The Narrative Within

Irini Gonou and magical writing.

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Art for Housewives

It’s been awhile since I’ve blog due to my daughter’s knee injury and the breakdown of my modem. Hopefully, my blog will pick up some animation now!

Last year I had been presented the possibility of teaching a workshop in Senegal (which, unfortunately, I later had to refuse) and that led me to researching gris-gris, amulets worn for protection from evil. Often the gris-gris is a small cloth or leather pouch containing small objects or written verses. The idea of wearing writing for magical purposes fascinates me as my Muy Marcottage huipiles and dresses all have words or phrases stitched onto them.

gris-gris

magical writing

One link leads to another and that’s how I discovered the work of Irini Gonou. Irini’s work is very poetic and deals a lot with magic scripts and apotropaic texts. She has a series of work entitled The Sheltering Word representing her exploration of the healing and protective powers of the written word.

“la veuve du vernay” collage by Irini Gonou

Irini Gonou

for more information regarding the writing used by Irini, read this interesting interview: Irini Gonou’s “A Tale of Two Cultures” | Published under Caspian Arts Foundation

writing on Eucalytpus Leaves by Irini Gonou

Apparently Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and philosopher, was also into magical writing. Around 1654, he had a mystical vision and then wrote about it. And if that wasn’t enough, he sewed this “Memorial” onto the lining of his jacket.

Blaise Pascal

P.S. Thank you Jo for telling me about this! Above is a foto of scribbles made by Australian gum moths on the bark of a eucalytus tree. Looks like some kind of stream of consciousness writing, no? Australian writer, Nancy Cato, wrote about this phenomenon in her children’s story Nin & the Scribblies.

Posted in People | Tagged gris-gris, Irini Gonou, magical writing, Muy Marcottage | 11 Comments

Geta Bratescu’s conceptual scraps and Hari Kuyo’s broken needles

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Art for Housewives

Artist Geta Brătescu is considered one of the most important figures in the Romanian avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s. She studied art and literature but was forced to quit her studies. Born in 1926, she made art for years before the international art world even knew of her existence.

In 1989, when the communist regime ended in Romania, Geta’s work began being exhibited beyond her geograhical boundaries.

Geta, initially, focused on drawing but eventually experimented with many art forms. Those which intrigue me the most are from the ‘Vestigii’ (Vestiges) series. She’s taken old clothes and fabric scraps to make collages. Geta also makes sewing machine drawings.

Geta in her studio

Geta at the Threaded Stories Exhibition….”A selection of works from Geta Brătescu’s ‘Vestigii’ (Vestiges) series of 1978 feature patches of scrap fabric layered to form a textured collage. Installed on the wall, their tattered edges and patchwork quality appear to hover on the edges of abstraction and figuration. Scraps of bright fabric patterns and hues are mixed and muddled, as their layers often expose the wall behind. A leading figure of Romanian Conceptualism, Brătescu has been the subject of a recent major solo exhibition at MUSAC (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León) and was recently included in the 2013 Venice Biennale and the 12th Istanbul Biennale in 2011. Brătescu’s work blurs the lines between art and the everyday, enhanced by her focus on the process and production of art and the linking of her upbringing in Communist Romania.”

related links: Interview with Geta Brătescu + The rise of the OWAs + video interview with Geta Brătescu with English subtitles + Geta Bratescu (Frieze Mag) + 2011 Istanbul Biennial + Fabric collages at pinterest

IN PRAISE OF BROKEN NEEDLES

February 8th is a Japanese festival, Hari Kuyo, celebrating broken pins, needles, scissors and anything else related to the steamstress.

This tradition probably springs from the Eastern system of displaying gratitude towards objects that are a source of livelihood. It also reflects the animist belief that all beings and objects have a soul.

related: booklet by Audrey Yang + Hari Kuyo – Japan’s Unique Memorial Service for Broken Needles + Japan’s Homage to the Needle video + I was witnessing the annual practice of hari-kuyo, the “memorial service for needles”; a quirky Japanese festival which has been celebrated for about four hundred years. +

many thanks to Jo Quirk for telling me about Hari Kuyo!

Posted in People | Tagged Geta Bratescu, Hari Kuyo | 11 Comments

Lee Godie and the need for transformation

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Art for Housewives

This post is dedicated to my friend, Rudy, who, long before Amelie, recognized the magic of photo booth photos.

This is Lee Godie. Lee was born in Chicago in 1908. Eventually, she married and had 3 children. But her marriage failed and two of her children died. Shattered, she became a homeless in every sense of the word and began living on the streets of Chicago. Around the age of 60, she began sidewalk sales of her paintings in front of the Chicago Institute of Art. Lee said she was a “French Impressionist” and a much better painter than Cezanne. Thus, she believed, not everyone merited her art so she sold selectively.

Lee liked paint so much she would often paint herself and her clothes. She enjoy experimenting with fashion and often created her attire using items she’d find while rummaging through the trash.

