The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons or The First Modern Political Painting

Almost simultaneously to the Bastilla Palace taking, Paris saw another important event: the national arts saloon. That year (1789) there was an outstanding painting that did not go unnoticed: "The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons" by the neoclassical painter Jacques Louis David. This painting could easily be the first political image of modernity because it became one of the symbols of the rising french republic.

¿Why was this painting so important and expressing of the french revolution?
The history has recorded the roman Brutus as the most important defender of the republic. Lucius Junius Brutus is known as the founder of the roman republic and one of its first consuls. In 509 BC he led the revolt that overthrew the last king of that age Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. But the royal family did not accepted the defeat and attempted to regain the throne. Amongst the conspirators there were two sons of Brutus... the consul had to stay firmly stoic and finally accepted to punish all the conspirators with death.

In the name of the republic Brutus accepted the execution of his sons though he suffered. His sacrifice became a symbol of the end of the monarchy in the France of the XVIIIth century. The painting of Jacques Louis David created great controversy as he intended, in fact the painter was a well known supporter of the revolution, friend of Robespierre and member of the jacobin club.

Gustavo Zalamea`s whale diving into the city

Gustavo Zalamea was an important Argentinian - Colombian artist. Son of the well-known Argentinian - Colombian philosopher Marta Traba.  Zalamea, painter, collage maker, performer... his political art made him a central referent in latinamerican art scene.

Ged Quinn and the allegorical paintings

Ged Quinn (1966 - Liverpool)
Idyllic scenes and controversial pictures flowing from Quinn`s mind

It is a Melting Pot of references, symbols, characters, political icons, surreal landscapes and dream realities that attract the viewer to pleasant, fantastic, iconic and disturbing experiences

In the V4 #11 of Vice Magazine Quinn was interviewed about his work. Milène Larsson asked him "is there any story behind your works?", and Quinn answered: "Yes, but there is not only one that has it in a lineal sense. It is more like a formal literally experiment, as James Joyce did in Finnegans Wake where all those idioms mix up but keeping belonging to something understandable and coherent. You have the sensation to understand it until certain point, but I`m not sure if it is something concious or not".

(The first image is titled Melancholia, and the second tilted Country girl)

Kumi Yamashita and the shapes of the shadows

This is the art based on shadows. It reminds me some of what the GRAV (Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel ) and Julio Le Parc wanted to do by the 60,s: researching on the effects of the light, shadows, and movements. The kinect art as well as the Op art were essential for demonstrating that the artwork could be open to any person rather than to specialists.

Atlas Mnemosyne

The Warburg Institute was Aby Warburg`s project. Now in London -University of London -.

Some images of the Atlas Mnemosyne, a History of european memory through images:

An excelent study of Warburg`s work:
L’Image survivante. Histoire de l’art et temps des fantômes selon Aby Warburg (George Didi-Huberman - 2009)

Étienne - Martin, The spirituality of the form

Étienne - Martin (1913-1995)
As well as Henri Cartier - Bresson, Étienne - Martin was prisoner during world war II.... Both were inspired by the challenge of  the cruelty of the war.

Abstract sculptures are the material shapes of the abstract thought:

Tacto Intacto Photography

" I want to make something you can go into, like a nut, like a cave... I can see that I make sculptures as refuges, sculptures as caves". Étienne - Martin