momaworks

by Cristina Benzi

[momaworks]

“I wanted to express my way of seeing life through the creation of clothing and also change the fashion system” Fashion Designer Sara Gómez of km22

June 2019, Sevilla

An old friend from school told me about Sara Gómez some months ago and I started following her through Instagram, so I was able to see the projects she was doing. Last time I was in Seville I decided to contact her and at that same week we met in the courtyard of her house in the district of Triana. The bright light and the colorful flowers surprised me the most when I entered, for me it was like traveling into to the purest and most traditional part of the city. Sara Gómez is a fashion designer, who gives life to km22, the brand she works on with all her heart and passion.

Cristina Benzi: Tell me about your fashion brand km22 and how this project was born.

Sara Gómez: Km22 was born a day traveling around Cadiz. I was exactly on the roads, when I suddenly looked at a mile marker just at km 22, then I thought about that for a while and said: I'm at km22 of my life.

At that moment I wanted already to express my way of seeing life through the creation of clothing, and also change the fashion system. For me, craftsmanship is something very special. The clothes we buy today are made in overproduction and we don't even know who made them.

I see fashion in a very different way. When it comes to creating something I put a lot of energy into it and I like to think that I am going to transmit that energy to the person who is going to wear my clothes. Each piece that I create is unique. We should not all dress alike, each has to show its essence. I think if everyone wore what they actually needed, they would be happier and feel more comfortable.

CB: What distinguishes km22 the most?

SG: The garment that most characterizes km22 is the sweatshirt combinated with a traditional Flamenco shawl. It was one of the pioneering garments of this brand. I find it elegant but at the same time casual and urban. It's like wearing a shawl every day and I've always said that I'd like to wear a Flamenco dress every day. These sweatshirts are made with poplin fabric and thread fringes. In addition, I usually use floral or ethnic fabrics and polka dots. That is the explosive mixture and therefore the garment that characterizes me and my label.

CB: What inspires you?

SG: I have had a lot of musical influence throughout my life. My mother is very folkloric, I remember she was always at home singing Coplas and dancing. Although there are no professional Flamenco singers or dancers in my house, I have always listened to Flamenco but also other type of music that my father used to hear. However, I think it has been my mother's personality that made me to be the woman I am today. And let's say it in this way, she has been my unconscious inspiration.

But in general, when it comes to creating, I draw inspiration from women all over the world. For me the most beautiful thing is the mixture. I get inspired by the different ethnicities, personalities, aesthetics of each woman, and then I take all that to my field. I want to make each woman feel unique when they wear a piece of mine.

CB: I know you've made costumes for other fellow artists, some musicians and singers. What is the relationship for you between music and fashion?

SG: I think music and fashion go hand in hand. I always think it's important for the artist to get on stage with clothes that are in tune with his/her music. It's all part of the show. And looking at it from the other point of view, I think that sewing without music is almost impossible for me.

CB: In your latest project I'mpura. What is the message you want to transmit?

SG: A year ago I started with the idea of this project. The first idea that I had in mind was the drawing, which my friend Raquel did. That drawing of the gypsy on the toilet represents the traditional, root woman, and is the image of this project.

Then I began to create the garments that would give life to the parade that was going to take place in Barcelona. During the parade you could hear the music I had commissioned La Lagrima Music to produce, where the singer Belén put her voice and my friend Juan wrote the lyrics. I wanted the catwalk to make the people part of this story. After the catwalk the idea of producing the video came into my mind. Thanks to María Roncel I was able to develop this idea and create it. She was in charge of the production and direction of the video.

It’s a fashionable video but each artist involved, has also contribute showing their own artistic perspective. I´mpura spot it is composed of several scenes where most of the time women but also men show their most feminine side. It seems to me that nowadays many women have forgotten where we came from. I have the feeling that in this era of mass information we are going very fast and we are not conscious of it. So I want people to stop and think about the past so they can involve themselves with the history, the essence of the ancient, and with the evolution of women within society and art.

CB: What are your future plans for km22?

SG: To this day my dream has always been to work in a common artists' space where I can continue creating fashion. I would like to share the space with different artists and somehow inspire each other. I have even thought that before opening a shop, I would like to open a workshop, where I can give work to many people. For me the important thing is not to earn more, it is to earn what is fair and share with others. My dream is to work in a community of artists with different disciplines like musicians, actors, etc.

Foto credit: momaworks

Instagram: @artekm22

[momaworks]

Studio visit to painter Tor Nielsen

May 2019, Berlin

My first encounter with this artist was actually some time ago when I meet him as a friend. Last month we were hanging out and went to a gallery together where he told me about some new projects coming up and so my interest was immediately piqued. I thought of dedicating him an interview where he could tell me a bit more about him as an artist. One of the things that I find interesting is his way of seeing art through philosophy. He actually studied philosophy and also worked in research for a long time but even though he was always feeling closer to his drawings and paintings. He was about seven years when he started reading comics and so he developed his interest in drawing. I feel very delighted to have had the opportunity to interview him so I hope you like this as much as I enjoyed it.

Cristina Benzi: I know that you come from a Danish island in called Taasinge. Tell us how was it growing up there? How much does your danish background influence your work?

Tor Nielsen: So my childhood in Denmark was really for me the golden time of my life. I still feel romantically connected to that period of my life, At some point I would like to tell stories about the archipelago of Southern Fyen. The islands and nature of that area carries a certain magic. It is something that always comes up in my head and I hope one day I will do some art works based on this inspiration. But I am not yet entirely certain how to approach it.

One interesting story is the island where I was born, which it‘s called Taasinge. It is a small island with maybe two or three tousand people. There is no hospital there but my mother still wanted me to be born on that island. So she decided to give birth at home. She was a hippie to it was perhaps not an entirely foreign idea. But the remarkable part of this story is the name Taasinge historically means the Meadow of Thor. But my mother did not know that. And I only learned it much later. The old Vikings thousand years ago believed that this was the island where the god Thor would come to have a rest with the humans. So I feel very connected to that place. In a kind of spiritual sense, you could say.

CB: Which role does living in Berlin play for you as an artist?

TN: I came to Berlin by accident seven years ago. I had a girlfriend that lived here and then I just ended up in Berlin. At that time I thought it didn’t really make a big difference where you live, as long I just could focus on the things I wanted to. I could do that in Copenhagen, New Zealand or Africa. It didn’t matter the location. But I think I was actually wrong. For me Berlin made me feel more at home than living in Copenhagen. The diversity of people and the openmindedness that comes along makes Berlin a better choice for me. In Copenhagen I had a much harder time fitting in than here in Berlin. In my opinion Berlin allow you to be yourself with all your strengths and weaknesses. And I think many other big cities in the world can learn from this.

CB: A question to Tor the philosopher being an artist. Since you studied philosophy and not art, do you think going to art school is not important?

TN: I think art and philosophy have in common that it is a practice humans have always been doing. People have always been thinking about what is the universe, what is reality, having had critical ideas about what society is etc. Similarly humans have always been always creative. All the way back to our tribal ancestors living as hunters and gatherers on the plains of Africa. These communities painted their weapons or their bodies when they would have ceremonies, rituals and that was their art! They had the same type of drive for something beautiful when they created. And they had the same type of curiosity when asking questions.

The fact artists go to art school today, is just a historic coincidence. I personally do not think that being a philosopher or an artist requires a specific education. Of course education it is beneficial since many people that are interested in art, purchase art or sell art trust in our traditions. Being educated at a certain school might be a sign of quality. But that does not change that creating in itself is a core part of our human nature.

CB: Studying in an art school you will learn about techniques, but most of all you will make important connections to the art world.

TN: I think you are right about that. That is important for the art as an industry. Because we live in a time of capitalism and that means that every aspect of the society is an industry. There is nothing good or bad about that is just the way it is today. If you go a few hundred years back in European history and dominating part of our culture was Christianity. And every aspect of society somehow was linked to that. Yet and today it’s an industry. The artist lives by selling their art to people that collect it and that is just the condition of the existence.

CB: Since you are not formally trained, what can you say about your method of creating?

TN: My approach in terms of method might be influenced from working in research.  There is a lot of experimentation going on in order to discover and refine your ideas. And you need to be a critical evaluator if you want to get the best out of your results. In research you do experiments to get data that you can alase to learn. In art I do the same. For me it is a difficult learning process where you are continuously growing, your style is changing and you are becoming better and better at expressing your ideas. It is a bit like life. You grow older and get to know yourself better. Perhaps when you are old, you really know who you are. And maybe when I am old I can finally make a painting that clearly express my ideas.

When I was younger I would often be unhappy with my drawings. And that was because I was still in the early phase of discovering my voice and learning what ideas I have. Today I can still be frustrated about a drawing or a painting, but I understand that it is a part of the learning process. This comes with being an experimental artist.

As an example, in recent paintings I work with very thick layers of paint. It is called impasto. They also use the word for a pizza with a lot of ingredients, just to give you an idea. I started this technique only by random experimentation but now it is becoming a more dominant style that I have refined through experimentation.

CB: Lately I‘ve seen on your Instragram a lot about Techno and art. For me it sounds like a typical Berlin lifestyle, what does it mean for you and your work?

