Tag: artwork

A Wizard Without a Shadow session IV

A Wizard Without A Shadow (IV) (107)

17/04/2023, Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪 “A Wizard Without A Shadow” is officially finished after 4 creative breakfasts, session I, session II, session III, and session IV, today. Today I had not only the – now infallible – company of Juliët, but also the company of Tineke. The three of us we enjoyed a long (very long!) and pleasant breakfast at Belle Alliance, enjoying the excellent service and atmosphere of creativity. As you can see in the video, my dear reader, I moved my hands a lot more. That’s the effect of having talked a lot more, something inevitable when I’m with T. With J. instead, we enjoy more the silence. Two different persons, two different ways of sharing the creativity. The Wizard Without a Shadow will be scanned within the next few days, printed in high quality, and will be sent as printed + NFT copy of the 1st series to the noble Chaotic Monk (S1 1/2) and the Queen of all fries Jessy Jeanne (S1 2/2). Series 2 will be available in my next markets. But tell me dear reader… What do you think of the final drawing?Did you catch a glimpse of how the cheese cake evaporated in the video? Have a wonderful day 🍳☕️ NFT You can collect this post as NFT using Lens, check it out 👉🏻here 👈🏻

A Wizard Without a Shadow - 3rd session

A Wizard Without A Shadow (III) (100)

10/04/2023, Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪 It is official: I have a tradition of creative breakfasts on Mondays. Today, Juliët joined me again, and dedicated her time to write some nice things that hopefully will see the public light soon 👀. We spent more than two hours, time in which I started to paint A Wizard Without a Shadow. This morning the weather was incredibly nice, a clear perfume of spring in the air, open sky, and lots of sunlight. That’s why Juliët proposed to visit a place with an open terrace: the Kaffeebar Jacobi. What an amazing place! This café is located in the limit of a cemetery near Hermannplatz, but totally covered from the chaos of this spot of the city. The whole session was very pleasant, as people around us were also in a creative / pacific / slow mood either reading, writing or chatting. Next Monday I will do the last session of watercolours, and I will give for finished the drawing (hopefully!). In any case, it looks like this artwork is going to be well received: isn’t even finished yet and L. already asked me for a copy yesterday at the market. But tell me dear reader… How many repetitions do you think we need to define a tradition?Do you like to enjoy a free time near a cemetery? Have a wonderful day 🍳☕️ NFT 🚨🚨 SUPER SPECIAL POST! 🚨🚨 Today’s is a #CelebrationPost : 100 days of daily posts! I feel super grateful with all the Lens community and I want to celebrate: I will send a limited series copy print signed by me of “A Wizard Without a Shadow” to those who collect this post 🫶🏻 This will also include an NFT with the same serial number minted on main net. Hurry up, only 24 hours to collect this post using Lens 👉🏻here 👈🏻

A Wizard Without a Shadow - 2nd session

A Wizard Without A Shadow (II) (093)

03/04/2023, Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪   This morning I went to Someone Loves You to draw and to (literally) feed my emerging tradition of long and creative breakfasts (link to CB). Last Monday I had planned to do a watercolour session, but the situation took a different turn. What changed regarding the first session is that today I shared the breakfast with Juliët, who wrote some poetry while I drew. Before Juliët arrived, I started to add some details and to define a bit more those first erratic shapes started last Monday. As a result of those early explorations, I got into details to an almost obsessive level: shadows, textures and even unexpected minutiae like some Escherian scenes. As watercolours take time and I was really enjoying this stage, I decided to leave the colouring for next week. Sharing the session with Juliët was great, the creative atmosphere was palpable and materialised in a more than comfortable silence. From Juliët’s text (a gem, by the way) perhaps will emerge some collaboration. We’ll see in the next sessions of the “creative breakfasts”. But tell me dear reader… Is it comfortable for you to share the silence?What detail of the drawing did you like the most? Have a wonderful day 🍳☕️ NFT You can collect this post as NFT using Lens, check it out 👉🏻here 👈🏻

