Artist of the Week: Leonor Fini

Yes, there was  André Breton, Dali and di Chirico. But have you ever heard of Surrealist Leonor Fini?

August 30, 1908, Buenos Aires, Argentina - January 18, 1996, Paris, France) was an Argentine surrealist painter, graphic artist, costume and set designer and author

I want to share with you some snippets from various sources about the creative and accentric Leonor Fini.

  "In Paris she became a legend almost overnight. When one of the Surrealists saw a painting of hers in a Paris gallery in 1936 and sought out its creator, she arranged a rendezvous in a local cafe and arrived dressed in a cardinal's scarlet robes, which she had purchased in a clothing store specializing in clerical vestments. 'I liked the sacrilegious nature of dressing as a priest, and the experience of being a woman and wearing the clothes of a man who would never know a woman's body.' 

Like Da Vinci, she learned anatomy through the studying of corpses which she found in Trieste morgues.

Just like Dali, Fini rejected the Surrealists' offer to join their group. She saw the group's obsession with treatise and theories not as radical, but as a manifestation of  what Dali called "typical petit bourgeois mentality. Leonor Fini webpage 

Do ya think?  ;-)

Fini
(in her work-a-day get-up)    ;-)

For her, surrealism was beyond manifestos and theories. In the sexual realm, she found the group homophobic and misogynist despite its endeavors to idealize women and liberate sexual desire without the interference of morality.

Fini's extensive oeuvre has been an invaluable contribution to the development of a modern feminine consciousness, but her version differed somewhat from the other women surrealists.  In contrast with Remedios Varo's ideal woman, Fini's  was not cerebral, mystical or ironic but authoritarian, sensual,  and governed by passion. She portrays them in an almost Amazonian sense: as goddesses, warriors, and voluptuaries. 

 

 Click the above image for a larger version and a great sample of Leonor Fini's work at 
Ten Dreams Fine Art Galleries

Men are often portrayed as lithe figures who are under the protection of her females.

 The sphinx and cats play major parts in her paintings, as does the theme of 'the double'. She was equally adept at etching, drawing, watercolor and oil painting. Wikipedia

 

She lived with many cats; up to a total of 23 at one time. The illness of one of her cats could send her into a deep depression.

Elsa Schiaparelli's perfume "Shocking" 1937, 

the packaging, designed by Leonor Fini, was also notable for the bottle in the shape of a woman's torso inspired by Mae West's tailor's dummy.

Weinstein Galleries
La Galerie Minsky

Complex Family Situation

Be warned. This is a long and boring post about a complex family situation that I just have to get off my chest.

I know most of us have crazy family members. I know I have my share. In my family there is depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. I'll take depression, which is what I urrr...manage with...over the others any day. WP, my partner of five years and future husband is a lovable nut. I'm not quite sure that he's certifiably mad but he is eccentric and and a sort of mad scientist sort with a very high IQ and little interpersonal skills to speak of. I think that's why he decided to keep me. Because I have such a high emotional IQ. Ha! That may very well be true about figuring people out but another thing altogether actually dealing with people who are off their rockers. In the case I'm going to write about: his family. Namely his mother and sister.

I love WP's mother A. She's 87 years old. She's gone downhill a bit since she experienced heart problems for the first time a couple of years ago. Previous to that, she was proud to tell anyone who would listen that the only medication she took everyday was a baby aspirin. The nurses at the local hospital got a run for their paycheck while she was there. Even though she's gracious and well-spoken as can be: watch out. When I first met her five years ago, she was hiking and cross-country skiing with her "girlfriends" who are all between ten and fifteen years her junior. She reads voraciously. She does difficult crossword puzzles in pen. She is independent, outspoken and a very dear person. Except when she spends too much time with WP's sister AA. Which would tax anyone.

