Posts tagged ‘Spain’

Dec 4

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.

Dec 3

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Mallorca Moments: Sunset over the Docks

Another day in Palma, another sunset. And this one was a true spectacle. It started with a walk down to the marina. The port of Palma is so big that it fills the entire bay of the city, yet it seems to be so impenetrable, fringed as it is with gates and cordons and goodness knows what. Yet unperturbed, Dominik and I have set ourselves the challenge of exploring as much of it as we can. Thus walking down what appeared to be a rather industrial road leading to what must be the main docks and boat repair industry, we found ourselves exploring yet another area of the port which we hadn’t found before, ending up at a beautiful café out on the harbour arm overlooking the undisputed icon of the city: the Cathedral.

There we had our fill of taking industrial photos of the machinery in the port and the workers retreating from the port back to the city at sundown (it reminded me a little of the factory paintings of the North of England by Lowry, although the scenery was somewhat more beautiful…) before heading back to the less industrialised pleasure port where huge shiny yachts rest gracefully by the harbour edge. It was there that ultimately, as the sun plummeted to its lowest visible point, we bore witness to the most stunning sunset which, when interspersed with the clouds scattered across the horizon, made for an incredibly sumptuous visual feast. And as is so often the case with sunsets over the coast, the interplay with the still waters of the marina was incredible. I have never seen ripples so lavishly shot through with rich tones of orange and blue.

So excuse me if I bore you with post after post of these natural spectacles, but with sunsets as good as these, what other aesthetic fix could you possibly need?

Dec 2

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Discovering Palma: Boutique Shopping

Of the many characteristics of Palma de Mallorca which make the city such a charming, vivacious and engaging place to discover, one of my favourites has to be its proliferation of privately owned boutique shops. From shops crammed with local produce, to fashion boutiques selling unknown designers, sweet shops full of jewel like offerings and basket weavers with their rafts full of artisan hand-woven products, Palma is a city which promotes the hand made and locally created, as well as supporting local business men and women in setting up their own shops. Unlike the UK, whose high streets have become such a depressing spectacle of widespread commercialisation, with privately owned shops being priced out of the high street to be replaced by the same monotony of big chains which appear in every town and city across the country, Palma’s streets are full of one-off unique boutiques. This makes a stroll through Palma, or a quest for that perfect distinctive gift an enthralling experience – there is so much to choose from in shops each individually different from their neighbour.

As is so often the case with privately owned boutiques, these shops are a pleasure on the eye, as shopkeepers vie with one another to dress their windows, shop walls, ceilings and floors with the most plentiful and creative offerings. So many of the shops have stood the test of time, and as a result can be found within the original distinctive art nouveau casing created when the shops were first conceived. Take the stunning Forn Fondo pasteleria on the Carrer de la Unio for example: this enticing sweet shop can be found enveloped in a blue and gold decorative modernista shop front which is itself good enough to eat, and straight out of the golden era of late 19th century street scenes. Then there’s the La Pajarita Bomboneria and Charcuteria on the Carrer de Sant Nicolau whose red panelled frontage complete with stripy red and white awnings looks like something straight out of Dickensian London.

Forn Fondo

La Pajarita

Asides from the sweets, some of Palma’s most visually enticing boutiques are those selling the local savoury specialities, from sabrossada sausage (which is a little like chorizo but softer), to local goats cheeses and the famous Mallorca salt. These shops are a treat for tourists, who cannot help but gaze in wonder at Aladdin’s caves full of local produce, with sausages of every shape and size hanging from the ceiling, and shelves loaded from floor to ceiling with local wines, olive oils, jams, salts and pickles. You’ll also find a good many ensaïmadas, the spiralled local pastry sold in what look like hat boxes all over town.

Aladdin’s Caves of local produce

Finally, Palma is evidentially an artistic and creative hub, and asides from the significant collection of galleries, fashion boutqiues and interior design emporiums, you will also find a number of artisan shops where crafts men and women live and work, selling their handmade wares expertly crafted with years of experience behind them. Gordiola glassworks for example is a kaledascopic heaven of multicoloured glass, all blown by hand and made at the site for generations. Then there’s the wonderland of weave that is the Mimbreria Vidal, a father and son basket shop which is one of the last remaining shops on the island to ply this traditional Mallorquin trade, and where basket and weaved items of every shape and size, from chairs to laundry baskets are made to order. Unable to resist the charm, several of their baskets are now being put to very good use in my bathroom.