As for her art, Lee drew and painted on whatever materials she could find. But, in my opinion, her true art came from the altered self-portraits she made using the foto booth at the Trailway’s Bus Station. Before taking the foto, Lee would transform herself using a variety of costumes to change her identity. And, once the photos were developed, she would continue to change her look by manipulating the fotos with a variety of materials such as ball point pens and tempra. Long before Cindy Sherman, Lee was working with the concept of self-transformation as an art form. And what a transformation.

For much of the morning, I’ve been staring at Lee’s self-portraits trying to understand the “Why” behind them.

In general, Lee does not look into the camera. Avoiding eye contact, she poses. But she always poses as someone else. What is she trying to say? What has the street taught her? What does she know that I will never learn sitting here in my comfortable home with my cat curled up next to me as I type this on my computer?

My initial response to her fotos is: she’s slightly deranged–even though in an intelligent way. But maybe it’s exactly this that makes her an artist. Sometimes art is no more than an effort to give madness meaning and direction. Or to find a home for one’s pain.

Luckily, towards the end of her life, Lee was re-united with her long-lost daughter (who’s created a Lee Godie Memorial Page) and, at the age of 86, did not have to die alone on the streets.

p.s.

pillow painting by Lee Godie

Godie enjoyed creating her self-invented ‘pillow paintings’ which consisted of two pictures sewed together and stuffed with newspapers.

Posted in People | Tagged Lee Godie, outsider art, photo booth photos | 12 Comments

Mercato Corso Trieste

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Art for Housewives

One of the things I like about living in Italy is the approach to grocery shopping. Generally I shop at the produce market near the house. Most neighborhoods have their own markets and mine is that of Corso Trieste. Corso Trieste is somewhat of a bourgeois area in the nothern central part of Rome. The catacombs of St.Priscilla, Villa Ada and Coppedè are also located here. Above is a foto of the outside of the Mercato. Looks like a garage until you go inside.

We don’t eat much meat, but when we do, we buy from this butcher who sells only Chianina beef. Not only does he sale good quality food, he is also “molto simpatico”.

Not only does he sell meat, he sells temptations. Above are various ways that he prepares straccetti (meat strips). Look at he chicken straccetti made with chicken, dried apricots, almonds and black pepper–yummy. By the way, if you’re into Italian cooking, take a look at Elizabeth Minchilli’s in Rome Food Blog. She has many great recipes.

Next to the butcher is the butcher’s wife’s bread stall. There’s always a line –Italians are bread dependent.

The bread is fresh and there are so many different types to choose from.

As for produce, I love the colors.

I always buy from Clara. Going to the market is somewhat of a social event–you don’t just buy food, you exchange ideas as well. Clara and I talk about different things regarding life in general. But we also exchange recipes. She gave me one of our favorites–chestnut and mushroom soup. Her recipe is moreorless similar to THIS ONE but without the cream. Yummy!

And we buy fresh eggs from this woman. All fresh and wrap’t in news paper instead of cartons. You can buy just one egg if that’s all you need.

The corner near the market where the itinerant vendors park. Rome has a history of itinerant vendors and outoor markets.

Posted in Rome/Italy | Tagged Mercato Corso Trieste, Rome | 6 Comments

Talking walls: San Lorenzo graffiti

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Art for Housewives

My Mr. Big gave me a new digital camera since the one we have has died. It always takes me awhile to adapt to techno devices as I find them somewhat hostile and unwilling to co-operate with my lack of know how. But this morning I decided to become friends with my new little red camera and invited her out for a walk near my studio in the area of San Lorenzo (Rome). It is an area sandwiched in between Termini train station and the Verano Cemetery and adjacent church, San Lorenzo fuori le Mura.

San Lorenzo was originally a “working class” (built for factory workers) neighborhood but, because of it’s nearness to the La Sapienza University, now it is heavily populated by students as well as artisans and alternative lifestylers.

In 1907, Maria Montessori opened her first school, “Casa dei Bambini”, in this neighborhood. During WWII, San Lorenzo was bombed causing the death of over 1,500 people. It subsequently became animated by the politically left oriented and today is known for its active nightlife. Often described as shabby chic, San Lorenzo is rich in murals and street art.

My favorite mural is that against femicide (Murale Contro Femminicido). The mural is painted on the walls surrounding the building of the Knights of Columbus and is dedicated to the women murdered in Italy in 2012–on the average of one murder every 2 days. 63% of these murders occured in the home.

Murale contro il femminicidio

The mural is simply a chain of women similar to paper doll cut-outs. High on the chest area is a name of a woman murdered in 2012 and the date the atrocity occured.

Although it’s difficult to see, this figure has the name of Leda, murdered February 4, 2012.

Murale Contro Femminicido on Facebook

related links: The Roman Street Art Scene: Interview with Omino71 and Mr.Klevra +The GRAFFside of Rome: San Lorenzo + Street art in Roma + San Lorenzo Street Art I: Stickers and Stencils + Writers graffisco dunque sono + La storia del quartiere San Lorenzo a Roma raccontata con i graffiti + GRAFFITI A SAN LORENZO + San Lorenzo è il quartiere della popolazione giovanile, studentesca e creativa di Roma