The Art of Photography

Some of my favourite photographs from the past few years taken in Vejer de la Frontera, Lisbon and Madrid. (Click on each photo to get the full image).

Colours

The following are some of my favourite photographs that I've taken over the past few years. The beauty of colour in Marrakesh, Gozo and Chaouen. (Click on each photo to get the full image).

Linda Donofrio - Photography as a Work of Mourning

The wonderful photography of Linda Donofrio.  

"We are unable to let go of anything, said Freud. This is why mourning is painful and exacting. Pain does not always follow loss, only when the loss is not accepted." (Comte-Sponville)

No sabemos renunciar a nada, decía Freud. Por eso el duelo es sufrimiento y trabajo. No hay sufrimiento cada vez que hay carencia, sino cada vez que no se acepta la carencia.

This is her website:

http://lindadonofrio.wordpress.com/

Glen Hansard in concert – Teatro Joy Eslava, Madrid, 13 February 2013

Almost ten years ago, just before I left Belfast to move to Madrid, I went to see The Frames, the Dublin rock band led by Glen Hansard. At that time The Frames had an almost cult like following, especially among students, and the concert in the Ulster Hall was packed out. I remember well the intensity of the concert and, in particular, the way in which Glen Hansard related so well to the masses crammed in front of the stage. By pure fortune I managed to meet Glen both before and after the concert through our mutual friend Eoin. I remember him as a warm and generous person, deeply interested in what was happening in Belfast at the time. 

Two nights ago I saw Glen Hansard in Madrid, this time playing under his own name, although still backed by his band The Frames. In addition, he had a string section comprised of four local musicians playing three violins and a cello, a brass section of trumpet and trombone, and a saxophonist. During the concert Glen invited onstage his friend Javier Mas, the dexterous guitarist who plays in Leonard Cohen’s band.

After a quiet start featuring songs from his recent album Rhythm and Repose, Glen exuded an appealing, humble innocence, almost appearing embarrassed by the adulation he was receiving. However, there was no doubt that ten years on he was a much more polished performer, with the band and arrangements adding much to his songs. At one point there was a mini soul revival as the band took on the style of Van Morrison from the 1970s, while later, with the song Santa María, there was the building electric intensity of the wall of sound created by The Frames.

Before each song Glen explained what they were about and why he had written them and, as in the past, he told entertaining stories about such things as a near death experience in Dublin Bay, his gratitude for the greater generosity of people in Madrid during his early busking days compared to those in Barcelona (a story that he jokingly admitted he would revise when he was in Barcelona two nights later) and a bizarre impersonation of the Italian actor Roberto Benigni after a young woman complained that she couldn’t hear what he was saying between songs.

After almost three hours of music, Glen brought the concert to a close by returning to his busking roots, going to the very front of the stage and singing a number of songs without a microphone. Lisa Hannigan joined him to sing his best known and Oscar winning song Falling Slowly and, finally, the whole band came back on stage to sing Leonard Cohen’s Passing Through in true Dixieland style.

A wonderful and unforgettable concert. Few performers transmit such passion and emotion. Many thanks Claire, I owe you a huge favour.

Luis Feito - Spanish Abstract Expressionist Artist

An exhibition currently being held in Madrid in the Galería Fernández-Braso presents a retrospective of the great Spanish abstract expressionist artist Luis Feito (born in Madrid in 1929), focusing particularly on his work during the period 1957 to 1962.

Feito is a hugely important Spanish artist and was one of the co-founders of the El Paso group in 1957, which brought together artists such as Rafael Canogar, Manolo Millares, Antonio Saura and Pablo Serrano. El Paso represented a vanguard in Spanish art during the dictatorship of Franco, forging a radical break with the established artistic norms of the time. In so doing, the group brought Spanish contemporary art more into line with developments taking place in Paris and New York.

Feito’s artwork is a fine example of Spanish abstract expressionism. His paintings are a wonderful abstract mix of mainly black, white and ochre colours. In the 1960s he introduced red which began to dominate his later work. His technique of mixing oils with sand created a strong texture and materialistic aspect to his paintings.