Gordiola glassworks

Mimbreria Vidal

And that is the thing about Palma’s boutique shops. They make you want to buy, to support local trade. For there is nothing nicer than the friendly face and attentive service inherent in a business privately owned. I just hope that, against the trend of towns and cities the world over, these private shops continue to thrive far into the future.

Dec 1

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Mallorca Photo Folio: Shades of Silver

Palma de Mallorca, the Mediterranean city I am now lucky enough to call home, is proving to be a constant photographic inspiration, so much so that on the rare occasion that I go out without a camera, I immediately regret it. Palma is a city with multiple faces: a historically-rich gothic heart; a sprawling modernista old town; a bustling port and fancy marina; a beach and countless modern shop-lined boulevards. No wonder then that at every corner a new photographic opportunity presents itself.

The result is a gradually increasing collection of photos sitting on my computer which simply must make their way onto The Daily Norm. I could collect and categorise them in a number of ways, but flicking through my albums this morning, it occurred to me that a lot of silver was going on. This was the result of the onset of clouds which, when mixed with hazy sunshine, provided a stunning silvery counter to the vivid blue days we had experienced thus far. Using that idea as a starting point, I have collected together a number of photos whose greys, icy blues and metallic hues make a wonderful colour collective, but also a perfect sampling of the truly inspirational sights all around us.

Nov 28

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Sorolla: The Colour of the Sea

When I made my life-changing move from London to Mallorca earlier this month, I moved to a place equally as enriched by culture as the city from which I came. In fact comparing the size of Palma de Mallorca to London, you could quite easily declare Palma to be disproportionately abundant in art. Everywhere you walk in amongst the maze of streets in the old town, a flashy new contemporary art gallery or dusty quaint antique shop emerges, and of course the city lays host to Es Baluard, one of Spain’s most significant contemporary art spaces. However Palma is also home to one of the La Caixa Foundation’s finest art galleries, set within the stunning art nouveau setting of the old Gran Hotel building, and its exhibition diary is easily as significant and varied as that of a much larger city. And La Caixa’s current exhibition, Sorolla: The Colour of the Sea is no exception.

Joaquín Sorolla. El balandrito, 1909. © Fundación Museo Sorolla

Exploring the oeuvre of Spanish master, Joaquin Sorolla, the exhibition focuses on what the artist, famous for the luminosity of his light and the proficiency of his landscape, painted best: the sea. Sorolla was born in Valencia in 1863 and as such was painting at a time when impressionism was at its height. Often compared to his friend, artist John Singer Sargent, Sorolla painted both people and landscapes with great sensitivity, and captured a startling degree of light. In painting the sea, Sorolla managed to capture a luminosity which I have always found so difficult when working on coastal images myself. Take his 1904 Estudio del Mar for example: This simple painting of waves breaking upon the shore is alive with the current of water, and magnificently captures the many colours hidden within the ordinary blues of the water. Similarly, his 1905 painting simply entitled Mar depicts shallower waters magnificently, with the light glinting over the surface and the dark purples suggesting rocks lurking just beneath.

Joaquín Sorolla. Estudio de mar, Valencia. 1904. © Fundación Museo Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla. Mar (Jávea). 1905. © Fundación Museo Sorolla

No wonder this exhibition is called “the colour of the sea”, and no better example exists of just how rich those colours can be than Sorolla’s depictions of Mallorca itself, such as his painting of the Cove at San Vincente. If you hadn’t been to Mallorca, you might assume that these superb aqua marines and subtle mauves of the surrounding mountainous landscapes were made up, but I can assure you that they are very much representative of reality. Even my lucky November dip in the sea last weekend proved that much.

Joaquín Sorolla. Cala de San Vicente, Mallorca. 1919. © Fundación Museo Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla. Rocas de Jávea y el bote blanco, 1905. © Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza en préstamo gratuito al Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga

Joaquín Sorolla. Mar de Zarauz. 1910. © Fundación Museo Sorolla

Awash with mediterranean light, Sorolla’s seascapes are alive with the fresh coastal air and tranquil dance of the waves. Seen as a group, you could almost be excused for feeling as though you were on the beach, watching Sorolla painting (he invariably took his canvases down to the beach, hence why they are probably so imbued with the naturalistic light that one sees in reality). However, it’s not just Sorolla’s landscapes which come alive before your eyes. For as this exhibition shows, Sorolla was also particularly adept at portraying people naturalistically, and this is seen no more so than in works such as Saliendo del baño, where a mother dries her child after a dip in the sea, and Pescadora con su hijo – a brilliantly realistic depiction of a mother masking her eyes from the sinking late afternoon sun.