The Secret of My Eyes © Lufo Art, 2017

The Secret of My Eyes

The Secret of My Eyes is a small painting of 12,9 x 18 centimetres made back in September 2017. I can recall few but important things about the moment in which I drew it. For example, I remember that geographically I was in Italy, more precisely in Salerno… Yet, my mind was somewhere else… Let’s try to figure out where: Nosce Te Ipsum Dolina and Borges The artwork NFT The Secret of My Eyes in progress © Lufo Art, 2017 Nosce Te Ipsum During those years a big influence marked my days: George Gurdjieff. In fact, we talk about years in which I was constantly questioning myself about the sense of being. But… being what? Being nothing, just being.  This might sound a bit of a silly game of words… Nevertheless it is a very simple yet powerful reflection that recalls very ancient teachings from different schools, and the legendary greek γνῶθι σεαυτόν, namely Nosce Te Ipsum in the Latin translation, or know thyself in English. The person who introduced me to those concepts was K., with which I used to meet very often those days… … Ok, yes, we were dating ????, but that is not the point: K. introduced me to G., E., E., and A. With them, I shared beautiful and intense days, learning about me as a human and about the human being as a part of a species.  While meeting with that group, I read the books that P. D. Ouspensky wrote about G. Gurdjieff: first, Fragments of an Unknown Teaching (AKA In Search of the Miraculous), and then The Fourth Way. These books and their teachings totally marked a stage of my life. Furthermore, they are still with me (the books) and within me (the teachings). Nowadays, I can see Gurdjieff’s teachings on The Secret of My Eyes: for example the triangle, as one of the mystic figures that I like the most, then the eye, and finally the person which is… reflected on the eye or captured within? Take a look and you tell me: The Secret of My Eyes in progress © Lufo Art, 2017 Dolina and Borges Other influences while drawing The Secret of My Eyes were Alejandro Dolina and Jorge Luís Borges.  Dolina has been a great companion not just for this painting, but also for my travels, for my sleepless nights, and in general for my life. Indeed, the flow, thoughts and reflections of his podcast La Venganza Será Terrible are there: the pleasure of the lecture (you might want to listen to this amazing chapter about it), the reference to Ramón Raquello and his Orchestra, etc. Jorge Luís Borges is also there. Indeed, we can read: I offer you the loyalty of a man who has never been loyal… which is a reference to one of his English poems. Also, there is a mention to Rafael Cansinos, who has been of great influence to Borges himself. Indeed, much probably I knew about Cansinos while listening either to Borges or to Dolina. Both Dolina and Borges were very present within those years of my life. Effectively, I used to listen to them almost every day: on the train while going to work, with my headphones during a walk coming back home, or when I was painting… View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lufo Art (@lufo.art) The Secret of My Eyes The artwork explores music, literature, surrealism, space, time… Indeed, there are the influences mentioned above but also a mention to The War of the Worlds of H.G. Welles, which I might have been listening to during one of the drawing sessions. Furthermore, the many circles, dots, lines, and colours connecting one thing with another, are also a symbolism of how those concepts where connecting the ideas and feelings that I had in my mind. Finally, at the centre of everything there is the self, the person… This tells and reminds us that humans cannot see themselves using their own eyes… So… here it is, there you have…. The Secret of My Eyes: The Secret of My Eyes © Lufo Art, 2017 NFT Last but not least, a little surprise: The Secret of My Eyes is the second item on Lufo Art NFT’s gallery. Right as Instant, this artwork aims to help the project Proof of Humanity following a scaled scheme of burning. Yet, The Secret of My Eyes has a surprise: it comes with an unlockable content… oh dear, but now… the anxiety! What could it possible be?! What do you think about The Secret of My Eyes? I read your comments! ???? Have the best day of your life! Tschüss Dr. Luquitas

