STUDIO VISIT IN SPAIN - 1/20/2013 - Félix Reyes and Rosa Castellot, Santa Lucia de Ocón

This is the first post in a series of studio visits made to artists living in Spain during the time that I am living in La Rioja. We were invited to spend a Sunday afternoon at the home and studios of Rosa Castellot and Félix Reyes. Reyes' life size figural works in different mediums, including bronze and wood, can be found in many public spaces around Logroño. Right now there is a large installation on exhibit at the Museo Wurth.      www.museowurth.es

Castellot's work are nature-based graphite drawings. A new series focusing on the Rio Ebro will be featured in a one woman show this April in Briñas.   www.rosacastellot.com

We spent a wonderful afternoon eating "Sunday Paella" and walking around the landscape of the valley of Ocón. The artists' home is the kind of old farmhouse called a "cuadra" where the bottom floor was living quarters for the animals. Félix and Rosa have restored it and it is filled with their work and works by their friends.

Stop Represión - Saturday, January 19, 2013

 "Manifestación de la CNT por la represión del 14-N"
"Demonstration of the Conferación Nacional del Trabajo against the Repression of November 14th"

Many people from back home ask me about the situation in Spain or "la crisis" as it is called here.

There was a Huelga General or general strike throughout Spain on November 14th.
Every week there are more and more strikes and demonstrations like this one protesting budget cuts, political corruption and financial greed that led to the current economic situation.
This particular protest was "in solidarity with people who were detained, wounded and persecuted at the last demonstration in Logroño on November 14th.

Searching for Las Encinas Gemelas!

Oteruelo, La Rioja

Last Sunday we went searching for the "Twin Oaks" with our friends Jose Luís and Loly.

We found them right outside the abandoned town of Oteruelo in La Rioja. 

There are many towns like this all over Spain.

These huge and beautiful oak trees must be at least 200 years old.

I am standing in a "dehesa" looking up at the sky. Dehesa is a unique Spanish word for a type of agricultural practice. In most cases it is used as a managed grazing area for pigs. The abundance of these wild oak forests produce large acorn yields each year. The people of Spain have preserved this specific type of forest for this purpose.

STUDIO WALL AND SHELF

Two watercolor studies from tree drawings.

After Alhambra

Autumn Haya

Castaña One

Arbol Enredado Uno

OLD SPAIN, NEW SPAIN...

Our trip to the south of Spain was planned around this idea of New Spain/Old Spain, as in contemporary or modern/traditional, as in ART. The first stop was, of course, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. For Contemporary we were surprised by a room of Alex Katz's large portraits,
"Smiles" (among other exhibits) and modern were the drawings of Egon Schiele.
www.guggenheim-bilao.es
Next day was traditional with a visit to the Real Alcázar de Sevilla! This is an eleventh century fortified palace built over the remains of the Islamic quarter. Architecturally it is a combination of many styles including Taifa, Almohad, Gothic, Mudejar, Renaissance, Baroque, Mannerist and Neo-Classicist, a feast for the eyes. I've never seen anything like it!
On Sunday we visited the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in the Monasterio de la Cartuja de Santa Maria de las Cuevas. The building and grounds alone were worth the visit. The shows were good, no big names except for a video of John Baldessari reading Rules For Painting by Sol LeWitt!
www.caac.es
Next day we drove to the coast and visited Cádiz. This city is the oldest inhabited city in Western Europe. It is a bit northwest from the Straits of Gibraltar above North Africa. It was great to see the Atlantic Ocean from the other side. The next day, Christmas Day, was a day of rest.

Then to NMAC or Fundación Montenmedio Arte Contemporaneo in Vejer de la Frontera. An outdoors sculpture part with a few jewels. The Sol LeWitt sculpture shown above was just great!
Human Nests by Marina Abramovich was four rope ladders hanging from natural depressions in a huge rock wall across a chasm, a ways away from the viewing area.
A simple visual, but powerful idea and execution.
www.fundacionnmac.org
www.nmaceduca.org
Then back in time to Granada where we visited the Alhambra. Well I need to put a photo of it here:

This is a tiny detail, magnify it by a million in surround-site and you will have it but you have to visit to get the full effect. This has been a dream come true for me, to see the Alhambra!

Our next stop was Córdoba where we visited the studio of artist Maria Ortega Estepa. 

She will show her work in an invitational show, Looking After Trees,  at The Art Center in Grand Junction this summer. Look at her site and you will see why. 

www.mariaortegaestepa.com

The last "old" site was the Mezquita or Grand Mosque. What a mish mash of Muslim and Christian architecture. A bit confusing, as in where to focus the eye, but impressive as well. 

We are still reeling from all the things we saw. We enjoyed the warm temperatures and sun.

Now back north in Logroño where it is not cloudy, has been sunny for days, we brought it with us!

ANDALUSIA!

A few views from our trip to Andalusia. I knew that we would be on the road, as in "on the go" with
lots to see so I didn't bring my easel and full palette. I decided to go with just a tube of Ivory Black,
a 4" x 10" block. The architecture was the thing so buildings appear in all of these paintings. The blending of Spanish and Moorish or Mudejar (among other influences) styles was a visual feast.
If I had a full palette I could not have captured the luminescence, the abundance of patterning and geometry. I came back inspired to finish some of my abstract tree pieces I had started in the studio before I left. Those and more about the trip on my next posts! Felix Año Nuevo to everyone!