Retablo Auction New Additions – WOW!

Straight from Tepic, Nayarit via DSL this marvelous retablo by my dear friend, Pedro Luis de Aguinaga arrived this morning.  Artist, writer, raconteur, boulevadier, brilliant and cunning at observing and commenting on people and situations and, most importantly, loyal friend and advisor with a sharp wit that keeps me entertained for hours.  This retablo is proof positive:  Catholics pray to the Virgen for all sorts of miracles, to Saint Anthony to help them get a mate, and rely on Estee Lauder to keep them looking good.  Mil gracias, querido.  Me encanta!!+

José Luis Ortiz Téllez
Born in México City.

“Using a wide range of media and materials– everything from cast paper and oil canvas to etching, lithography and computer images Ortiz make bold designs with a vocabulary that is figurative and abstract with psychological and primitive overtones.”
Ortiz studied art in Mexico at The Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas, and the Molino de Santo Domingo; in New York at Art Students League, Printmaking Workshop, and School of Visual Arts.
Ortiz has participated in many solo and selected exhibitions in USA, South America, Canada, México, and the Caribbean.
Invitations to lecture and teach mini-courses in art and design have brought him to México, Spain, Colombia and Ecuador in art and design institutions. Collections Include:Library of Congress of the USA, Washington, DC; School of Visual Arts Foundation, New York; Museo San Carlos, de la Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, México; United Nations Children’s Fund (unicef); Art Directors Club, New York; TV Canal 41, New York; The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York; Robert Blackburn Collection at Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and several private collections.

Intaglio relieve (emboss) showing casting charms made it out of gold, or silver votives in many different shapes called ‘Milagros’ (Miracles), and linoleum cut print with a man figure holding a sneak in one hand, and at the top the image ‘Our Lady of Guadalupe’, showing the relation between the Hispanic Catholicism and the practice of the Paganism.
This Print called Ex-Voto also, is expressing gratitude for the favors made it for the Mother of many Mexicans, called ‘Madrecita’ and the short prayed narrative for the divine intervention.
The print revises the early use of printmaking in Europe before the ‘retablo’ (‘behind the altar’) painted in metal tin or wood.

Quote:
‘Gracias Madrecita por dar amor, comida y salud a mi pueblo’/
’Thank you Mother for the love, food and health to my people’.

This print is available in a series of 25

Last night I went to the book party for Elaine Louie’s great new book The Occasional Vegetarian (Hyperion 2011) and her longtime enamorato, famed artist and cartoonist Robert Grossman immediately offered to donate something when he heard what Food is Arte is about. And here it is and it is particularly appropriate for this day and age.

Robert Grossman is a New York artist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Nation, Forbes magazine and countless other publications.  He’s also a great joke teller!

When I have a good idea, I often hear a little bing! in my head and  my mother would often say: Mjja, It’s just that the Holy Spirit visited you (Catholics believe that the  Holy Spirit illuminates you.) Well, I don’t know if it was a divinity or luck or my mother that brought Alex Uballez and Gabrielle Lopez in to my life but with  them came a ray of sunshine, much needed help and companionship, and  a tremendous feeling of satisfaction.  Gabrielle has written that she wanted for people to recognize me as the Mexican cooking/cultural authority and that she was not happy  that 2 foreigners had appropriated or been given that place. I must confess that that is not important to me. I have my mission,  and do my work and that is it.

She and Alex come over most  Sundays and we cook , work on my archive,)now almost finally done thank God, and share meals, stories and Sundays. Do you know that Kris Kristofferson song:  “Sunday morning coming down?”. Thank God they have been there  and now I  look forward to Sunday.

They are sweet, kind, generous, lively, intense, lovable and I am one lucky lady,  They are also very talented. Even though Alex said that the spectacular photo/retablo was hers, ,she separately said that it was great collaborating with Alex. That will tell you everything about this couple.

I must admit that I am a little torn about putting up this retablo of me but the sentiment is beautiful and I know it is heartfelt and besides I did tell everyone that they could interpret the concept any way they waned so thank you , sweet John.