Feito's work has been exhibited in major museums and art galleries in many parts of the world, and he has won numerous awards and prizes, including being named Commander of the Arts and Letters in France.

The paintings shown above are some of those currently being shown in Madrid.

Luis Feito’s website can be found here: http://www.luisfeito.com/intro.htm

Susana Pannullo's Art - A Tribute to Argentinean Writers

Returning to the literary roots of her country, the Madrid-based Argentinean artist Susana Pannullo has produced a wonderful new series of paintings - twelve portraits of well-known Argentinean writers. Each is painted in her distinctive style, bringing out the serenity, reflection, intelligence and sensibility of the writers. Art meets literature.

                            Alfonsina Storni                           Bioy Casares

                            Julio Cortázar                               José Hernández

                            Jorge Luis Borges                       Marta Lynch                        

                            María Elena Walsh                       Roberto Arlt

                             Mujica Láinez                               Horacio Quiroga

                            Rodolfo Walsh                               Ricardo Güiraldes         

The mixed media, canvas-based paintings range in size from 60cm x 60cm to 100cm x 100cm and are available from the following websites:

http://www.saatchionline.com/profiles/portfolio/id/73428

http://www.artelista.com/autor/susanapannullo/list.html

Art Exhibition by Susana Pannullo - 'A Tribute to Argentinean Writers'

Susana Pannullo presents her latest art exhibition A Tribute to Argentinean Writers in the Quinta del Berro Cultural Centre, Calle Enrique D'Almonte 1, Madrid (Metro O'Donnell) from Wednesday 2 January to Tuesday 15 January 2013. 

The paintings are a series of wonderful portraits of Argentinean writers past and present, including José Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Alfonsina Storni, Bioy Casares, Horacio Quiroga, María Elena Walsh, Mujica Láinez and Roberto Arlt.

The opening of the exhibition is at 6.30 pm on Wednesday 2 January. All are welcome.

Best of 2012 - Music

2012 was a year when some "old" established artists reaffirmed their greatness with fresh new music.

Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas

Leonard Cohen, who's now 78, just keeps on going, writing beautiful, intimate poetry set to utterly sublime musical compositions. His voice has got even deeper and his melodies seem even more fragile. The musical styles he adopts are arguably wider than ever, as he seamlessly switches through rock, blues, jazz, gospel and country. His lyrics touch upon love, loss, death, spirituality and are sung with a wry, self-deprecating humour. An album to savour.

Neil Young - Psychedelic Pill

At 67 years old Neil Young is a youngster compared to his compatriot Leonard Cohen and his music couldn't be more different. Yet both musicians continue creating art of the highest quality. In the case of Neil Young, he brought Crazy Horse, his favourite backing band, back together and made his most raucous, rocking album in a long time. The opening tack Driftin' Back goes on for almost 30 minutes while another two tracks each last for over 16 minutes. Neil Young's unique electric guitar playing has never been better as his seemingly endless solos swoop and soar over the underlying melodies. Truly stunning.

Patti Smith - Banga

A third veteran at 65 years old is Patti Smith. Her hard rocking album this year, Banga, is her best for quite some time, with her voice clear and sharp. As ever her wordy poetic lyrics flow over powerful, chugging rock riffs. The literary New York rock scene of the 1970s lives on, especially on April Fool which features a magnificent guitar solo by the legendary Tom Verlaine.

Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, Yim Yames - New Multitudes

Jay Farrar has featured before on my end of year lists fronting his band Son Volt and when he and Benjamin Gibbard put music to the words of Jack Kerouac's novel Big Sur. This year Jay Farrar was one of four musicians, together with Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames, who were asked to put music to the words of Woody Guthrie to celebrate his birth 100 years ago. Wilco and Billy Bragg did something similar a number of years ago but I think this two disc album is more successful. Great melodies and especially gorgeous harmonies between their quite different four voices perfectly complement Woody Guthrie's ironic, political and, at times, sexy poetry.