TN: Well, I am a big fan of Techno music. The connection that it has to my art is not clear and maybe there is no connection. But when I sit and I do my drawings it is very intuitive and freestyle. Words, figures and lines just come out of my mind spontaneously. And since I find Techno very inspiring I sometimes include the word “Techno”.I also use Techno as the music for my animated drawings.

I often have this phrase in my mind going “Techno music is the music of the future”. I know that it sounds a bit stupid but there is something very unique about this music. It is very deep and agressive. At the same time it can be highly intellectual. And in my opinion this makes it go deep in the human soul. I find it to be a sublime artform. I will consider it to be one of the most creative genres of art on the planet today.

CB: Do you want people to have a spiritual experience when they look at your art?

TN: I certainly would but I think I am far away from achieving that. If I should define spirituality in a very broad sense, it is to see yourself as a part of something that is greater than you. As a part of history or a part all living things. This type of abstraction where you look away from yourself is the type of feeling that Techno can give you. Music has that power. And perhaps painting can too. I just have yet to discover how to achieve it.

It has been a pleasure to visit his studio and get more insight into his work. After this interview he commented that it is in his mind to have soon two exhibition projects. Stay tuned so you won‘t miss it!

If you want to see more, then take a look here:

Instagram: @puretor

Website: tornielsen.com

[momaworks]

April 2019, Berlin.

“As an artist you need to have an extra pair of open eyes all the time”

Interview with Joel Montagud the singer from the band Lion Sphere

Cristina Benzi: How did Lion Sphere start?

Joel Montagud: In 2013 Dominik, Karim and myself were still studying together in Berlin. We instantly had a good connection with each other and started jamming together after school. At the beginning it was something very spontaneous, we started playing music together without really knowing that we would end up as a proper band. For about a year and a half we met almost every day and got to know each other musically whilst experimenting with different influences. After this time we got our drummer involved, Fabian, he studied Jazz Drums. I still remember when I wrote him an email asking if he would like to join us. He came and we played together for a couple of months before starting to play our first shows in 2014 as Lion Sphere. That´s how the band kicked off. We played in literally every little club or party in Berlin for the first two years, just trying to be out there as much as possible and form as a live act. Since then the band has become a full-time project for us.  

Foto credit: Lion Sphere

CB: How would you define the musical style of Lion Sphere?

JM: We all come from very different musical directions and I think that is kind of the concept for our band. We all bring something individual to the collective. Fabian comes from the Jazz side, Karim our guitarist comes from Funk & Hip Hop, Dominik our keys & Synthbass player comes from a Rhythm & Blues and Indie background and I from the Soul & Pop music world.

If you look at it from the outside you may think, damn, that’s a pretty crazy compromise. But when we make music together, this combination is our musical intersection at which our ideas come together, and that has resolved in our neo-soul style with Jazz elements and Hip Hop ideas. You could say it’s Future Soul, that describes it pretty well, Future Soul with a Jazz attitude.

Foto credit: Andrej Russkovskij

CB: Tell us about your Single ‘Alice at Once’ and the video clip.

JM: Alice at Once is the first single from our debut album ‘A Moving Sun’ and a song that was written in Mallorca, where I grew up and where parts of my family still lives. It is a place we often visit with the band to write songs. Most of our album was written there and we also shot the video for the track on the island.

With 'Alice at Once‘ we want to convey the ease and euphoria from a lush summer day that you know is going to be archived in your memory as some of the 'good days' of friendship. When we were writing the album we had one of those days. We went out on the boat and spent the whole day by the coastline swimming, scuba diving, climbing around, having a pretty incredible day outside and as friends. When shooting the video we wanted to capture exactly this feeling of playfulness and spontaneity. My childhood friend and film maker from Spain, Bruno Jubin, shot the video. We actually made it in a weekend when it was still quite wintery, in February, luckily the sun played along for the days we were there.

Crazy to think that the song came out a year ago now, it was the starting point for the album. It reached a lot of people and it was very cool for us to see how people turned it into their own summer soundtrack. 

CB: What about the „A Moving Sun“ Tour?

JM: The Tour is coming up in April, and will be our first proper headline tour. It’s super exciting for us, we’ve been preparing it for a few months now and are bringing a lot of new ideas and surprises along with us.

We‘re touring through Germany for two weeks and are super excited to be on the road again and to connect with the people that we have reached with the music that we make.

When playing a show we want to create a communal experience, bringing every single person into the same boat during the show. As a band we’ve always been very open about our process, giving our fans an insight into our journey through tour vlogs on YouTube and Social Media. We think it’s important to eliminate the myth that often exists between artists and fans and playing a concert is where this translates into reality. As a singer especially I want the show to be entertaining and relatable. I am in conversation with the audience both musically and personally, telling little stories in between songs or simply sharing anecdotes from the tour life. It brings everyone closer together.

Foto credit: Lion Sphere

CB: How is the creative process in the group to create songs?

JM: We write our songs collectively. We play together a lot and often start playing anything that comes up as a jam. We record everything and when an idea comes up we take that idea and try to spin it further into a song. The majority of our tracks have been written like that.

That’s why many of our songs don’t follow a typical pop format and have their own character. The song structures are a bit different because we avoid following a formula. Sometimes we just leave an idea exactly how it first came up. As the singer I write the words and give the music their stories.

A big part of this creative process is dedication and persistence. Its not always easy and you have to sit your ass down and write or play your instrument even though some days you might feel nothing, its about finding a creative routine and being ready when moments of inspiration come to you, although most of these moments are created by you. It’s also important to stay playful and not take it too seriously, love the process, don’t stress about the outcome too much.

As an artist you need to have an extra pair of eyes open all the time. Sometimes I´m in the train and hear someone saying something that has nothing to do with my life, it can be a random sentence, but I write it down in my phone and a few hours later I re-contextualize it and use it for an idea of my own. I have my feelers out and collect experiences, stories, from friends, strangers, anything that triggers an image or emotion. Songs are very good vessels for these feelings because they can be a snapshot of a moment.

Foto credit: Andrej Russkovskij

CB: What topics do you like to talk about in the lyrics of your songs?

JM: One topic that I find very important to talk about is masculinity and how between guys there is often a lack in communication or a fear of showing your love for each other. Being half Spanish and German and having grown up in both countries I noticed from a very young age how different people express themselves emotionally. I’ve always been encouraged to be open and communicative in my upbringing and its something that I’ve found to be crucial for any relationships. Our song „Keep dreaming“ aims at encouraging other guys to express themselves, open up and believe in each other rather than competing.

Special thanks to Andrej Russkovskij & Bocci 79 Berlin

https://andrejrusskovskij.com/

For more about the band:

http://lionspheremusic.com/

[momaworks]

Interview with Andrej Russkovskij about his last Photo Exhibition the BLNKDZ #meettheberlinkids

February 2019, Berlin

Cristina Benzi: Where did you take the first picture in Berlin?

Andrea Russo: Beelitz, the infamous abandoned hospital on an autumn day, when it was still an off-the-beaten-track urbex paradise. It was literally awesome!

CB: How did you develop your interest in photography?

AR: Kinda just for fun. I was always interested in art and needed to do something creative in my life.

Everything started with a cheap Lomo camera. It was 2010, I went to New York with my brother and I just

got given a Diana mini. It was literally a piece of plastic and it was not supposed to take incredible pictures.

To be honest, I also didn’t have a clue about photography. I had never done any photography course or looked into it.

I basically learned from my mistakes (that’s what I still do!). Anyway, I took a few pictures during this trip, but I still had the feeling that something was missing.

When I went back home and spring and summer came, I carried on using it, but this time around I focused on portraits of my friends and then-girlfriend, who soon became my muse. Everywhere we went, I carried the camera with me an didn’t miss a chance to shoot. Back then I was experimenting way more that I am currently doing. Guess I was trying to explore this world that I knew so little about and understand what I fancied the most about it.

Shortly after, I decided to sign up into Lomography’s online analogue community and started to upload those first attempts. The reaction I got caught me by surprise: not only people liked my pictures, but Lomography itself started to use some of them to advertise their products.

When I graduated my friends bought me a medium format camera, a Lubitel 166+, and that’s when I sort of realized that photography could become more than just an experimental game.

CB: What has inspired you to create The BLNKDZ?

AR: My friends and the city are the biggest inspirations. I just noticed that all my friends have something special. They might have different backgrounds, jobs and goals in life, and quite different personalities but they all share one thing: a positive, brave, open minded, empowering and inspiring approach to life. And I really do believe that this is made possible by the city we call home, Berlin, which seems to relentlessly attract this kind of personalities. Here you can find a free atmosphere, you have the chance to dig deeper inside of you, try out things, express yourself, say out loud how you feel, and eventually just be who you are.

So yes, I’m constantly inspired by who they are and I know that others can feel the same as I do. That’s quite how the project started.

CB: On this exhibition you haven´t got just only photos, there is also a statement. What did your friends said on theirs?

AR: They are very interesting but also very different, and not necessarily related to Berlin. I actually didn’t push for one direction or another when I asked for a caption. I was very curious to see what they could come up with. And the outcome was great. From self acceptance, to finding a passion, to rebelling to a macho society, Russian superstitions, the creative process, dealing with your life after turning thirty... Of course there are also a few captions about this city. About a love-hate relationship with

Berlin, being born and raised in such a desired and discussed place, about its role in finding or losing yourself...

