liverpool today

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Ohh! by Cayetano de Arquer Buigas

Cayetano de Arquer Buigas

(January 11th, 1932-September 13, 2012) was a native of Cerdanyola del Vallés in the Province of Barcelona. He was a Catalan impressionist painter especially known for capturing the beauty, sensitivity and delicacy of women of his era through pastel, oil and charcoal techniques. With an equal mastery, he explored portraiture, figure studies, equestrian subjects, landscapes, scenes of daily life, maternity, taverns and more.

Style / Arquer Buigas stands as perhaps one of the most emblematic inheritors of 19th-century Catalan and French Impressionist style (seen in artists such as Ramón Casas and Eduard Degás). With his elegant, restrained color palette and compelling balance between composition and subject choices, Buigas’s output has afforded him the status of a beloved, enduring master. The artistic integrity evinced in Arquer Buigas’ work is the result of an innate talent for drawing and painting, a keen skill for eloquently conveying beauty and elegance, and detailed study of other great masters undertaken throughout his entire life. Much too might be credited to his familial circumstances and the legacy of an artistic, aristocratic household.

This web is a tribute to the life of an artist whose work requires no complex explanations. One effortlessly feels the beauty and emotion in his every brush-stroke due to an exquisite talent and the ability to communicate without artifice such as manifested by only the greatest of artists. Is also an occasion for sharing the beautiful world of a master with those who have long admired his creations, as well as a wonderful opportunity to introduce his marvelous, deeply personal career to unfamiliar viewers who may be seeking a contemporary aesthetic that is heartfelt simply in itself…an example of  ‘true innovation’.

“Ample life” – Carmen Posadas (writer) The first quality that calls one to admire the work of Arquer Buigas is its daring. “Daring? !”you might say, thinking this term does inappropriate for describing an exhibition in which we find women with shawls and carnations juxtaposed to sober portraits, everyday scenes appearing to be taken more from the imagination than from reality, sketches, children, old women, and numerous other bits of life that make up Arquer Buigas’ work. However, if I have chosen the term daring, it is precisely because I admire his audacity in undertaking such oft-visited themes and then achieving a sense of novelty and originality. I suppose that this achievement is the crucial difference between innovators and modestly talented imitators. Victor Hugo wrote that everyone is capable of admiring a sunset’s beauty, and many have the ability to capture its colors, but only an artist can reinvent what she sees so that it seems both familiar and new at once. This impression is exactly the one I have standing before the work of Arquer Buigas. I ask myself what that rare quality could be, that of traveling a well-trodden path without ever falling into the trap of mimicry, nor being disproportionately influenced or paying tribute—the name plagiarism goes by these days. I can infer that artists as disparate as Goya, Degás, Romero de Torres, Sorolla and even Vermeer and Rembrandt occupy a space in Arquer Buigas’ marvelous imagery, in his pictorial sentimental education, but their trace is faint, as only occurs in the work of the greatest masters. Only an artist is able to portray life as it really is, because the others, the sorcerer’s apprentices, the mere aspirants to the category of genius, the extravagant professionals, barely manage to outline it or even falsify it. And there is ample life in the work of Arquer Buigas: come by and see if I exaggerate.

Ohh!
by Cayetano de Arquer Buigas
Prev 10 of 50 Next
Oil on canvas
890 x 1160mm

Cayetano de Arquer Buigas is a self-trained artist whose work has been seen in numerous group and solo exhibitions in his native Spain in Barcelona, Madrid and Girona since 1968.

The portrait is of Sara, a friend of one of the painting students of de Arquer Buigas, and was painted in the top-floor studio of the nineteenth-century modernist house in which the artist lives. De Arquer Buigas wanted to bring together two different depictions of Sara to encourage discussion about different styles of art.

more paintings: http://arquerbuigas.es/

liverpool-today-everton

Everton park, one of the highest points in Liverpool landscape.
From this point opens a great view over the city.
The view of the area around contain fascinating details of the high rise waterfront buildings and it is a pleasant green-grassy, tree lined area perfect for relaxing and contemplating the city.


The Everton Water Tower can be seen for miles of an evening when it is blue lit.
It has been a local landmark for over a hundred years. 

