This is an open space where I would like to express myself, and invite my friends and others to do as well.
In my creative and spiritual research I found out that blue is the colour of healing. This touched me so much that I started a series of blue paintings. This was a very big shock for my followers who didn't recognice me anymore in my work. They loved SIMBA and my Earth Paintings... which became my seal, and a wonderful way to express a certain need to go back to the roots, the origins of painting..., when man was pure and in full contact with nature. Perhaps even more spiritual too..., and closer to the “essence”, the Tao, the sense of Magic... What moves the Universe? Why am I here? Is there something else than just fighting for survival? Does God exist? Certainly, they didn't have the answers... But they had a very big sense of respect for the world that sorrounded them, for Mother Nature and all of her misterious phenomena. They sitll had the sense of “Sacred”...
In today's world, our new god is Technology. Man has become so arrogant, that he thinks he can explain and control everything. I'm still surprised everyday about all the information we can stock in a small and simple item as an iPod..., and so many other things... We're so faraway of our ancestors of the Age of Stone! The big problem I see is that with all this knowledge, we don't live happier than before... and for many of us life has become completely empty. There are no more gods, no more magic, and we have completely lost the sense of Sacred.
This has touched the world of art too. With the new technologies, for me, art has become very cold. Unspiritual, intellectual and cynical. It has lost it's original sense. It has lost the sense of Sacred. In ancient times art was the link between man and Magic, man and Nature, man and God.
I remember living in Barcelona. At that time I was completely into the world of art. Visiting every exhibition I could in the city and all around Europe. At the beginning I found everything very interesting. Discovering new ways of expression... But after a while I got the feeling that “something was missing”... and at the end I got really tired of seeing things I couldn't understand, and where the only thing that counted was the ego of the artist, how to be more original and surprise the spectators, and meeting the right people to make money out of your work. I got very confused.
Most of my colleagues and friends from art schools were very depressed and confused too. A lot of talent around me, but no one seemed to have the key of success. With that sadness inside, the inspiration soon disappeared and it became very difficult to create something. Some of them stopped producing and found jobs as waiters. Most of the artists I knew didn't even “look” at the work of another artist, they had absolutely no
interest. Too concerned about their own success. And if you had the chance to sell a painting they became really jealous...
So, tired of all this, I started questioning myself about the real sense of art...
One day I got a response. I was traveling in Oaxaca (Mexico), with my dear friend Norma and Pierre. A wonderful trip. I was completely excited of all the beauty I saw there. The colours, the shapes, the textures and the incredible imagination of the handcrafts of the Indians. I watched them work... Most of them were poor, they had really nothing, sitting on the floor and creating all sorts of things with very simple tools and materials. Everything seemed so simple! They were just creating..., completely concentrated on what they were doing. In a sort of meditating mood... but not serious at all. Very relaxed and enjoying their work. Everything came out easily, the shapes, the colours, the original ideas, always improvising, no fear... They were just flowing. And the most important thing, they were happy. They laughed a lot and were constantly making jokes among themselves while working. How faraway from the conceptual exhibitions in Barcelona!
Where did all this creativity came from?
As I said before, most of this people are poor and live in miserable conditions. Our civilized eyes cannot understand how can one be happy without having nothing. Most of us would become terribly depressed just of the idea of being poor. Of course I don't idealise poverty and I know all the suffering within. Every man on this earth should have the minimum to survive. Be able to eat and have a decent home. I just want to say that in the middle of their miseries, this people seemed to have something that we have lost in the way... the capacity to be thankful, just for the fact of being alive.
In their handcrafts I discovered also not only the beauty, but the real creativity. The creativity that we all have when we're children. No fear. Just expressing yourself... It doesn't matter if it's nice or horrible cause it comes direct from your heart. And there's no need to explain why you did that, in that way. You're not a slave of your thoughts as most part of the contemporary artists, in a continuous struggle to justify their work, to be more spectacular and original, and to be accepted in the art world, by the critics and those who dictate what is art and what is not.
In the work of these Indians I rediscovered also the sense of enjoying, of playing, the beauty of magic, of the simple and imperfect things. Things that come out from your soul.
And everything is so incredibly original! Without searching it...
I think these handcrafts are full of poetry. They remind us the child we all have inside and
our primitive ancestors painting in caves, asking for the blessing of the gods for a good hunting.
Most of these Indians are, like in all primitive cultures, great believers. In God, in spirits or maybe just in the Magic of Nature. The Tao. The magic power that rules the Universe. Their are connected to the source. So their creative work has the sense of Sacred.
How can this be possible? I think the response is simple: humility.
This experience in Oaxaca changed my understanding of art. SIMBA and my Earth Paintings were a research on this subject. Is it possible to create a work of art, in our modern and technological society, with the same spirit of our ancestors? Can we go back to the source? Can art recover it's original sense? Does this make sense today? Can we recover the child inside us?
I'm very thankful to all those who have found a meaning in my work and own a painting of this period. Some of them have become real friends and we share sort of the same vision of life: a certain need of serenity and understanding things in a different way, in this chaotic world full of stress...
With their love and financial support, they have not only given me the resources I needed to keep on working, but the certitude that my research was on the good direction. To all of them my deepest love and respect. SIMBA is already a part of me. And to reassure them I must say that the adventure goes on. But, like my blue paintings, other forms of expression will emerge. Don't worry, it's still me...
It's all part of the same creative process...
And I would feel very honored if anything I do can inspire you. or awake something that's sleeping inside you.
Kandinsky said that the work of an artist could only be undestood by another artist.
I've never learned how to play piano, but my heart is full of joy when I listen to a good pianist. He expresses something that I can't express myself, but that has a lot to do with me... Then Beuys said that every man is an artist. I've always believed that. So, if we are all artists, we can conclude that the only thing we really need is to learn how to express ourselves. And the second important thing would be to free our minds and be open to what others have to express. In resume, we must learn how to listen. This is the way I understand art.
We all need to explore different aspects of our personality.
BLUENOTES2 has been created for this purpose. I've been writing for years and find great pleasure doing it. In this Blog I want to share all the interesting things I find in my way with my friends, and invite them to express themselves in it too. I also extend the invitation to anyone else who wants to participate, with good intentions, respect and a constructive attitude. Any interesting image, statement, link and music are also welcome. This space is completely open. I expect it to be an interesting platform to grow up together.
Blue is the colour of healing. Writing or creating anything too. We only have one life to discover who we are. So let's just flow and see what happens...
Nothing in BLUENOTES2 pretends to be perfect. This Blog is just a sketch so it will be full of erasures... For example, I started in English to make it more open. But I'll write things in Spanish and French too. So sorry for all the mistakes... I just expect that what I write is clear enough to motivate others to participate.
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