Drawing - Dibujo: George Grie

Posted by Ricardo Marcenaro | Posted in | Posted on 10:03


Open your mind, your heart to other cultures
Abra su mente, su corazón a otras culturas
You will be a better person
Usted será una mejor persona
RM


















title: The Birth of Venus: Gods and Heroes series
This image is an alternative version of the well-known Italian Renaissance painting ‘Birth of Venus’ by Sandro Botticelli. It depicts the goddess Venus, emerging from the sea as a young woman, arriving at the seashore. No single text provides the precise content of the original painting. Art historians have found a platonic interpretation to be the most appropriate way to understand it. For the members of the Florentine Platonic Academy - she was an earthly goddess who aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them, therefore the contemplation of physical beauty allowed the mind to better understand spiritual beauty. So, looking at Venus in a pose traditionally held by Virgin Mary might at first raise a physical response in viewers that then lifted their minds towards the Creator (which is quite unlikely as we already know). Meaning. The Florentine Renaissance, which is Botticelli’s time, is characterized by the returning of classic Greek’s mythology in art. ‘The Birth of the Venus’ is an excellent illustration, as it shows a motive from the classical Greek folklore, though having a philosophical view – that a female beauty is the origin of God.
Sandro Botticelli Prints and Posters
Not everyone was agreeing with such interpretation. Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence monk Girolamo Savonarola 1497 carried out his infamous “bonfire of vanities” to destroy the trappings of luxury and immoral excesses that he preached against, like makeup, jewelry, hairpieces, and “lewd” paintings. He was known for his book burning, destruction of what he considered immoral art, sexually charged sculptures (which he wanted to be transformed into statues of the saints and modest depictions of biblical scenes), and hostility to the Renaissance. He vehemently preached against the moral corruption of the clergy as well. Many fine Florentine Renaissance artworks were lost in Savonarola’s notorious bonfires — including paintings by Sandro Botticelli, which he is allegedly to have thrown into the fires himself. Thankfully for admirers of today, the ‘Birth of Venus’ painting was spared the flames. It remained safe in a Medici villa outside Florence. The rigorous Father Savonarola was excommunicated and executed in the same place where the "Bonfire of the Vanities" had been lit, and in the same manner that Savonarola had condemned other criminals himself during his own reign in Florence.

In essence, this image is an attempt to look at the art history from the contemporary point of view. It shows the duality of every ethical, philosophical, and theological interpretation that might look true today, but false tomorrow. I am not exactly happy about this picture & analysis and I consider it unfinished. One day I might return to rework it.



title: Dehydration or global warming solution
As we all know, the world is about to end because of global warming. Temperatures are soaring, ice is melting, glaciers are retreating, seas are rising, and we’re all going to fry. We’re all up to here with worry about it. The Royal Society says there’s no longer any room for scientific doubt about it. Britain’s Chief Scientist says it’s a bigger threat than global terrorism. Every global warming sceptic is denounced as clinically insane. Every developed nation wags its finger at every other (well, ok then, at America) and tells it to Emit Less. Every politician and B-list celebrity now anxiously measures his or her carbon footprint. Every British schoolchild is now drilled to believe that man-made global warming is a Fact along with poverty and the existence of Belgium. It’s a wonder any of us has any incentive to get up in the morning.

So you might think that the news that the world isn’t frying after all would be all over the media. World saved! Imagine the relief as a weeping nation storms its corner newsagents or rushes to switch on the Today program to learn that it is not, after all, doomed! Or alternatively, if apocalyptic millenarianism is something you just can't live without, that we are all about to freeze to death in a new ice age! Here, then, are the glad tidings. The Telegraph has reported that, although during January Europe, northern Asia and most of Australia experienced above average temperatures, large parts of the globe had their coldest winter for decades!!!



title: Ghost ship series: The ninth wave
“The Ninth Wave” is an old sailor's expression. It means a single wave larger than all the others. Colossal, unexpected, startling - ninth waves are the material of legend. It is said that nothing can withstand their power. The nine’s wave is often referred as a destroyer or killer wave. An old nautical superstition holds that waves become progressively higher until the ninth wave (some claim the tenth) and that then the progression begins all over again. While waves sometimes form larger ones when they meet, there is no really a fixed interval when a large one can be predicted.

Part of the romance of the sea is found in its traditions and none have lingered longer than the superstitions of sailors. Many nautical superstitions have roots in an underlying truth or consideration for safety, but most reach so far back in time as to have their origins clouded in history forever. Sailing superstitions are ancient. No wonder then that superstitions about ghost ships might easily have fit into the belief system of the time. Some thought that the appearance of a ghost ship foretold the coming of a catastrophe.

The term "ghost ship" has several meanings actually. Just how might the concept of the phantom ship have gotten started? It isn't hard to come up with a theory. One of the most remote and isolated places on earth is the sea. Your ticket to survival rests solely upon one’s ship. Out of these forceful and dangerous seafaring circumstances arose some very intense superstitions. Figureheads on the bow were there to ward off evil sea serpents but could also represent the spirit of the ship. Most certainly, ghost ships are linked to shipwrecks and other sea disasters. They usually are seen at the sight where a ship was lost. Possibly, finding abandoned ships and the eerie feeling upon boarding them has fueled ghost ships superstitions.

