Art Spotter

Category: Art

  • Just Breathe..

    Just Breathe..

    Hi there! Firstly, thank you so very much if you are still reading this blog, I truly appreciate you 🙂 Secondly, I have decided to include some helpful information in my posts, something that could be resourceful in case you travel to the respective city and would like to see the artwork yourself. Lastly, I hope you enjoy reading this one and if you do, tell me about it ❤

    On a solo trip to Madrid in Oct’23, I visited the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía – which is a paradise for anyone who loves art. Even though I ended up spending almost 4 hours in the museum, trust me it wasn’t enough. Details on how you can visit this paradise at the end of the post.

    This painting called “Young Woman at a Window” by Salvador Dali is said to be inspired by a painting called “Woman at a Window” by Caspar David Friedrich. It is also said that the woman in this painting is Salvador’s sister Ana Maria. Further, the place you see in the window is supposed to be Cadaqués, which is a town in Spain I have had the chance to visit and you should too whenever you are in Spain. Its stunning to say the least (avoid visiting during rains). Fun fact – Salvador spent a lot of his childhood in Cadaqués and that’s probably why he painted it in this artwork.

    At the onset, I just saw a woman standing with her back towards me, staring at the beautiful scenery. Frankly I didn’t notice anything special in the first instance and I simply moved on to the next painting in the room. After walking around in the museum for sometime I realized I was lost. And I was trying to find my way to the next floor when I somehow popped back in the same room where this young woman was standing. This time I saw the painting from a bit far and suddenly this young woman caught my attention.

    I noticed the causal way in which this woman was standing – see her clothes, nothing fancy. Like any other day in her life – except this is the part of her day when she decides to take a break for herself. You know to catch-up with everything going on. Her legs probably tired on account of standing for a while – see the way she is resting one foot against the other. What is going on her head? What is she feeling? Is she overwhelmed?

    How often do we hit pause in our day to day? There is so much going on around us and in our lives which impacts us. Funnily, we don’t even realize the impact day to day life has on us until some time has passed and your mind or body starts showing signs. We consume all sorts of information and so much information throughout the day. Isn’t it so easy to get caught up with the every day tasks – calls, meetings, emails, what to cook, what to eat, steps to track, errands to run, drink enough water, workout, call the plumber, schedule the doctor’s appointment, call your friends to stay in touch, sleep enough, take your medicines, etc., etc. Basically we are just trying to strike off tasks from this never ending to-do list. At times, don’t you feel like the hamster that is constantly running on a wheel. Don’t you feel overwhelmed? I know I do – more often than not.

    Life isn’t easy for any of us. All of us have our own issues to deal with. It might seem that the next person has it all figured out but in reality who knows. After all, we are socially conditioned to show only the good side of our lives aka the “Instagrammable side” So, its okay to pause when you feel overwhelmed. Its okay to pause as many times as required. Its okay if you are tired and want to rest it out today. Its okay if you have not been able to give your 100% at work today, you can try again tomorrow. Its okay if you didn’t complete all your tasks today, you have tomorrow because the to-do list is never ending anyway. Its okay if you failed today, you can try again. Its okay if today was difficult, have faith that tomorrow would be better. Its okay to take a step back and relax your nerves as many times as you need to. And its totally okay to take a break, stand by your window and breathe, JUST BREATHE before you dive back into the water. Its okay 🙂

    Helpful Information: “Young Woman at a Window” by Salvador Dali is at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid (website – https://entradas.museoreinasofia.es/en). (1) You can buy the tickets online, the general ticket is about 12 Euros i.e. ~1200 INR which would give you access to all the floors and artwork this museum hosts except the temporary exhibits (if any) for which you might have to pay extra. (2) You can further buy an audio guide should you like to hear about some of the key artwork this museum hosts, which would cost you about 5 Euros i.e. ~500 INR – I personally recommend the audio guide if you love art like I do. (3) Also, if are an art lover, then I would recommend scheduling a minimum of 3 hours to visit the museum on your trip. (4) There is a free entry time table as well on the website basis which you can visit the museum for free of cost however since the museum is paradise for art lovers, many students leverage the free entry time table to visit and study art. This means those hours might be a bit more crowded than usual. If you do end up visiting, do tell me about it!

    Disclaimer: I am neither an Art or an English expert, this post is my interpretation and understanding of the painting. It is just an expression of my feelings. The intent of the post is not to critic the art or the artist, no offense is intended. Further, I have no affiliation to the museum, this is not like a paid service or an advertisement – the information provided above is basis my experience, it is only provided to help the reader and is subject to change as per the museum’s policies.

  • Girl before a Mirror

    Girl before a Mirror

    There is a Hindi film called “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”, one of my favorite films. In the film there is a dialogue “Sach hota kya hai, har ek apna apna version hota hai sach ka” which loosely means who knows what the truth is, doesn’t everyone believe their side of the story to be the truth anyway. I love this and I often look back to it when I am deliberating whether I should express my feelings about a situation to the person in front of me or not. And basis experience, I have realized that no matter what I say, usually the person would only look at the situation from their perspective since their mind isn’t open to hear a different thought process, let alone consider it 🙂 But what happens when the person in front of you is YOU.

    This painting “Girl before a Mirror” by the great Pablo Picasso is at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC (MoMA) for display. I had the chance to see this painting up close in Jul’24. At first, its the dramatic colors that drew me in, then the vivid shapes and both the human figures which are somehow made to fit into this small space, that caught my attention. On looking closely you observe a girl on the left seeing her reflection in the mirror i.e. the figure on the right. The reflection doesn’t fully look like the girl – the colors used are darker, the body shape is slightly different, the face is leaner – look at the nose its more sharper, the face somehow seems smaller in the reflection. So, why is the reflection this different, what is Picasso trying to tell us through this painting?

    Well, there are many art enthusiasts who have interpreted this painting in their own way, which you can read about on the internet. And I suggest you do, because its interesting and it would you give you a varied perspective. I see this girl with two faces – the left side which is lavender represents her outer self i.e. the “proper” side she shows to the world. Whereas the right side of the face which is yellowish represents her inner self – the insecurities which she doesn’t show. This bit in the painting implies the duality that we all live with – outer vs inner self. Yet, when she sees herself in the mirror she doesn’t see either of these sides. To me the girl in the reflection looks tired; tired of the different faces she has to put on everyday. The reflection seems darker like there is a lot of weight that she has been carrying around which has diminished her aura. To me, the girl sees the her true self in the mirror.

    No matter, how many faces we put on everyday. No matter, how much we pretend to be okay when we are not. No matter, how much we convince ourselves that we are fine. Mirrors don’t lie. They show us the truth at all times. They show us the swollen eyes, sad smile, tiniest of the wrinkles, greying hair, constantly changing body structure, the stress that has found its way to latch onto our mind and body, pain, loneliness, darkness – literally every God damn thing. But how many times have we stopped to really see ourselves in the mirror? How many times have we heard the truth that our reflection is trying to tell us? It is easier to say “Sach hota kya hai, har ek apna apna version hota hai sach ka” to a third person and walk away. But how do you say that to YOURSELF?

    I am exhausted of pretending I am okay all the time. I am tired of wearing this “All is Well” mask. I am human – there are good days and there are bad days. And I own up to them all. When I see myself in the mirror, I see the truth and I embrace it. If I am not feeling okay – physically, mentally or emotionally, then I am not feeling okay. It doesn’t mean I would create a nuance for those around me or that I wouldn’t do the basis tasks I am supposed to do. But I would step back, go into my space, not engage with outside world if I don’t want to, take my time to respond to people, work on myself and bounce back – only when I want to and I can. In the interim, those who love me enough would understand and those who don’t understand – well, relationships evolve with time and I hope people do too 🙂 It has taken me years of healing to realize that the only person I need to have the strongest relationship is that person in the mirror. Which means I need to look at myself in the mirror, see what my reflection is showing me and hear what my reflection is telling me. We need to embrace that person in the mirror – no matter how they look or feel. Because it is still you, all of that gorgeous mess is still You 🙂

    Disclaimer: I am neither an Art or an English expert, this post is my interpretation and understanding of the painting. It is just an expression of my feelings. The intent of the post is not to critic the art or the artist, no offense is intended.

