Newsletter #21

#19 ANGEL ORENSANZ FOUNDATION

NEWSLETTER 1 August 2012

NEWSLETTER #21 Contents

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12 Director Al Orensanz Graphic Design Isaac Dlugacz Articles Cathleen Oberholtzer Sana Qazi

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16 Caroline Bergonzi Creative Odyssey...............................4 The Armory Show 2013......................................................8 Human Rights: Text, Context, and Subtext....................12 Hangar’t: Dare to Dream................................................16

CAROLINE BERGONZI: CREATIVE ODYSSEY

On October 9th the Angel Orensanz Foundation was filled with V.I.Ps and other guests to witness the work of Caroline Bergonzi, who has made a lasting impression in her home country of Monaco.

This exhibition came about after Bergonzi crossed paths with Al Orensanz himself, who invited her to present her work at the Orensanz Gallery. Creative Odyssey features over 100 of her pieces, from sculptures to paintings. Each and every one of Bergonzi’s work represents, her feelings and thoughts. The pieces are described by Bergonzi as extensions of herself, each one holding a personal and symbolic meaning. Her work was divided appropriately into sections: The Soul, The Body, and The Mind. She describes the soul as “an abstract, primordial element, always journeying, always evolving, and always in flux...

There is an emphasis on form and movement, and the relationship between extremes of light and shadow”. In this sub-collection Bergonzi displayed several mandala like paintings which depicted the depths of the soul. With strong color contrasts and and a circular pattern that brought about an intense pull, allowing viewers to discover the depths of the soul.

In The Body, Bergonzi displays works that depict the several stages of relationships between two people.

In this section her art “is a harmony of contrasts, which is expressed here as a confrontation between two solid entities generating energy and light; this is chemistry, a chemical reaction of compatibility. I often use polyptych paintings to depict successive phases in relationships”. Here Bergonzi displayed a set of two

individual paintings depicting a married couple’s tango.

Both a wonderful work of art, with a beautiful colors and positioning of the figures dancing, and a symbol of the push-pull phenomenon in a marriage Bergonzi adds a new philosophical and sociological twist to art.

Similarly, in the sub-collection titled The Mind Bergonzi stays true to her unique approach and displays art that is both visually gratifying and carries an immense symbolic and philosophical depth. She describes the mind as “the layer between the soul and the external world, a filter made of thoughts and beliefs, the ego which impedes the higher self...The mind is a double-edged weapon. It can lead us either to clarity and enlightenment, or to shadow, where it obfuscates, leading us to illusions, fears and the inability to distinguish projections from facts”. Here is where Bergonzi displayed a series of paintings that literally depicted how the mind works and it’s capability of false pretense. In one particular painting titled the Chameleon Woman, she depicts a woman looking into her closet deciding what to wear. However, as basic as that seems the woman not only has various outfits hanging but with each outfit a face that goes along with it, once again depicting a somewhat sociological study, and the role of the mind in art.

Staying true to her artistic nature, a good amount of Bergonzi’s work is also inspired by mythology and similar studies. Upon entering the Foundation guests were met with the eyes of the beast, literally. The collection which was placed in the center of the foundation, was of these metal sculptures titled the Phoenix Gardens. Inspired by the mythological phoenix, these sculptures depict various

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instances of the flying type of creatures. Her largest work displayed, a 12 meter long painting on the second floor, was inspired by the apocalypse and the myths that surround it. Specially shipped to New York from Monaco, this set of 12 related paintings features dragons, angels, celestial battles and much more, all with the use of bold colors and vivid images.

In addition to the the previous series, Bergonzi also displayed other various artwork that is categorized as The Journey, the Barocco Treasure, and a series of portraits. The Journey is a set of paintings that depict the various processes and procedures that occur in people’s lives, as Bergonzi believes “every life is a hero’s journey”.

