Posts tagged ‘Palma’

Mar 18

Sebastiao Salgado Genesis

Being a major artistic proponent of the use of colour, there is nothing I enjoy quite so much as gazing at a gallery full of vibrant paintings, each popping out from the white walls of an exhibition. However there are times in life when there is nothing quite so stunning as the use of black and white to suffuse a work with an atmosphere which could never be obtained through the distractions of colour. And of all the monochrome coloured exhibitions I have seen in my time, none has been quite so successful in black and white as the latest international phenomenon from Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado, Genesis.

Inspired by Salgado’s horror at seeing his own homeland gradually deforested, its naturally lush habitats cleared away in the process of urbanisation, the Genesis project was conceived from an ambition to capture images of some of the most unspoilt and isolated spots on the planet, serving as a reminder of what rare beauty nature alone can create, and what gems of the natural world are continuously threatened by the activity of man. In the course of bringing together such images, Salgado embarked on an inspirational 8 year journey of discovery which took him on some 32 trips to the most remote places where he founds landscapes, marine environments, ecosystems and even indigenous human communities which have remained relatively untouched and unseen by the majority of humankind.

The result is an exhibition of some of the most stunning photographic landscapes I have ever witnessed. Scenes which appear so biblical and mammoth in their scale that you would swear they were the result of digital manipulation. But these captures are as far from digital as it is possible to get – the pure genius of nature captured by an equally brilliant photographer. And of course, as the exhibition intended, they are deeply thought provoking too. For these environments must not just be conserved in photos, but also in reality, for the sake of us all.

Sebastiao Salgado, Genesis is currently showing at the Caixa Forum in Palma de Mallorca, and the series is also available in large folios and books from Taschen.

All photographs are the copyright of Sebastiao Salgado and Amazonas Images

Feb 25

Discovering Palma: Bellver and the Bosque

Palma de Mallorca is a city as diverse as the entire island of Mallorca itself. From stunningly unspoilt medieval and modernista old town to sprawling industrial port and modern suburbs, Mallorca is a city with many faces. But asides from its iconic cathedral, its second most distinctive landmark is surely its castle, the Castell de Bellver, sat majestically upon the most westerly of hills overlooking the city. I never fail to enjoy casting my eyes in a westerly direction on any random afternoon, for always silhouetted against the sinking sun in this most satisfyingly shaped of castles: one of the best remaining examples of a rounded gothic castle left in Europe, and featured in my most recent (and first) of Palma paintings.

Taking time, as we do, to explore this magnificent new city we now call home, my partner and I recently headed to the castle of Bellver, attracted not only by its rich historical heritage, but also by the lush forest or bosque which surrounds it. Extending for acres around the castle and covering the hill like drizzled icing atop a moist victoria sponge, the bosque is by far the greenest expanse available for Palma locals to enjoy, and with its dense vegetation and rocky untouched landscape, it is a bucolic paradise in the midst of a sprawling metropolis.

The bosque

Having walked through the forest, enjoying dappled sunshine and all number of naturally occurring mediterranean plants, we reached the castle which looked even more stunning close up, with an unbeatable blue sky its harmonious backdrop. Asides from admiring the castle’s unique rounded architecture and the uniquely slim arched bridge which joins its main turret with the main structure of the building, the best aspect of this visit had to be the views afforded from the castle. Bellver indeed – for these are beautiful views of Palma which simply cannot be equalled from down at sea level.

Bellver Castle: inside and out

Views to write home about

Collections of Roman sculpture inside Bellver castle

Nonetheless, down from the hill we eventually trekked, only to find Palma’s old centre every bit as beautiful from up close as it had been from up on that hill. The cathedral’s ocre structure glowed peach like in the dying sun, and before it the blue sea sparkled as it transformed into a steady golden mass. Beautiful Palma – I could carry on admiring you forever. And I hope to do just that.

A city to be admired, from up close, far away and especially at sunset

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2015 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 19

Demons and dynamite: The Palma Correfoc

I’m feeling very spoilt by my relocation to Palma de Mallorca. Spoilt because every day, the sun shines a little stronger and for a little longer, despite the fact that we are heading deeper into the winter. Spoilt because each week I discover some sensational new landscape a mere stone’s throw from my front door. And now spoilt because a mere 10 days after the Christmas lights were switched off after the 12th night, they are now back on again, twinkling their beautiful best in celebration of Palma de Mallorca’s patron saint: Saint Sebastian.

