Canal art 2016 in Delft

We had to do some shopping.... and stumbled into the Canal Art of Delft.

The reflection adding an extra dimension.

Colourful arrows pointing at themselves.

Are they painted or is it just the color of the water?

Glass panels, bold structures and shiny surfaces....

The Museum Reina Sofia (contemporary art) in Madrid not only houses a great collection. One of the top pieces is the Guernica of Picasso (no photo's there....).... But it also is a fantastic building. The heart of the museum is an old hospital building by the Italian architect Sabatini (last quarter of the 18th century). In 2005 the building was enlarged.

The museum is located on a square. The first thing you notice are two huge glass elevator towers with each three glass elevators (yes... this is only one).

It is fun to be in one of the towers and take pictures of the other.

Or of the square down below.

Later, having lunch on the other side of the square I was watching the elevators. They were behaving like a giant fruit machine.... Sometimes three in a row.

Bingo......

The most fantastic part was the roof pavilion.  Glass panels, bold structures and shiny surfaces. 

Fantastic reflections!

Connecting the old and the new.

Bold structures and bold lettering.

A good place to rest the feet for some time before going back inside to see even more great paintings.

The art of Aleijadinho

The impressive Christ from Aleijadinhos (Congonhas, Brazil)

Aleijadinho (Antônio Francisco Lisboa; about 1730 to 1814) lived in Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais (Brazil). He was like his father an architect and sculpturer. Just at the moment when he was starting to develop his own style he was hit by a muscle disease... He couldn't hold his tools with his hands and was forced to tie these to his arms. This might have also have led to his developing a completely personal style of sculpture.
In the works of Aleijadinho there are elements of criticism on the Portuguese regime. It was the time of the French revolution.  In Ouro Preto the Inconfidentes, under the leadership of Tiradentes, organized a coup, that went horribly wrong.

The Church of São Francisco de Assis, that is considered the best architectonic work in Minas Gerais, was built by Aleijadinho. 

São Francisco de Assis - Ouro Preto

Because of the danger of theft it is in most churches in Minas absolutely forbidden to take pictures. So I have to limit myself to the works that I could take pictures of. This is why I am more or less restricted to his masterpieces at the Church Bom Jesus de Matesinhos in Congonhas. Here he also shows his critical spirit, that dressed the Roman soldiers into the boots of the Portuguese. The use of the Pelourinho for the flagellation of Jesus. The Pelourinho was a pillory for the punishment of slaves. In another station Jesus receives the crown of thorns and a sugar cane....

the Church Bom Jesus de Matesinhos of Congonhas

 At the entrance of the Church there are statues of 11 prophets.

The Church Bom Jesus de Matesinhos of Congonhas

Some of the 11 statues of the prophets....

  

  

 In front of the church down a sloping hill are 6 chapels containing scenes from the way of the cross. 

It is a pity to see that these chapels are in great need of maintenance.

The last supper

The last supper

Judas with the money....

Many expressive faces around the table.

Jesus is captured

Jesus attached to a Pillory - the Pillory (Pelourinho) is a flagellation pole that was used by the Portuguese for slaves.
Here we also see the Roman soldiers with Portuguese boots.  

The sugar cane....

Where angels fly....

These angels fly in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia. They are made (in 1970) by Alfredo Ceschiatti together with Dante Croce. The Cathedral is one of the many masterpieces of Oscar Niemeyer.

Looking down from the bus station to the parliament.... there behind the half globe of the National Museum you see the cathedral.

Niemeyer was not a church going person. Yet he did build churches. And this church is magnificent. The light coming through the glass patterns is full of joy. This is a church where the message of joy and light comes alive.

An exceptional building.

More blogs about the architecture of Niemeyer...
An igloo in the sunshine...
The airplane in the serrado

“The mentally ill are like humming birds ….

…. always two meters above the ground”  -  Arthur Bispo do Rosário

At the age of 29 he was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. The rest of his life, 50 years until his death in 1989, he lived in the mental hospital of Colonia Juliano Moreira in Rio.

Chosen by God, Bispo set out on a survey of his own world…. reconstructing this world to offer it to God. All his work in preparation for the Last Judgement.

In his home town in the North-East of Brazil it is tradition that the men work on sewing the banners and costumes for the procession of the Madonna. He used this handcraft to express himself in words. Although at the bienal I saw mainly lists of names, of quantities, he wrote also poems, stories. Bringing together words, signs, objects to form a coded language that confirms the motto of the 30th Bienal: “An imminence of poetry…” 

His robe for meeting God. A life time work.
(see also: The Imminence of Poetry... )

Video’s:
Hugo Denizart : O prisioneiro da passagem
Documentário em torno de Artur Bispo do Rosário, artista plástico, interno na Colônia Juliano Moreira. realizadas por Fernando Gabeira na década de 1980.

Biography's:
Biography English
Biography in Portuguese 

Information about the 30th Bienal de São Paulo