Trying to figure out a narrative for an exhibition that I'll curate in France in April-May with help by international artists is an hard task to do, because it deals with a theme as complex as life or death since I never understood evil in mankind's hearts or why we as human beings don't know how to deal with a concept as basic as the beggining and end of life, like the other beings that inhabit this world do.
Alpha and Omega is a concept and trying to understand it, is trying to understand where order stands along chaos in the lives of all the beings in this blue planet that we live in.
I always thought since I was a child that words and comunication are the basys for us human beings to understand each other with help of images.
This is also a small tribute to a woman named Cinnamon Hadley that passed away in January after struggling for her life with a mortal disease and that was the model for British writer Neil Gaiman's Death comic book character in Sandman comic book series that was a series that told us about how life always was with simple concepts.
Working in a theme as complex as this one, reviewing pdfs for upcoming anthologies with help by Scandinavian artists, reading books, seeing artworks, thinking on book collections in my mind by the best artists ever, writing my own personal projects while communicating with some of the best artists in the world from several countries and in several languages, makes me become a bit stronger, but I also always knew, that chaos leads an individual towards order in a resilient path even if he's being attacked in several fronts (be them professional, personal or emotional).
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| With my youngest niece Letícia in a theater play |
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| With my youngest niece Letícia smiling |
I also know that I'm beginning to go towards Omega and that she's starting her Alpha in her own life, so I'll always be not only her uncle, but also a character in her life and in her memories as she grows old like I also do (this happens with every single human being in this planet) and at this present moment in my life she's all the strength that I've in this thing called life.
Trying to figure out the design for this poster with Belgium artist Christophe Swijsen was real hard since I was thinking at the time in some memories of my life like movies, tv series, books, women as fighters and as source of life, my professional and personal life, in a feeling called love while mixing this "weird" cocktail of life in it.
I always loved movies and how they relate to life such as movies from Chinese director Wong Kar Wai like "Days of being wild", "Fallen angels" or "2046" that touched me in a particular level, because this director, directs his movies without a previous written script and the actors/actresses that appear in his movies really connect and dive into their characters that are mere individuals that portray life as it's with its ups and downs and with magnificient soundtracks in them that brings joy or sadness in the lives of those who watch, watched or will watch them.
Comic books are a different kind of art, they're static and we readers must put some movement in them with our mind and imagination.
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| With a personalized t-shirt by Argentine artist Mr Ed |
I remember being lost last year in a quest in order to understand a concept as simple as identity with 2 exhibitions based on it with help by international artists and I remember personalizing t-shirts, coffee mugs or prints that were placed in several key physical spots in Porto with excellent artworks from international artists (with the permission of some of the best artists in the world) to form some sort of narrative in 2 identity exhibitions and that can be read in older posts in this same blogue.
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| Drawing for an identity based on myself by Spanish artist Daniel Esteve |
It's easy to be lost in a web as complex as identity in this virtual world that we live in, so at the time, I've thought that I was lost either in a Buster Keaton or a David Lynch movie.
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| Drawing for an identity based on myself by American artist Bill Koeb |
While communicating with international artists with empathy and love for their souls, essence and love for pets because of a pet's exhibition that I've curated in December 2016, American artist Bill Koeb told me that he saw me as a "catman" as can be seen in the drawing above and it stuck in my mind that we human beings don't have 7 lives to live like this animal that I truly and deeply love, has.
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| Poster for this upcoming exhibition |
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| back poster for this upcoming exhibition |
1) Original artworks by international artists as inspiration for this narrative
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| Original artwork with a tribute to Valentina given to me by Japanese artist John Kurokawa that was published by Fantagraphics in a limited booklet with myself organizing it with help by more than 100 international artists |
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| Original second artwork with a tribute to Valentina given to me by Japanese artist John Kurokawa |
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| Original artwork with siamese twins women given to me by Japanese artist John Kurokawa |
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| Original artwork with a fallen angel given to me by Japanese artist John Kurokawa |
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| Original artwork with a Tom Waits tribute given to me by Spanish artist Ruben Pellejero |
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| Original artwork with a caricature based on myself given to me by Spanish artist Ruben Pellejero |
Receiving these and other original artworks or personalized books by international artists put me in some memories of my past, but in this life we must always work in present time and that's what I try to do in all projects with help by international artist where I'm involved.
2) Movies as inspiration for this narrative
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| Movies sample printed cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 01 |
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| Movies sample printed cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 02 |
I always loved movies and how they relate to life such as movies from Chinese director Wong Kar Wai like "Days of being wild", "Fallen angels" or "2046" that touched me in a particular level, because this director, directs his movies without a previous written script and the actors/actresses that appear in his movies really connect and dive into their characters that are mere individuals that portray life as it's with its ups and downs and with magnificient soundtracks in them that brings joy or sadness in the lives of those who watch, watched or will watch them.
American director Hal Hartley does the same as Wong Kar Wai by working without a script with amazing actors/actresses characters and I relate a lot with his movie "Amateur" that's quite fascinating and one of the best movies ever made about life in my opinion.