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Everton Water Tower - is a very fine Victorian building but it has been secured down, so no real access is available.
It is very interesting and impressive structure and its elevated setting means it can be seen for miles around and also it is an attractive sight after dark, when they turn the floodlighting on the building
on.

At night it is very distinctive with blue lights around the top and the arches illuminated with yellow/white light.
Because it on top of a hill it can be seen for miles, especially at night.

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Look into My Dreams

Jaume Plensa, the Spanish sculptor, added another four sculptural "portraits" to Chicago's growing Public Art in the parks. Ten years ago, Plensa, born in 1955, created the globally famous "Crown Fountain" which has become a Chicago landmark and a public sculpture Icon. The four new Plensa pieces are all modeled after young girls on the cusp of womanhood. Plensa titled the new works placed in Millennium Park "1,004 Portraits", since in his own words he merely added four new images to the 1,000 faces already depicted in his two tall video sculptures known as the "Crown Fountain".

"Look into My Dreams, Awilda" by Jaume Plensa in Millennium Park, Chicago, IL. Courtesy of the Richard Gray Gallery.

Both Crown Fountain video towers are live-action and kinetic with images of everyday Chicagoans; not the elite Chicago personages typically responsible for the addition of such artwork to the city's landscape. And whose names are memorialized throughout Millennium Park as Directional Landmarks. At the unveiling of his latest sculptures, set amongst Chicago's many architectural towers but planted on the grassy foundations of Millennium Park, Plensa confided to me that his "Crown Fountain" when it was first created was intended to be a very serious salute to the citizenry of Chicago and a welcome addition to the Millennium Park landscape whilst incorporating sounds of water with the constant changing seasonal imagery. What happened instead is what happens in many parks, the children began to splash in the fountain and play. So now as we spoke 10 years later, children were happily splashing in the fountain between the two video sculpture towers, playing in the waters, and becoming a part of Plensa's living sculpture. Indeed, the children humanized his Crown Fountain Video Towers into something playful and added a participatory element. Even as Plensa spoke about his new installation, he had to speak above the gleeful noises of the kids and the water sounds.

The first new sculpture, "Look Into My Dreams, Awilda" is made of a white resin and stands 39 feet tall. The work is at once both surreal and portrait-like with the elongation of features such as in a Modigliani painting. The piece has a power that is echoed by its three sculpture sisters "Laura," "Paula," and "Inez" cast in iron and now installed in the adjacent outdoor South Boeing Gallery. The installation of the works, which are on loan from the artist until December 2015, is co-presented by the Millennium Park Foundation with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and sponsored by the Boeing Company with support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.

Jaume Plensa in front of his "Paula", "Laura", and "Inez" Sculptures in the South Boeing Gallery of Millennium Park, Chicago, IL. Photo by Patrick Pyska

The sculptor said he likes to capture the ephemeral beauty, as well as the possessive power of girls, just as they are becoming women; the Youthful Beauty of girls on the cusp of Blooming into Womanhood, a familiar subject for artists. Plensa's reputation has grown globally since he first conceived of the "Crown Fountain," turning him into one of the world's most foremost sculptors. Dubai, London, Liverpool, Nice, Tokyo, Toronto, and Vancouver now are host to the Barcelona-based artist's large public sculptures, many of them connected with water.

Donna La Pietra, chair of the Millennium Park Foundation, faced Mr. Plensa at the opening ceremony and thanked him saying "we are tremendously grateful to Jaume for allowing Chicago to host these pieces. We can think of no better way to celebrate our 10th Anniversary than by hosting such an impressive array of works by one the original artists whose contributions to Millennium Park have made it a model for public spaces world-wide."