  • Longing..no more

    Longing..no more

    In Oct’23, I was on a holiday in Lisbon (Portugal) and had enrolled for a Street Art Tour when I saw this gorgeous wall mural painted by Mário Belém. The tour guide was extremely passionate about Lisbon, the Portuguese history and art. Thanks to him I was able to explore some amazing street art. With this mural I officially start by blogging journey, more artworks to follow of course. Hope you like what you read 🙂

    When I first set my eyes on the mural, my initial thought was how beautifully the flowers and leaves were painted – especially the blueish leaves. Even though blue being an unconventional color choice somehow was making sense. The longer I stood in front of the mural I observed how the woman is facing in, with her back to us i.e. to the outside world. It seemed like the artist was trying to tell us something.

    The literal translation of the Portuguese word “Saudade” in the painting is Longing. When I asked the tour guide to elaborate more on this word and its meaning, he said it means yearning or feeling of incompleteness. It was so heartbreakingly beautiful. The tour guide then went on to explain that the artist had conceptualized the idea during lockdown to reflect how we spend most of our time with our backs to the world and over-index on past experiences. It symbolizes how the lockdown gave us all time to introspect.

    Longing for past experiences or desiring for things we believe are missing from our lives or just waiting for things to get better is human. We all look back to our experiences from the past and our life before “that event” – that life altering event. But constantly deliberating on the past consumes us to the extent that we forget we are supposed to live in the present and not in the past. We forget that we are supposed to give ourselves room to live and breathe new experiences.

    Lockdown forced us all to slow down- gave us time to think. For me, it brought a realization that I want to move closer to my family – there is no guarantee of how much time we have with each other or on this planet. Yes, looking back is important so that we don’t make the mistakes again and instead we do better, but we cant allow the past to define our present – this is where most of us fumble, at least I do.

    In my understanding, there is another symbolism in the painting – the colorful flowers which denote hope and positivity. To me, it implies that we need to learn from the lockdown and start living in the present – allowing ourselves space to experience new things. Because whatever is supposed to happen, will happen and when it does, we wouldn’t have much control over it anyway. So we might as well start living fully in the present and have faith in the universe that the future will be more colorful than the present – just like the flowers in the painting 🙂

    By the way, I forgot to mention the name of the mural “Antes perdida por aqui algures, do que a caminho de nenhures” which literally means “Better lost here somewhere, than on the way to nowhere” Isn’t’ that beautiful?

    Disclaimer: I am neither an Art or an English expert, this post is my interpretation and understanding of the painting. It is just an expression of my feelings. The intent of the post is not to critic the art or the artist, no offense is intended.

  • Art Spotter

    Art Spotter

    We have all heard about artists, art experts, art collectors, art connoisseur, art consultants, so on and so forth. But then there is me – an Art Spotter. Now who is an Art Spotter you might ask – well it is a person who looks for and observes art as a hobby 🙂 I am 100% positive that this is not a real thing in our world, however I still choose to identify myself as an Art Spotter!

    For as long as I can remember I have been inclined towards art – in any shape or form, whether its drawing, painting, craft, music, dance, sculpture, architecture, theatre, film and nature. I am the kind of person who would randomly stop while walking to click pictures of street art, flowers, trees, colors of the sky, buildings, doors, windows – basically anything artistic that catches my eye and demands me to stop and observe it. And whenever I do stop and observe the art, more often than not I feel feelings – at times such strong feelings that move me and overwhelm me. I have always thought about writing them down but just never got to it. So, this is my attempt to express myself, my feelings, my opinions, my interpretation and hopefully give the reader an insight into the beautiful art this world has to offer 🙂