CB: It would be interesting to know if you develop/scan/print the pictures yourself.

AR: No, I don’t. After blaming for years the fact that I was moving too often to put a small lab together, I had to admit to myself that I actually didn’t care about that part. I  prefer to focus on connecting with people, taking pictures, coming up with projects and write about them.

CB: You also made a BLNKDZ book. How was it?

AR: I felt like I couldn’t print for the exhibition all the captions the “kids” wrote or all of their Q&A. Too many words on a white wall might have appeared intimidating rather than stimulating so I had to make a selection and just hang one for each “kid”.

The book looked to me like a perfect answer and also allowed me to show more of the portraits I took.

CB: Do you have new projects coming up on mind?

AR: To be fair, I simply love to take portraits and to connect with people. I absolutely like how, most of the times,  the intimacy and reciprocal trust achieved during a session can be the start of a friendship or make a bond even stronger.

This said, I’m also a big fan of traveling. This keeps me going in life probably as much as as the creative process.

Because it pushes me out of my comfort zone and forces me to look at things with brand new eyes. It taught me to see the beauty in the smallest details and appreciate the uniqueness of some moments. If with portraits I’m very much in control, when I’m traveling I allow myself to be more spontaneous.

By the way, the B L N K D Z project is not over just yet. There’s so many other opinionated pretty faces that can’t wait to be captured. So stay tuned.

For more:

andrejrusskovskij.com

Instagram.com/andrejrusskovskij

Facebook.com/andrejrusskovskijphotogrphy

[momaworks]

Entrevista con la fotógrafa Pilar Rodríguez Barranco

Agosto 2018, Punta Umbría

Desde bien pequeña vivió rodeada de cámaras. Su  padre, gran aficionado, las tenía de todos los tamaños, modelos y épocas, por lo que se familiarizó con ellas como si de sus juguetes se tratara, juego que con el paso del tiempo se transformó en su vocación.  Estudió Fotografía en la Escuela de Arte León Ortega de Huelva, así como Experto Universitario en Medios Audiovisuales y Multimedia en la Universidad de su ciudad y Experto Universitario en Fotografía y Comunicación Gráfica en la UNIA, completando su formación con diversos cursos y talleres impartidos por reconocidos fotógrafos nacionales e internacionales como Alejandro Castellote o el israelí  Ilan Woolf, así como otros de especialización, por ultimo Comisariado y Gestión de Exposiciones.

Entiende la fotografía como el modo de inmortalizar un instante irrepetible, hacerlo eterno, ya sea por la luz del momento, la belleza del lugar o la acción del personaje, hacerlo suyo y después, compartirlo.

Enamorada de las luces y los colores únicos de su ciudad, Huelva, la fotografía con pasión, descubriendo ángulos y rincones. Le apasiona la vida en la calle, la vida de la gente en su ir y venir diario. Sus playas, su sierra, sus puertos, la Semana Santa… son fuente inagotable de inspiración.

La felicidad de unos novios el día de su boda, la frescura de un niño, la serenidad de un anciano, la sencillez de una casa serrana, la inmensidad de una puesta de sol, etc. Le gusta sentir que sus fotografías trasmiten algo a quien las observa.

Ha participado en multitud de exposiciones individuales y colectivas, certámenes y concursos y festivales, como el Festival Cultural del Caribe celebrado en Cuba, del que permanece una de sus obras en el museo Emilio Bacardi de Santiago de Cuba.

Cristina Benzi: ¿En qué te has inspirado para hacer las fotos?

Pilar Rodríguez Barranco: Sobre todo en el tiempo que pasamos en la playa, con la familia y amigos en verano. En concreto en esta playa La Canaleta de Punta Umbría, desde el Chiringuito El Tabla hasta el mismo Espigón.

He intentado recopilar todos los momentos que vivimos un día tras otro, como por ejemplo los  cumpleaños de los  pequeños, un simple paseo por la bajamar, las puestas de sol.  También he intentado captar el viento que suele estar presente, nuestros toldos, el velero que pasa o las huellas del gentío que paseó por la mañana... De ahí el titulo "VERANO DEL  17". 16 imágenes en total.

CB: ¿Por qué decidiste exponer las fotos en blanco y negro?

PRB: Simplemente porque hay millones de fotos de la playa y pensé en darles un carácter más íntimo, distinto... Son imágenes que pedían el blanco y negro para salirse un poco de las que estamos más acostumbrados a ver, pues estas están de por sí cargadas de luz y color, mientras  que el blanco y negro le da un toque distinto.

CB: ¿Cómo te interesaste por este espacio para exponer tus obras?

PRB: La Sala de Exposiciones Doña Antonia es una casa típica de Punta Umbría, de las pocas antiguas que quedan en el pueblo. Además para nuestra familia este tipo de casa tiene mucho significado ya que nuestra bisabuela tuvo una muy parecida a esta en la zona y bueno, pensé que sería como volver a estar en esa casa durante unos días.

Además no hubiera encontrado un lugar mejor para unas fotos de la playa, en blanco y negro, esta casa era el mejor escenario.

CB: ¿Cuánto tiempo duró la exposición y cómo fue su desenlace?

PRB: Un día muy especial, siempre que llega el momento de una inauguración todo es nervios e ilusión, el montaje, la preparación de cartelas, tarjetones; intento que todo esté en consonancia según el tema y el hilo conductor en el que quiero que se desenvuelva la expo, sobre todo visualmente. En este caso quería que todo fuera muy sencillo y veraniego, la sala estaba decorada con velitas muy pequeñas e hilos de luz, además de espigas traídas de la playa donde estaban hechas las fotos,  las cartelas eran pequeñas pizarras escritas con tiza. Una cosa que no falta en ninguna de mis exposiciones es un libro de visita, cada uno escribe lo que  ha sentido o le ha transmitido la exposición y eso me parece muy interesante para mi, me gustan las críticas constructivas.

Y llega el momento de la inauguración, lo mejor que me puede pasar es que haya mucha gente conocida, me encanta que mi familia y amigos disfruten conmigo en estos momento, como así fue, afortunadamente. En esta ocasión hemos estado desde el 9 al 19 de agosto, intento estar todos los días para recibir a los visitantes, siempre hacen preguntas o comentarios y es muy gratificante. Gracias a Dios ha tenido mucho éxito.

  http://www.pilar.rodriguezbarranco.com/

[momaworks]

Entrevista con la ilustradora Lidiettes

Mayo 2018, Sevilla

Lidia Frias es una artista nacida en Algeciras, licenciada en Económicas por La Universidad de Granada, ciudad donde vivió durante 10 años. Hace dos años decidió mudarse a Sevilla encontrando una fuerte fuente de inspiración en el color de sus calles y su alegría.

Desde su infancia mostró interés por la escritura, la fotografía y el dibujo. Sin embargo, sería el dibujo su mejor amigo acompañándola en los momentos más importantes de su vida. Con un estilo alegre y dulce nos cuenta a través de sus dibujos como es su día a día en Sevilla, sus viajes, y todo aquello que le hace feliz.

A esta artista además de dibujar, en su tiempo libre le gusta escuchar música folk o melodías alegres. Cuenta que sus muebles no sólo están llenos de lápices y pinceles, también libros, flores naturales, plantas y tazas de té que va acumulando por los rincones. Le encanta descubrir cafeterías con encanto, saborear platos de huevos con patatas en un bar cualquiera con sus amigos y sobre todo, subirse a un avión cada un par de meses en búsqueda de aventuras, siempre llevando consigo su bloc de dibujo y sus pinceles para contarlo todo.

CB: Cuando miro tus dibujos me recuerdan a carteles publicitarios antiguos. ¿De dónde te viene la inspiración?

L: Lo que más me inspira son las cosas cotidianas. Desde el primer café de la mañana, un paseo en bici, una chica con la que te cruzas, una historia que te cuentan, hasta una copa de vino con un amigo. Es cierto que el hecho de viajar tanto también me ha ayudado a inspirarme y a experimentar más, gracias a ello he conseguido ampliar mi cultura visual y todo esto intento plasmarlo en mis dibujos.

Me considero una persona muy alegre y activa, siempre tengo algo que hacer y contar. Mi forma de hacerlo es a través de los colores, usando paletas de colores dulces y brillantes que quizás te recuerden a otra época.  

CB: He leído en tu página web que te encanta pasarte horas en la tienda de Bellas Artes buscando materiales. ¿Cuáles consideras necesarios para tu trabajo del día a día?

L: Sí! Me encanta ir de compras a este tipo de tiendas! Los materiales que más uso son: lápices de colores, acuarelas, gouaches, y rotuladores. En mis dibujos me gusta usarlos todos a la vez y siempre con técnicas tradicionales.

CB: Sé que has vivido en Granada y en Sevilla. Pero cuéntanos, ¿qué es lo que más te gusta da cada una?

L: Ambas son ciudades preciosas. De Granada, me gusta que es una ciudad con mucha gente joven, tiene mucho encanto y es muy bohemia. Da mucha paz y ayuda a encontrar ese mundo interior, sin embargo, tristemente, no tiene mucha oferta cultural.