“For this painting, I wanted to celebrate the living. And what better person to honor and thank than my friend, the life-affirming Zarela Martinez, whose spirit, generosity, kindness, respect for tradition and curiosity about the new have enriched the lives of so many people. And I wanted to surround her in the beautiful colors that mean so much to her — blue, red, orange, yellow, green, purple, pink — and, of course, in a gold wooden frame from her beloved Mexico. Gracias, Zarela, por su fuerza y amor. John”

John Hyland is proud to be a part of the Retablo Auction for the Food Is Arte benefit. Raised in Forestville, Conn., he is a painter of portraits, landscapes, seascapes, room interiors and architectural exteriors. His work has been shown in galleries in New York City; on Block Island, R.I.; and in Budapest, Hungary, and he welcomes commissions. When he is not painting, he keeps busy with his day job as an editor at The New York Times, but his first love is art.

People love the idea of the retablos and people eagerly sign up when I explain the concept. This is what happened with Teresa who contributed this adorable, original oil painting of her favorite rabbit.

Art of the Stamp homepage
United States Postal Services

Raised and educated in Westchester County, New York, Teresa Fasolino studied with Robert Weaver, Marshall Arisman, and other contemporary artists and illustrators at the School of Visual Arts. During the last 15 years, she has worked for many major magazines, publishers, and advertising agencies while evolving and developing her style of illustrative painting. Some of Fasolino’s clients include the U.S. Postal Service, The New York Times Magazine, Berkley Publishing, and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Her work has been exhibited at the Society of Illustrators and at various New York galleries.

y

I was thrilled when my granddaughter Catya Bastien, who is the daughter of Manu, Marissa’s husband, submitted this completely different retablo that is right to the point:  we all have things that we value and are thankful for.  Catya, I’m so proud!

Pieces will be sold via a silent auction and online

Cost for other guests will be $25.00 payable through PayPal

This is the first piece:

The first time I met Peruvian graphic artist, Julio Granados, was when he walked in the door of my house clutching a package wrapped in a brown plaid flannel cloth.  My friend Norberto Bogard of the very informative www.piederecho.com, had told him about our retablo contest/auction to raise money for the Food is Arte program that I created and run with  my daughter, Marissa for the Mexican Cultural Institute and he enthusiastically set out to work.

Hardly able to restrain his excitement, he  carefully unwrapped the package and I burst out crying.  It is a  beautifully crafted wooden box that he illustrated with a stylized  portrait of Saint Rose of Lima. He  carefully opened it and on the left is a crown of roses that she always wore and inside the box is a letter whose message thanking her for allowing him to be born gay touched me deeply.  What courage.

Julio is a a freelance conceptual graphic designer & Illustrator specializing in producing print, logos
and illustration for design agencies  and businesses world-wide.

Julio Granados has 18 years industry experience working for editorials, print production, design agencies and companies which include McGrawHill, Santillana, Alfaguara Infantil, NYU, Sprint, El Museo del Barrio and Bigcitygraph-X in New York.  look at his website ww.juliogranados.com and you will recognize many of his logos and other work

2.-

I’ve known, admired and loved Rodica Prato and her work for over 10 years when she designed the map based on Miguel Covarrubias’ style for my book , Zarela’s Veracruz (Houghton Mifflin 2001.)  I can truly say that I have never met a kinder, most generous and multi-talented woman.  I could not possibly go into all her projects so please visit her website and you will be astounded by the breadth of her work.

She illustrates many Martha Stewart books, also Garrison Keiler, has just done an incredible book illustrating the White House and many other incredibly detailed works.

In some ways Rodica is very shy so she did not send a short bio so please go to this link for her full story http://www.rodicaprato.com/About%20us/about.html

3.-

Barbara Kikpatrick is a new friend whose art I just started to discover and am amazed by  her original style.  A shortened version of her bio explains it  better that I ever could.  For further information go to her website barbarakilpatrick.com

Barbara Kilpatrick is an interdisciplinary visual artist who unites elements of sculpture, photography and set / costume installations. Her work is seen primarily in the context of performance and visual art, and has been shown in such venues as Dance Theater Workshop, St Mark’s Church/Danspace Project, and The Kitchen, all in New York City, Ancram Opera House in upstate New York, and the New Arts Program in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.