This specific set includes the series of Bergonzi’s Hero’s Cycle. Famed in Monaco and chosen to represent Monaco at the Shanghai World Expo, this series is credited to be the work that established Bergonzi as a well established international artist. The Barocco Treasure is a collection of Bergonzi’s various metal sculptures. To Bergonzi sculpting is “like harnessing the beat of the heart as a vital creative force that flows from her into the raw material as she shapes and endows it with life”. Last but not least, are her series of portraits. These series are simply portraits of people with Bergonzi’s signature use of bold colors and fluid brush strokes.

Like a true artist Bergonzi is versatile with the mastery of different mediums, but stays true to her own artistic persona with the depth of her philosophical insight. Bergonzi’s New York debut in Creative Odyssey proved to be a success at the Angel Orensanz Gallery. Guests enjoyed the fresh new take on art that decked the Gothic halls of the entire foundation, creating a grand, and truly artistic atmosphere.

Bergonzi’s new book “Caroline Bergonzi Creative Odyssey” is available now through Crealab Publishing at Amazon.com

The Armory Show 2013

Since its conception The Armory Show has been one of the most important art events in New York City, as well as one of the leading contemporary and modern art fairs internationally. For fifteen years now the show has graced Piers 92 and 94 on the Hudson River each March. It has gathered together artists and galleries from all over the globe, giving them a place to display their work and make connections that could very well be impossible without the fairs existence.

From its debut in the Gramercy Park Hotel in 1994 the fair has grown immensely, evolving with each passing year.

Due to its increasing size it was temporarily relocated to the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue, to which it now owes its current name. It has continued to expand, moving from the Armory to the piers on the Hudson, which is has called home ever since.

With its massive reach it is no surprise that last year alone the Armory Show hosted 228 exhibitors – made up of local and international artists and galleries. It is with this global reach that the Armory Show holds a unique footing in the world of art fairs. The vast array of artists

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and galleries provides a comprehensive look at what is occurring in other countries in regards to the arts. It also allows people who might have never met a chance to connect. Galleries are able to network with artists from different countries, buying beautiful pieces of art to display. Meanwhile artists, both well known and up-andcoming, are able to interact with one another and make themselves known to the galleries.

The Armory Show offers all who come hundreds of different sights. However, with its ever-evolving structure the Armory has taken a step further in making its fair more accessible. This past show the fair teamed up with Paddle8 to create an online, virtual tour of the exhibits. This tour has now opened the doors for people all over the world, and not just those fortunate enough to be able to visit New York City. Now anyone can see the art on display, the performances, and the other various events with just a click of the mouse. Not only that but it allows galleries that had not been able to attend the chance to see what artwork is available, giving artists even more of a chance to connect with art enthusiasts all over the world.

Scandinavian Pain by Ragnar Kjartansson

Broken up into countless of different sessions, the Armory Show has something for everyone. The main two exhibitions will be The Armory Show – Contemporary and The Armory Show – Modern. Together they showcase what many would consider the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Modern show – located on Pier 92 – will have been a staple of the Armory Show for six years as of 2013. This section showcases world-renowned galleries who specialize in collecting Modern art.

Each gallery featured in the Modern section contains artwork that holds a historical significance in the realm of modern art. Unlike the Contemporary section the Modern section takes up the entirety of Pier 92. It is not broken up into different sections.

The Contemporary – located on Pier 94 – is of course full of contemporary art from all over the globe. The exhibition is world renowned, becoming the perfect place for artists to premier new pieces. Perhaps more important though is that the Contemporary is the place to showcase international galleries, as well as the place to find the up-and-coming

artist, and as of last year the brand new section – Solo Projects can also be found there. The Contemporary is also the home to the Armory Focus show.

Unlike the rest of the Contemporary and the Modern, the Armory Focus is an invitation-only section of the fair. For three years – as of 2012 – this portion of the show has focused on thriving art communities that are not well recognized. Last year the Armory Focus featured work from the Nordic Countries, recognizing the regions importance in the art scene. The show featured 19 galleries from the Nordics, each piece of art displayed or performance scheduled highlight the engaging and dynamic work of Nordic artists.

The Armory Show is an innovative experience, raising the bar for art fairs around the world. The best of the best is gathered, regardless of notoriety, and given the opportunity to shine. Between Pier 92 and 94 there is something new and exciting for everyone. In 2013, the unique work of Angel Orensanz will also be on display, so don’t miss it!

