TAMAYO High School Event SBMA (part 1)

Hi all,

Below is the link to check out the pics that were taken of all of you and your friends in costume, to the magic of Bob Debris. Enjoy and Share!

TAMAYO TEEN EVENT PICS #1

on being interested

This experience has been really interesting for me, especially having been a former "teen intern" myself at SBMA. I admire all of your interest in the potential for a conversation, although I now realize that this might have been overly demanding and perhaps taxing on your busy schedules.

But its been really exciting to see that it is possible at such a moment in your growing dedication to art and the art world, in the end I hope that this might in itself have been a crucial moment.

I know that my time as an intern at the museum was really a critical moment for me to understand what I really cared about, and what really sparked my interest. It was a great experience being offered the opportunity to realize what I wanted to know more about. And it only led to more opportunities and the birth of my growing network of people and communities. It seems as if you are

In some ways an exhibition I saw recently in Los Angeles was another of these moments. This is an exhibition you all should see, its really close!! It’s “WACK!, Art and the Feminist Revolution” at the MOCA Geffen space. This was a moment that for me really recharged my interest and dedication to art, it’s an incredibly refreshing and invigorating show. Although it does lack total contextualization (historical/geographical) and It maybe hard to understand but I think it would be important to have it as a visual reference regardless. It is really great to see how relevant all of the work is now. Especially when you look at what is being made/exhibited now.

So yeah, am glad to see some genuine interest, and involvement. Its important to keep looking, asking questions, and being engaged!

-- Frederick

a naive answer? -Oscar Cueto

Definitely I believe in passion, that feeling of being bigger than oneself that catches you and doesn´t let you go. But equaly important, beyond technical skills, I believe is to find, to complete and to traslate an idea into something physicaly successful. This ability to do this successfully afterall is a fluid, articulated, rich and coherent language.

In my case, the absurd idea of living my life to something completely useless (in practical sense), feeds my passion everyday, it´s like to dedicate the life to a game, where I play two diferent roles, clown or joker. The art uses me and I use the art. And that´s fascinating for me.

I like to think that this game moves me, simple, naive, without pretensions to give a moral lesson to my community, even I like to think I don´t care my comunity. I like to think the art like a crazy idea of somebody who didn´t have anything to do, and like someonther person who considers having crazy ideas, an important activity.

But that is a half truth, I´m an art professional, I have a system, controled skills, I follow a process and I pursue a specific language that is fed by local events. In fact I´m not the irony´s owner, I think the irony is a very mexican feeling, We´re fixated with it, we live the irony. I don´t know, maybe like you, the northamericans with the feeling of freedom .



Definitivamente creo en la pasión, esa sensación más grande que uno que te atrapa y jamás te deja ir. Pero e igual de importante, mas allá de capacidades técnicas, creo en la capacidad para encontrar, completar, y traducir una idea en algo físicamente exitoso. Esa capacidad que luego te permite hacer de un conjunto de resultados exitosos un lenguaje fluido, articulado, rico y coherente.

En mi caso, la absurda idea de dedicar mi vida a algo completamente inútil (en un sentido práctico), alimenta mi pasión todos los dias, es como dedicar mi vida a un juego, donde me toca un doble rol, paso de ser el payaso al burlón. El arte me usa y yo uso el arte. Y eso me parece fascinante.

Me gusta pensar que es sólo eso lo que me mueve, simple y naif, sin pretenciones de dar una lección moral a mi comunidad, de hecho me gusta pensar que ni siquiera me importa mi comunidad, me gusta pensar que el arte es una loca idea de alguién que no tenía nada que hacer y como otra persona consideró una importante ocupación hacer ideas locas.

Pero esa es una verdad a medias, soy un profesional del arte, tengo un sistema, tengo habilidades controladas, sigo un proceso y persigo un discurso que se nutre de acontecimientos locales. De hecho la ironía no me pertenece, es creo, un sentimiento muy mexicano, nosotros estamos obsesionados con la ironía, vivimos la ironía. No sé, quizá como ustedes viven el sentimiento de libertad.