And as public festivals go, it looks as though this one is set to be a biggie. As I write, stages are being erected in almost every square in the city; a programme of extensive musical entertainment is waiting in the wings; and a mountain of fireworks is being heaped by the cathedral ready to be ignited. But although most of the celebrations will kick off this evening, on Saturday night, a very unique event hit the streets of Palma: the Correfoc.

Roughly translating as a firerun, there is frustratingly little that can be found on the internet to explain the history of what is ostensibly a satanic orgy of dancing demons setting off a continuum of shrieking fireworks to the beat of traditional gralla drums. But whatever the source of this tradition, this typical folk festival characteristic of a Catalan celebration is an eye-opening sight to behold. Except open your eyes too wide and you could live to regret it – for in a crowded spectacle alive with the pop and crackle of a bounty of exploding whizzing fireworks set off in all directions including over the heads of the heaving crowds, health and safety is not exactly paramount.

But everyone knows that health and safety spoils a real party, and Palma’s unrepeatable firey festival certainly proved worth the risk. Grinding dancers gyrating to the carnal rhythm of drums; horrific demon costumes silhouetted against the mass of burning fireworks; and the sound of fireworks shrieking like taunted spirits as they burst and and flew through the air; all the elements amassed to create a spectacle which felt like both a surreal nightmare and an incredible piece of performance art, and Palma’s biggest street party.

Jan 6

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Cabalgata de los Reyes

Christmas in Spain is altogether a different experience from the UK. Yes, you have the Christmas lights hanging in their abundance throughout the streets of Spanish cities, but the warmer air around them feels less Dickens, and more Diego Rivera. And where many would place a large twinkling tree in their house in the UK, here in Spain, they might instead place a wonderfully detailed nativity. But of all the differences of the season, the one which surely brings the most cheer is the celebrations of the Three Kings festival on the night of 5th and the day of the 6th January. For while in England the 12th night is possibly the most depressing night of the year, when decorations come down to reveal a bleak and empty January, here in Spain it is one of the most joyful celebrations of the year.

At the heart of those celebrations is the Cabalgata de los Reyes, literally the ride of the Kings, when Spaniards in their hundreds of thousands line the streets of their respective cities to watch huge carnival-style parades. At the heart of the parade are the three Kings themselves, each enthroned with their various gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, while both before and after the Kings, a number of other widely varying floats of every kind of fantastical theme, colour and performance entertain the crowds. Most importantly of all, sweets and other gifts will be thrown in their hundreds from the floats to the eagerly awaiting audience.

Here in Palma, the Mallorcan brand of Three Kings parade did not disappoint – I’ve never seen one on such a brilliantly spectacular scale with unicorns and fairies, devils and acrobats, live musicians and dancers all brought into the mix. With sweets showering the air, and the streets packed with people, it made for an unbelievable atmosphere which enabled the festive season to end with a magnificent bang. Now, filled with such positivity, I feel not sadness at taking down my decorations, but excitement and anticipation about welcoming in the onset of Spring!

Dec 22

The Money shot: Beach Volleyball 4 days before Christmas

It may be hard to feel Christmasy when instead of ice cold streets, shop windows misted up from condensation, and fireplaces crackling with log fires to keep out the cold, you have instead summer-like sunshine and beach life, but I think I can live with the change. For here in Palma de Mallorca, my new home town, we have been blessed with incredible December temperatures, and this past weekend, there was not a single cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind to make anyone think of Winter. In fact the weather was so good that for most local residents, Christmas wrapping was left to one side, and enjoyment of the outside was top on the agenda.

Amongst those enjoying the amazing conditions were these beach volleyball players. Stripped down to their shorts, enjoying the unseasonable heat on the beach immediately adjacent to Palma, these players not only made for an iconically summery sight, but their location meant that any photograph was bound to be dazzling. And this photo, taken in a split second as one of the players leapt for the ball, is certainly the money shot and deserved a Daily Norm post all of its own. Not only is it a spectacular shot, with the incredible view of Palma Cathedral immediately behind the player frozen mid-play, but it is also the very epitome of a summer’s day. Would you ever have guessed that this was taken 4 days before Christmas?