Artwork Instant © Lufo Art, 2013

Instant, the snapshot of a dream

Instant © Lufo Art, 2013 The artwork Instant was born in 2013 as a proposal for the contest Skywards Future Artists.  According to the contest’s jury, the artwork did not match the requirements, so it was never took in consideration as a candidate. I was sure to have matched all the specifications, and ask them to clarify what was the problem about… but they never replied me back ????. Artwork’s concept With Instant I tried to made possible an impossible vision: the shadows reflected on the other side of where they are supposed to be, the hand ¿opening? ¿closing? around that… ¿building? ¿Device? that is ¿falling? ¿raising?… This artwork is the image of a dream, where everything is confusing and surrealistic, but at the same time totally possible and understandable (for who dreams it).  Instant (process) © Lufo Art, 2013 Context and curiosities When I painted Instant, I was living in a university residence at the very centre of Córdoba, Argentina. The place was simply horrible: I shared room with three more persons, the “bedroom” was very small, maybe even less than 10 m2… The kitchen was something impossible to use and I don’t want to recall the traumatising memories in the bathrooms…. I remember there was the space for two bunk beds and a tiny corridor in the middle, nothing else. To one side, there was a window from which the beautiful eyes of L used to appear for some time… To the other side of the room, there was the door to a bathroom with  double door, shared with another similar room with even more people…. … who knows, maybe when I drew Instant I was wishing just to get out of that place. René Magritte’s artwork In 2017, got such a big surprise when I visited the Musée Magritte in Bruxelles. I was walking among René’s wonderful paintings and enjoying his work when I found a poster project from 1938 that brought me back (or forward?) to 2013 and to Instant. Such a curious coincide, isn’t? Poster project for the Belgian textile workers’ union (La centrale des ouvriers textiles de Belgique) © René Magritte, 1938 What have you done with you artwork Luquitas? The original drawing finished at the hands of a person that used to do my days happier: A. I remember that I knew that she was going to pass through Córdoba’s bus main station for some and stop there before heading to her city again. When I knew it, I ran to the station to meet her, and I brought the drawing with me. Without even thinking it, I gave her the drawing, feeling that she was going to be someone who would appreciated it. I hope that I was not wrong although I never knew what was the final fate of Instant. In another occasions (after and before 2013), I drew spots from the city with A, sharing beautiful moments of expression and silence with her. I saw her a couple of years ago again, but sadly after that last meeting our connection “vanished” up to the point that we never talked again… Well, at least I have a wonderful digital version of Instant. Actually, I have used this digital version to create my very first NFT art gallery at OpenSea. Closing The artwork Instant has had many interpretations from friends and art lovers. There are no few persons that see explicit sexual components on it: a vagina, even a penis in the place of the thumb. Honestly, I am not aware of willing to include such expression but, in the end, how to be sure? Does it matter?  I know that I wanted to mix several words: the reminiscences of the Sagrada Familia that I saw for the first time two years before this painting, the vernacular architecture of the Amalfi Coast from Italy, the expression of the eyes that enjoy what the mind is creating… What do you see in Instant? Write me below, don’t be shy! ???? Have the best day of your life! Tschüss Dr. Luquitas