I try to write in this narrative about life and how I see it also with image samples with the best movie ever made in my opinion, that's Mike Leigh's Naked, that shows to viewers, a fascinating character such as the main character Johnny played by British actor David Thewliss that's always talking about life in the universe in this movie that "haunts" my life a bit since I first watched it in 1993.
Trying to write this text in my mind sometimes is "messy", since I must see how the images that I print for inspiration to it, fit in my mind, heart or soul, so I randomly splash them and later glue them in a piece of paper in order to chaos create some sort of order with a kind of movement that I love.
3) comic books as inspiration for this narrative
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| comic book sample printed cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 01 |
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| comic book sample printed cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 02 |
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| Movies samples cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 03 |
Comic books are a different kind of art, they're static and we readers must put some movement in them with our mind and imagination.
I love Sandman saga by Neil Gaiman as mentioned above, I love Invisibles by Grant Morrison, I love From Hell by Alan Moore, books from artists like Daniel Clowes, Charles Burns, Max Andersson, Jason Lutes, Terhi Ekebom, Julie Doucet, Seth, Chester brown, Santiago Sequeiros among many others.
I know that the comic book character Hellblazer created in the pages of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run "haunts" me a bit in my life, because life's hard and we most love the life that we've as individuals in a society, but I've thought that for this narrative I should focus on comic books that I've read as a teenager and were some sort of inspiration for this narrative such as Bill Sienkiewicz "Stray Toasters", Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz "Big Numbers", Frank Miller's run at Marvel comic book character Daredevil (mainly his masterpiece story arc "Born Again" with art by David Mazzuchelli), Frank Miller's and Bill Sienkiewicz's "Elektra assassin"or Frank Miller's "Sin City" because their creators are sending with this masterpieces to readers a message of resilience, trying to give us their own vision of life and how we should surpass the obstacles that we as human beings put in the path of another while having a particular voice that sometimes seems that the characters created by the artists or writers mentioned above are for real in an emotional way.
Peaky Blinders is one of the best tv series shows ever created about life, love for life. for family, for pets and even an emotion that's an hard feeling to explain that's love.
Peaky Blinders tv series as inspiration for this narrative
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| Peaky blinders tv series printed sample cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 01 |
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| Peaky blinders tv series printed sample cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 02 |
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| Peaky blinders tv series printed sample cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 03 |
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| Peaky blinders tv series printed sample cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 04 |
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| Peaky blinders tv series printed sample cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 05 |
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| Peaky blinders tv series printed sample cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 06 |
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| Peaky blinders tv series printed sample cards to be served as inspiration for this exhibition and narrative - part 07 |
Peaky Blinders is one of the best tv series shows ever created about life, love for life. for family, for pets and even an emotion that's an hard feeling to explain that's love.
The actors are awesome and the soundtrack is outstanding because the directors of this series show us that we can mix past (40's) with contemporary music (90's) and present with the past with messages in a special and emotional way with movement guided by words or sentences by the main character Tommy, his wife Grace or Alfie Solomons character.
5) Poster prints with design by Belgium artist Christophe Swijsen as inspiration for this narrative
International artists samples artworks as inspiration for this narrative
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| Finnish artist Terhi Ekebom artwork for this exhibition |
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| Coffeeshop at Helsinki |
Several times, I really don't know where I am. I remember that I've tried to be at Helsinki in Finland curating an exhibition about an iconic comic book character and even talking to a live audience about it and I couldn't make it then and when I comunicate with Finnish artist Terhi Ekebom, I clearly know that I owe a lot to her since the beginning of several of my projects now, she's an artist and a woman that I love to have as a friend, she's smart, she loves nature and she's a sort of a "vampire" just like me.
I'm thinking on trying to be in Finland (maybe this year), I must gather in my mind memories in order to be there or at Scandinavia region to have a coffee not only with Terhi but with other artists to talk personally with them a bit about life or nature.
I love coffeeshops, I love talking personally with people trying to "see" how they act or how they're in common everyday life.
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| American artist Bob Burden artwork for this exhibition |
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| Swedish artist Max Andersson artwork for this exhibition - 01 |
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| Swedish artist Max Andersson artwork for this exhibition - 02 |
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| Swedish artist Max Andersson artwork for this exhibition - 03 |
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| Swedish artist Max Andersson artwork for this exhibition - 04 |
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| Swedish artist Max Andersson artwork for this exhibition - 05 |
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| French artist Walter Minus artwork for this exhibition |
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| American artist Michael Gaydos artwork for this exhibition |
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| Brazilian artist Douglas P. Lobo artwork for this exhibition |
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| Brazilian artist Rodrigo Rosa artwork for this exhibition - 01 |
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| Brazilian artist Rodrigo Rosa artwork for this exhibition - 02 |
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| Polish artist Wojciniek Stefaniec artwork for this exhibition |
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| Polish artist Annia Walus artwork for this exhibition |
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| Argentine artist Federico Calandria artwork for this exhibition |
4) Communication with international artists and special people in my life as inspiration for this narrative
Communicating with international artists is fascinating, because they give me lots of visions of how they actually "see" life and I believe that while communicating with them that they're giving me not only work, but also a piece of their time or life which is essential for me to try to walk a bit on their shoes while curating/editing/writing about their books or artworks in exhibitions.