4.- More traditional but naughty:

Rene Maynez  is a multimedia artist from the El Paso, Texas/Juarez Chihuahua area with a wicked sense of humor. His photoshopped photograph collages are amazing www.renemaynez.com and vary from kitschy  to ethereal.  He did this partly as a joke and might make me take it down but this is the sort of risque, irreverent  street retablos you can buy in Mexico City or small specialized art markets.
5.-

Everything that Barbara does is always beautifully thought out and picture perfect.  She is a woman of many talents and interests.  An artist, a poet, a chef, and a supportive friend.

Barbara Sibley is the owner and chef of the critically acclaimed La Palapa restaurant in Manhattan. She was born and raised in Mexico City. Her recent cookbook is Antojitos: Festive and Flavorful Mexican Small Plate. For many years she has collected traditional, rare and ancient Mexican recipes, including 17th Century recipes from Mexico’s convent kitchens, and traditional ingredients. Her interest in indigenous cuisines was deepened by her studies in Anthropology at Barnard College. She studied painting in Mexico City and New York and her recent series are ink on paper images of tractors. Since 1997, she has served as co-director and founder of the San Miguel Poetry Week, an annual poetry conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

RETABLO INFO

“Gracias San Isidro por el don de encontrar agua”
Jorge Abeja

My Grandfather was a farmer who was able to find water by using a “witching stick”. He was a water witch or dowser and found all the wells in his valley. The water meant that they always had corn.

7.-
Nicki Kalish is an award winning graphic designer. She worked for the New York Times as a senior art director and was responsible over the course of her career there for the design of many sections including: Arts & Leisure, Travel, Home and Dining. She continues to work on a freelance basis and will be designing a special supplement for the paper, “Ed Life” as well as designing logos such as Fenway Park’s Centennial Anniversary as well as book covers.

Michael Magers’ interest in photography began as a young adult learning the basics on his father’s Canon AE-1.  However, his path to the lens took the long way around as he obtained two Masters degrees and focused instead on building a successful career as an investment manager.  A trip to Africa and the opportunity to experience wildlife in an intimate setting allowed him to reconnect with the power of a simple, beautifully composed image.  From that point on, he was seldom without a camera, documenting both his travels and his day-to-day experiences as a resident of New York City.

He has just launched his photography website.  Take a look . His images are wonderful and the one he chose as his retablo is breathtaking.

Evelyn Golz is a classical pianist and teacher, who grew up in a family of generations of artists and musicians.

She became fascinated with retablos when she first saw the wonderful collection of Frido Kahlo and Diego Rivera in Coyoacan.
Passionate about Mexican culture, she has travelled extensively throughout Mexico with her husband, Eduardo– and often in the company of her little dog, Pablo.

Victoria Munro was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1975. She has spent the last thirteen years working between Auckland, New Zealand and New York, USA. During this time she has exhibited her photographic and sculptural works internationally and curated/co-curated exhibitions in New Zealand, Australia and Europe. Munro was co-director of rm3 and rm212 gallery from 1998-2002. She is the co-editor of art publication SOAP. For more information go to:http://victoriamunro.wordpress.com/

This is an unusual retablo but still captures the feeling.  Interestingly enough she picked a photograph taken in El Paso’s Concordia cemetery where Lady Flo, the mulatto wife of Lord James Delaval Beresford, the first owner of our ranch in Chihuahua is buried.

The message is for you to decide.

That is the official  bio but Victoria is my much loved and admired daughter in law who is a hip, cool artist and is changing the face of the Staten Island art scene.  She recently installed  A major public work on the steps leading to the Staten Island Ferry.

She is also a wonderful wife to my son Rodrigo and an amazing mother to my beautiful granddaughter Violeta.

Of course I  had to make one or two and I chose to have my retablos relate to the to the upcoming Day of the Dead celebrations.  The first one is a large twig wreath decorated with all kind of toys, masks, paper mache skeletons and in the inside of the wreath I attached a picture of a traditional altar in Veracruz.

I found a skull-lined black lavastone bowl  and realized it would make a unique retablo.  I placed a generous ofrenda of food, some musicians and a singer with a note  attached to a ribbon welcoming our loved ones back for their  2011 visit.  It can be used every year and personalized.

Comments 0

I have two or three more that I will post this weekend plus two of mine