Paola Beck

 

On December of 2012, we decided to finish the year being creative and learning how to do stencil. For the 4th Illustration and Painting Workshop of Street Art, Jenaro Visualcraft and myself organized an intensive weekend, where we learned the history of Street Art and started developing our own idea. Jenaro is a photographer, artist and friend who lives between Mexico City and Berlin, one of the most important capitals of Street Art in the world.

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Friday

On Friday we learned about the history of street art, the importance of the concept behind the idea and the social responsibility behind this kind of artistic expression.

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Saturday

On the next day, first thing in the morning, we developed our own idea and after printing our compositions, we started cutting out each layer of the stencil. Looong hours of cutting out.

Of course we also had time to chill, cook and eat

And after lunch, more cutting!

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Sunday

Spray paint time!!!!!

The catering was in charge of Pamela Macko, Nutritionist, artist and friend. Delicious and healthy menus all over the weekend

And after lots of work, sun and spray paint smell, this is what came out

Blanca, yoga teacher.

Martin, economist.

Dany, environmentalist.

Arturo, animator.

Paola, architect and painter.

Naiki, furniture designer and DJ.

Mafer, soon to be mom

Naoli, friend and business woman.

Martina, designer and artist.

Jenaro, photographer, street artist and globe trotter.

And myself.

 

From the 13-16th of June, the next workshop is going to take place in Puerto Escondido, a beautiful beach in Oaxaca, Mexico.

It will be an intensive workshop of four days focused in nature, and we will stay at Casa Mayita a beautiful house, surrounded by birds, open space and the pacific ocean. For more information please check out the event in Facebook, or write to paolabeck@hotmail.com.

 

 

 

On the 22-24th of june, the III Illustration, Painting and Photography Workshop took place in Mexico City. Alvaro Nates and Miguel Angel Cordera where the invited artists. Alvaro is a very talented photographer and Miguel is an abstract painter. Both work and live in DF.

Friday

Alvaro Nates

We experimented taking photographs at Alvaro´s studio in collaboration with Revês, a mexican dance-performance agency, and then worked on that images in both Abstract and Figurative ways during the weekend.

Priscilla Hernández, our model, made an impressive performance spending 7 minutes with each participant modeling, dancing, acting and feeling what each person had in mind. Alvaro guided us through the technical process of taking pictures with high quality equipment. But first, he gave us a lecture about photography showing us his favorite artists and explaining their technique and concept.

Before the shooting Alvaro explained to us some basic techniques about photography and the gadgets we had and how to play with them, and after each session (7 minutes each participant) he took a portrait of each one of us. One shot.

Here some results of the shooting:

By Vane

By Arturo

By Pame

By me

And here the portraits by Alvaro of each one of us:

Martin

Paola

Arturo

Pame

Vane

Gabriella

Poncho

Lian

Danae

and me.

After a very intense first day we all went home with our heads full of ideas.

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Saturday

Miguel Ángel Cordera is a mexican abstract painter, and we started fresh in the morning with a lesson in abstract art, analizing different artists and his own work. He explained his creative process and we chose some of the pictures taken the day before, and started to work on them.

Coffee Break

The catering was in charge of Pamela Macko, a nutritionist who made us very happy during the whole weekend with healthy and delicious munchies.

VERY happy!

After having lunch, we started painting. Each one chose between the pictures taken of Priscilla, or the portrait Alvaro Nates made of each participant after their 7 minutes with the model. So you could do a portrait or a self-portrait. Interesting things came out….

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Sunday

During the first and second workshop we started painting a huge mural, so it was time to finish it. It was sunny and it was my birthday as well, lucky me

Happy birthday to me

As some amazing paintings came out on saturday, some of us finished them after lunch, and others continued painting the mural. We decided to do a little show with the paintings and celebrate my birthday, so some friends came over to celebrate with us. Thank you so much to all the people involved, it was for sure the best birthday of my life

Thank you Pame!!!!

Self-portrait by Poncho

Self-portrait by Vane

Me by Paola

Priscilla (our model) by Artruro, and Pame´s self portrait

 

 

 

Part of  ”Entre perros y carreteras”  (between dogs and highways). In progress.

The bird sculpture was made by a friend of my adolescence and my very first love, Philipp Reichardt.

Steel and glass, 2000.

“Let the devil in o el fantasma tropical” This drawing was made after someone came into my room while I was sleeping alone in Puerto Escondido, took all my money and left in silence.

This was the wrapping paper of a gift.

 

Alvaro Nates, my official photographer did a shooting for Spot Magazine in Mexico City,

and I asked him for one picture to paint on. this is what came out. I love it! Its called Tiger.

 

“Frida en un jardín escocés” Oil on canvas, 2011

“En el norte” Watercolor on canvas, 2011

 

 

These boots where made for walking

 

 

I do sculpture since i was 15 years old. My teacher since then has been Marcela Arbide, an amazing artist from La Esmeralda. She happens to be my aunt as well. It is one of my favorite things to do in the world, and I am so thankful that she guided me through this world since so young.

This is my first sculpture in wood. It was a 30 m long piece of white cedar wood from my grandfathers land, and it was an honor and adventure to work specially on this piece. I used no machines, just a handsaw to smooth down the texture in the end.

It took me more than a year to do it, and its titled “Schnecke” that means snail in german. Snails where part of my childhood and a mean neighboor kid used to throw them against the wall. That will remain forever in my memories.

 

Schnecke, 2010

Clay

 

 

 

Wood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next piece is called “Ti prendo e ti porto via”, inspired by one of my favorite books, from Niccoló Ammaniti. It it my first piece in white marble, and the process was very hardcore. First you do the figure in clay, and then in plaster cast. Then a master marbler turns a block of marble into your sculpture, without details, just the proportions, using laser and cutting with a diamond. And then, you work on the piece using a huge pneumatic hammer. That is the hardest and most difficult technique i have ever done, and I cannot understand how Michelangelo did his pieces without electric energy, light or any motorized instrument:

 

Il David

 

 

La Pietá

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Ti prendo e ti porto via

 

Clay

2007

 

 

 

 

White Marble

2011

 

 

 

 

This is the post about the exhibition where it was part: Espacio Flexible, La Quiñonera

 

Die Taube, 2011

This clay piece is still in process, it is drying out so that it can be burned.

 

 

The next one is from a few years ago, and its plaster cast and an acrylic patina. It was a gift for my mother:

No title, 2006

 

 

 

This piece is the oldest from this selection, I dont remember when I did it. Its basically a very confortable woman. Its cement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the T-shirts, bags, stickers and pins I did for Atto & The Majestics, for the Vive Latino Music Festival, 2011, in Mexico City. Thanks to the models from Rêves Agency, the styling from mexican fashion designer Roberto Sanchez and my official photographer, Alvaro Nates.

Alvaro Nates: http://setanphoto.tumblr.com/

Roberto Sanchez: http://robertosanchezonline.com/

Rêves Agency: revesagency@gmail.com