De Sevilla, el color de sus calles y la espontaneidad de la gente. Y a diferencia de Granada, tiene una oferta cultural mayor, siempre hay alguna exposición o algún evento interesante. Es una ciudad que me inspira mucho.

CB: ¿Lidia tienes algún proyecto en mente?

L: En estos momentos estoy centrada en la web y el portfolio. En junio tengo pensado abrir la shop online. En ella me gustaría añadir prints y postales. Soy de esa extraña extirpe que sigue enviando cartas y me gustaría participar en ello.  En agosto colaboraré en un proyecto para la revista Flow Magazine. El mundo de los cuentos infantiles me apasiona y tengo una idea que me gustaría empezar a darle forma muy pronto. Estoy abierta a cualquier proyecto siempre que me identifique.

http://lidiettes.com/

[momaworks]

October 2017, Berlin

Artist Talk with Juan Carlos Rosa Casasola

Born in Benidorm (Alicante, Spain, 1988) is currently working in Berlin. Best prize in Fine Arts degree from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spa,2012), specialized in Thought and Visual Culture by the Master in Artistic Production (2014), and the Master in Visual and Multimedia Arts from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spa,2016), has completed his training in Germany in the Masters in Medienwissenschaft of the Universität Potsdam (Erasmus+ 2016) and in the Akademie der Bildenden Künste of Munich (Erasmus 2010).

He has received production grants from the Art&Diseases University Chair and the Cultural Action Platform of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, and his work has been exhibited internationally, highlighting the Paella Pop Festival in New York, the AllGlitchedUp exhibition at Tate Britain London, the Spanische Nacht at the Kulturforum in Berlin, the Drap Art Festival at the CCCB in Barcelona, at the Hybrid fair in Madrid, the XVII Call at the Luis Adelantado Gallery in Valencia and the prestigious Mardel Prize in Alicante. His last solo exhibitions were #Show #MustGoOn at the Salmaia Gallery (Altea, Spain, 2017) and "De ida y vuelta (Back&forth)" at the Culture Institute Juan Gil-Albert, curated by Andrea Brotons, due to the Prize of the Alicante’s Deputation (Spain, 2017).

His work is transdisciplinary, using different languages according to the project: painting, installation, video, performance or collaborative projects. Currently, his speech focuses on visibility, diversity and immersion, and takes as its origin approaches around the binomial space-time, public-private, individual-collective and need-desire.

 Cristina Benzi: Tell us about your last project #Smartpaint. When did you start and what is about?

Juan Carlos Rosa: In my work is common the topic of communication and digital devices. In 2013 I was doing a research about how the internet can amplify our communication skills, and at the same time interfuse to our direct communications. Bauman says “the new technologies of communication allow us to communicate with who is far away, and to avoid the one is near”. And I started playing with the idea to cover some portraits with a layer of Apps icons, as a common mobile phone menu.  

Later on, I started working with the Painting Department of my University on a research of painting materials and resources. There I realized that we know most of the masterworks throw the screen or the books, which democratize the access to them, but at the same time, distort them.

Then I wanted to show that the new phenomenon created by the mobile phones is just an amplification of what we were doing before. Then I linked to image and concept, today images and old ones from the past, then I took super well-known images from paintings, coetaneous to the discovery of America. There are more reasons, but the main one is to connect this discovery of the “New World” and the discovery of the “New World of Internet”, to ask how does it affect to our daily life.

 CB: What it is for you the connection between the discovery of the "New World" and the "Digital World"?

JCR: I mean the situation of something new that affects global and on several levels. Let’s imagine how the food habits changed with the introduction of potatoes and tomatoes from America, and how Instagram is modifying it.

Apart from the joke, there are lots of connections between the Golden Age of the Spanish painting (coetaneous to Velázquez) and the social networks. The paintings were commissions from the Church or Power, to show and teach their values, to show a status. Nowadays all of us are creating a digital image of our life, selecting what and how to show it to the world through Instagram.

 CB: What can you say about that idea of using the menu of a smartphone Apps as a portrait of its user.

JCR: Some companies are studying our habits, to try to predict what, when and where we are going to buy or to do. Because of the GPS, our payments by card, our search on Google, etc. Then I realize that when someone took your phone can access to your intimacy really easily, not just checking your private messages or images. Because of the type of mobile phone do you have, your apps and the display of them, you can create an accurate idea of the way of living, probably wrong? The apps we are using on our phones can tell everybody what we wish, what worries us if we are looking for a partner or for a place to have dinner.  

 Foto: Girl with a Pearl Earring, Vermeer 65x54cm, 2014

CB: How long is going to be #Smartpaint in Wild Tales exhibited?

JCR: The exhibition with the Prints of #Smartpaint will be exhibited just one month. Probably, until the end of November.

CB: Do you have on mind future exhibitions?

JCR: This summer I had 2 simultaneous solo shows in Spain, which means a lot of work. I think the next exhibition will be in Berlin in RaumE116, during the next Open Studios of 48 Stunden Neukölln 2018.

So now I’m focused to develop a new project call #WorldFlags, in which I want to do Flags with donated clothes, to show all the countries related to the fast-fashion industry. The main producers, consumers and the main Landfills in the world. I hope to be able to show it soon!

CB: I remember donating you some clothes for an art project. What did you do there?

JCR: Im also working on a collaborative project since 2013: “Donate your clothes to art”. With the same idea of “Donate your body to science”, I’m inviting everyone to donate what they don’t any longer need, to help a researcher. Currently, you can donate your clothes in GlogauAIR Art Residency in Kreuzberg, and at RaumE116, Neukölln.  

For more about the artist:

www.juancarlosrosacasasola.com

[momaworks]

48h Neukölln 2017 with Candela Pan & Lena Ader

One of the most charismatic and social art festivals in Berlin: “48 Stunden Neukölln”. A whole neighborhood dedicated to exhibitions, concerts, performances, theater…

This year, the theme is SHADOW and here is the explanation of two young artists who take us on a journey to the most hidden places of the human mind: The exhibition of Candela Pan and Lena Ader deals with the unlighted inner worlds of the human being.

Painting, drawing and sculpture make inner shadows and the mysterious depth of the human mind visible and shed light on the abysmal condition of the body itself.

Unconscious and inner conditions are visualized in this work and provide the viewer with a possibility to look into their own interior.

Candela Pan, a Spanish artist born in Madrid, lives and works in Berlin.  Lena Ader, a German painter born in Heidelberg, lives and also works in Berlin. They have different styles but they are linked by the depth of the subjects they deal with, the technical delicacy and the great calm of the figures they represent, which at the same time are quite unsettling.

Candela Pan talks about the mental shadows this way: “Carl Jung (Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst) perceived the unconscious as the mental area in which the creativity is at its maximum power. The figure of shadow personifies all what the person doesn’t recognize about himself.According to Edmund Burke (Irish philosopher, writer and politician of the 18th century) darkness produces more sublime ideas than light. For me, the creative process makes me aware of some unconscious ideas and impulses, which for me means, it illuminates our inner shadows”.

– Place: Kunstwerkstatt Sommer. Richard Straße 37, 12043 Berlinhttp://www.kunstwerkstatt-sommer.berlin

For more info:

www.candelapan.com

www.lena-ader.de

http://48-stunden-neukoelln.de 

[momaworks]

Studio Visit to textil artist Georgina Espasa.

Georgina Espasa es una artista nacida en Barcelona, licenciada en Bellas Artes por la Universidad de  Barcelona. Sus conocimientos sobre arte fueron también adquiridos en la Universidad de Paris (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs ) a través de una estancia de un año académico con una beca internacional.

Desde su infancia mostró interés en la pintura y siempre fue muy creativa. En la adolescencia comenzó a interesarse también por el mundo del cine, sobretodo el cine europeo y de autor, y ya en la etapa universitaria enfocó sus estudios en el campo de la fotografía y el vídeo. Para sus creaciones se inspira utilizando material familiar, como pueden ser cintas domesticas gravadas en 8mm como también con prendas de ropa y objetos, ya que esto le aporta una carga emocional más fuerte a la obra. Esta artista residente en Berlin ha desarrollado su carrera como artista exponiendo en Galería GlogauAir (Berlín),  Freemote Festival (Utrecht) o MUA (Museu Universitat Alacant). En la actualidad, está enfocando su actividad hacia el arte téxtil y creando su propia marca de confección artesanal de tapices Telarium.

Foto: Instintos Distintos // Exposición 2016

Cristina Benzi: ¿Cuándo empezaste a interesarte por el arte?

Georgina Espasa: Desde pequeña que me gusta pintar, es algo a lo que siempre le dedicaba mi tiempo libre. En la adolescencia empecé a enfocar mis estudios en el ámbito creativo, escogí el  Bachillerato Artístico y luego me matriculé en la Universidad de Bellas Artes de Barcelona.

Mi abuelo fue un amante del cine, fundó un Cine Club en su localidad y fomentó el interés y pasión por este arte en los años 60. Yo nunca fui consciente de esa faceta suya, a parte falleció cuando yo tenia 9 años, pero supongo que de alguna manera se respiraba esa herencia en la familia. Quizás por eso, el cine me resultó un formato muy atractivo en mi adolescencia. Tanto el video como la fotografía son los formatos que utilizo en mis proyectos y la inspiración supongo que viene, en parte, de esta tradición cinematográfica familiar.