Ian McCulloch - Pro Patria Mori

The lead singer and founder of Echo and The Bunnymen, Ian McCulloch, must be one of the most gifted songwriters today, effortlessly producing lilting, catchy pop melodies. The spare, largely acoustic production on Pro Patria Mori perfectly complements his smooth, understated vocals.

Susanna Hoffs - Someday

Better known as a member of the all-female rock band The Bangles, this year Susanna Hoffs brought out an excellent set of pop songs on her solo album Someday. Her pure, slightly throaty voice sounds as sensuous as ever, especially when set against some of the lush orchestral arrangements. She takes you back to the great pop music of the sixties.

Glen Hansard - Rhythm and Repose

Rhythm and Repose, Glen Hansard's latest solo album came out earlier this year to, what as far as I could see, little critical acclaim. After his surprising Oscar success a few years ago with Falling Slowly, maybe his intimate and intense acoustic music no longer fits the tastes of the fickle music industry. If so, that's our loss. Hopefully, his European tour, which starts as I write this, will change that.

Peter Bruntnell - Ringo Woz Ere

Peter Bruntnell is another musician who has featured on my blog. He must be the epitome of the great underappreciated artist. It seems that every year he brings out an album of wonderfully crafted songs all of which seem to disappear with hardly a trace. I for one am glad he persists. Ringo Woz Ere is his strongest album for a number of years as he reverts back to simpler production arrangements, allowing his songs more room to breathe.

Y punto - Punto de partida

Last but not least on the rock front I have to highlight once more the debut album by Y punto, led by my talented young Argentinean friend Agustín D'Onofrio. Punto de partida is an eclectic, self-produced mix of rock, blues and funk which reminds me of the Argentinean rock star Andrés Calamaro. One to watch.

On the jazz front these are the four albums released in 2012 that I listened to the most over the year.

Brad Mehldau - Ode / Where Do You Start

Brad Mehldau continues to be as prolific as ever releasing two studio albums in 2012: Ode and Where Do You Start. His hypnotic, lyrical piano playing is given plenty of room to flourish as he is joined by Jeff Ballard on drums and Larry Grenadier on bass. Ode is a collection of self-penned tunes while Where Do You Start is a diverse set of covers that include songs by Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Costello and Nick Drake.

Lars Danielsson - Liberetto

Lars Daniellson is a Swedish bass and cello player who I only discovered this year. This is yet another addition to my growing regard for Scandinavian jazz. The album has a melancholic feel and the melodies and musicianship suck you in like no other.

Avishai Cohen with Nitai Hershkovits - Duende

The bassist and composer Avishai Cohen has made a name for himself over the past few years for his powerful bass playing and wide-ranging use of musical styles, especially that from the Middle-East. I've not always been convinced, but Duende, an album where he plays with the talented young pianist Nitai Hershkovits, keeps things simple in terms of the arrangements and styles. I must have played the album as much as any other this year.

Best of 2012 - Books

Fiction

I didn't find 2012 an especially good year for fiction. While I read some fine novels, including some by my favourite writers such as Anita Brookner, Jo Nesbø and Alan Hollinghurst, there were few that stood out as exceptional. Indeed, I was largely disappointed by novels I read on the back of positive reviews and some of which had won awards and were hugely successful: A Man of Parts by David Lodge; Capital by John Lanchester; Shyness and Dignity by Dag Solstad; Swimming Home by Deborah Levy; and The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson all fell into that category.

Rachel Cusk - Arlington Park

My main discovery of the year was Rachel Cusk, whose books, both fiction and non-fiction, I devoured. Some find her writing style overly elaborate, verbose and almost too clever for its own good. For me her words and phrases simply jump off the page. I don't think I've ever underlined (or highlighted as I now read most books on a Kindle) so many sentences before, at least in novels. Her sharply drawn observations on the glib and shallow reality of today's consumer-based society, whether in her fiction or non-fiction books, make for rich prose. At times I felt I was reading my own thoughts, although admittedly in a far more literal style, empathising so much with what she writes about. In her novel Arlington Park, which was first published in 2007, she writes about the dreary and meaningless lives of a group of middle-aged, mostly middle-class English women. Many would no doubt find it bleak reading. I found it enthralling.

Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending

Although Julian Barnes has long been lauded as one of England's best contemporary writers, I had never read anything by him until this year. This was one book where I was not disappointed by all the plaudits that The Sense of an Ending had received. Looking back over the life of the main character in the novel, Julian Barnes shows how age and presumed greater wisdom can play tricks on your memory. Remembering can be a worrying, misleading and, at times, surprising activity. Again, I suspect that empathy played an important part in my enjoyment of the novel.

José Luis Sampedro - El amante lesbiano

My third novel of the year was written by the wonderful Spanish intellectual, novelist and economist José Luis Sampedro. While other writers have gained much success this year writing so-called erotica, though to little literary acclaim, this novel, first published ten years ago, simply drips with sexuality through its exploration of sexual relations, ambiguities and desires without limits. Whether this is erotica I don't know, but it's certainly writing at its very best. As far as I'm aware this and José Luis Sampedro's other novels, like La sonrisa etrusca, which was on my Best of 2010 list, have never been translated into English. The English speaking world is missing out on a magnificent writer.

Non- fiction

John Lanchester - Family Romance

Of the many non-fiction books I read through the year, two memoirs stood out. The first was by the writer John Lanchester who's better known for his excellent and hugely successful book on the global economic and financial crisis Whoops! and for his recent and rather disappointing novel Capital. For me, however, Family Romance, first published in 2008, but which I only came across by chance this year, is a far more rewarding piece of writing. The author looks back lovingly and with great insight over the fascinating lives of his parents and grandparents, spanning changing societies in Rhodesia, Ireland, Hong Kong, England and elsewhere. As I've been thinking about writing my own memoir this gave much food for thought as to how one can do it.

Hanif Kureishi - My Ear at His Heart - Reading My Father

A second and completely different kind of memoir is My Ear at His Heart written by the highly successful and award-winning novelist Hanif Kureishi. I've long enjoyed his novels but I wasn't expecting to be so overwhelmed by this memoir about his father which was first published in 2005. It's a moving and honest piece of writing where Hanif Kureishi looks back at his relationship with his father, a failed and deeply frustrated writer, and how it subsequently changed his own life.

Rachel Cusk - The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy

This was the first book I read by Rachel Cusk and it is perhaps her most straightforward; a fairly chronological account of living in Italy for a few months and first published two years ago. As with her novels, she writes elegantly and amusingly, while managing to bring a refreshing and cynical eye to the people and cultures around us. She also writes passionately and knowledgeably about art and beauty, two issues close to my own heart these days.

Dan Hancox - Utopia and the Valley of Tears: A journey through the Spanish crisis

I wrote about this book earlier this year http://douglascuba.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/marinaleda-and-juan-manuel-sanchez.html so I only need to repeat what I said then about this lucid, accessible and uplifting account by the English journalist Dan Hancox of the radical and successful political path that the small Andalucian town Marinaleda, led by its charismatic mayor Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, has taken. " In an era of rampant economic crisis … Marinaleda provides a wonderful and refreshing example that another and better world is indeed possible."

Mike Scott - Adventures of a Waterboy

During the past few years a number of autobiographies have been published by rock stars, such as those by Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend and Neil Young. For me the best written and most enchanting is that by Mike Scott, the leader of The Waterboys. Memories came tumbling back to me as the musician took me from his early years in Edinburgh, to huge popular and critical success in London and then to his years in Ireland (the era I knew and liked best), the US and back to Scotland again. He tells his story well, mixing engaging insights into how the rock music world operates and how he, as a romantic dreamer and artist, often had to struggle against its harsh and, at times, deeply conservative ways.

This is Mike Scott reading from his autobiography in Galway.

Eduardo Chillida - Escritos

I've written about the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida a few times here on my blog, including a piece earlier this year on this collection of his writings http://douglascuba.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/eduardo-chillida-basque-sculptor-and.html. What does art mean? How is art created? What should be the role of the artist? These are just some of the important questions posed in this wonderful poetic, provocative and philosophical book.