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 01 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 02 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 03 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 04 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 05 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 06 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 07 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 08 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 09 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 10 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 11 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 12 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 13 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 14 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 15 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 16 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 17 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 18 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 19 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 20 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 21 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 22 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 23 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 24 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 25 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 26 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 27 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 28 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 29 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 30 |
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| Working process for this narrative - Personal/professional life with help by international artists and special people in it - 31 |
In my mind makes sense putting a bit of who I am while curating/organizing or writing about exhibitions with artworks by international artists, because I sense that they're really friendly towards me, so they're not only part of my professional life, they're also part of my personal life in some special moments in present time and with special people that I interact in my life, be them my family, friends or special people that enter in it from all over the world several days per week.
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List of international artists artworks alphabetically organized by country
Argentina
Carlos Dearmas
Dario Mekler
Federico Calandria
German Genga
Martin Arrizabalaga
Mr Ed
Pablo Burman
Roda Rodrigo
Teke
Belgium
Christophe Swijsen
Brazil
Douglas P. Lobo
Gelson Mallorca
Rodrigo Rosa
Croatia
Danijel Zezelj
Denmark
Henrik Kim Rehr
Finland
Terhi Ekebom
France
Beuh
Isabel Pessoa
Walter Minus
Holland
Marcel Ruijters
Italy
Gianluca Costantini
Rolando Ciccatelli
Stefano Zatera
Japan
John Kurokawa
Mexico
Gaston Ortiz
Poland
Ania Walus
Nikodem Cabala
Magdalena Minko
Spain
Daniel Esteve
Diego Fermin
Enrico Fiori
Jano
Javier Olivares
Jon Ander Azaola
Pedro Rodriguez
Ruben Pellejero
Sancho Retablez
Toni Benages Gallard
Victor Puchalvski
Sweden
Knut Larsson
Lars Erik Sjunesson
Max Andersson
Nicolas Krizan
U.S.A
Alexandra Sternin
Bill Koeb
Bob Burden
Brian Biggs
Danielle Otraki
Jon Kutzer
Mark Wheatley
Michael Gaydos
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| Pic of me and my youngest niece Letícia |
Sometimes being "lost" is a virtue other times is a mistake and I'm only a guy that was born in Porto that sometimes works with more than 100 of the best artists in the world..
I truly believe in love, friendship, kindness, words, images, identity and pets.
I really don't know what the theme for the next exhibition that I'll organize with help by international artists will be, where it will be held or if my physical presence will be there also.
I know one thing only, that I try to put love, my heart, my soul and my strength in my work as I do in my personal life.
Many thanks to all international artists and special people in my life who support some of my ideas, you're the best.
I'm pretty sure that my youngest niece Letícia doesn't know your names, but it's normal, since she's only a child, a small artist that wants to rule the world in the future:) (like all children pretend)
I'm also sure that if she physically met all international artists who support some of my ideas, she would say something like this in her own words:
- "You're awesome and I love my uncle a lot".
Below I'll post a music and its lyrics in words by Irish band U2 named "NUMB" because that's how I feel right now while finishing this narrative.
Manuel Espírito Santo
To be continued
Don't move
Don't talk out of time
Don't think
Don't worry
Everything's just fine
Just fine
Don't talk out of time
Don't think
Don't worry
Everything's just fine
Just fine
Don't grab
Don't clutch
Don't hope for too much
Don't breathe
Don't achieve
Or grieve without leave
Don't clutch
Don't hope for too much
Don't breathe
Don't achieve
Or grieve without leave
Don't check
Just balance on the fence
Don't answer
Don't ask
Don't try and make sense
Just balance on the fence
Don't answer
Don't ask
Don't try and make sense
Don't whisper
Don't talk
Don't run if you can walk
Don't cheat, compete
Don't miss the one beat
Don't talk
Don't run if you can walk
Don't cheat, compete
Don't miss the one beat
Don't travel by train
Don't eat
Don't spill
Don't piss in the drain
Don't make a will
Don't eat
Don't spill
Don't piss in the drain
Don't make a will
Don't fill out any forms
Don't compensate
Don't cower
Don't crawl
Don't come around late
Don't hover at the gate
Don't compensate
Don't cower
Don't crawl
Don't come around late
Don't hover at the gate
Don't take it on board
Don't fall on your sword
Just play another chord
If you feel you're getting bored
Don't fall on your sword
Just play another chord
If you feel you're getting bored
I feel numb
I feel numb
Too much is not enough
I feel numb
I feel numb
Too much is not enough
I feel numb
Don't change your brand
Don't listen to the band
Don't gape
Don't ape
Don't change your shape
Have another grape
Don't listen to the band
Don't gape
Don't ape
Don't change your shape
Have another grape