CB: ¿Qué fue lo que te trajo de París a Berlín?

GE: Vine aquí de visita por primera vez cuando estaba de Erasmus en Paris, y me encantó. Supongo que lo que  me atrajo fueron las posibilidades que ofrecía la ciudad y el contraste con el lugar de donde venía. La experiencia en París me sirvió muchísimo, fue allí donde empiezo a saber mejor que dirección artística quiero seguir y la ciudad fue muy inspiradora, pero me sentí más cómoda en Berlín.

Aunque la situación actual está cambiando a marchas forzadas, Berlín te ofrece, o mejor dicho te ofrecía la posibilidad de disponer de tiempo y espacio para crear, dos lujos en muchas otras capitales imprescindibles para cualquier artista.

CB: Siguiendo con Berlín, sabemos que llevas varios años viviendo aquí como artista, cuéntanos ¿Cómo promociona la ciudad de Berlín el arte?, y ¿A los jóvenes artistas?

GE: Algo que me sorprendió de la cultura alemana, y especialmente de la mentalidad Berlinesa, es que reconocen y valoran al artista. Para mi suponía un cambio abismal ya que no  solo partes de una base favorable sino que el hecho de ser extranjero no tiene por qué suponer un handicap en el campo artístico, sino todo lo contrario.

La oferta cultural en Berlín es tan amplia que abruma. Hay infinitud de espacios de exposición, apoyo y fomento del arte desde las instituciones y acceso a un público interesado.

Con los años han ido apareciendo cada vez más festivales de arte y actualmente es uno de los focos creativos de Europa, o eso dicen...

Berlín también me ha permitido conocer un poquito más la escena teatral y de danza, dos disciplinas bastante desconocidas en mi caso que quizás se deba, en parte, a lo inaccesible que resulta en España las entradas a este tipo de espectáculos. Si la cultura resulta un lujo, es menos accesible a la población y repercute muy negativamente al progreso de una sociedad (en términos intelectuales) y yo abogo por una sociedad bien formada y critica dónde el arte tiene un papel fundamental.

Foto: Instintos Distintos // Exposición 2016

CB: Cuando te conocí, estabas preparando tu proyecto para la exposición de Instintos Distintos en la Galeria Glogauair, puedes explicarnos ¿Cómo te surgió la idea?, y ¿En qué se basa la obra?

GE: La idea de la obra viene de “It will take a while”, una pieza que ya presente en el año 2011 para el Screenplay Festival en Berlín y también fue seleccionada en una exposición colectiva titulada Mulier Mulieris en el MUA (Museu Universitat Alacant). Esta animación estaba hecha con unos corsés ortopédicos, confeccionados por el taller de mi abuelo para crear una ficción dónde la protagonista sufre un ataque incontrolado de dichos objetos. Muestra la catarsis que experimenta el ser social producto de su herencia y entorno cultural.

El tema de la exposición de Instintos Distintos pretendía cuestionar cuales son los parámetros establecidos en la sociedad, en torno a la educación, la conducta, la sexualidad, la religión, etc.

Dado que la exposición fue el resultado final de un seminario sobre gestión cultural impartido por La Red, teníamos solo 4 días para montarla...trabajamos a contra reloj. Por eso decidí exponer una pieza que ya tenía. Pero al montar la instalación quise probar que podía surgir si trabajaba solo con el objeto en sí. Debo confesar que era la primera vez que trabajaba con volumen ya que siempre me he expresado en formatos planos pero para mi sorpresa el resultado fue muy satisfactorio. Por eso decidí mostrar la intervención de los corsés atados alrededor de las peanas en vez del video original.

CB: Pienso que sería interesante que nos contaras, ¿Cuánto tiempo necesitas para crear, es decir, para que personalmente puedas apreciar visiblemente la obra final?

GE: Normalmente, por proyecto, suelo trabajar de 2 a 3 años. Forman parte de un proceso minucioso de creación acompañado de una investigación personal y social.

Por ejemplo, en mi último documental “La mitad de un cuarto”  necesité tres años para terminarlo. Muestra como la herencia familiar construye identidad y la necesidad del individuo para asimilar sus raíces. Fue una investigación intensa emocionalmente hablando. Fui recuperando el material de películas domesticas gravadas durante 4 décadas por mi abuelo y entrevisté a mi familia para que me ayudaran a recordarle. Durante el proceso me di cuenta  que lo que realmente estaba investigando era una búsqueda personal de identidad.

En la actualidad llevo año y medio trabajando en torno al género. El proyecto consiste en retratar sujetos masculinos desnudos.

Mi intención es mostrar una representación del género masculino distinta a la convencional; captar la “feminidad” que cada hombre posee, creando nuevos significados que se reproduzcan más allá de cualquier sistema binario.

CB: Por otro lado, sería interesante que nos comentaras ¿Cuál es el proyecto textil que tienes en mente?

GE: Estoy desarrollando mi propia marca de diseño textil, Telarium, para tapices confeccionados de forma artesanal.

Me gusta mezclar materiales reciclados o de uso mas común con otros mas sofisticados. Para mi tejer consiste en un ejercicio meditativo a la par que creativo. Tejer implica narrar, conectar, entrelazar, entramar, relacionar, etc.Y esa mezcla de trabajo intelectual y manual me fascina. Ahora he vuelto a trabajar con mis manos y a trasformar los materiales y me lo estoy pasando en grande.

Para más información:

http://www.georginaespasa.net/

[momaworks]

November 2016, Berlin

Interview to multimedia artist Victoria Alexandrova 

Her current exhibition, Red Line is a collection of works in varying mediums united by the self-reflection of the artist. The self-portrait is a theme that’s often explored by VikaValker, and, although it’s usually prevalent in her photography, this time it stretches across her other works. Dark tones dominate the collection with contrasting glow deep reds. The delicate confronts the brute, the dark meets the light, and the feminine mutates into the masculine. The works call for intimacy with the artist, summoning the viewers through their own perception and interpretation of the visuals. Aside from the different mediums, the style is unrestricted. Its palette and the artist’s imagery of self is the connection line of this collection.

CB: First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself and your work. How did you become interested in art?

VV: I wouldn’t say that I became an artist; I guess I was born an artist because I've got an internal urge to do art. Sometimes it expresses itself, sometimes it takes ten years to do something but it’s always present. It’s something I didn’t ask for, many people say that is a God's gift. I don’t know if God exists but it’s still a gift, which I didn’t ask for but I got it. That’s why I think that’s my duty to get it outside of my internal world.

CB: How did you current exhibition “Red Line” come about? How did all this happen?

VV: It’s actually quite interesting. Just today I was thinking about how everything falls into a place, you know. I had the idea about a year or two ago that it’s time to make an exhibition. I was talking with my Finnish friend about how I’m always doing something about myself, that’s always self-reflective and so on. I like to use many different mediums (it's not always fixed in painting or sculpture) but the final works are somehow united. And suddenly she said: “Well, this is really like some sort of a plot or even a story line. In Finnish "Punainen lanka” roughly translates to a"red thread (line)", a common theme, which in this case is the self-reflection.

I had a wish last year to have an exhibition by the end of this year. I started making paintings and checking out galleries but I wasn’t very convinced about the options. Then I just continued doing art, building up a collection of works because I had already the idea about it the whole theme, so I was just preparing material. Things weren’t much foreseen at the beginning of this year. It’s some sort of an intuitive creating process, you wish something and at the back of your head, you are already processing. Then it just happened, I met the owner of Cuore di Vetro a year ago for the first time, later this year we had a chance to introduce ourselves better so I told him about what I was doing, and he told me that actually, his space uses to exhibit art and that he would like to have my artwork exhibited there too. So that happened almost on its own and I didn’t have to over-plan that much. I’m a strong believer and a wishful thinker that when you really want something, things will happen in their due time.

CB: Which mediums do you normally use? In what way do you think these fields connect?

VV: Well, for a long time I was only taking photos. My main interest is portraiting photography with a strong concept and a lot of dark humor. I use myself very often as a model, not only because of vanity but also because I find it very easy to work with myself: I don’t have to explain what I want and I don’t have to confuse people with my instructions. Sometimes I’m not sure about what I want right away so it is in the middle of the process when I might redefine the original idea or completely change it. I'm actually not always very comfortable to work with other people. That is also why I prefer using myself as a model. For a long time I was doing photography but it's painting that I need to do, it’s very meditative. I can have different projects running at the same time, just like I can be reading different books at the same time. I like realism, that is what gives me kicks. Reaching realistic detail and developing skills for me is a source of an obsessive pleasure; for that obviously you need a good reference picture, and I take all the reference pictures myself. The composition of the painting itself is mostly done during the photo-shoot planning or during post-processing, then maybe, later on, it continues to develop on the canvas as well, but mostly it is already composed before the painting. So actually what I’m doing is copying my photos.

So all the works here are bound together with the idea of a red line. The palette is very dark, there is a lot of red, black and porcelain pale tones. It's not the most cheerful but it doesn’t mean that it's a product of depression. I just love this palette, also for my outfits.