Joaquín Sorolla. Saliendo del baño. Firmado y fechado. 1915. © Fundación Museo Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla. Pescadora con su hijo, Valencia, 1908 © Fundación Museo Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla. Nadadores, Jávea. 1905. © Fundación Museo Sorolla

So even if you come to Mallorca and the weather is not at its best, this superb exhibition has the power to transport you right to a sunny day on the coast. Although let’s face it, with Mallorca’s track record of brilliant sunny record all year around, you should probably be able to do both.

Sorolla: The Colour of the Sea runs at La Caixa Foundation Palma until 8 February 2015.

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.

Nov 26

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Miro’s Chocolateria: the C’an Joan de S’Aigo

If it was good enough for Joan Miro, then it is certainly good enough for me… For the C’an Joan de S’Aigo is a café with a venerable history and a list of clientele past and present so long that it can probably count all of Mallorca’s most famous residents among its number, including the great artist Miro himself. Nestled within the maze of nostalgic alleyways which make up the oldest core of Palma’s centre, the C’an Joan de S’Aigo was founded in 1700 and as such is Palma’s oldest eatery. Founded when the cafe’s namesake had the idea of bringing down ice from the Tramuntana mountains and serving it richly flavoured in the earliest form of ice cream, the C’an Joan de S’Aigo is today equally famous for its rich pickings of local pastries and steaming hot chocolate.

Despite the age of this quaint faded café, the locals of Palma have never allowed it to go out of fashion: When we sampled the café after our dip in the sea last weekend, it came after several failed attempts to visit previously – for each time we have been along, the place has heaved with locals who head to the café at the traditional merienda hour to sample ice cream piled high from small glasses and creamy indulgent hot chocolate. But it was worth the wait. Sat amongst the traditional interiors packed with blue and white ceramics, colourful glass chandeliers, copper kettles, filigree vases and wooden thrones, we feasted greedily on a sampling of the cafe’s local pastries, all of which tasted all the better when coated with a velvety layer of that legendary hot chocolate.

For Dominik, a sweet bun made, surprisingly, of potatoes (coca de patata) was a light and fluffy counter to the liquid silk of chocolate steaming in a cup before him. For me, a richer, creamier ensaïmada – the local specialist pastry which you can find all over town and which tourists buy in their plenty in what resemble giant hat boxes. Made in Mallorca even before the C’an Joan de S’Aigo was founded, the ensaïmada is made from dough which has been repeatedly folded with pork fat – much like puff pastry – and then either served sprinkled with sugar, or filled with other such goodies. And my filling of cold custard oozed and melted as it dipped into the hot chocolate with as much unctuous delight as melted butter on a warm crumpet.

Thoroughly disgusted by our self-indulgence, but rather rewarded by our dip into local culture, we swiftly decided that a visit to C’an Joan de S’Aigo must become a weekly tradition. How else can one become integrated into Mallorquin society?

The C’an Joan de S’Aigo café can be found hidden away just off from the church of Santa Eulalia on the Carrer Can Sanc 10. It’s open daily 8am-9pm except Tuesdays.

Nov 25

Mallorca Moments: Terrace Sunset

Regular readers of The Daily Norm will know that I love very little more than a sunset (or indeed a sun rise – although red sky in the morning is always something of a shepherds warning so it is perhaps better to do without). And of course at this time of year you can experience some of the best. Now combine the sunset and the time of the year with my new relocation to Palma de Mallorca’s faultlessly beautiful old town and you have a truly magical combination. It is that magic which is very much captured in these photos, taken from the roof terrace of my new pied-à-terre.

Benefitting from a location in the heart of the old town, with a view directly onto the side of Palma’s most famous monument, La Seu cathedral, a slice of the Mediterranean Sea and a panoply of beautiful old rooftops, our roof terrace makes for an incredible place to watch the changing effects of light on sky, as these photos demonstrate. But for now I can do little better than to let you take a look. For when the beauty and colours of nature look this good, words will always be an insufficient substitute. Suffice to say I’m so looking forward to bringing you more views from the terrace throughout the next year and beyond.