Timed to coincide with the debut of Plensa's Park sculptures, the Richard Gray Gallery will exhibit "Private Dreams," 8 new sculptures from Plensa's iconic series of heads made out of materials including bronze, glass, and, for the first time, volcanic basalt. The sculptures from "Private Dreams" are collectible and all continue the artist's focus on the human figure, specifically the head. The Park's sculptures are monumental and while these tall heads range from 23 feet to 39 feet, they still somehow cohesively blend with Chicago's second-largest tourist attraction, Millennium Park. And the thousands of people who are inspired and engaged by them.


source: huffingtonpost

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Jaume Plensa' Dream sculpture, in St. Helens, UK

 Jaume Plensa' Dream sculpture, in St. Helens, a 20m high sculpture depicting the head of a young girl with eyes closed in meditation.
The piece is constructed on the site of the disused Sutton Manor Colliery at St Helens. The material used is a concrete aggregate mixed with sparkling white Spanish dolomite. Commissioned by former miners and St Helens Council as part of Channel 4's Big Art Project, this 400 tonne sculpture, which is highly light reflective even on a dull day, is the artist's response to the miners' desire for a work that expressed the future of their community and landscape. Jaume Plensa says that his sculpture is about celebrating life and the human experience; of standing between past and present, present and future, knowledge and ignorance. Dream was inspired by the spectacular setting, the local heritage, a vision for the future and the warmth, humour and passion of the former miners.

liverpool

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UK Citizenship Test: Take the test and see if you could pass?

 http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/uk-citizenship-test-take-test-9725143

 

 

 

 

omg

Wickelfisch

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As swimming in rivers is big in Switzerland, the invention of the Wickelfisch makes total sense: The Wickelfisch is a waterproof bag that allows you to take your belongings with you, while you go for a swim. Why would you want to do that? Well, as the stream in a river makes you float away from where you started out it is oftentimes not possible to get back to your belonging all that quickly and easily.
Hat tip off to the designer. At this point you can only get it in selected stores in Switzerland, listed here (all in German). There’s a contact email over here.
(thank you Jaqueline) 

 http://www.swiss-miss.com/2011/08/wickelfish.html

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Basel – summer in the city, or how to use a Wickelfisch

Basel lies on the Rhine, exactly where he takes a sharp right and, turning his back on the Alps where he was born, heads north towards his final destination, the North Sea. The Rhine is a he, by the way, in German – der Rhein. To balance things out, the other great river in these parts of Europe, the Danube, is a she – die Donau. Well, whatever. But you can click here if you want to find out more about this conundrum.

On the left you see Father Rhine flowing past Basel minster. In the foreground an old-style ferry crosses the river, driven only by the force of the current. Such ferries were once seen everywhere up and down the Rhine, but there are few left nowadays. Basel has no less than four of these relics located at various points along the banks of the river.


Every year, winter at some point departs, usually reluctantly and with many chilly glances back. But come July, the water temperature in the Rhine rises, eventually reaching giddy heights. It is hot during the day and it is sticky at night, and the city pants for relief.


When that point is reached, the citizens of Basel dust off their Wickelfisch, and head down to the Rhine. But what is a Wickelfisch, and what is its proper use?


On the left you see a Wickelfisch, out of its element on dry land.
This humble fish solves a tricky logistical problem that arises when swimming downriver in the city.


This problem arises because, when swimming in a river, you generally want to float downriver – fighting the current is no fun. That means leaving clothes and treasured possessions stranded upriver, and having to walk back upriver along city streets in your swimsuit to retrieve them – no good on all counts. The Wickelfisch solves this logistical problem.


So, before entering the river, remove clothes and place with treasured possessions in Wickelfisch as seen on the right.
As you can see, the Rhine is now very clean and therefore fit for swimming – this was only achieved after a major clean-up in the 80s and 90s. The Wickelfisch was invented after that time, when swimming in the Rhine in summer became a popular pastime.

Wrap Wickelfisch around your body using the ties provided – ‘wickeln’ means to wrap – then enter river with Wickelfisch and float downriver, using Wickelfisch as floating device, comme ça:

When you get to the desired point of exit, head towards shore and emerge gracefully with Wickelfisch (think Botticelli’s Venus – though she had no need for a Wickelfisch, not having any clothes to stow

Then put on some clothes (or not), head back upriver, Wickelfisch slung over shoulder, and start all over again.

Generally though, before doing it all over again, it is the custom to head to one of the buvettes, or beach bars, that spring up along the river in summer, for a cold beer. Of course there are always some degenerates who rort the system and go for a cold beer without having done the swim first …

 http://www.exsul.me/basel-how-to-use-a-wickelfisch-or-summer-in-the-city/







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