Live like you would die tomorrow, learn like you would live forever! (Gandhi) All artwork, music and photography is of my creation and all are originals if not otherwise stated.
(Miami Beach Convention Centre, newly finished, photo by FBC)
Yes, like every December for the last seventeen years, Art Basel in Miami Beach has showed up in the Convention Centre…
Inside you will find galleries that are either represented by big corporate sponsors, (main sponsor, or “partner” as they call it is UBS), or have paid thousands to appear for a week at the Miami Beach Convention Centre…
And what do they bring? Well supposedly the “best” of modern art. I will not put any of their images on my post. I am offended that such things are called “art”. If you want to either agree with me or disagree, please visit their website: artbasel.com/miami-beach/the-show
Art, in this day and age, is subject to the patronage of banks and other big corporate entities. Of course since these companies have made many rich, they need to create art so that the new rich can be like the old rich who own precious works of art. After all, if you are a “nouveau riche” you can own anything else that the established aristocracy can except that. So they create “artists” that half fill a glass of water and call it art and sell it for more than 20.000 Euros.
Or like an exhibit I saw a few years ago at Art Basel in Miami Beach, which consisted of an old wooden hanger with a woman’s silk blouse (yellow) hanging on it. This was one of the “artworks” that such a gallery brought to exhibit. The artist really didn’t need to work on this at all, I mean, she didn’t even paint the hanger, what for? It would sell for a few thousand regardless. Actually, when I looked around the gallery I saw that it was part of a series, each hanger with a blouse of a different colour. Of course, why make just one when in ten minutes you can have a dozen!
I do recommend going to Art Basel in Miami Beach. No, not for the “art work”, or for the Basel, no need to pay the exorbitant price they charge to go in…the years I went I was always given free tickets…because you can see all sorts of strange art all around the beach, mostly for free, like this. This thing is on the sand…occupying an area of the public domain…behind the luxurious and famous FAENA HOTEL on Collins Avenue…
At Faena’s portion of the beach, photo property of OCS Valencia
Close-up, photo property of OCS Valencia
But in truth, I recommend going to Miami Beach because at this time of the year, Miami has the best weather in the United States. The sun is always shining, sometimes like a star that’s about to take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean…
(Miami Beach, photo property of OCS Valencia)
The temperature drops to a very comfortable 17 degrees centigrade and you feel you are in a privileged location, a true paradise. I’ll show you some shots…
Ficus Trees at the Bass Museum, photo property of OCS Valencia
The Setai Hotel, photo property of OCS Valencia
Boardwalk, photo property of OCS Valencia
Yes, there is true beauty and real art all around Miami Beach. You can enjoy it simply by walking around. And the buildings, the nature, the landscapes, all took much more talent, much more planning and much more imagination and work than most of what you would see inside the Convention Centre while Art Basel Miami Beach is in town…
Sunsets in M.B., photo property of OCS Valencia
Sunsets in M.B., photo property of OCS Valencia
Intracoastal, photo property of OCS Valencia
Sunsets creating a silhouette of the buildings in far away Downtown Miami, on the mainland. Yes, Miami Beach is an island, actually many islands and through them is the Intracoastal Waterway that goes all the way up towards north Florida.
I hope you understand my position regarding this type of “art” that I have mentioned. I, in no way judge the entirety of the art or the artists represented in Art Basel Miami Beach or anywhere. I reserve my right to have an opinion and to express it because I believe art is something that you have to learn, develop, craft and dedicate time to. That is how an artist develops talent. Talent is not something you are born with, otherwise it would be some kind of genetic condition. Talent is developed through work, experimentation, research and the use of your imagination, and you were born with that…
If you agree or disagree, let me know. I think we…all who love art…should be talking about it. We should be able to discuss, amicably and respectfully, anything and everything concerning the art world, be it the actual creative work or what goes on in museums, galleries and exhibits. So, please, if you liked this article, hit that like button, follow and share and by all means, give me your opinion.
(Nuestro jardín junto al Océano Atlántico en Miami Beach, foto de FBC, C.2019, Derechos Reservados, All Rights Reserved)
Bodo Vespaciano fue mi nom d’artist de 2003 al 2018 cuando di por terminado ese proyecto. Pero el arte de esos tiempos tiene vigencia y continuidad y no piede ni ha perdido valor…
JaZzArt comenzó en Omnia Caelum Studios of Art Miami y bajo el sello de Bodo Vespaciano…estos son algunos de esos dibujos que ahora forman parte de Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. Espero que os guste…
Música original que compuse en 2008 en Miami Beach…
Todos los cuadros y dibujos en el vídeo son originales y muchos siguen disponibles en Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia (OCSV)…
Si os gusta, darle al like, compartir y seguidme, en YouTube también y en INSTAGRAM @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera
(“Plus Ultra” grafito sobre cartulina, C.2019, Derechos Reservados, All Rights Reserved)
A veces uno pinta y a veces deja que la mano invisible lo haga…
Estos son dibujos al carboncillo y tinta china sobre cartulina. Los hice en mi atelier de Miami Beach en el 2016 después de un viaje a Cuba…
“JazzArt” 2016, Derechos Reservados, C.2019 All Rights Reserved
“jazz Art Cuba” 2016, Derechos Reservados, C.2019 All Rights Reserved
“BalletJazzCubano” 2016, Derechos Reservados, C.2019 All Rights Reserved
“JazzArtMiami” Derechos Reservados, All Rights Reserved, C.2019
“Arte en Cadenas en Cuba” Derechos Reservados, All Rights Reserved, C.2019
“Cuba en Tres” Derechos Reservados, All Rights Reserved, C.2019
Quise poner una bailarina encadenada solo para hacer hincapié a que en Cuba los artistas están coaccionados y controlados por el estado y no pueden ser libres, igual que los deportistas, por eso se escapan a países libres como los de Europa o de EEUU…
Si os ha gustado me podéis seguir, y no olvidéis de darle al like y compartir…
Instagram: (donde subo toda mi obra, pinturas y dibujos) @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera
ALL IS HEAVEN…ALL IS WATER…ALL IS IN MY IMAGINATION…
I have been born with imagination, in a simple tree branch, a thriving nation, I see a million clouds that form the shapes of dreams and hopes in a cloudless sky. And many times I wonder if we are fragments of a storybook recited to a child in Heaven...