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THE ARMORY

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Y SHOW 2013

Piers 92 & 94 March 7 - 10, 2013 New York City 11

HUMAN RIGHTS:

Text, Context, and Subtext

by Al Orensanz

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations convened in Paris, France to pass the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration was distilled from other texts and contexts that had been formulated and transmitted for no less than two thousand five hundred years. In short, the Paris Declaration condenses a progressive conception of the citizen as a conscious subject, as well as a member of a diverse community to which everyone is called and invited. It summarizes events, documents, and speeches that have shaped what we can call the canon of Western Civilization: including the Cyrus Cylinder, the code of Hammurabi, the Ten Commandments, sections from Plato’s Republic, the Sermon of the Mountain, the Magna Charta, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, John Stuart on Liberty, the Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream”.

The Declaration, as it is a series of texts and not just a series of oral statements, moves along two double directions. It opens the past to a new situation, while also endowing the blurry present with the glamour of the past itself, making our moment, which is always fleeting and undecided, gain a layer of transcendence and permanence. It is, in

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essence, what Hans G. Gadamer calls the hermeneutical circle. The significance of the written text resides on its condition of what Karl Marx would call reification. The spoken thought becomes objectified and the fluidity and transiency of the spoken word and thought becomes materialized. The product is elevated to a theoretical dimension of power over the producer. The face of Eleanor Roosevelt holding a big parchment with the text of the Declaration in Paris brims with the transcendent joy and amazement of somebody who just unearthed the Rosetta Stone. The immediate mental climate in which the Universal Human Rights Declaration took shape is the golden age of the existentialist philosophy of Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Karl Jaspers, and Edmund Husserl, with the underlying presence and impact of Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche.

The year 1948 marked a divide in the fluid course of the critical Western philosophical discourse as a result of the death camps of the Second World War along with the blood and terror of Joseph Stalin.

These are the years when “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett was completed, and Eugene Ionesco’s “La

chantatrice chauve�. Jean Genet premiered his play The Maids in 1947. Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus provide the philosophical grounds for a griping new vision of social reality. The philosophers and the artists join forces with the workers, the workers unions, and the political parties on the left to establish an absolute, frontal refusal of the traditional, conservative values armed with the vocabulary and methodologies of Marxism, Freudianism, and the absurdity of the values around. More specifically, there are two parallel currents that contribute a juxtaposition of double contexts to the Declaration of 1948.

The First Industrial Revolution was still roaring in the Western world and in the colonies. This and the exploitation of the colonies were the main sources and supports of Western capitalism. Those two parameters created a surge in Europe and aided the expansion of Marxism and selfdetermination in the third world. On one side there is the ardent tradition of Marxism and the communist movement that brings up the concept of the state, as well as the just buried Fascist traditions that had made the state the motor of change and transformation. However, by that time, 1948, both fascism and established communism had shown their unimaginable depth of darkness and blood thirst. For almost fifty years prior to the Paris Declaration, both the liberal state and the dictatorship of the proletariat, both communist and fascist, had been advancing the state as the tool for the advancement of the social, political, economic and civic order. The dichotomy between the state and the individual is marked by the firm belief of the individual as a soldier to advance those ideals incarnated in the nation state to which the colonial world was being brought up. The Declaration of 1948 addresses the visions of the Western world, offering them to the rest of humankind as an invitation to sharing in the Hegelian march through time to a total triumph over alienation; and as a succor against the individual and collective, Kafkian sense of loss that the first industrialization brought in.

boulevards and avenues anymore. The dominant motives now are: sexual expansions and recognitions, ecology, energy conservation, self-awareness, new forms of energy, sustainability, and environmentally friendly approaches to our planet. The basic body of philosophical texts that contextualize the current reading of the 1948 Declaration of the Human Rights comes established by the outpouring of two successive sociological and philosophical clusters.

