Many of Guayasamin's paintings are faces. To me, there seemed to be a recurring female countenance in his work. I wondered if it were his wife, lover or daughter. However, when I asked, the curator said there was no such resemblance to the female faces in his work. In fact, she got up and put her hand over one side of the painting then the other to demonstrate that there were two women. It is quite possible she gave further explanation and I missed it (such explanation being in Spanish and all). But draw your own conclusions on whether similarities in the faces in these paintings, from different periods in Guayasamin's life, exist.
Guayasamin also collected Pre-Columbian and Columbian artifacts excavated from around Ecuador. When he died, he donated them to the people of Ecuador. Apparently, literally. Many of the items are sitting there waiting for a five-year old or an almost three-year old to knock them over. Fortunately, Maya and Jonah will never visit this museum at that age. Among the standard bowls, vases, urns and masks were these things.
Can you tell what they are? They were very smooth (well used, or just well crafted?) and behind glass (secured with a cock ring). However, as I mentioned, many of the items displayed were there for the taking, if one was so inclined. I am not now so inclined. Apparently, in my younger days, which I don't remember, I was so inclined. A friend of mine has a picture of a much younger me sitting in a centuries old chair in some museum in England. I cringe now to think what I would have done if it had broken. Run!
The other thing that Guayasamin collected was Pre-Republic religious art. I've mentioned before that the Spanish used religion and religious art as a means to subvert and convert the conquered. Guayasamin's collection displays many anonymous works of art by Quiteno and Cuencano natives from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The natives, particularly the Quiteno natives, had a unique style of art (lots of gold overleaf on the paintings and lots of blood on the sculptures) and this was the first time I got to see it.
There must have been two hundred sculptures of Jesus on the cross. Some as tall as I am. And many showing Jesus' back cut to the bone by whipping. Even in sculpture, it was horrible to see. The funny thing is, as the curator gave me a general overview of the works before I walked through, she said, notice the calm expression on Jesus' face. This is in contrast to the European works they were copied from. I didn't notice that he had a calm expression. I noticed that his back was ripped to shreds.
Jesus' back really made me consider, for the first time, the reality of the gauntlet Jesus had to run (or walk, as it were). Regardless of whether you are Jew, Christian or Agnostic, one cannot deny the cruelty that was perpetrated. For some strange reason, it made me want to see that Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ". That movie has been described to me by an Army Ranger as "Brutal". Seeing that is the nearest I think I can get to seeing Jesus' ordeal as it truly was.
Anyway, after that happy experience, I came home, made egg salad sandwiches for Maya and Jonah, and went to pick them up at school. He died for our sins, right? Then we went to the playground, met some guy who feeds pigeons in his store (and does not eat them afterwards), and I got a haircut.
Later, I wrote this poem.
What Should I Believe?
I believe this is because it is more comfortable, but when I realized this,
I was holding a drink in my right hand.
I also went to the Museo Fundacion Guayasamin, where there are
hundreds of sculptures of Jesus on the cross.
In most of the sculptures, his head hangs to the right.
But in some, his head hangs to the left.
4 comments:
Hey you are having"Jesus experiences" I saw the Passion,it waS raw.I turned away for some scenes but not as many as I thought I would.Thanks for the art lesson too. Your spanish must be coming along to actually be able to understand the curator.So the beard is gone? stay well love mom
no, the beard is still there. i do have hair on top (well, the sides) of my head that continues to grow too. Rebecca says the short hair on my head makes my beard look bushier.
and yeah, i respect the guy.
The paintings reminded me of ET (phone home)
CHris
I am Baaacccckkkk
posted a bunch of comments to your latter blogs
August 2nd we're going to see Eric Idle's "Not The Messiah" (a comic oratorio based on Monty Python's "Life of Brian" [and heavily borrowed from Handel's "Messiah"])...phew that's a lot of brackets!
Should be a riot!
Also, I would recommend seeing Mel's (yeah, we're on a first name basis) picture but it is hard to watch whatever your beliefs just be prepared to be moody afterwards.
Post a Comment