It’s a Winter weather change I can well get used to.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Dec 19

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Mallorca Photo Folio: The blues and the beiges

Having done the silver, and posted the greens and reds, it’s onto the blues and the caramalised gold-tinged beiges in my exploration of the colour palette of Palma de Mallorca, and perhaps of all the colours I have collected, these two are the easiest to represent. For Palma de Mallorca’s old town is a unison of golden ochres glowing from its old historical palaces and churches, and blues, which sparkle back from the expanse of sea which runs alongside the city, and the cerulean sky which shines so brightly above its many horizons. Here, the blues glow in the wood framed windows of the ancient town houses, while the beiges reflect like caramel in the molten water of the Mediterranean. These colours may be opposite ends of a colour spectrum, but in the Mediterranean, they are a fully harmonised affiliation.

So here are my photos which show these two colours at their very best. The glorious golden cathedral of Palma de Mallorca glowing against a bright blue sky; an old much used earthenware pot standing in readiness full of food against a painted blue cafe wall; the multi-tiled tribute to the sea by Mallorcan resident Juan Miro. The modern blues buildings and the ancient beige stone; the yellow sun reflected through windows and the windows reflected in the blue sea. Blue and beige: a happy symphony.

Dec 16

Santa Lucia and the Joy of Rialto Living

To be honest, it didn’t take me much to make up my mind to move from London to Mallorca. After a sustained period of dissatisfaction with the big city in the smoke, the comparative paradise of Palma de Mallorca took little persuasion. And yet I think I can pinpoint the exact moment when my mind was made up as being the moment when my partner and I discovered Rialto Living.

Situated in the Carrer Sant Feliu, a dark cobbled street in the heart of Palma’s old town and lined with the very best of Palma’s old palaces, Rialto Living is a lifestyle concept store which sells the very best in interior design, art, and fashion. Happily for us it also contains one of the cafe hot spots in Mallorca, a blue and white symphony of open space and high couture eating, all set within a stunning renovated palace. In short, Rialto Living is a sumptuous, stunning shop. The kind of place where you could happily while away the hours as though it were your own home (I should be so lucky), and it was upon finding this place that we knew Palma had the kind of mentality which meant that we could make the city our new home.

A paradise of interior design

Harking from Scandinavia, and founded by one of the three founders of Gant, Klas Kall, along with grafic designer Barbara Bergman, it is no wonder that Rialto Living is such a temple of interior chic. Here you will find a magazine shot in every corner, furniture to die for, and quality which bounces and glides and glitters in one’s hands. Its many sections are a delight for the eyes. Its clothes section is so chic and welcoming that it makes you want to discard your old clothes there and then for something delightfully fluffy and new. Its home section is like a paradise of design; my favourite section has to be the Alhambra recreation within whose moorish arches roll after roll of colourful material unfold; I also adore the dining area, where sun floods through the south facing windows to illuminate the multicoloured glassware.

Rialto Living’s fresh blue café

Yet despite its inherent sophistication, Rialto Living is utterly welcoming, as demonstrated last weekend when customers were welcomed to the store on Saturday lunchtime to join in carols and glogg (mulled wine) in a celebration of Santa Lucia’s day. They even had an angelic choir fitted with all of the regalia of Santa Lucia festivities, the likes of which inspired both my Norm sketch yesterday, and brought tears to my eyes.

Rialto’s celebration of Santa Lucia

So this long overdue post on Rialto Living is both a dedication to the sumptuously sophisticated palacial surrounds of my favourite shop, and a record of last weekend’s very Christmassy affair. Rialto Living: you truly are an inspiration. As long as you are in Palma, I too will remain.

Dec 4

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Zeno Brains and Oracle Stones: Jan Fabre at La Llotja

Jan Fabre is a multitalented creator. Having successfully dappled in writing, performance, and screenplays, he has also shown himself to be a prolific artist, skilled in drawings and installations quite asides from his stunning sculpture work. He is also tremendously successful. He was the first contemporary artist to be given a solo exhibition at the Louvre in Paris (“L’ange de la métamorphose”) and has participated several times in the Venice Biennale, and twice in the Kassel Documenta. Yet most importantly of all (for me at least), his incredible thought-provoking works are now on show in Palma, in the haunting lofty space that is La Llotja – the old 15^th century maritime exchange, on the city’s waterfront.

His Palma exhibition, Zeno Brains and Oracle Stones, is as enigmatic as it is enticing. After perusing the internet for some time, I have found myself quite unable to find any coherent explanation of what the exhibition is about, nor what the artist intended to represent. And yet the show, which comprises some 9 sculptures revolving around the same theme: the tortoise and the brain, makes for a stunning sight. This is not least because of the space: given over to these simple sculptures in marble and stone, illuminated powerfully in the otherwise dark cavernous space, the whole installation feels almost spiritual as each sculpture sits soulfully in wait, a focused spotlight falling upon its cold stone surface in the darkness. But the sculptures themselves are so enigmatic that they call out for engagement and interpretation.