Oscar Cueto

Experiences in art, some questions

I wanted to switch gears a bit here by trying to bring us all together with a few questions, which everyone is invited to respond to. These are very open ended and broad questions which I hope will help bring to light one of the key aspects of being an artist or an arts professional, and that in a nut shell is one’s dedication, that deep drive or desire within yourself, which one can only satiate with art.

I think many people would agree with me when I say that a serious career in the art world as an art professional demands more than just a skill or ability. Instead it demands a dedication, a need, and a desire for art. In many cases for arts sake is why we are here. I think that I might be helpful for the mentors to share a singular experience that was formative for them, an experience that made them realize they’re life long dedication to a path in the arts.

So Mentors, myself included as to what was or were some of the most formative experiences in art?

I also think that a part of this dedication demands a dedication to the local art community of which you are an inherent part. In being so it is important to be aware of what is going on in the community and working to be a part of a specific or many art “worlds”. For example visiting local, national or international exhibitions, performance, readings, lectures, all play an important role in forming your place in the larger art world as a whole.

Therefore, Students, are there any art events, as in exhibitions, lectures, that you have recently attended? This could be anything in Santa Barbara or maybe Los Angeles, or elsewhere in the last month, lets say. Could you share what the event of exhibition was and some reaction to that? For example I know one or more of you have not only seen the Tamayo exhibition at SBMA but also the current exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Forum, or maybe seen a talk or performance at UCSB.

Please feel free to respond openly to one or both of the questions. The goal is to really be aware of the important role you play firstly in your local art community.

--- Frederick

TAMAYO exibition response

On Tamayo

I've never been a huge fan of cubist or indigenous art. Although I am intrigued by both- especially indigenous work because it is such a representation of a society's culture and history- yet neither would be the first things I'd want to see upon walking into a museum. Until more recently I've mostly been a fan of "realistic", and impressionist artwork.

So it's not surprising that at first I was not a huge fan of Tamayo's work. But the longer I looked- the more I liked it. Tamayo does not focus on picture perfect detail or shading techniques- characteristics which are more valued in tradition Western artwork. Instead he uses texture, line shape and color to convey emotion. For me it was the colors that sold me; the colors are so vibrant and powerful that it seems impossible to be unmoved by them. Also, I truly admire Tamayo's use of line and shapes. He can use his monotone shapes to create an array of serene watermelons (Sandías), or the twisted face of someone about to devour one (Comedor de Sandía).

Rufino Tamayo's work is a combination of the Euro cubist movement and indigenous artwork; it is a visual blending of cultures. His passionate images transcend language barriers. And when given a chance, it may open our minds to another peoples culture.

Alex Sizemore- Smale

Bio:Roberta Amos

Hey,

My name is Roberta and I go to school at Santa Barbara Senior High. I'm involved in the VADA program and an absolute busy body with my job at Starbucks (which is right around the corner from the museum). I'm crazy about designing with fabrics, sewing, drawing, painting, photography, film, graphix designing, etc. I love trying new things. I'm attending Art Institute of San Fransisco in the Fall ( so excited).
Here's a few things i do: first off... favorite medium; Water color <3

Having seen the Tamayo exhibit for the first time last month, I can conclude that the experience of viewing Tamayo's paintings up close is simply incomparable to just viewing the painting themselves. I mentioned in my last post that I worked on a mural inspired by Tamayo over the summer; we extensively researched Tamayo's paintings to better interpret his influence. During our research, we watched a video of Tamayo in his studio working on a painting, and I was intrigued to discover that he sifted sand directly on the wet paint to create texture. I recalled his use of the sandy 3-D texture when I saw many of the pieces face-to-face, and, with this in mind, I felt such an intense connection with the work that I probably would not have otherwise appreciated. I can only imagine that the experience of seeing Tamayo's artwork upfront is akin to that of witnessing a Van Gogh face-to-face for the first time.
-Janey
Pictured below are a few images from the mural project: