2019 SOLENTINAME
Encounters and production views, Primeros amaneceres en la tierra (Solentiname)
+ views of talk and workshop
Artist residency at Solentiname, Isla Mancarrón, Nicaragua
December 12 – 22, 2019
Participating artists: Jorge de León, Felipe Mujica and Albertine Stahl
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These curtains were produced during a 10-day residency in Nicaragua. Invited by Marcos Agudelo the project – sadly restricted by the short stay – consisted of producing a moment of exchange, that hopefully related to the people and history of the Archipielago de Solentiname. In 1965 catholic priest and liberation theologian Ernesto Cardenal (also a poet, artist, and leftist politician) founded a mainly-peasant community that later became an artist colony, developing a unique and specific style of primitive painting and sculpture. Being politically active in the 1970’s Cardenal and the community collaborated closely with the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional in the overthrow of the dictator Anastasio Somoza. Since then the painting style of Solentiname has captured both the pureness and abundance of Nicaragua’s landscape as well as horrifying scenes of violence and resistance of the Somoza years and the revolution. Currently, this tradition of painting complements fishing and farming as a valid occupation in the Archipielago, as means to make a living.
Instead of a final product what Marcos asked for was to produce moments of exchange, this was achieved by simply getting to know people in the community, in day-to-day situations, having conversations about the island, art, and handcraft-ship, and also in the context of an informal art talk organized at the beginning of the stay. In this event, both visiting artists and local artists and artisans shared their work and processes, which turned into an interesting and complex conversation about the value of work in such different contexts as the artisanal trade of the Archipielago and that of the art-market value of contemporary artworks. This exchange was completed and complemented by having our works produced with the guidance and help of local artisans.
In my case, the work created began by taking inspiration in the specific painting technique of gradation of color, which I observed on most of the animal sculptures produced in the island. Transferring this technique, I dyed cotton fabric with different gradation combinations, and on top of these surfaces, a family of artisans (José y Jeamileth Peña and a few of their family members and neighbors) worked with me painting white lines for a couple of days. Although the technical process was very simple the experience of working together allowed the curtains to build a particular character-specific to Solentiname, and vice-versa it allowed the family to see and understand how their way of working could be applied to a different format, to a different scale, which interacted with its surroundings and landscape in a very different way. As a final component of my visit, I conducted a 3-hour abstract painting workshop.
For more information about Ernesto Cardenal and the Solentiname paintings check this New York Times article and Google image search.