Fabre gives us tortoises on a brain, tortoises under a brain; a tortoise whose shell is made out of a brain, and another who carries a brain precariously on its shell. There are tortoises lying upside down atop a brain, and others pushing a brain away as though in an attempt to alleviate the world of this unnecessarily complex organism. So why the brain and why the tortoise? Well they are both as old as time, and perhaps both inexplicable as a manifestation of nature’s creativity. They also look pretty similar working in unison – a partnership evidently explored by Fabre in these various sculpted manifestations. But there is almost something sinister and monstrous about the works, and while I am not completely invested with an understanding of how the works reflect Kafka’s Metamorphosis, as is suggested by the brochure accompanying the exhibition, I can see the plight of Gregor Samsa in the upturned tortoises, reminding of how that poor man awoke one fated morning finding himself unable to get up from his back which had metamorphosed into the shell of a hideous beetle.

But as ever, the enigma of this work is integral to its power, and much of the reason why I love it. And if you wish to see it you must be quick, for the exhibition will end on 21 December 2014. Yet another reason to get yourselves to Mallorca before the year is out.

Nov 27

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Discovering Palma: Waterfront Walk

Asides from the wall to wall sunshine, the resonance of a new language filling the air, the smells of garlic and pimenton wafting throughout the streets, and the injection of a new culture, the best thing about moving to a new town (and indeed country) is discovering it. Despite a few previous visits to Palma, its maze of streets, particularly in the old town, remain excitingly unknown, and ever since we arrived in the city some 10 days ago, we have been constantly on the move discovering.

A recent stroll took us through the quaint narrow shopping streets of central Palma, beyond the imposing cathedral and out onto the waterfront where the majority of these photos were taken. They capture a time of late afternoon, when people were out sharing our pleasure of strolling amongst long winter shadows and still warm autumn sunshine, taking an afternoon coffee or something stronger in the sidewalk cafes, and heading down to the water’s edge where the sun danced languidly atop of the crests of meandering ripples.

From the waterside walk into the marina itself, we strolled amidst the industrialised port of Palma, where huge yachts are being covered in plastic ready for their winter makeover, and beside the tightly cordoned Royal Yacht club, where only the most devoted of socialite sailors remain in the quiet season, drinking cocktails on an empty veranda with views of the sun setting over the boat-filled marina. There we bore witness to the most sensational of light effects, as the setting sun radiated a golden hue which bounced and sparkled over a still blue marina and upon the shiny surfaces of the yachts and liners which fringe Palma’s waterfront.

This view was certainly one discovery which we will quite happily enjoy over and over.

Oct 2

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Norm’s Autumn Banoffee at Palau March

As the green leaves of summer turn gradually to shades of auburn and brown, it’s time again to reflect on that sunny island of Mallorca, where the higher temperatures of summer live on, and the sun’s midday warmth embraces all locals and visitors alike with its life-enhancing optimism. But even Mallorca and the Mediterranean is not immune from the seasonal momentum of the planetary system, and as evenings draw in before winter descends, and the sunlight hours diminish, the locals and Norms of Mallorca’s capital Palma look to the cosier pursuits in life.

And can there be anything cosier in the emerging autumn than a late afternoon tea, with a slice of Cappuccino Grand Café’s classic banoffee pie, consumed while sitting on the comfy sofas of the Palau March café under the colonnades ofthis elegant city palace? This little Norm certainly does not think so, and indulging in the very height of afternoon delight, he sips upon his coffee and digs into his oozing caramel-filled banana and cream tart with a gusto which is more than justified when exposed to such an exquisite dessert. His little heart beating to the sumptuous sounds of Cappuccino’s jazzy sound track, and his eyes otherwise entertained by the unbeatable views of Palma’s historic centre beyond the colonnades, this Norm is all set up for an autumn afternoon of insurmountable delight, and is frankly the envy of all of us who can not be there with him.

Norm at Cappuccino Palau March (2013 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, acrylic on canvas)

My little Norm painting is acrylic on canvas and currently hangs, so I gather, in the stunning Ibiza Botafoch café of the Grupo Cappuccino. Now that’s got to be a double whammy for this little Norm.

Check out more Norm paintings in the new Norm galleries of my (almost) completed new website.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.