Portraits to Portraits

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"If I Really Knew Then What I Know Now"

© Flavio Martín Morante_2012

(Diptych assembled during the course of 3 years)

Save the Date!!!!

On February 17, from 5 to 7pm, Gallery 224 on Port Washington will be presenting another show for people to (really) enjoy. This time the subject and the name of the show itself its "Portraits". Being a single word that encompass so much on it, it will be really interesting to see these multiple (and extremely different) approaches to "portraiture" that will be displayed there.

Despite that I have been participating in some of the shows that Jane Suddendorf has been organizing at the gallery, this its the first time I am asked by her to be one of the three featured artists, reason that fills with a lot of pride, not only to be invited to participate, but also to know that I will be sharing "wall space" with such talented artists like Becca Mulenburg and her formidable piece "Little Faces, Big Expressions" consisting of 100 portraits and artwork by John Riepenhoff along with work from art students at the Port Washington HS. From my end, I will be presenting for the first time on a gallery space, 8 pieces from the ongoing work "Internal Exteriors" (the one above its one of them). All of this with the background solo music performed by Bob Mittnacht.

Do not miss it!!!!!

In case you are interested, I can tell you a little more about the project "Internal Exteriors":

"You do not see the world the way it is, you see the world the way you are". 
Urs Eberle (Swiss Architect, 1954-)

By following this premise, what its recorded with my camera, which already has been registered by the eye, becomes an image of myself at the same time, for hence it could be easily considered a self-portrait. At the same time by sharing these images, what they generate on the viewers, with their own opinions and ways of seeing them transcend my own portrait and becomes automatically theirs.

The diptychs you see here are part of a work titled "Internal Exteriors", which is a work in progress for very obvious reasons. They are the results of a constant search and at the same time the excuse to keep searching, as a photographer, as an artist and above all as a person. They collect moments which through time I have not only witnessed but moments that also act as a reflection of myself and how I see, feel and relate to the world surrounding me, creating a semi ludic game of internalizing exterior factors which then are exteriorized by assembling, printing and sharing them. 

Despite of looking like simple visual metaphors, the multiple interpretations about them is what makes them rich and richer the fact of sharing them. I hope you enjoy them and remember that when you look at them, what you see is yourself.

Flavio Martín Morante.

The portrait show will open on_

"Portraits"

Gallery 224

February 17th, 5 to 7pm.

224 East Main St.

Port Washington, WI 53074

visit www.gallery224.com for more info.

A Night of Good Fortune!

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Professor Tien-Chiu Chen (from Taiwan) holding the "Good Fortune" and me holding the "Spring" (one of my 2 favorite seasons), during the gallery night opening at the NRCSA. (Photo_ Dawn Morante)

Last Friday was the annual Winter Gallery Night in Downtown MIlwaukee and the NRCSA was one of the many places that opened their doors to general public for such occasion. If you miss it because of the weather, I tell you that I do not blame you. I got myself stuck on the highway and was shamefully more than an hour late. If you miss it for lazyness, I tell you that you really missed a LOT. The work of UWM students just back from Italy was really nice, a perfect example on how traveling and opening to different experiences does open doors that can lead you to many different places, specially when it comes to creativity.

On the other hand, Professor Tien-Chiu Chen did demonstrate (with great patience and dedication) the intricate world of chinese calligraphy, which despite of my caffeine overdosed hand-shaking pulse, I still managed to write the two characters you see on the picture above (after couple tries).

It was a good time. I was happy too to see my pictures of "The Genovese Rhapsody" hanging on a wall for the first time and I am deeply grateful to EVERYBODY at the NRCSA for opening the door of "their house" not only to me but to everybody else, making of the Winter Gallery Night a very rich and fullfilling experience, in which I had the "good fortune" of being part of.

F. Martín Morante.

You are ALL invited!

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Untitled # 1 ( from the series "The Genovese Rhapsody")

© Flavio Martín Morante_2011

How do you really make a portrait of a city?

This is a question I have been asking myself for quite a while and since the question itself grows from the mix of two of my deepest passions (photography and travel), its answer sometimes changes depending of the city itself and the connection I establish with it.

Recently in a visit to Genova an answer to that question made itself visible in the multiple corners of the city, thanks to the different layers of advertising posters covering the infinite walls and streets that move around her like a chaotically organized diagram; each poster not only talking about the different aspects of the place and its inhabitants (socially, politically, historically, musically, etc, etc), but acting too as a metaphor of the different cultural layers that compose an urb of such size and history. Once one of the main entrances to the "Old World", Genova shows us the fingerprints of human history printed in every block, door and streets like many other crossroads points between old and new worlds do. Still today, the whole area boils with the mixed kind of cultural heritage that at the same time gives it its own and unique identity. The identity of a place deeply cosmopolitan but still rooted on its european stage setting of which is part of.

Step by step and block by block I found the compositions that today you see here, and while standing in front of them I could not avoid to create in my mind a mirrored image of what it was in front of me and what was behind, where the overwhelming (but still pleasant) cacophony that covers the air with music, sounds, and voices added to the smells that float in every corner and the constant flashing of images that make you look, stop, and look again making each step a discovery, the discovery of the constant beauty of a place where people from all corners of the world has added their little piece of identity in top of each other, creating a whole and turning Genova into a massive and generous treasure. A feast for the senses.

