CULTURAL ARTS  - NEWSLETTER 2000#1

EDITOR'S CORNER 

ElCoquiGalleries is dedicated to promoting and educating cultural arts.  All arts are ‘cultural’, so what’s the difference?

The ‘cultural arts’ theme is becoming popular in the arts and media circles as visual and performing arts take an increasingly multi-cultural flavor.   Art, by definition is a universal language.  Today, as technology avails us of massive amount of information from around the world, as societies become better educated about different cultures, and with the increased presence of a global economy, the influence of authentic art forms is felt in the traditional artistic circles. 

This trend is not new.  From the famous fine painters of the 20^th century such as Paul Gauguin and Picasso to the latest award-winning musical scores, the influence of Indian, Pacific, Latin American, Irish cultures (to name a few), is clearly evident.  It might not yet be recognized.

At ElCoquiGalleries.com we use the term to refer art inspired and influenced by a specific cultural heritage or artistic technique from a region or group.  Whether we offer an Huichol beaded mask from these talented group of Indians in Mexico or we offer a fine original print from a prestigious artist in Paris who first learned his/her art in the traditional socio-political print arts in Puerto Rico, we make available to our clients a piece of art with a cultural flavor.

Today we are introducing our newsletter.    On a bi-monthly basis you’ll meet a new Featured Artist, learn about new one-of-a-kind artwork, and review cultural art events.

This is a new process and e-mail system.  Please,  if you receive this newsletter in error, let us know and will delete your name from the list immediately.

Enjoy your mini-portal to the cultural arts of Latin America and the Caribbean!

FEATURED ARTIST:  Frantz Zephirin

Zephirin was born in Cap Haitian, Haiti on December 10, 1968.  His father was an architect and this mother a nurse.  His father had 48 children with 19 different women, plus 4 with Zephirin's mother, for a total of 52 altogether.  Apparently, this is not the record in Haiti.  His grandmother who embroidered for a living, raised him.  Even when he was very small , he drew flowers for her to embroider.  He learned to paint while learning to read.  At the age of seven, he painted small canvases that he sold to tourists.  At twelve he had become a real delinquent.  His mother had him brought to Port-au-Prince by two policemen in order to make him go to school.  But Zephirin wanted to paint.

However, no one was really interested in this small Cap Haitian canvases.  Then out of anger, he started to put people in the form of fantastic animals in his paintings.  He was on the right track.  His talent, his ability to paint miniature detail, his unlimited imagination, his fantasies, the extreme care he took with his work, all added up to a first rate artist.

He has exhibited in Haiti, Senegal, France, Germany, Japan, Ecuador, and in many cities in the USA, New York, Texas, Los Angeles and Florida.   He is a highly acclaimed young artist.  He sometimes works in tandem with Pascale Monnin.  His work has been reproduced in many books on Haitian art.  He is recognized as one of the great Haitian artists.  

Artist Statement:

My inspiration comes from current events, history, the Bible and what is happening in my neighborhood.  If someone wants to hurt me, I take my revenge on canvas.  I might paint him as a gorilla.  My technique is a bit difficult.  I don't want my painting to be too easy.  I can work in very small formats.  In one miniature piece I have put an entire city.  And even in large compositions, I use a very small brush.

When I am in front of a blank canvas, I know how the piece will look a the end.  I don't make preliminary drawings.  I only map out the different color backgrounds, but I tackle the drawing directly with a brush.  It is not painting that turns me on.  It is the fantasy and technical rendering of it that transports me.  I want to make something extraordinary without limits

Translated by L. Beasley from Artistes in Haiti, cent parmi d'autres by M. Grandjean

WHAT' S NEW

Jembe Player, by Cuca.  The latest creation of this prime exponent of Afro-Caribbean art, Jembe Player is a papier mache sculpture of a sensual young woman playing the Jembe drums full of energy.

Red Devil,  and Sin Fin by Fernando Luis Perez Lopez.  A young master mask-maker, delights us with his fantastic Vejigante masks with five horns, jagged teeth and sharp coloring.

Flowers by Jose Cotecachi, a fine tapestry using the back strap technique of  weaving from the Otovalian region in Ecuador featuring natural flowers from the picturesque Andean region with the traditional Inca influence of pointed designs.

Mi Campo, fine original print from master Cajigas of the colorful flowering tree Flamboyan (Royal Poinciana) adorning the lush country site of Puerto Rico.

Cultural Arts Events

Washington, DC.  Smithsonian Institution - Hispanic Awareness Month Events, Sept 15-October 15th, http://www.dclatino.com/sihhm/

Chicago, IL, The Art Institute - Van Gogh and Gauguin, The Studio of the South, Sept. 22,2001 -Jan, 2002 http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/vangogh.html

Evanston, IL, The 16th Annual Evanston Ethnic Art Festival , July 21, 22 On the Lakefront, Sheridan and Church,  ElCoquiGalleries.com will participate