AA is 60 years old and has currently been on medical leave from her job at a pharmacy. She has been divorced for many, many years and lives alone. She's a certified nurse and holds certifications in pharmacy work. I'm not familiar with that type of work so I can't tell you about it. Like WP, she has a very high IQ but where WP has maturity, common sense and good judgement, AA has the mental age of, as WP puts it, a twelve year-0ld. She is also totally mad. I used to doubt this until a couple of years ago when the patterns that WP had told me about began to be evident.

The constant accidents, first of all. Several times throughout the five years I've been a part of this family, AA has broken ribs and a foot, fallen down the stairs and bruised her body from shoulder to ankle. She claims to have been attacked twice by strangers who ran off without being identified and has claimed to feel threatened by people who have tried to help her when she has experienced these accidents. She has scalded her hand. Had a bracelet get caught on something at her apartment and had to have firemen come to cut if off her wrist. She is a regular visitor to the local ER, obviously. When she discusses her many accidents, she does so under the pretense that these incidents are a normal part of everyday life and can happen to anyone. She is short on details. On one hand she dismisses it when we've shown concern. On the other, she's always touching on these things in conversation, leaving all of us unsure about how to react.

I didn't mention yet that in 2005, AA's 25 year-old daughter killed herself. I didn't know her daughter; had only met her once. She was apparently estranged from her mother but had some contact with her father and stepmother. It was a tragedy beyond any I've ever gone through with anyone in my life. This incident has, naturally, done an even bigger number on AA. She doesn't deny this and yet she doesn't present it, so to speak, as the event that's triggered all of her many problems. We don't believe it's at the core of her problems either. We have so little to go on, though. We know she sees a shrink (psychiatrist) and a therapist and that she takes medication. But we see her getting worse.

AA is on medical leave officially for physical problems. She's been undergoing every test known to modern medicine and all the doctors have come up with is some indecipherable term for a pinched nerve in the neck; supposedly from a fall. And this folks is what she's hanging on to for dear life as the explanation for why she can't return to work. Her medical leave is about to run out at the end of this month and AA has nothing in place for herself other than to leave her apartment and move in with WP's mother A. Which will be disastrous!

WP's mother doesn't want her to move in because they don't live well together. There is a history of AA moving in with her mother before and it failed miserably, putting a strain on their relationship and causing AA to move into an apartment she couldn't afford just to get away from her living situation. Now AA wants to repeat this scenario, except now her mother is 87 years old and having problems with her heart. Basically, A is a total wreck over her daughter AA's situation.

While AA says to her mother "I'll take care of you, Mom", we hear A telling us about how AA sleeps until 2 or 3 p.m. and doesn't do a thing to help around the house. AA can't even take care of herself, how will she be of any use to her very elderly mother? Yet A can't say no to her daughter about moving in with her.

I've tried to talk to AA about her difficulties. Before she passed away, WP's wife, who was a clinical social worker, tried to help AA and her daughter who killed herself. To no avail. WP's wife threw up her hands finally and said that AA is unwilling or unable to help herself or to benefit from the help of others.

WP is beside himself. He's angry at his sister for being, as he puts it, "useless" and he's had enough experience with AA to know that she is beyond help.

I had a discussion with AA a few weeks back about considering applying for disability. She avoided the topic of disability benefits but did latch on to a conversation about receiving food stamps, for which she is eligible currently. Her conclusion is that someone else might need it more than she does. This to me is maddening. She doesn't want food stamps but is willing to tax the limited resources of her elderly mother. Ugh. I'm seeing evidence of what WP's told me about his sister all along. And what about health insurance? How will she get health coverage without a job or disability benefits in place?

AA has declared bankruptcy twice. According to what WP and his mother A have told me, going bankrupt was a result of very poor financial choices and taking on pets that she couldn't afford to pay the vet bills for.

As you can see, we have our hands full with this situation. WP and I are strapped from putting our kids through college. And I won't be done paying off loans for many years to come. We aren't in a position of being able to help AA in any sort of significant way financially. We can help her short term and we would never let her starve or be out on the street but we can't subsidize her life. Talking with AA, one gets the feeling that she thinks rescue will come to her somehow on its own.

