litterature can be seen in some of my paintings. The two paintings of the day are dedicated to Gabriel García Márquez, the great Colombian writer, one of the most famous representatives of the „magic realism“. He’s one of the many Latin-American authors (with Jorge Amado, Pablo Neruda, Isabelle Allende and Marío Vargas Llosa) who became part of my reading environment since my Spanish was good enough to understand his books correctly. For those paintings, I copied and printed pages of books by the Colombian writer and pasted them on acrylic paintings of mine. Enjoy !