There is another expression also taken from sailing - “The Seventh Wave”. It is the wave that sailors wait for, when they have no wind. The symbolic value of this expression is that you cannot just sit down and wait for things to happen, you have to find the energy in yourself and in teamwork with other people.



title: Ice Age Premonition or Infinite Iceberg Synthesizer
Icebergs have always fascinated me. Iceberg is a large mass of glacial ice broken off and drifted from parent glaciers or ice shelves along polar seas. Those enormous mass of ice are traveling free, free of purpose and destination. They are always alone and alien to the surrounding environment. Somehow, they remind me lonesome, unsociable people in the crowd of unfriendly faces, they might stay tall, silent, and solemn, but might flip over at any given moment as well. They symbolize a slow deterioration and infinity at the same time as a solid balance and vulnerability. The lifespan of an iceberg may be indefinite while the berg remains in cold polar waters, eroding only slightly during summer months.This picture is my third attempt to explore this intriguing subject; the fist one is the Icelander followed by the Flying Dutchman phantom. The image title was given as an alternative to the popular and greatly exaggerated theory of global warming and its consequences. Since global warming activists predict a dramatic change of the planet’s surface in the nearest future, the Ice Age portrays our society in the “new” Ice Age. The Ice Age Premonition image is a combination of 2D, 3D, and photo manipulation techniques. The sky and icing are matte painted photos; the tower and stairs are 3D rendering. Photoshop, 3ds max, ZBrush.

Ice Age - A cold period marked by episodes of extensive glaciations alternating with episodes of relative warmth. Such periods of large-scale glaciations may last several million years and drastically reshape surface features of entire continents. There have been at least four major ice ages in the Earth's past. The last glacial period ended about ten thousand years ago. Every developed nation these days wags its finger at every other (well, ok then, at America) and tells it to Emit Less. Every politician and B-list celebrity now anxiously measures his or her carbon footprint. Every British schoolchild is now drilled to believe that man-made global warming is a Fact along with poverty and the existence of Belgium. :) It’s a wonder any of us has any incentive to get up in the morning! :)

The word Premonition refers to a situation when future events are foreknown or forecast. Premonitions are attributed to the presence of supernatural or paranormal abilities. Premonitions may range from vague feelings of disquiet, suggestive of impending disaster, to actual hallucinations, visual or auditory. Dreams are frequent vehicles of premonitions, either direct or symbolical, as well as veridical dreams. A premonition differs from prediction.



title: Moonlight Bathing Valkyries: Gods and Heroes series
This image has very little in common with the original Scandinavian mythology. Even though, it has many historical references and symbolic medieval attributes it is a present-day scene based on modern sub cultural trends such as Goth, Emo, Metal, etc. Marked by its emphasis on individualism, a strong emphasis on creativity, tendency toward intellectualism, and cynicism, Goth ideology is based far more on visual aesthetics and simplified ethics than politics. There is no common religious tie that binds together the Goth movement, though spiritual, supernatural and religious imagery has played a part in gothic fashion, song lyrics and visual art. Reasons for donning such imagery range from expression of religious affiliation to satire or simply decorative effect.

Norse myths. In mythology, valkyrie is one of female figures who decides on those who died in a battlefield. They rode to the combat zone on horses or, in some accounts, flew through the air and sea. The valkyries bring their chosen that have died bravely in a fight to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin. According to various myths, they were either purely supernatural or human with supernatural powers. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied by ravens. In modern culture, valkyries have been the subject of works of art, musical works, video games, and poetry.

To take a bath is an ancient physiological trait shared with other land-mammals. So, bathing has a long bio-history, which underlies the social history of its adoption by advanced human societies. Bathing for beauty, power, and status was a refinement of bodily care. There is something extremely sinister in an amalgamation of a woman who is a symbolic source of life and mythological female creature that is a harbinger of death. Bathing on a battlefield makes this scene absurdly gloomy. Merger of beauty and terror, grace and danger, erotic and decay is the main motif of this artwork.


Drawing - Dibujo: George Grie











You have an alphabetical guide in the foot of the page in the blog: solitary dog sculptor
In the blog: Solitary Dog Sculptor I, the alphabetical guide is on the right side of the page
Thanks

Usted tiene una guía alfabética al pie de la página en el blog: solitary dog sculptor
En el blog: Solitary Dog Sculptor I, la guia alfabética está en el costado derecho de la página
Gracias




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My blogs are an open house to all cultures, religions and countries. Be a follower if you like it, with this action you are building a new culture of tolerance, open mind and heart for peace, love and human respect.

Thanks :)

Mis blogs son una casa abierta a todas las culturas, religiones y países. Se un seguidor si quieres, con esta acción usted está construyendo una nueva cultura de la tolerancia, la mente y el corazón abiertos para la paz, el amor y el respeto humano.

Gracias :)









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