WP and I have seriously discussed talking to AA openly and honestly about the concerns I've just outlined. We're both afraid that she'll do herself in, truthfully. Recently, WP's mother told AA that she should "grow up and face reality" and AA's response to that was to say that A exacerbated her PTSD and that she would now have nightmares for the rest of her life. She apparently huffed off.

I took the day off from work today because I felt like crap this morning. I'm feeling a bit better and I'm planning on going over to WP's mother's house to talk to her and give her some support. I honestly don't know what to do about WP's sister or even how to counsel him as to how to proceed.

Feedback, anyone?

On Anger

I used to have a lot of anger problems. A lot of it had to do with depression, which for me, caused irritability and angry outbursts. I'm not so prone to anger any more but I continue to think about anger and its potential to creep up on me and interfere with my new-found (relative) freedom from it.

I think one reason for the abatement of anger in my life is that I'm in a very good relationship: one where I can be myself and still feel I deserve the love and attention I get, even when I'm far from perfect. Another reason is the maturation process. In terms of feeling peace and acceptance, getting older agrees with me.

Where I continue to struggle is in my reactions to people when they express anger, especially when it seems misplaced and misguided. To me. If I see little reason in the anger and negativity beyond that which I can change; even in myself, I then feel a strong need to eschew that person and cut them out of my life; at least to an extent that is possible. I've done that with a relative; with whom I have to stay somewhat in touch but with whom I no longer engage in bitter struggles with myself over. The other came more recently. I decided that what I'd gained from the relationship was so old and stagnant, that it didn't merit the time and attention I would need to give the person to try to understand their anger and negativity. I've asked myself if this was selfish. And I'm still trying to answer that question.

One of the things I've discovered in attempting to answer that question is that the anger displayed toward me personally by others, which goes beyond what I can do myself to turn it around, just causes me to become angry back. It's all too much a reminder of how angry and defensive I can become in the face of what I consider to be unfounded anger on the part of others. That isn't to say that anger hasn't been directed at me personally in the recent past which has gone ignored. It has and sometimes with just cause. In those cases, where I value and love the person, I'm working on seeing their point of view on what makes them angry at me and I try to change that, if I can. Sometimes it takes several conversations and strong emotions and a lot of work. But it's worth it, for the other person and for me.

But I have to admit that otherwise, I avoid angry, negative, defensive people whenever possible. I wonder if I'm depriving myself of lessons potentially learned or if I'm preserving my energies for those struggles that are really worth it.

We all become angry, frustrated, irritable and defensive at times. Mostly toward the ones we love and care about the most. I understand that and I'm trying to learn from it. Is it selfish of me to avoid those other, peripheral angry people? Or is this protective mechanism a good thing for me.? I have tended to conclude the latter most of the time. But I go back and forth. Avoiding the angry has worked for me. I admit that it's worked for me because I honestly lack the emotional energy to take it on. If it's one thing about depression that has stayed with me and no amount of peace or happiness or medication can take away, it's a limited amount of emotional energy. I don't mean the happy kind, as I'm sure you might guess. I mean the negative, complex, exhausting kind. Again, it's the people I love I try to save this emotional energy for. Even then, sometimes it's difficult to rise to the occasion as well as I'd like to. Sometimes I even fail miserably. I'm working on it.

I'm mostly concerned about how unavoidable, peripheral people affect my attitude toward anger and toward myself. For example, at work. I work with one person on my team who presents a lot of challenges for me. I can't avoid her, so how do I deal, right? She doesn't overtly express anger but instead engages in what some would and have called passive-aggresive actions. I have tried to ignore them, I have tried to talk to her about it (without referring to her as such) and have gotten nowhere. It causes me to worry about my own responses,which are mostly directed inward. I have so little to go on as to why I cause this person to be so angry with me, as she refuses to be forthcoming about anything that I can change. I can only guess and say it's her problem but it doesn't make the situation any easier on a day-to-day basis. It sucks so much energy out of me to deal with her. And deal I must - as in, next week when school starts again.