CB: Tell us what’s characteristic of your style?

VV: I guess the bold colours, the bold combination of the colours: black on red, some white. I like everything centered. I noticed that golden ratio is often absent in my works, everything is centered and I love square format too. The composition has to be centered.  The combination of the bold primary colours coming out together in a composition balancing at the center.

CB:

Why is often Self-Portrait a theme in your work? What does a Self-Portrait mean to you?

VV: It’s very usual for the artists to make self-portraits. After all deep inside, we know ourselves better than anybody else around. We measure others by our standards, by our beliefs and our views. I enjoy spending time on my own and I have lots of fun. I think it's not always needed to rely on satisfaction coming from outside but it's also possible to be self-sufficient to be able to enjoy.

CB: Your work seems very personal and intimate, is that how you experience it or do you keep a clear distance between your work and your life?

VV: No, I mean I keep my personal life away from social media. I do post a lot (pictures of my dog) and I might come out as one lonely woman in Berlin for some, but I do like to talk a lot so it's my way of keeping on talking electronically as well. On another hand my work is personal because it is me and it changes its mood with me. Now it's Red Line, but I have already started a new painting, that isn't that dark anymore, obviously still quite dark: it is not going to be flowers or green lush foliage or landscape, but it’s already getting in a better mood, I would say it's a different life situation.

CB: What do you want to communicate with your work?

VV: Hopefully tenderness even in this brute combination of colours, because I’m quite "punk rock", but I still want to give people gentleness. I’m not painting war or suffering, it might be a little bit dark or explosive but it’s just a colour. It’s not going to be physical suffering or anxiety which is nowadays' hysteria, I guess.  I don’t want to bring more cruelty with my work that is already enough here. I want that my works are pleasing to the eye, are appealing, pretty and beautiful. There is plenty of ugly so that’s why I try to do visually appealing stuff and transmit stillness.

CB:

Do you have something on mind you would like to do with art that you haven’t done yet?

VV: I have  many ideas that still have to come to life. There is like a little black notebook in my head that has many concepts for the projects for which I don’t have skills or resources yet, for example, metal work. I’m always interested in new mediums; I'm also learning everything on my own and like trying out new things. Glass work is also something I've always I wanted to do. I started working with wood this year. There are many ideas that I have for many years as a concept until it's an appropriate moment to realize them in life.

Obviously, oil painting is my everlasting love but it doesn’t stop me from trying out new techniques. I want to go really big with some installations; I have some concepts for works involving people so again it’s going to be something unique. I would like people to experience something on their own in a beautiful and comfortable environment I build, having 10-20 minutes of time of the joy.

Foto credit to the artist.

More info about the artist here:

http://vikavalter.com/

[momaworks]

Interview with the founder of Curated by Girls -

Laetitia Duveau

The Frenchy musician moved to Berlin seven months ago, became a Curator “by accident”, and has already organized a successful exhibition showcasing 26 artists from around the world. Curated By Girls is the project co-founded by Laetitia Duveau and her former partner Ophelie Rondeau. The platform promotes visual artists, focusing on diversity, equality, and freedom.

The first exhibition in real life, “Freer In Berlin”, took place on October 8 & 9 at Blender & Co. The show presented 26 artists from around the globe, showcasing prints, photographs, and drawings that explored “Female empowerment” and “Beauty of freedom” of the internet age.

Cristina Benzi: What does Curated By Girls aim to represent?

Laetitia Duveau: The idea is to represent diversity, equality, and freedom. I want everyone to be represented on the platform. I don’t care about gender, age, fame, race, religion….what matters to me is the Art, its quality, its sincerity and its messages.    

CB: How did you organize the exhibition "Freer in Berlin"?

LD: It was two months of intensive work. I selected most of the Artists via the website and ended up with a lineup of 26 fabulous Artists. It was my first show, I learned everything from scratch, and I didn’t know what to expect! I was amazingly surprised by the positivity around it! I received a great feedback from the Press, I had a lot of interviews, it was quite interesting but exhausting at the same time. I learned a lot, and I understood that every detail is important!

CB: Why did you decide to exhibit at Blender and Co?

LD: I had met Caroline Fayette, the owner of Blender, a few months ago. I immediately  felt that we could make great things together. She is a professional photographer and she organizes many exhibitions there. I got seduced by the vibe of the space and its intimate feeling. Plus it is located in Neukolln, my favorite district, which it’s also where I live. This area is full of Artists and Art Lovers so I thought it made sense.

CB: Define the theme of the exhibition “New feminity”

LD: I wanted to represent a wider and more open-minded vision of feminity trough art, by showing various aspects of feminity, and that there is no typical feminity. Anyone can be feminine. We are all partly male partly female… so I tried to show this through photos of men as well. The result was a beautiful patchwork of softness and freedom. In fact, I chose this topic by the time I was choosing the artworks; this vision of feminity just struck me through the story told by the 26 artists selected.

CB: What do you mean when you say Freer in Berlin? do you think people that live in Berlin are freer than those how don’t?

LD: I came across an article by Keith Telfeyan on “I heart Berlin”  called “Arriving at the Berlin State Of mind” (http://www.iheartberlin.de/2016/02/08/arriving-at-the-berlin-state-of-mind/). In this article, Keith had put exact words on how I feel about Berlin and about the freedom we have in this city. Here there is no pressure for success, you can take your time to explore and get inspired. There is a very chill atmosphere you don’t find in other capital cities. Money isn’t everything! People like to discuss important matters and communicate strong messages through Art. You don’t have to become someone, you can easily meet people, collaborate on projects and create. It’s amazing. I had the chance to meet Keith and asked him if I could use his text on the zine I was working on for the exhibition and he said yes. So that's how I decided to call the whole event "Freer in Berlin".

CB: What has it meant curating this exhibition for you?

LD: It’s very inspiring to share other people’s work instead on focusing on your own career. Everyone should experience it. I learned a lot! This was my first exhibition ever, so I had to learn everything in a short period of time. When I say everything I mean it, from A to Z, everything. I had to deal with details you don’t think about really, like making sure the artists will send the prints in a tube otherwise they arrive completely damaged….Now I know!

The tough part was the hanging of the 50 pieces ! I had to do it the day before the show, and it was very stressful. I was lucky to have a few friends helping me!!! I couldn’t do it without them!

Organizing this event was a lot of sweat and tears, it was spontaneous, instinctive and also extremely inspiring and human!! I think people felt that when they came to the show!  

CB: I have read in other interviews you have done, your purpose is to reframe the image of women. How do you think the exhibition Freer in Berlin could help?

LD: Thanks to the story told by the 26 artists. As I said before there is not just one way to represent feminity, and I hope the visitors to the exhibition have seen another perspective, another vision of it. The purpose was to forget about the clichés we have been fed up with for so long.

CB: How many artworks were sold at the exhibition?

LD:  15 artworks were sold. To me, it is a very positive result, and I'm really happy for the Artists who sold. 

CB: I think it can be interesting if you tell us who inspired you to express this idea of new feminity? It could be anyone, an artist or someone else.

LD: There is not just one artist who inspired me. I have discovered so many talented artists since I started Curated By Girls. To me, it doesn’t matter whether they are famous or not, but what’s important is the idea they want to express through art.

I often talk about Laurence Philomene’s amazing work as it is totally representative of the concept of Freer In Berlin. As a queer woman photographing men, Philomene’s photography completely deconstructs and destabilizes power balances. By introducing men into the softness usually reserved for women, Laurence gets rid of the neutrality of masculinity and instead installs femme aesthetics as a new neutral. 

CB: What do you mean when you say feminity is inside all of us?

LD: We are not 100% male or female. Feminity shouldn’t be reserved to female exclusively. Men also can be feminine. It doesn’t matter the gender, some people develop their feminity more than others, while some will hide it or try to get rid of it. Men usually don’t want to show their feminine part, because they learned they had to be powerful, strong. I believe feminity is something that we all have inside.

CB: Even if it’s worth to fight for it, don’t you ever had the feeling that diversity and equality in the society is a bit idealized?

LD: We have a long way to go. We live in a society driven by power, ego, success, money, etc. But I'm a positive person. A lot of people are trying to fight for important matters for the future and we should all get together and support that. But of course, there is still a lot of work to do. There are still children starving and dying in the poor regions of the world and this is unbearable!

CB: After visiting the exhibition, we could realize that photography, illustrations, and paintings were the major art form to express the theme, why did you decide to show it so and not with another kind of visual art like performance or sculpture, for example?

LD: Curated By Girls is a platform that promotes visual Art so it was logic to explore photography, illustration or painting for this 1st IRL show. But maybe in future exhibitions, there will be other types of art, like performances for ex…. To me, the most important thing is that the Art expresses something powerful.

CB: How is the day by day of Curated by Girls?

LD: Usually my routine is to feature a new artist per day, catch up with the many emails and submissions I receive…go to appointments, prepare future features etc… then I also take the time to focus on my music. I am one-half of electronic project ‘Free Free Dom Dom’. We are planning to release a new mixtape soon.

CB: What is the future of Curated by Girls?