Anniversaries in Europe, reflections

La fórmula para vivir eternamente

El texto “La fórmula para vivir eternamente” fue publicado originalmente en Facebook el 10/11/2021. Hoy, 28/06/2023, lo comparto nuevamente desde mi sitio web. Hice algunas actualizaciones para mejorar la legibilidad, agregué más fotos, y una versión en inglés para llegar a un público más amplio. Con este texto, celebré 8 años viviendo en Europa. “La fórmula para vivir eternamente” es el primer capítulo aniversario que transcribo a mi sitio web, aunque tengo una serie de textos similares de aniversarios anteriores que me gustaría traer aquí también. Espero continuar esta serie en los próximos años, juntarlos con los anteriores y ponerlos todos juntos en la misma página. Espero que leerlo sea tanto de vuestro agrado como fue para mi escribirlo. Lufo La fórmula para vivir eternamente Hace exactamente 8 años un avión de Alitalia aterrizaba en Roma. Había despegado el día 9/11/2013 desde Ezeiza, y en alguno de los tantos asientos estaba yo, con muchos sueños y poco equipaje. Traía mis acuarelas y mi pincel con agua, regalo de amigos y amigas italianos. Tenía todas las intenciones de usarlas… y vaya si lo hice (y lo sigo haciendo). Lo que también hice fue el control de migraciones en Fiumicino. Acto seguido me compré un café que degusté como si jamás en mi vida hubiera tomado café antes. Luego me tomé un vuelo de cabotaje hacia Nápoles, y en Capodichino me esperaban Salvatore y Simona. Estos dos adorables seres se habían hecho un momento para ir a buscarme a pesar de ser domingo. Antes de encarar hacia Fisciano (donde habría de quedarme para estudiar), hicimos una parada técnica en el Decathlon. Allí, me compré las mismas zapatillas que se compró Salvatore. Compré confiando en su criterio, como tantas otras veces hice y sin dudas seguiré haciendo. Pagué 7 € por ellas, y probablemente hoy sigan saliendo lo mismo… Probablemente, todavía se encuentre el mismísimo modelo y color en la misma estantería. Eso sí que no cambió, pero en mi vida… ¿Qué no cambió en mi vida desde entonces? Conociendo a la muerte Cada año que pasó ha sido más y más intenso. La carga emocional de estos años me enseñó a valorar cada instante de VIDA. Algo doloroso y muy intenso de estos últimos años fue tener que sentarme tan seguido a tomar café con la muerte. Había saludado por última vez al nono Héctor allá por el 2002. Aún recuerdo que su quietud y mi mente no se ponían de acuerdo: yo lo veía respirar, pero no, no respiraba. En 2008, una pequeña en la familia se nos iba con apenas unos meses, dejándonos una cantidad inmensa de cosas para repensar y resignificar. En 2010 con la nona Ilda fue un poco diferente… Quizás… Quizás porque ella nos había hablado tanto y con tanta tranquilidad de la muerte que lo tomé más natural. No fue una herida, fue una suerte de cambio de estado previamente pactado. En 2012 le toco a Nancy, y todavía la escucho y la veo viajando y divirtiéndose. Desde entonces, y a pesar de que “ella viene siempre detrás”, la huesuda no me anduvo cerca. Sin embargo, esta señorita se desquitó con una serie más bien intensa: Vito Cardone En el 2019 vino a buscar a una persona que fue clave en mi vida, Vito Cardone. Se lo cargó sin recelo, sin prisas ni pausas, sólo después de que Vito se cansara de dar cátedra de dibujo, de política, de literatura… Por suerte Vito no vivió la pandemia, no le tocó aprender a usar Zoom, Teams y todas esas cosas… Vito no dio conferencias con máscaras quirúrgicas, ni se tuvo que poner en el patético dilema (in)Shakespeariano del siglo XXI del “vax o no vax”… Vito… Ese Vito me dio la oportunidad de contar mis historias por primera vez en una conferencia en 2012. Además, me pidió dos dibujos apenas llegué a Italia en 2013, uno de Villa Rufolo y otro del auditorio de Niemeyer y los publicó en su libro Viaggiatori d’architettura in Italia. Con ese mismo Vito compartí libros, historias, y momentos entre Nápoles, Roma y Salerno. Vito. Golpe durísimo que no hablé con nadie abiertamente. Ni que tampoco nadie me preguntó, quizás porque muy pocos tenían idea de lo que Vito representó en mi vida. La única persona que lo sabe en profundidad tuvo tu propia cuota de dolor también. Quizás fue una suerte de “entendimiento mutuo”. A Vito no lo vi. No lo quise ver. Me lo quise llevar vivo en la memoria. Y efectivamente allí está todavía, escribiendo mails hasta las 21 en el campus de Fisciano… O comiendo en alguna taberna de Nápoles… Allí está todavía, compartiendo congresos en España y en Italia, dando conferencias magistrales sobre la vida y obra de Gaspard Monge y el Grand Tour. Allí está, vivo. Damaris Balland Para inaugurar el 2021, la parca me mostró su lado más imprevisible con el episodio más intenso que viví hasta ahora. Espero que se haya degustado lo suficiente. Esta señora de huesos y tela me hizo una jugarreta especial. Me agarró desprevenido, con la guardia bajísima, o con la atención muy hacia otro lado. Dante lo explica perfectamente: es en los jardines es donde somos más vulnerables porque es donde más nos relajamos y bajamos la guardia. El 01/01/2021, a la parca se le dio por fumarse un pucho nada más y nada menos que con Damaris. Damaris. Esa flaca suiza que amé intensamente y que me dio todo y más… Damaris, esa persona que aprendió a liberar los demonios de los otros como una hechicera. Ella que tanto ayudó a liberar a otros intentó hasta el último momento liberarse de sus propios traumas… pero no pudo. Damaris. Murió Damaris. … O de alguna manera, terminó de morir, porque cuando la conocí era ya un rejunte de cristales rotos, acaso imposibles de reunir. Y no digo esto para liberarme de la culpa en este número donde cada uno carga su fardo. No, lo digo porque a veces…
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