What role does anger play in the quest for self-awareness and inner peace? What do my reactions to anger say about me? How do I avoid defining my life as a series of emotional struggles? Or should I just accept it as such; both personally and as part of the human condition?

I have more questions than answers, as usual. Though I have far more of a clue than I did years ago in even asking these questions. For that I'm grateful.

The Peace Tree

Being unable to write anything substantive lately, I posted two videos on autism at The Peace Tree. I hope you can make it over. You should especially read this post while you're over there and also the comments, which are excellent.

Peace, my friends.

Bad Art Or Not?

David Cerny's Piss has two bronze sculptures peeing into an enclosure that is actually a map of the Cezch Republic. The stream of water writes quotes from famous Prague residents. Visitors can interrupt them by sending SMS messages from mobile phones to a number displayed next to the sculptures. The living statue then ‘writes’ the text of the message, before carrying on as before.

And for those of you interested in furthering your appreciation of this piece (ha!):

Bad art or not?
You weight in.

Ya GOTTA Love New York

The Bitter Woman
Times Square

I did not think of her as a side show freak. In fact, I found her really beautiful in a way that I don't often see. She was kind and honest. I'll bet she has some stories to tell...

MoMA

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Pablo Picasso
1907

Dance
Henri Matisse
1910

THE last great confrontation between Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso in London took place at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1945. "I can just imagine the gallery with my pictures down one side and his on the other," wrote Matisse. "How solemn (if not stuffy - at any rate to some) I'm going to look alongside his pyrotechnics. Still, I'll have to go through with it. I've always told myself justice will be done some day." Read more

The Daisy Follows Soft The Sun

(the photo is of a daisy in my garden)

THE DAISY FOLLOWS SOFT THE SUN

by: Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

HE daisy follows soft the sun,

And when his golden walk is done,

Sits shyly at his feet.

He, waking, finds the flower near.

"Wherefore, marauder, art thou here?"

"Because, sir, love is sweet!"




We are the flower, Thou the sun!

Forgive us, if as days decline,

We nearer steal to Thee,--

Enamoured of the parting west,

The peace, the flight, the amethyst,

Night's possibility!

Jaco Pastorius With Weather Report

I have a thing for the electric bass...and certain bassists...

I really didn't know Jaco Pastorius until I saw him on tour with Joni Mitchell in 1979, for what has become known as The Mingus Tour. What he added to Joni's compositions couldn't have been more perfect in atmosphere; nor his interpretations more stellar. And while I'm not, as a rule, heavily into the technical aspects of music, it's easy to recognize Pastorius's genius. Above all, he was an intense, soulful, passionate player. It is for those qualities I admire him most.

Pastorius is perhaps best known for his work with the jazz-fusion band Weather Report. He was with the band from 1977 until 1981. He is recognized as being responsible for the band's success in the late 70's and early 80's.

I knew a little about his life from having read and commented on what was at that time the first blog-style web page I'd ever seen. It was written by his wife Ingrid. I either never knew or had forgotten that he had bipolar disorder; of which I was reminded in the youtube comments. In his later years, Pastorius' drinking and drugging caused his mental health to reach a devastating level. He died as a result of injuries sustained in a confrontation with a nightclub bouncer.

This is a little tribute, if you will. Just because I felt like it. :-)

The Who

1) Substitute
2) I'm A Boy
3) Happy Jack

for the kids

The Peace Tree

My post, Mad Pride Part III is up at The Peace Tree.

I'd like to leave you with a song called To Live Is To Fly written by the late, great Townes Van Zant. It's recorded by Guy Clark on Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zant.

This one goes out to my friend singingbear, with peace, love and many prayers.

