Eyes that seek the Unseen
An exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the April Revolution and the end of the colonial wars in Africa. Seven artists created images on very large semi-transparent canvases, installed in the abandoned buildings of the largest ship repair industry in the Lisbon area.
There is visible light from the roof windows coming in through the canvases.
From “The Man with the Blue Guitar” by Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), a fragment from part XIV.
“…A candle is enough to light the world,
It makes it clear. Even at noon
It glistens in essential dark.
At night, it lights the fruit and wine,
The book and bread, things as they are.”
For those interested, the complete Wallace Stevens poem inspired, in the seventies, the series of etchings “The Blue Guitar” by David Hockney – well worth to be seen.
Reviewing some old negatives from more than 15 years ago, I found some images from the salt pans of the Tagus South bank. They seemed abandoned then, probably they are now out of business. But old tools and machines were still there, and also the big salt mounts – as if the people working there had suddenly gone away. Some boats were on the river – and seagulls too, of course…
My long-time friend João Spratley is an excellent writer. He wrote a series of short texts in the form of traditional Fables, and asked me to illustrate them. This resulted in a short book, in French, that was published in 2021 (“Le Sourire du Chat et autres historiettes”). In the same line, we have just published a second (and last) book of Fables, also written in French (“Le Dernier sourire du Chat”), and also illustrated by me. I created a page Books im my main menu joaoavelarnet.org/books/ where you can find more details
Reviewing my old photos, I found one that matches a well-known poem by William Carlos Williams
Pastoral
by William Carlos Williams
When I was younger
it was plain to me
I must make something of myself.
Older now
I walk back streets
admiring the houses
of the very poor:
roof out of line with sides
the yards cluttered
with old chicken wire, ashes,
furniture gone wrong;
the fences and outhouses
built of barrel staves
and parts of boxes, all,
if I am fortunate,
smeared a bluish green
that properly weathered
pleases me best of all colors.
No one
will believe this
of vast import to the nation.
from The Collected Poems of W.C. Williams, New Directions
Medium Format photography – result of an incurable attraction for old books…
Study (oil pastel and graphite on paper) for an oil painting featuring African migrants – a subject that concerns us all
I was wandering about the concept of “sacred art”. As far as I know it concerns only christian inspired artworks. One can expand this concept to other cults and religions, as “The Sacred Art Collectors ” did. Oil on plywood, February 2024
A medium format analog photography – made in a studio, not in a sacristy.
The Adufe is a square-shaped membranophone, introduced to Portugal by the Arabs in the 8th and 9th centuries. It has a square wooden structure and is covered on both sides with tanned goatskin. Traditionally one of the faces is that of a male animal, the other that of a female animal (some say it sounds better that way !). In the corners there are decorations with colored ribbons.
It is played in a vertical position and struck with the fingers and hands. Inside there are grains, seeds or small stones that make a rattling noise when shaking the Adufe. It is an instrument usually played by women (“adufeiras”) and has a strong presence in the interior of central Portugal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adufe
I used the old and very rough wooden structure of a small-sized adufe as a frame for a small painting (oil on plywood), as a memory of its origin.
Last May 2023 a local but very active association for the promotion of arts and crafts, opened a contest of analogic photography. I sent six medium format images, all “still life” style. Here they are.
Aristocratic picnic
Hasta la vista, Baby !
Rustic Theater
St Valentine’s day
The unbearable anguish of the florist
A pizza for Vladimir
João Avelar images 