I wish I could post more but I’m just being too busy! But today let’s talk about art, about a very interesting creative team composed of two Cuban born artists Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz.
Using very original materials and medias from discarded clothes to dolls and uniforms, or even photography they depict nowadays socio-cultural issues, either directly using the message conveyed by their images or more subtly through the process used and technical efforts.
In any cases their work really striked me and I couldn’t help it, but I spent a good evening reading about them, that’s the way it works when I stumble upon something interesting! But as I can’t just read and look and feel, I needed to ask them a few questions to which they gratefully replied, so after checking a few of my favorite artworks of theirs, read about what they have to say.
Also, you should check their website and blog to see more of their work, and when I say you should I actually mean you must.
Book 1
Pieta - 2006
Crawl - 2003
Martyr - 2007
Mandown - 2008
Three Graces - 2007
Book 2
Six Thai Trannies - 2008
Indradhanush - 2008
Overflow - 2002
Book 3
Oasis - 2006
Canopy - 2006
Book 4
Weak @ The Knees - 2006
Book 5
Great White - 2009
Unicorn - 2008
Putto - 2008
Cub - 2005
Orcle - 2002
Book 6
Bonzai B&W - 2007
Bonsai Jeweled - 2007
Bonsai Fivetear - 2007
Bonsai - 2004
Book 7
Snakecharmer Portrait - 2007
Powerties – 2005-2007
Double Threat - 2008
Dueling Snakes - 2006
Money Make The Man - 2007
Ho - 2004
Book 8
Barbed 4
Barbed 5
Barbed 7
Book 9
Lastsupper
Raising The Bar
Victor’s Secret - 2005
Vanity – 2005
Butchers - 2005
In an attempt to set a frame
Where are you from?
Both born in Cuba
Where are you based?
Miami FL
What is your educational background?
Education is sometimes best unlearned. Knowledge comes from experience.
Where are you and what is surrounding you right now?
In our studio, surrounded by our studio.
What did you do in the past twenty-four hours?
Slept, woke up earlier than usual, showered, answered emails, tended to our cat and dog, ate, smoked, drove to studio, had a meeting, phone calls, ran errands, cleaned our studio, worked on computer and art work, listened to music, went back home to repeat the cycle.
As an introduction to their work
As far as you can go, what is your earliest memory linked to art?
For Alain - Going to El Prado at a very young age.
For Neraldo – Making small toys from found stuff at a very young age.
What, or who, pushed you into art?
Destiny. It is what we were both born to do.
What is your definition of art?
Art can take on many faces and evolves reactionary to the times while contextualizing and documenting the human experience. Whatever form it takes, great art transcends, emitting a sense of power about it.
What is your definition of beauty?
It must be sublime.
Which is more important the process or the product?
Both - one leads to the next.
About their work
How would you describe your work?
We don’t In general.
Lets just say, we make it with the notion that it can describe itself.
What part of your work is the most important?
It varies from time to time with our work.
Every step is important and jointly helps us achieve a certain level of satisfaction.
Where do you find inspiration?
Anywhere and everywhere, or as we prefer to believe, it finds us.
What kind of artistic expression do you look at for inspiration?
We have an affinity to classicism and anything with historical relevance, but draw influence from all over… all kinds of cultures- past and present – their music, architecture, customs, and of course the materials that we use.
What kind of artists do you look up to?
All dedicated artists who follow their own personal paths and visions.
Who are the people you want to reach with your work?
Our objective is to put it out there and let it reach everyone who is meant to see it.
Are creative collaborations important to you?
It works for us. Its how we have adapted to do things and see it as a plus but it doesn’t work for everyone.
So far, what was your most interesting collaboration?
Everything involved with sharing our lives since we met in 1995 to the present.
Do you have any favorite artwork so far?
We try not to think that way because it can block your momentum and can effect our organic creative evolution.
Which one ?
The first of a series is often exciting and a challenge and although we do have favorites there are too many to mention.
Usually it’s the most recently completed work or the next one to come to fruition.
About their career
What satisfies you?
Peace of mind and everything that meets our standards.
When do you consider something achieved?
When concepts are manifested – flawless fruition.
What, or who, has been the greatest influence on your career ?
The natural and spiritual realms…
What, or who, is the motor of your career?
The energy that fuels and inspire our Ideas /concepts.
Each other.
What are your future plans, your next step?
We are ending 2011 with a solo exhibition in Miami titled “BARBED” where we will present a series of photographs along with a correlating large garment installation. Opens November 4th and runs through December 22 at Praxis International in the Wynwood Art District.
We will be debut a new sculpture, “Man’s Best Friend” Along with a new large scale photograph of “Sealing the Deal”, from our ongoing POWER TIE SERIES at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee, Florida. The exhibition is titled “Coming out of the Closet’’. Opens Nov 5, 2011 through February 26, 2012.
Our representative Galerie Kashya Hildebrand will be presenting our work in three international art fairs: Abu Dhabi Art, Contemporary Istanbul and Art Asia-Miami .
We start 2012 by installing Tribute, Pieta, Ring Around the Rosy, Crawl, and Baby Boom at the Chicago Cultural Center in Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection. The exhibition opens January 27 2012.
Well, I hope you like these guys as much as I do! If not let me know why, they might be interested as well… If yes, I personally admire ‘’Barbed 4’’, ‘’Ho’’, ‘’Three Graces’’, ‘’Six Thai Trannies’’, ‘’Indradhanush’’, ‘’Putto’’, ‘’Cub’’ and ‘’Orcle’’, (I know that’s a lot) what are your favorites?
I would like to thank the artists for answering so gently to my questions, and for generally serving the world with such passion. I hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for upcoming discoveries, and new artists.
See ya !