The Peace Tree

For better or for worse, my post is up at The Peace Tree: Mad Pride Part II

Peace,
Pagan

What's goin' On

Supergirl One found a summer job. She starts work next week at what I call a Storybook Farm just over the river from my house. It's a strawberry farm, mostly but they also have cows and sell organic milk and cheese. When SG2 visited, her new boss was making cheese and already giving her pointers. She felt very comfortable with the gentleman farmer and when he told her that the whole family is into literature and writing, that was it. She'd found her niche for the summer!

Me, I'm lacking motivation. I thought that Spring and all her glory would help me lighten my step and begin all the household projects that need doing. Not a chance. I just want to play and blog and read and eat and sleep and hang out with W.P. and SG2.

Supergirl One is still at college. Today is the last day of her campus job and it's the day where I go down to Mount Holyoke and help her pack her stuff to move into the massive UMass campus for summer session. She's determined to graduate with her class of 2009, despite massive setbacks in her freshman and sophmore years due to bipolar illness and frequent hospitilizations. She'd also battled drug reactions, a severe skin rash from a virus and low blood pressure that caused her to pass out on several occasions. I'm continuously amazed, impressed and otherwise blown away by this girl's determination and intellect. Is this my kid? It's what you get when you cross a pagan sphinx with a cunning runt! hehehehe

As an aside, I know I'm boasting and that my English friends rather look down upon we Americans for it, but....SG1's semester GPA was a 3.9. No easy feat at that overly demanding elitist school. We're thrilled and proud and in the hopes of sounding humble, it has little to do with us at this point. Hell, I wanted her to go the easy route because I was concerned her illness would drain the life out of her and she wouldn't be able to do academics at that level. That girl has proven me wrong and that's what makes me so in awe of her.

I'm gearing myself up emotionally, if not in regard to cleaning and organizing my house, for my mother's visit at the end of June. My mother, for those of you who may not know, lives in Portugal. My family (including CR) who read this blog, know and understand fully how much I adore my mother; what a good relationship we now have and how much The Supergirls look forward to basking in her unconditional love - because she is good at that. There are complications, of course.

This is a case where Love can't be everything. Supergirl One, whom my regular readers know is gay and engaged to be married to a lovely young woman, is intent on telling her grandmother that she's a lesbian. SG1 wrote to me an eloquent email explaining her reasons for this. Below is an excerpt from that email:

The choice is between upsetting her [where, honestly, the onus is on her, because she is potentially the party to be behaving negatively] and acting against my own sense of dignity and pride by lying about one of the most fundamental and important aspects of my life. The latter choice also has repercussions for my relationship and the trust I share with my partner.

My own personal worry is not that my mother will be rude or angry but that she will consider this another form of Tragedy. I grew up with the various forms of Tragedy. Besides death, illness and suffering, and natural disasters, Tragedy as defined by my Portuguese family comes in the form of Alcoholism, Adultry and anything else that disgraces one's family. She will doubless be heartbroken by the news that her lovely grandaughter is a lesbian and plans on shacking up with a girl. My mother understands that gays get married. But "gays" are those other people over there somewhere in a world she doesn't understand.

My mother is 77 years old and has been through a tremendous lot. I don't want this news to put her over the top. Honestly, I have no clue as to how she will come to grips with this. Especially without my father, who died almost three years ago. Who will help her to understand? It will have to be me, of course. When SG1 gives her grandmother the news, she'll then go back to her dorm for summer session, while I sit with my mother and help her to contemplate this. I'm worried and sad and frustrated that I have to be burdened by this! My mother will doubtless blame this tragedy on either my divorce from The Supergirls' father or the bipolar disorder, or both.

To complicate things, my Portuguese is not what it used to be and certain things are just so hard to labor into translation. I have this upstanding, proud family where I am the only member of the immediate family who has divorced. It confuses me, really. We have so many nutcases in the family - depression and bipolar illness have touched the lives of several family members. But something like a same-sex relationship can put everyone over the top! WTF?

I'm projecting but with a very good scope consisting of 48 years of experience being a part of my family. We'll see what happens, but Happen it must.

Paul Simon - American Tune

Slip Sliding Away - Paul Simon
from http://www.paulsimon.com/