December 05, 2008, Art-Space Opening, EC Bell at La Obra, By Bill Pearlman, Porter Crisis Collection, By Lulu Torbet

Art-Space Opening
Sat, Dec 6, 2–8pm
Crisis Collection, 6pm
La Obra de San Arvino
La Rosa 28
Colonia Allende

La Obra de San Arvino is in Colonia Allende, just one block from the Kunsthaus. The inauguration features the work of 25 artists, door prizes, lots of entertainment, free botanas, wine and punch for the snacker. Dick Weber will cook delicious food for the ravenous and Ballet Folklórico from Casa de la Cultura will perform. The fabulous Maria and the Blind River Band from Colombia provide music. Laura Reyes of the Barbara Porter Boutique is producing the Crisis Collection fashion show. Information: laobrasanorvino@gmail.com or (415) 154-7812.

The inauguración of La Obra de San Arvino will be a festival with hidden treasures. Central to the operation (along with Arvino himself) is the painter EC Bell, whose work will be on display there. I caught up with EC recently at Café Monet for an event preview.

Bill Pearlman: Before we talk about your approaches to painting, how do you see the development of La Obra de San Arvino?

EC Bell: It’s an artist’s dream. The complex has good spaces for artists and the single light source in the studios make them great spaces to do work.

BP: Tell me about your history as an artist and some of your interests.

EC: I’ve been painting since age six. Embedded in my memory is the stunning image of a naked woman I saw swimming at Silver Lake near Wilmington, North Carolina, where I grew up. In terms of how that affected my art, as you have seen, my pictures praise the beauty of women. I can express many emotions and moods with the female nude. And I have the utmost respect for women.

BP: You’ve been talking about the importance of the model in your work. Is the model pivotal in transforming the image into art? How does that work for you?

EC: Every model brings out different things. Sometimes it’s like a relation with a muse, other times she is the jumping-off place for my own process. Sometimes there is love involved and that makes the painting sometimes feel like a gift, which in fact it often is. I start out with drawings and then go to the canvas where I work in acrylics.

BP: Who have been your major influences?

EC: Munch, Klimt, Wyeth, Renoir. Some of the color processes of Klimt you can see in my paintings. The Helga paintings of Wyeth have meant a lot to me. He understood that special relationship with the models that I was talking about. And of course Renoir used models extensively and his work resonates with a certain love of the naked woman.

BP: How do you find San Miguel as a place to work and as an art scene?

EC: I love it here. I hope to stay here the rest of my life. It’s like being part of a big family. There is some fluff in the art scene, but there are also great painters here. I sometimes paint 12–18 hours a day and I find I’m able to call on lots of inspiring conditions here. I’ve recently gone through the loss of a partner and muse, and I’m still only about three-fourths back, but I’m going to be back, no question of that.

BP: You mentioned that you started galleries in Charleston, South Carolina. Tell us about that, if you will.

EC: Sure. I started the Crazy Horse Art Studio in 2000 with Stephan Eaker who lives here now with his spouse, Bea Aaronson. Later Crazy Horse morphed into the Belle Muse Art Studio, which took the turn of having big shows. Some wild times were associated with both galleries.

BP: Can you tell us something about your working process? I know you concentrate on the female form and the work is a kind of homage to the Feminine. How do you work?

EC: The model is important to the process. I start with drawings which I do in Ebony pencil, which gives me a strong line and gets me imagining the painting. The drawings are tight, exact. But the paint which comes later is often applied with much more freedom. I like acrylics better than oil and they dry faster.

BP: How do you see art in the realms of emotional or personal fulfillment?

EC: Art to me is about love or the illusion of love. I think there is a difference between the two things, but the work itself is a form of love and often the personality and beauty of the muse/model is part of the transforming effort. I live in praise of beauty and love, and I think the work attests to that. It’s my life.

Bill Pearlman is a poet, actor and director of PEN San Miguel’s Writers Aloud project. He contributes frequently to Atención.

Barbara Porter and her design partner Laura Reyes are at it again, selling clothes and saving the world. We’re all aware of the need to recycle bottles, cans, newspapers and plastic containers. Now Porter and Reyes are making clothes from earth-friendly recycled fabrics.

Their new “Crisis Collection” line of vests and jackets for men and women, long coats, miniskirts, pants and tunics are made from recycled jute (aka hemp and burlap) coffee bean sacks printed with company logos and codes, trimmed with braided jute and lined with soft silky fabric in lavender, blue, purple and black. Each garment makes a trés chic fashion and environmental statement.

Harking back to the earth is not for sissies. All the garments are made by hand, which means first taking apart the coffee bean sacks at the seams, unraveling the thread and then repeatedly washing the bags to clean and soften them. The jute cord unraveled from the seams is used to sew the edges that trim the garments. To add a touch of luxe to the vests and coats, a large flower from a striking fabric pattern is sewn into the center back, offering a bright shot of color when the garment is removed.

The Crisis Collection premieres at the Obra de San Arvino grand opening. Sixteen male and female models will parade the new collection in a runway fashion show, with DJ Esteban de Monserrat as music director.

The Barbarita Boutique gallery space will exhibit drawings and paintings of the Crisis Collection and live mannequins will model items from the new line.

The clothes remain on display in the gallery space through December, and then will be available at Barbara Porter Boutique, Zacateros 47.

Lulu Torbet is a photographer, painter and the author or ghostwriter of 30 books. She is the co-author of Gringo Haiku, a pithy summing up of her life in San Miguel since she moved here in 2005. A complete list of her books can be found at www.lauratorbet.com ; her photography at www.lulutorbet.com.