Celebrating Womanhood @ The Front

I have two recent pieces (mixed media on paper) in this show. I would have love to go but unfortunately I will not be able to.

Casa Familiar’s THE FRONT: A Collaborative of Art, Culture, Design & Urbanism
147 W. San Ysidro Blvd
San Ysidro CA 92173

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 3, from 6 to 11pm.

Gringos Living in Tijuana by Katherine Sweetman

Very interesting 15 minutes, I cannot wait to see the feature-length version. What a great idea! A very much needed fresh look at Tijuana.


This is a 15 minute version of a feature-length documentary

"Gringos Living in Tijuana" provides a glimpse into the lives of seven, very unusual inhabitants of the city of Tijuana, Mexico. Derrik, Gerda, Jodi, Jason, Michael, Iana, and Jenny are not Hispanic, and they don't exactly appear as though they would "blend in" in the Mexican border town that has been called one the most dirty and dangerous cities of North America. Yet this film follows these gringos, in their daily activities, while they show and explain why they chose to live in the city they love-- Tijuana.
Katherine Sweetman

Screening at La Casa delTunel, Tijuana - coming soon

Iana Quesnell / Moving Point: Contemporary Drawing in Southern California @ William D. Cannon Art Gallery

Four of the six drawings by Iana Quesnell
shown at Cannon Gallery

I am an aficionado of Iana Quesnell's work. I do not think I missed one of her shows since I first saw her work at the MCASD in La Jolla in 2007 (Cerca Series). I did not go to CECUT in Tijuana to see her installation with the penciled walls and the long white tablecloth, "Limited Difusos", but I saw the video at UCSD. Quesnell lives and works in Tijuana. She teaches Foundations and Form, a sculpture class in the undergraduate Visual Arts department at USD.

Her work shown at the Cannon Gallery, which consists in a series of 6 drawings (pencil on paper), stroke me as the most interesting work in the show, it is almost like her drawings were glowing.

I love Belt and Silva's work. But Belt's work feels cold when I see Quesnell's work close to his, although the way he uses the space is stunning and the details are exquisite. I could feel the strength of Silva's work, but could not dive into it.

Quesnell's series is based on images taken of the burros painted as zebras one can see on Avenida Revolucion in Tijuana, with images of the gods and goddesses of the pre-colonial Mexico in the background. Iana is pictured in each image, sitting on a different burro, smiling and wearing each time a different sombrero.
The photos I took are not good, I encourage you to go see the drawings to enjoy them!


"Bonita Lucy"


"Cisco Kid"


"Drunk Again"


"Sexy Girl, Monica"


"Oh Boy! Barney"


"Pancho Villa, Ruben"

For those who do not know about the touristic attraction Iana Quesnell is picturing in her drawings, here's an image:


Courtesy Felixe

"Moving Point: Contemporary Drawing in Southern California"
August 30, November 1rst, 2009
Karen McGuire, Curator of Exhibitions
Artists:
Adam Belt
Joseph Biel
Tom Morgan
Enjeong Noh
Iana Quesnell
William Riley
Ernest Silva
Pat Warner

William D. Cannon Art Gallery
Carlsbad City Library Complex
1775 Dove Lane
Carlsbad, CA 92011
(760) 602 2021

Notes from France: Breil-Sur-Roya

Breil-Sur-Roya

In France this summer, I spent some time in places I love. Breil-Sur-Roya is the village where my grandfather was born and where I spent sunny summers during my childhood, playing in the olive trees, picking ripe tomatoes for lunch, helping my grandfather watering the vegetable garden, watching him trimming the vines, hiking with my parents, eating the most amazing cakes (my grandfather was a pastry cook). It's always nice to go back there and to spend time with the family.

During WWII, the village, which is on the French-Italian border, was occupied by the German army. Soldiers occupied my grandfather's house for months while he and his family (my grand mother and their three daughters) were living there. I heard a lot of stories from my mother, who was 7 in 1941.

Sometimes when I am there, in the quietness of this beautiful valley, I cannot help thinking that during my mother's childhood there was that amazing episode, those years, the everyday fear, the bombs and the hunger - and even deportation: the people from the village were deported on foot to Turin, Italy, in October 1944 (until May 1945).

My mother talking about her childhood during the WWII is something amazing (but she very rarely talks about it). War was her everyday reality for years, when she should have spend most of her time playing and dreaming.
I should record her sometimes.

In the mountain where I like to go hiking there, in and around "La Vallee des Merveilles", one can still see the strategic roads paved with stones, which soldiers (French, Italian, German) used to control the border between Italy and France. At times those roads were filled with columns of soldiers transporting materials on horses, on donkeys and by truck. One can still see the ruins of military dwellings very high in the rough landscape. No trees around, only rocks. Sometimes a roll of rusted barbed wire. The weather there is harsh most of the year. The soldiers stayed up there for months, years, waiting, fighting.


The village seen from my grand father's yard


The trail in the back of the village


At my grandfather's: the land is planted
with olive trees.




Campei, in the upper mountain


On a trail near Casterino


Fontanalbe, a nice (and steep) trail,
in the "Parc National du Mercantour"

"C'est La Vie": Territories Series / Troops and Territories Series / Landscapes

"C'est La Vie", detail


Territories Series: Troops - #3
2009, acrylic on canvas, 12”x12”

The small paintings in the exhibition "C'est La Vie", are from 4 different series I worked on:
- Territories series/landscapes
- Territories Series/Troops
- Territories series/connections
- Watching series

The show ends this Sunday.


Territories Series: Troops - #1
2009, acrylic on canvas, 12”x12”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #4
2009, acrylic on canvas, 12”x12”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #5
2009, acrylic on canvas, 12”x12”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #10
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 8”x8”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #11
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 6”x6”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #12
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 8”x8”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #14
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 8”x8”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #15
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 8”x8”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #16
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4”x4”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #17
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4”x4”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #18
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4”x4”


Territories Series / Landscapes - #19
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4”x4”


C'est La Vie
San Diego Art Institute / Museum of the Living Artist
June 5 - July 12, 2009
Monday - Saturday from 10 to 4.
Sunday from noon to 4.
1439 El Prado
San Diego CA 92101
(619) 236-0011
contact Debbie Wells: dwells@mola-sdai.org