December 30, 2011

George Méliès & Air: "Le voyage dans la lune"


In 1902, George Mélies shot the first motion picture. A version was hand colored, but it went lost. In 1993, a damaged copy was found in Barcelona, carefully restored, and presented earlier this year, with music by Air.

The whole film is available on line, though in several segments.


December 28, 2011

Deauville: Leonard Freed, Enrique G de la G



 Leonard Freed, Deauville (1964)


Enrique G de la G, Deauville: Madonna est là! (2011)



December 27, 2011

Barnett Newman, Carsten Witte



Barnett Newman, Euclidian Abyss (1946-1947)


Carsten Witte



Planned obsolescence


This is a very well donned documentary film (in Spanish, English, German and French) about planned obsolescence, a topic which interests me, specially when people mock at me when they learn that I still use some garment which has been around for more than 15 years, or when they learn that I am not interested in buying a car or a cell phone.

I think that the credit system is a failure, and responsible for decisive economic/ecological problems.

Do not spend the money you still do not possess. Wait, be patient.



December 21, 2011

Missing Berlin, finding Mexico



Brad Downey is one good reason to miss Berlin. His spontaneous sculptures surprise you in the street, as a mimic that there is (intellectual) fun and not everything is straight.

I miss that. Perhaps the only surprise I have seen during the last six months in Mexico City was –oh, surprise– in a museum: Ron Mueck.




December 16, 2011

NY dramatic crosses: Hoboken, Ground Zero


Henri Cartier-Bresson, Fire in Hoboken, facing Manhattan (1947)

Cross debris at Ground Zero, Manhattan (2001)

December 15, 2011

December 14, 2011

Hommage à Henri Cartier-Bresson


On 11.11.2011, a big lot of images by Cartier-Bresson was put under the hammer of Christie's. Magnificent, less-known portraits, such as of Lucien Freud or Helmut Newton, and very well known images, such as this one here, shot in Mexico.

Exactly one month later, I shot a hommage to Cartier-Bresson: a pilger to Guadalupe's shrine in Mexico City.


Henri Cartier-Bresson, Mexico (1963)

Enrique G de la G, Guadalupe pilgrimage (2011)


December 10, 2011

Days with Hitler



This week I have been hearing and reading about Hitler all the time. Too much.

Germans talk about him on the media all the time. But the way Mexicans talk about him is completely different: with a big ignorance and without historical sensitivity whatsoever. Mostly hurting both Jews and Germans.

Yesterday I woke up and started writing a short piece about this. Letras Libres published it on the Blog de la Redacción.




December 8, 2011

Terrible Photoshop

When I moved to Mexico City some months ago, I was excited about reading again a wonderful magazine, which I had lost of sight because of living in Berlin: Gatopardo.

They react very quickly to issues and I recalled reading great pieces.

But now I am completey frustrated: the editorial work is almost unexistant, many pieces are terribly boring, the correctors seem to be terribly paid or to hate their job, and even the designers are doing a very bad work. 

Check out the terrible use of Photoshop. Just two obvious examples:

1. The right side of Demián Bichir's face was blurred, as if the picture has been done with a high-contrast lens. It looks fake.

2. Even worse is the right eye of Ximena Navarrete: her eyelashes have been bulkied and her eyebrow literally goes out of her face (compare it with her left eye). It looks cheap.

I wish their job will improve next year, we need better magazines here.






December 5, 2011

Unwraping flag


Alberto Schommer, Andy Warhol (1982)

Silja Magg

Helmut Newton, St. Tropez (1975)

November 18, 2011

Helmut Newton meets France



How badly has been Helmut Newton inspired by French painters? An excercise...


Vlaminck



Degas



 Toulouse Lautrec



 Rousseau



 Toulouse Lautrec
Degas



 Manet



 Toulouse Lautrec



 Degas



Duchamp



Ingres



Forain



Toulouse Lautrec 



Bonnard



Seurat



Manet



Degas



 Toulouse Lautrec



Cezanne



Plus Belgium and Spain...



Magritte



Magritte



 Velázquez


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