LD: I want to do a “Freer in Berlin” group show every season, and maybe more frequent events focusing on one Artist. Of course, the website will still be running, I wanna keep featuring one new artist every day. I’m also planning on opening an online shop, where people could still buy the artworks from the exhibition Freer in Berlin. I received many messages from people who couldn’t make it to the show, so they will have the opportunity to see the artworks online and maybe purchase some of them.

CB: Would you like to do "Freer in Berlin" outside Berlin?

LD: That would be amazing. But I haven’t planned anything yet.

Pictures courtesy of Curated by GIRLS.

For more info:

http://www.curatedbygirls.com/

[momaworks]

Anne Imhof (born in 1978, lives in Frankfurt) has presented last Wednesday for the first time her new production Angst II at Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin. The show runs from 14 -25 Sept 2016. The piece shown at Hamburger Bahnhof is a mix of Theater, Dance, Opera, and Performance divided into three acts. The first one was presented in Kunsthalle Basel last June. The second one is the one presented at Hamburger Bahnhof and the last one will be presented in La Biennale de Montréal. The three operatic acts are linked and set in relation with one another. At each location, Imhof created a series of temporary images involving dancers, objects, and musical composition.

Last Wednesday night the queue to get into the museum was quite long. Before to get inside, a sign was placed on the welcoming desk: KEINE FOTO/ NO PHOTOS. But the reaction of the visitors was like no one have ever seen that sign. Pictures were the main activity visitors were likely to do while the exhibition. They were no scared at all, neither about the scary message at the entrance nor about the teenager who walked over the visitors heads on the long tightrope across the room. Angst (scared) seemed not the be the feeling the visitors felt, but curiosity was. 

Angst II is somehow a representation of teenagers, who can with freedom and easily move from one place to another in a large space, who can simply see above the spectators, from a privileged perspective, who has the power to make the crowd follow them, like the role model which seems sometimes inaccessible. It’s possible that visitors have asked themselves where to go first, what to see next, how to interpret that, or why they do so. Probably someone was also asking himself what was the meaning of the performance, but teenagers are not interested in questioning themselves so much rather just experience the moment as it comes.

This was not only in my opinion one of the must-see exhibitions at the Berlin Art Week. The artist, who is now represented by two of Germany’s hottest galleries, Isabella Bortolozzi and Galerie Buchholz, might be doing a great job. Also after winning the Preis der Nationalgalerie 2015, her work is being currently one of the art world bucket lists. If possible, I wouldn’t doubt to see the third part and final act of the performance at La Biennale de Montréal (October 19).

[momaworks]

Berlin, Germany – July 30, 2016.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to stop by Frank Stella shows at Sprüth Magers Berlin (July 8 - September 3, 2016). I had heard great things about the show and have waited for the right time to visit the exhibition quietly. It is true that I normally like to visit the openings, but this time, I decided to go another day, with two friends who are also into art.

Once inside, I realized Stella’s show is great. Her works Polish Village and Bali series, which although 30 years apart, bridge the gap between Poland and Bali.

Polish Village (1970) has been inspired from the Polish synagogues depicted in the 1959 book “Wooden Synagogues” by Maria and Kazimierz Piechotka. The 1970s marked a turning point in his practice that took place in the pre-digital era, at a time when the free flow of ideas was significantly hindered by barriers resulting from different political systems.

On her work, the unique reliefs extended the artist’s familiar format of shaped canvases from the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional, with the aim of constructing a painting that transcended the spatial limitations of the former.

Bali Series (2002 to 2009) followed the same approach but 30 years later.  But on this time, her work was inspired by an anthropological study on the people of Bali by Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead.

Both series together speak to Stella's continued experimentation with form and abstraction, transcending the confines of traditional 2D painting.  As a result, they are the product of Stella’s diverse approach to the conventions of illusionistic and literal space, from the pictorial to the architectural and sculptural.

Artist quotes:

“I don't like to say I have given my life to art. I prefer to say art has given me my life”

“But, after all, the aim of art is to create space - space that is not compromised by decoration or illustration, space within which the subjects of painting can live”

Photo credit:

Sergi Solanas 

Installation view, Frank Stella, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, July 8 - September 3, 2016 © 2016 Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

More info:

http://www.spruethmagers.com

[momaworks]

July 2016, Berlin

Studio visit to multidisciplinary artist Sara Ferrer

Cristina Benzi: How do you define yourself as an artist and how do you describe your work in general?

SF: I am a multidisciplinary artist. I like to observe everything and listening to the people. From there it is created a two-way relationship between society and my person that helps me to understand why we do what we do and the consequences of this. At that time, images are created in my head, as metaphors that are intended to describe, in a visual manner, what worries me or interests me.

I guess that my experience working in theatres, has greatly influenced my way of working, therefore, the materials and objects I use, attempt to maintain the memory of its main functionality, but I transform it and give them a new use according to what I want to say.

I always look for my work, to invite to dialogue and to seek for new ways of understanding ourselves.

CB: Which has been your training and your professional development so far?

SF: My career has been divided (or rather merged) during many years, between the performing arts and visual arts.

In 2003, I went to live in Newcastle, for three years, where I did studied Fine Arts and working as a performer and at the workshop of NWSI, a street theatre company.

In Newcastle, I founded the project Multiculturart, teaching of languages through art and theatre . Then I went back to Spain and at least for seven more years, I was working in theatres, primarily as a props-maker and stage manager, in the Teatro Real in Madrid, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and other national and private theaters and companies. While, in parallel, I was studying theatre technology at the CTE in Madrid, and the speciality of sculpture at the School of Art and Design La Palma, where I finished my studies obtaining the prize Aurelio Blanco, for the best project.

After that, during nine months, I was living in Malta, where I worked for a couple of months, at Manoel Theater in Valletta. My time in Malta, was mainly meditative and to organise my ideas. But since several years before, I already had an interest in moving to Berlin, so that was my next destination and where I live right now.

Here I have worked with the artist Tomas Saraceno during three and a half years, while toward some personal projects with photography, until a few months ago, that I decided to focus solely on my artistic career.

CB: What inspires you about Berlin?

SF: Berlin is a chameleon city. The city adapts to the people and the people to the city. I love its cultural mix and everything that happens in its streets. Everything inspires me in Berlin.

The weather, which on the one hand I suffer a lot, on the other hand, helps me to mark stages in the production of my works. Until now, in winter I dedicate more time to research, outlining ideas and to write. In the summer I move more and I materialise those ideas.

CB: What if you had to describe Berlin with a word, which would it be?

SF: Laboratory. I regard it as a laboratory of ideas.

CB: At this stage of your career, you have several works related with the sea. Could you tell us about your work “The self and the fish”?

SF: I'm an ocean lover. Most of my life, I spent it near the sea or rivers. It's something I need to have close.

The work is composed of a series of digital collage, made with portraits that I did to people that I really appreciate, merged with portraits of various fish species.

In this case, I wondered how we feel when someone you love disappears.

This work aims to sensitise the people about the origins of our existence, which is in the ocean, and to raise awareness of the importance of taking care of it.

In principle, the series is going to call “selfish”, with a touch of irony toward the word Selfie, used in the current society as a way of showing yourself in it and that has created a global phenomenon focused on an obsession for showing your image. However, I decided to call it The Self and the Fish because, in this case, the main intention is not to criticise, if not as I said before, raise awareness.

CB: Where does the idea of creating the installation “The shark is upside down” come?

SF: When you turn a shark upside down, enters on a tonic state, or tonic immobility during fifteen minutes. At that time the animal is totally in a coma and is not able to defend itself or react. It is vulnerable to any type of attack. I suppose it is a widespread sentiment in the society. My own theory is that the society lives in a state of constant tonic immobility, however, I think that society at the same time, it is as powerful as the shark in its habitat and that it will be only a matter of time to turnaround and react. I guess that I felt this way and I wanted to share it with the intention of creating reflection in a metaphorically and poetic way

The main idea is to fill a space with many of these floating traslucent sharks and play with the shadows that draw.

CB: Where would you like to show these artworks?

SF: The truth is that if I think in Berlin, the site where I always imagine my sharks would be König Galerie. I love this space. It is perfect to float dozens of sharks upside down (Hehehee ) , but really, in general, any wide space open to all kind of public, of course, not only in Berlin.

CB: What artist or artists inspire you?

SF: I am inspired by the people around me and their experiences. What I live and I experiment. The nature as the response to everything.

But of course, there are hundreds of artists with amazing artworks that I really like, not necessarily known internationally. However, if I have to appoint some known artists would be, for example, Chiharu Shiota, by the poetic beauty and theatricality of its art installations. Anthony Gormley, by its incredible work with the human body and space and of course, Tomas Saraceno and his utopia of “hacer asados” (barbecuing) in the clouds (hehehhe).

CB: How are you promoting your work in this city?

SF: Well, I guess that I should find a gallery interested in my work. Meanwhile, I am preparing several projects, among them, I am working on “Fishing the Soul”, a new installation with fishing rods and other elements with which I want to apply to an art residency.

Now just finish “Instintos Distintos”, a collective exhibition supported by Glogauair, the Cervantes Institute and La Red, where I show an installation with a cage and a composition of photographies, that speak about the breaking of frustrated desires. I am also working on a group project with other artists, here in Berlin. At the same time, I am in contact with biologists and psychologists with which I am preparing a project that would be the next phase of The shark is upside down.