The first of the successive clusters is the Frankfort School, half way between postwar Germany and the US. Parallel to the German school we have a French school of thought that brings to extreme criticism the basic tenets of the Western system of knowledge. Such are Michel Foucault, George Bataille, and Jacques Derrida. Both the Frankfort school and the last French school developed strong roots in the Western university system. Friedrich Nietzsche appears again in the horizon but now repackaged for the baby boomers. Several French philosophers and their American counterparts have quoted him, referring to his maxims on truth:

“Truths are illusions of which one has forgotten that they are illusions; worn-out metaphors which have become powerless to affect the senses; coins which have their obverse effaced and now are no longer of account as coins but purely as metal.�

***** Sixty years later, a new body of texts, contexts, and subtexts has set in. The state has become a corporate mirror of post colonialist globalization. The interests of the citizens and the interests of the state are made part of the same consumer and postconsumer society. The rights that individuals and societies are clamoring for are clustered around spheres and areas dominated, in the Western world, by new forms of awareness, personal and global.

The unions and the working masses do not march down the

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In a way, Nietzsche has returned, if he ever was absent, with revenge in the work of French philosophers and in the work of American philosophers, such as Richard Rorty, who passed away last year. His main governing principle is that there is no fixed or fundamental principle, no “essential” truth or reality. There are alarming signs as well that the state in many regions of the planet is turning upside down and descending into banditry, organized piracy, and rogue maneuvering if not dedicated terrorism.

It is like a new crop of world governance would be adhering to an anti human rights charter. The apocalyptic, romantic terrorism of the turn of the 19th into the 20th centuries has become standard form of control of markets, arms, and governance in large swaths of the globe.

By the early 1960’s the radical philosophical and literary scene of Europe and the US was for the most part absorbed into the leafy, Ivy campuses of the wellendowed American university system. Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Paul de Man, Jacques Derrida, and many others worked at both ends of the Atlantic for many years. An important development in this overview of the last sixty years of cultural and intellectual life is crucial to mark a double development. America replaces Germany and France as the center of cultural and intellectual life. Still more important, the printed text that for the last three millennia had provided the support for the formulation and transmission of knowledge is being replaced by pervading alternatives worldwide.

Maybe the two segments of this statement, the change of venue and the arrival of the mass media come hand in hand. New York, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley have generated irreversible new paradigms of formulating and

transmitting knowledge. The moving image and the TV set displaced the sequential narrative that prevailed in the world for the last three millennia, in just the last thirty.

However, that media revolution was followed by another one that Marshall McLuhan could not anticipate. Two British gentlemen are at the core of this transformation of content, George Orwell and Ian Fleming.

George Orwell (1903-1950) foresaw in a handful of short books the structures of the state fading into darkness and the reduction of the individual, of man, into a scapegoat of intractable system of forces that have transformed the English language, all language, into a tool of annihilation. He was a visionary who died after discovering that the English language had been corrupted and was, to him, irredeemable.

The other Englishman, Ian Fleming (1908-1964), build a universe of his own after the Declaration of Paris of 1948. In his invented paradise in Jamaica, he created the now famous Agent 007. Agent 007, or James Bond, is a character that ranks in the company of Don Quixote. Bond portrays a mind beyond good and bad, the most refined ruthlessness enjoying cruel refinement and cynical pleasures.

The noble citizen of the Declaration of 1948 lives now commuting through the busy highways that lead to nowhere, in a toxic landscape of assembly factories where digital civilization mass produces DVD’s and software for everybody and about everything. The text has been superseded by the icon, the context

by Google search, and subtext by digital landscape.

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Hangar’t 5 77

HANGAR’T: Dare to Dream

Imagine walking through a small, rural town of France – the old but quaint houses and shops, the breathtaking landscapes. Already it sounds beautiful. Now add the idea of an art gallery right in that rural town. Everywhere in that rural town. Imagine walking through a forest or in the streets, only to find a brightly painted portrait of a straight-backed man with a feathered cap, or two little girls with ornate caps painted in bright pink, or perhaps a group of blue cows.

It sounds quite foreign to some, but to the small town of Nizon right outside of Pont-Aven, France, it is very normal.

