 Paul Benavidez, March 2007 Ventura County Star Art pour musique Artists contribute works for annual auction that pay tribute to but don't mimic Impressionism "Paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression." — Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) klindell@VenturaCountyStar.com March 29, 2007 Line up the 12 pieces of art in the Ventura Music Festival's annual art auction and your first impression might be, "Where's the Impressionism?" After all, artists who submitted their work were invited to create art that reflected the festival's theme, "Impressions," and its focus on French music and art. But the artistic directive didn't say, "Thou shalt reproduce Monet, Degas or Renoir." "We wanted to avoid the simple re-creation of Impressionistic work. I'm pleased we didn't get that," said Quinn Fenwick, a Ventura Music Festival board member. "We said, 'Use the music and art of that time to inspire you and give us your interpretation.' You can see in the show, there's a variety of types of work and interpretations." Anna Rios Bermudez, for example, while creating her fabric wall hanging titled "Impression Granada: Musica Nocturna," listened to Claude Debussy's "Evening in Granada" and recalled a trip she made to Spain. "I remember coming into Granada, just before dusk, seeing the pinkish glow of hillsides, and the cave dwellings where gypsies used to live," she said. Bermudez included guitar strings from a Spanish guitar in the work, she said, "because this was the birthplace of flamenco." Bob Moskowitz's witty "Luncheon in the Studio" is a contemporary oil inspired by Edouard Manet's famous "Luncheon in the Grass." The controversial painting, of a nude woman with two fully clothed men at a picnic, helped spark the Impressionist movement. The auction also will feature paintings by Whitney Abbot, Hilda Kilpatrick, Gerd Koch, Elana Kundell and Dan LaVigne; a drawing by Paul Benavidez; a multimedia piece by Len Poteshman; a chromographic photograph by David Rivas; a sculpture by Michele Chapin; and an assemblage of found objects by Leslie McQuaide. The artwork, which has been on display at venues throughout the county, will be auctioned off Saturday during an evening soiree titled "A Night at the Moulin Rouge." Taking place not in Paris but in ocean-chic Ventura, at the Ventura Beach Marriott, the event also will feature gourmet French food, jazz music, dancing and cabaret performances. For Camille Pissarro ? Artist Paul Benavidez, co-owner of the Upfront Gallery in Ventura, contributed "Music for Camille, Study 1," a pastel drawing over pen and ink. The still life depicts four books and parts of a wooden clarinet stacked on a table. Benavidez, in his artist's proposal for the drawing, was adamant about not "regurgitating" or "vulgarizing" the work of Impressionist painters. Instead, Benavidez said, he somehow wanted to show his appreciation for Impressionist artist Camille Pissarro. "To know the story of Pissarro's life is to know what it is to be an artist, struggling for recognition and to sell paintings," Benavidez said. "I had this kindred feeling with him." The most visible book in his drawing is a hard-to-find coffee-table book about Pissarro. The wooden clarinet in the drawing was loaned to him by local musician Joel Doswell. While drawing, Benavidez said, he listened to composer Claude Debussy's clarinet works "24-7. It was some of the most beautiful music I've heard." Don't lose those first impressions of French art and music. Because there's more. ? and a friend For the remaining three books in the drawing, "I wanted to include something to do with the issues of our time, because that's what art is about," Benavidez said. The titles of the other books he chose are self-explanatory for anyone who follows the news: Michael C. Ruppert's "Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil" (2004); Noam Chomsky's "Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy" (2006) and Oxford scholar Martin Kemp's "Seen/Unseen: Art, Science and Intuition from Leonardo to the Hubble Telescope" (2006). And then, the night Benavidez was supposed to turn in the drawing, "Music for Camille, Study 1" turned into something else altogether. He learned that night that a close friend had died of cirrhosis of the liver, Benavidez said, and the drawing, "in an uncanny way, became his piece." Benavidez started to remember, for example, that his friend had played the flute. And that the turn-of-the-century wooden table in the drawing had come from ? a hospital. "Crossing the Rubicon" ? his friend had crossed over. "Failed States" ? the state of his friend's body had failed. "Seen/Unseen ?" And the bell of the clarinet is turned up, Benavidez said, suggesting the soul. Ventura County Star Ventura, CA http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/lifestyle/article/0,1375,VCS_230_5448861,00.html Copyright ©2007 Ventura County Star. All rights reserved. |