F. Martín Morante, 2011.


As I finish details for Tuesday when I will be hanging at the NRCSA the 5 prints selected from the series "The Genovese Rhapsody", my latest body of work freshly "brought" from Genova, Italy (click HERE to see the whole series), I would like to invite you to stop by on this coming Friday to see a lot of good art during the traditional Winter Gallery Night in Milwaukee.

I'd love to see you!

Winter Gallery Night

January 20th, 2012, 5 to 9 PM

NRCSA Multicultural Consortium

The Marshall Building

207 E. Buffalo St. Suite #610

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202

Thanks to Pamela Ruschman, Sarah, Joseph Cornejo and all the staff at the NRCSA, Dawn, Paula Christensen and Bob from Evald Moulding for the opportunity for this show, the unconditional support and the desire to help.

After there we are going straight to The Estate for some drinks and some jazz. Jump in if you would like it.

Don´t look too far...

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Untitled © Flavio Martín Morante_2005

Haleakala Volcano, Maui Island, Hawaii

In this "absent" winter, you won´t need to look too far to see some samples of international art, taste samples of ethnic food and listen to some global music. All you need is to be at the Grafton Arts Mill to participate and experience Global Fusion, an event organized to make you take a ride around the world without leaving town, all in two nights, ha, not bad eh?

Visit the Grafton Arts Mill on Friday February 3rd from 7 to 9pm for a free opening reception to the art show or make your reservation for only $16pp for the Global Fusion event on Saturday February 4th from 6 to 10pm.

Visit INFO for more details. DON´T MISS IT!

Dusting Relics!/ Desempolvando Reliquias!

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Untitled (from "A Train of Portraits")/ 

Sin titulo ( perteneciente a "Un Tren de Retratos")

Montevideo, Uruguay © Flavio Martín Morante_2004

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Untitled (from "Pantaleón, 60 years of Beards and Razors")/ 

Sin titulo ( perteneciente a "Pantaleón, 60 años de Barbas y Navajas")

Montevideo, Uruguay © Flavio Martín Morante_2000

The 2 pictures above belong to 2 of the documentary photo-essays I have worked that have given me so much as a person as a photographer too. Both of them were made on my hometown Montevideo in Uruguay during a period of 2-3 months each. Looking at them it reminded me of the time when I really did comprehend and believed that as some use a pen to write, I could use a camera too to write the stories I found around the corner. I still do.

Recently I have been invited by Paula Christensen to participate of Global Fusion event that will open on February ( I will post more details eventually), a project that will share different approaches to art, through a display of works made by artists from different corners of the world living in the area. I am really excited and happy about the invitation, and despite of having some other works from Uruguay of more recent times, I am going to decide for one of these photo-essays because of the personal and testimonial value they have.

It was good to get this (and the rest) of the pictures out of the folders and that is why I share them here.

If you want to see more about "A Train of Portraits", click HERE. Sadly I do not have an extended web gallery about Pantaleón (at least for now).

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Las 2 fotografías que se pueden ver mas arriba pertenecen a 2 de los ensayos fotográficos documentales en los que he trabajado que me han dado muchísimo, como persona y como fotógrafo también. Ambos fueron realizados en mi ciudad natal Montevideo en Uruguay durante un periódo de 2-3 meses cada uno. Al mirarlos, me recuerdan de ese tiempo en el que realmente pude comprender y creer que así como algunos usan un lápiz para escribir, yo podía usar una cámara también para contar esas historias que encontré alrededor de la esquina. Todavía lo siento así.

Recientemente he sido invitado por Paula Christensen para participar de Global Fusion, un evento que abrirá en Febrero ( estaré subiendo mas info al respecto pronto), un proyecto que esta destinado a compartir diferentes acercamientos al arte, a través de trabajos hechos por artistas de diferentes esquinas del mundo viviendo en el área. Estoy realmente contento por la invitación, y a pesar de tener otras obras tomadas en Uruguay mas recientes, me voy a decidir por uno de estos trabajos por el valor personal y testimonial que ellos tienen.

Fue bueno sacar estas (y el resto) del sobre ayer de noche y por eso las quise compartir aquí.

Si quisieras ver mas acerca de "Un Tren de Retratos" haz click AQUI. Lamentablemente no tengo un extensa galería en la web con respecto a Pantaleón (al menos por ahora).

F.M. Morante

2012 Here We Go!!!./ 2012 Aquí Vamos!!!!

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"Books and Boots, A Good Mix"/ "Libros y Botas, Una Buena Mezcla"

Bisbee, Arizona © Flavio Martín Morante_2011

Today a new year starts and with it my desire of taking it by assault. I have a LOT to walk and with it I have a LOT to learn yet. 

I am planning to keep doing both this year. I hope you do the same.

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Hoy comienza un nuevo año y con ello mi deseo de tomarlo por asalto. Tengo MUCHO que caminar y con ello tengo MUCHO que aprender todavía.

Estoy planeando seguir haciendo ambas cosas este año. Espero que vos también.

Martín