The village of 500 is the home of farmers, shopkeepers, retirees, carpenters, and many other professions. They are people who do not consider themselves artists; and yet with the help of the Hangar’t movement, that is what they have become. As one of the villagers, Maurice Even puts it “if we’re artists then I think everyone can become an artist with a little care and patience”.

Yves Quentel founded Hangar’t in 1992 with a very simple goal: to preserve the memories of the rural community. It all began in an old cannery that has now become reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s “factory”. The people of Nizon come, bringing old family portraits and using a technique similar to Warhol’s (though different) to create vibrant pieces of art that not only liven up the town, but also help to preserve a memory.

As such, each painting has it’s own personal story, and no one is allowed to take another persons family photos for their own paintings – though many of the pieces are collaborative.

They work close together, projecting the photocopied black and white photographs onto a canvas or plywood, where they fill the spaces in with vibrant colors of their choosing. Together they have created over 300 paintings, none of which have been sold. They’d much prefer to hang their works in shops, house fronts, etc, and decorate their town for themselves and neighbors.

On October 25, 2012, twenty years since the creation of Hangar’t, the artists of Nizon found their paintings in a different sort of space, and many of them found themselves crossing the Atlantic for the first time. The brightly painted canvases were to be hung on the walls of the Angel Orensanz Gallery, bringing a little bit of their unique village you New York City.

The exhibition – fittingly entitled HANGAR’T: From Gauguin to Warhol, From Pont-Aven to New York – featured 30 paintings, accompanied with over 50 of the artists and family members. Two portraits of Paul Gauguin and Andy Warhol were placed side-by-side as a centerpiece of the show, symbolizing the inspiration these two men have given to the painters of Nizon. In a short, opening speech Yves Quentel, the president and founder of Hangar’t, quoted Gauguin in saying “everybody has the right to dare anything”. The show in New York City is an accumulation of twenty years of work. It is a moment of achievement for the artists, Nizon, and Hangar’t. As Quentel continued to say, they have dared to paint in order to create beautiful pieces to preserve their village’s history. Not only that but now they are “daring to get our fifteen minutes of fame” by presenting their art.

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The opening night transported the New York City guests to Nizon.

French was everywhere, and yet the language barrier was easily conquerable. In a mixture of French and broken English the artists explained what they could about their paintings to anyone interested, who in response communicated in their limited French. For many it was very lucky that Caroline Boyle-Turner, an art historian who specializes in Gauguin, was present to act as translator. As one of the few English speakers from the village Caroline volunteered to accompany the group and act as the translator – something she commented was greatly needed, especially when taking the rolled up canvases through the customs at the Newark airport. When asked to describe the villagers she said that they were all “so gentle, unpretentious, proud of their community and its rural traditions [but at the same time] anxious to transmit this to the next generations”.

The oldest artist present, Léna Coadic who has never crossed the Atlantic, was more than happy – even ecstatic – to take guests from one painting to another, all the while speaking in rapid French. One of her pieces, which she worked on with another artist, entitled Les Deux Petites Bretonnes (The Little Benton Girls), featured her when she was seven-years-old standing beside her sister. The portrait of the two little girls was done with a bright green background, which emphasized and clashed with the fancy pink caps Léna said they wore every Sunday. She spoke in rapid French, but Caroline was present to translate for those listening.

Another artist – Raymond le Breton – sat in front of a selfportrait of himself and his drum set, titled D’Gérari D’Jo, playing the accordion. Raymond is a very accomplished musician of the Breton music, playing at the town’s festivals. It was fitting that on this evening he sat in front of his self-portrait, playing for his friends, families and guests in attendance. The music added a festive air to the already jovial evening; mesmerizing the children who had accompanied their parents as well as leading to spontaneous dancing amongst the adults.

Perhaps what is most important about this event, and Hangar’t itself, besides preserving history, is the sense of community it has created and continues to help strengthen with each passing day.

“Some people that we used to see from time to time just to say hello have become true friends,” Léna says. “In the village of Nizon, the Hangar’t has brought us closer together, and that is fine.”

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