Nov 17

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Move to Mallorca: First days

If I could describe the sensations, thrills and excitement of moving to a new life in the heart of the old town of Palma de Mallorca with an analogy, it would be to compare it with the overwhelming exhilaration of entering a department store at Christmas, full of sparkling temptations, gleaming pleasures, grand architecture and flashing lights across every square centimeter: a treasure trove of excitement so intense that your body quivers with anticipation and shakes with the indecision of not knowing where to explore first. Such has been the irrepressible thrill of moving to Mallorca, to an apartment set within a maze of streets so intensively packed with the charms of Spain and the prettiness characteristic of any historic quarter that we can barely breathe for happiness.

Palma viewed from our apartment

Not only are we like children around a Christmas tree when it comes to exploring our airy new modernista-style apartment, but look outside the window and the bleak busy grey road view of our previous London home is replaced with a burrow of streets lined with apartment blocks painted in every colour of an artist’s palette, enhanced with ironwork balconies, lamps and other decorative embellishment, and brought to life by the residents who lean from their balconies watching the world go by, hanging their washing out to flap away in the warm autumn breeze, or putting out their little caged birds and fluffy puppies to breathe the optimistic fresh air of the new day. With so much to look at out of our 8 balcony windows, and such a plethora of vantage points to watch the constant day to day buzz of this bustling little quarter of Palma, I am reminded of Hitchcock’s Rear Window, where James Stewart’s character would sit day by day living vicariously through the many lives he could see unfolding amongst the apartments opposite his own.

All the charms of Palma

But of course far from living vicariously off others, our greatest pleasure has been to leave our new apartment and explore the charmingly charismatic streets of this region and beyond. A mere 48 hours into our new life, we have sampled the local fluffy pastry, ensaimada, over a creamy coffee, riffled through a shop’s worth of traditionally made baskets and weaved furniture, strolled along the golden sandy beach and alongside the popular boat-filled marina of Portixol, scraped clean a huge pan filled with a moist and richly caramalised seafood paella, gulped down a good glass or three of chilled white wine in the surprisingly hot Autumn sunshine, strolled around huge deserted churches lit by flickering candles as though awaiting our visit, and shopped more than we ought in order to add some local touches to the London interior schemes we are importing to Spain.

…and here’s a few more

There has been so much to see and do that I could split these mere 48 hours into a panoply of Daily Norm posts. But to do so would be to deny you, the reader, the full impact of a city ripe with a resplendent array of visual treasures, and consequently in posting photos of the first two days, I am bringing you a sampling of many treats we have discovered as we began our new life in Palma de Mallorca last weekend. And what a life it is set to be…

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.

Nov 10

Comparing Seascapes: Sussex and Spain

Two Seascapes, one England, one Spain. In Sussex in England, the sea is a silvery shade of grey. No surprise there, as it is an inseparable reflection of the cloudy skies above, whose repressive covering is broken only by a single glimmer of hope as a glint of light shines through. The seas are active, but not rough, but the winds are sufficiently energetic to catapult the kite surfer across the waters. At the shore the sand is dank and wet, it’s lightening colour resaturated with each swift revolution of the waves.

The only thing Marbella in Spain has in common is the sea. But its colour is a startling warm blue, glimmering almost independently from the yellowing evening skies above. Above the beach, a golden paseo maritimo is fringed with regal palms whose large canopy of leaves hang as silently still as the warm balmy calm air around them. Through the leaves, the multiple strata of a mountain layered landscape each deliver a different shade of soft pink, while in front the white harbour wall of Marbella’s port colours gently to cream in the face of the setting sun.

Seascape III: Silver Surfer (2008 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

Seascape IV: Marbella (2008 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

I painted these two seascapes in 2008 when I was making a more intentional transition from acrylic into oil. These were part of a series of studies I made as I tried out the medium for the first time. Today, they hang at my parents house in Sussex, and it was when I was there this weekend that I was given the opportunity to reflect upon them, and the marked difference between seaside landscapes.

It comes at a pertinent time: in just a few days I will leave England, including the Sussex seaside town where I grew up for 18 years and which is featured in the seascape above. I will then move to Palma de Mallorca, the archetypal Mediterranean city, fringed with glorious palms and benefitting from sunshine almost the whole year around. Yet despite the very obvious benefits of moving to such a paradise, there will always be a part of me that will miss the English coast – for in its silvery wind swept beauty, the sea in England is just as special as in the Med. It’s just that more often than not, you may need a scarf and some gloves in tow to appreciate it.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com