CB: What are your professional and personal goals?

SF: My main goal is to continue producing, developing and sharing my ideas. Getting that, I get it all.

Photos courtesy of the artist Sara Ferrer

http://www.saraferrer.com/

[momaworks]

Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee.

Open doors days

July 16th and 17th 2016

12.00am to 20.00pm

-

Today Saturday, I decided once more being surrounded by art, as usual. I was on time for the event, so as I arrived I picked up the program and began to plan the visit. On the ground floor, I found pictures of the students enrolled in the school at "Sommersemerter", the majority. The photo that most caught my attention was that of the artist Pamina Weiss "The Happy Princess and the other such". Next to the photo, there was with more pictures of her in the castle of Budapest, where the series of her photos were taken.

To continue, already on the second floor I found several projects of the students of the degree in "Visuelle kommunikation". Suddenly, I stopped to think that maybe it would be this what I was looking for. Because of the word “communication” used, I thought that maybe that will be preferred to journalism, but no, it is something more practical than theoretical. During the tour through the rooms, I realised the reality of the proverb: "Images are worth more than a thousand words." In particular, some projects called me more my attention, "Spread the news", "Transmediale" and "Macht Wohnen glücklich?" were some of them. 

Surprisingly, on the next floor, I found projects by students of the degree in "Mode-Design". I was literally in love with some projects. All the clothes combination were mostly minimalist and soft colours, with various tissues from textiles until the plastic. A particular outfit called my attention, a sports set with black hat almost to covering the face completely, but in a way, it also seemed to be a wedding dress, since it was accompanied by a veil. To be honest I thought, that is daring! But I have to admit that like it.

http://www.kh-berlin.de/

[momaworks]

Through the lens of Berlin blue-light-pantone w/photographer Irene Cruz

July 2016, Berlin

She is someone who is totally in love with Berlin blue-light-Pantone, someone who moved from Spain because of that. Her name is Irene Cruz and she is a photographer, performer, and video artist. She consider herself as an artist fighting hard for a place as an artist in the world, trying to make some sort of gesture or write with light some kind of pathway that actually makes her really happy.

Cristina Benzi: How did you develop your interest in photography? Irene Cruz: I am not able to remember myself without a camera in my hands. Since I have memories, Photography has been a very important part of me. I used to travel with my family, and I have always seen my father immortalizing moments, printing them, and showing them on our house walls… it was so amazing, I wanted to do the same. And maybe that it is how I discover my vocation.

CB: How would you describe your style? IC: I always try to capture and transmit through my artwork all this feeling that the natural environment inspires in me. Rarely I show faces in my images, I make my work away from customization to represent universal emotions and feelings. My artwork is about philosophy, mystery, privacy, integration with the landscape… nature is everything.

CB: What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such imagery? IC: I don’t know exactly where my ideas come from; Berlin, and the experiences that I have here really help on that, it is an amazing city to create. Sometimes the inspiration comes from the imagination that awakens the books that I read, mostly of them, philosophy or sociology, Nietzsche, Simmel, Ritter, Spinoza, Heidelberg, or Sennett are some of my favourites. On other occasions I get inspired by movies, I am especially fascinated by the director Terrance Malick, he is my big reference. I love his way of working, his way of telling stories. 

CB: The first photographer that comes to your mind. IC: Gregory Crewdson 

CB: What equipment do you prefer to use?  IC: I have lots of cameras, but normally I shoot with my Nikon D800, and my favourite lens is the 24mm one. I also hold a Fujifilm Instax (instant pictures), an underwater camera… and also the old analogic Nikon FA that my father used when I was a little girl now travels with me. 

CB: How important is Photoshop in your final images? IC: It is not really important, I only use it to develop my photos in a very basic way. In most of my images, I just use the plugin Adobe Camera Raw and that’s all. When I do videos, I edit them with Final Cut colour correction tool. 

CB: How do you promote your photos? IC: Normally I work with different galleries that sell and exhibit them on different places as Art Fairs. On the other hand, I publish my artwork on the Internet very often, I get featured on different online (and printed) magazines and especially I share them on Social Networks like Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

CB: Among your work, which one is your favourite and why? IC: I think I have a little predilection for my series “Inner Tales”, I developed it on my first travel to Berlin 5 years ago. It happened in Spindlersfeld. It was like a revelation, Berlin’s blue light came through my eyes, through my lens, and I saw it clearly: that day I decided that I wanted to work as a professional artist, and go as far as I could. 

CB: What photography ambitions have you not yet achieved? IC: I would really love to exhibit my work in galleries as Camera Work, or C/O Berlin… But I have the feeling that my style does not really fit in the Photography tendencies here. My photography is very performative, and here they bit more for a documentary or fashion one. 

CB: Where do you see your work in 5 years from now? IC: This is a very difficult question for someone like me that rarely think about my far-off future. Maybe I get crazy and I end up living in a lost town between mountains, deer, and lakes (as long as it has wifi…), or maybe I will be in NYC (who knows if on Brooklyn Bridge or under it). Let’s see! I will keep working for making the situation the best possible.

CB: Which are your following projects?  IC: This week we are inaugurating in Berlin “Instintos Distintos” an exhibition commissioned by Instituto Cervantes Berlín and La Red at Glougauair.  During the summer I will work mostly on video art. On August I am planning to improve my skills as VJ and I want to learn some Video-mapping techniques. On September I will be part of the Berlin Art Week, and then I will start travelling again, to participate in Art Fairs in Sweden, Spain, and France as I have written down in my agenda.

For more info about the artist:

http://www.irenecruz.com/

[momaworks]

A path across the instincts

Instintos Distintos GlougauAIR – Berlin (Germany) From 8th to 12th July 2016

If we translate the word Instintos to English, instincts, we can find this defintion: the way people or animals naturally react or behave, without having to think or learn about it. Whereas if we translate Distintos, different, the dictionary will define it as: not the same or used when you think someone or something is unusual or shows bad judgment.

The use of both words together mean: the way people or animals naturally react or behave differently without having to think or learn about it.  

This exhibition make visitors question the nature of certain impulses established as “normal” in a social context. It doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is or where you were born. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, young, elderly, sick, healthy, or unique. Everyone in the world holds an inherent set of instinctive behaviors.

The series of photos Hasta el último aliento by Seri Solanas is a good introduction to the basic instincts. Love, sex and appetite are represented on his photos. The use of food as a medium with which to represent art is especially easy to understand. Food and sex keep humans alive and lead to adaptive satisfaction as a human being, but love is something different.

The thing is, we can eat and have sex without other purposes than pleasure. This means that our sexual orientation and food references are governed by the environment and society. About this topic It will take a while, an instalation by Georgina Espasa, Guided by the society by Candela Paniagua, The liberation by Sara Ferrer, En la intimidad by Ana Guallart and the Belen Majdalani photos, represent the individual results of the “role model” that the society has established, as a negative aspect for the identity and personality of the human being. For example, the “gender role”, is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviours are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based in their cultural or perceived sex or sexuality. The specifics regarding these gendered expectations may vary among the cultures, while other characteristics may be common throughout a range of cultures. Through the artworks exhibited by these artists, visitors can reflect what extent gender roles are socially constructed.

During the exhibition some instincts like curiosity, sexuality, fetishism, sociability, play, and imitation among others, were also represented by performances that invited us to experiment with the limits of consciousness about ways of social established behaviours with the intent of surprising.

Sexuality, found sometimes as a taboo theme in the society and especially in one cultures more than in others, is the perfect match to all of these artworks, but specifically connected with the theme we found artworks like Sexhibitionism by Jorge Benavides and Fuggerstresse by Diego Puerto. The artists want to express that repressing our sexual instincts causes sickness and frustration, but on the other hand accomplishing our fantasies allows our realization. Example of the repression include some cultural views on sexual pleasure within marriage and some views of other religions on avoidance of sexual pleasures. On the other hand, as a way to accomplish our fantasies, sexual fetishism, also represented in both works, refers to sexual interest in specific activities or objects.

But love is a different thing. Can it be described as an instinct? What is love? The beginning of something or the end of everything? It is mystery, privacy and away from customization. Photographers Irene Cruz and Sergi Solanas, and visual artist Ana Guallart have elicited a light in between different sides of love. The new beginning, body feelings, sentimental union and the end of something.

The beginning of something new is always exciting and could be easily represented by Broken Egg photo from Sergi Solanas. A start, a new born, a new love, a new life. Everything you can imagine, could just start now.

However Waldeinsamkeit, by Irene Cruz shows the woods with eyes similar to those of the German Romantics of the 19th century, a place for contemplation, made up of lights and shades, and paths that lead to the relief of the clearings or the isolation of luxury. The loneliness of the woods favors the encounter with the “transcendental me”, and Irene embraces it as an act of naïve gratitude. Meanwhile, a hand sinks in the lives while the other one grasps her own body feeling their differences, and feeling their union.

As a result of En la intimidad by Ana Guallart, described as a “vánitas” represented with a bunch of natural flowers. The flower is the reproductive organ, the sex, and the death. After some days the flowers will perish and so like the end of something, which inevitably expires.

Photo Credit: Sergi Solanas

http://instintosdistintos.tumblr.com/