I called my studio of art, Omnia Caelum Studios, because of certain verses in Ovid which I always found interesting:
“…ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe, quem dixere chaos: rudis indigestaque moles nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodem non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum.”
I liked the significance which translated roughly means:
“Before the sea and the lands and (which covers all things) the sky, one form was in the whole sphere of nature, which they called Chaos, a raw undigested mass, and nothing but an inert mass, and heaped up in the same [place], the discordant seeds of things not well joined.”
Not well joined until touched by the hands of the artist who can redistribute, reshape and create something beautiful out of an undigested mass…
I was attracted to the order from chaos idea which in many ways describes the way I approach art. But mostly I was attracted to the line “omnia caelum”, which I know to really mean…at least really to me…that “all is Heaven”. All starts from Heaven and ends as well for Heaven is still there for us to look up and smile and wonder. After all in the skies…Heaven…we see so many incredible things…
From the source, Heaven, I can create the first line on my canvas that will inspire my improvisation that will ultimately create Jazz Art right here on the plane of Earth.
And not just my paintings, I have also created music using the same idea of Jazz. I formed the “Abstract Jazz Arrangement” (AJA) in 1999, withing Omnia Caelum Studios. I use the “Arrangement” to collaborate with jazz musicians, or others who like the idea of creating from short lines and forming complete tunes…
(Miami Beach, Atlantic Ocean, photo by FBC C.2019 Derechos Reservados)
(Waters of Biscayne Bay, Miami, photo by FBC C.2019 Derechos Reservados)
I like to work with the certainty that there is something before and something after. To me the concept of Heaven is many things, for example, the place…the horizon on the sea…where you see the union of sky and water…
I want my studio to be what I think art is, therefore it is conceptual, that way I do not lose my place and I can continue to work within the structure that I have created for myself. It is not a limitation, it is simply a border, a reminder. After all just because your elbow does not bend outward, are you limited?
I chose “jazz” as my style not just because I love that musical genre but because it creates something pure, organic and complete out of randomness. I wanted to unite with music in the spirit of the abstract, after all what can be more abstract than music?
If you would like to see more of my artwork, paintings and drawings, please follow me on Instagram as there I post them as I paint them, just go to @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera and if you would like to see the 2019 “JaZzArt en Valencia” series, please access my online galleries at http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155
(“Guitarra Roja” acrylic on wood 60×72 cm Private collection Miami)
I started professionally in the autumn of 2003 with an exhibition at a gallery in Istanbul, Turkey. After that show, which was rather successful, I concentrated more in places like New York, Miami and other points in South Florida. During those years I developed my concept in art which I called “JazzArt” because of the way the compositions are made and the way the painting is actually done. Basically, I follow the definition of what “Jazz” is as a musical genre and that is that you must do these three things: 1) the player as composer; 2) Improvisation; 3) must swing.
These are some of my JazzArt paintings from those years…
“Cara Azul” Private collection New York
“Mujer con Frutas” Private collection Miami
“Consciencia” Private collection Miami
To create using improvisation as your principal tool, you must begin with a line, a pre-conceived line then the painting should start to generate its own shapes, its own forms. I never pre-arrange the figures in my compositions. I never worry about perspectives or if they are in the centre of the canvas. They take care of that themselves as long as I allow the black line to create and swing…
“Autorretrato 2008” Omnia Caelum Miami
“La Flor de la Vida” Private collection Valencia
“Diosa Nuth #3” Private Collection Miami
If you would like to see more of my paintings and drawings, please follow me on Instagram, @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera as I post there every time I finish a painting or a drawing. You can also see my 2019 “JaZzArt en Valencia paintings by going to my online galleries, http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155
Now I’ve moved Omnia Caelum to Valencia, a place with some similarities to South Florida, mainly in the proximity of the beach. However, I feel I can be as creative or more so here in Spain which is where I am from. When you are in the land from where you come, your DNA seems to respond favourably. I noticed that as soon as I set foot back in the Iberian Peninsula…
These are some of the drawings from that same period in Miami…
“We Are the Champions” Private collection New York
“Toros” Private collection Miami
“Monse” Private collection Asturias
To me a work of art, a drawing or a painting, has to have something to say every time I look at it. I draw and paint what I like, what I find amusing, entertaining, interesting or amazing in this world. I like to experiment, therefore I use the process of improvisation. I don’t try to explain my artwork because I think that if what I have represented does not motivate an explanation in your own words and in your own head, I have not done my job as an artist. Art is communication and the communication must be non-verbal.
Please do not forget to hit that like button, to share and to follow and always leave a comment, it is nice to hear from you!
(“Ganso Dorado #3” acrylic on canvas 20x50cm Private collection Valencia)
When I created AJA (Abstract Jazz Arrangement) I wanted to explore as much as I could the music and the sounds that I loved and as well sing in whatever language I chose, from Castilian to Latin…
If you like what you have heard or seen, please like, follow and share, it would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to know more about my artwork, please follow me on Instagran @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera
