Argentinian artist
to show work in Columbus
By Jonathan Marsh
marsh.2081@osu.edu
Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Halabi, 32, is a native of Cordoba, Argentina and has been painting since 1996 when she began studying at the School of Arts of the National University of Cordoba. She considers her work to be closely related to her, as if it were a part of her.
The subject of the “unconscious” manages to trickle throughout her work, and Halabi is very aware of how it integrates into what she creates.
“By creating, the unconscious manifests itself as an instinctive force that directs the action of painting — choosing the motifs, colors, elements and intensity of each of these,” she said. “When a work is seen, the unconscious contents enter into the plane of consciousness.”
Halabi said her daily routine stimulates her creative process. She said her mornings begin with swimming, and she then gets dressed comfortably before going to her studio. She loves music and has several CDs that she listens to while working in her studio.
“The music accompanies particular painting moments,” she said. “Soft music in the faces, rock in the backgrounds.”
Sometimes she begins two pieces of art simultaneously, but suddenly one of the works will absorb her and take all her attention.
Halabi said she often becomes obsessed with a piece and has to work on it until it is finished. “It can take a lot of days, but when it ends, it is a magic moment. Something in you says, ‘It is finished.’”
She uses a diverse mix of materials to make her art: oil, acrylics, tints, bitumen, gold and sometimes sand. Each material gives her art a special quality and sensation, she said.
Once the artistic process begins, Halabi said she avoids overthinking the product.
“I seek not to think, only concentrate on the action,” she said.
She said Latin American culture’s ability to merge old and new trends influences Halabi’s work.
Halabi’s work
was first recognized in 1999 when she won a drawing
contest in Cordoba. Her first major exhibition was in 2002 at the Municipal
Cultural Center of Cordoba, and she continues to showcase her work in
the United States, Latin America and Germany.
Sol Halabi's "Act
of Magic" is one of the works she will display Friday.
Artist Sol Halabi will be coming to Columbus Friday for her first solo
show in the United States.
There is no specific kind of art that Halabi feels she is making. She feels that to try and define her art would only distract from the possible interpretations.
“I just paint,” she said. “I do not like definitions. A definition helps to understand what is in front of you, but also works as a filter … When you only observe, another kind of knowledge emerges.”
Halabi’s art reception will last from 6 to 9 p.m. at A Muse Gallery. A Muse Gallery is located at 996 W. Third Ave., Grandview Heights. People interested in attending the event can RSVP by calling 299-5003. Details can be found at www.amusegallery.com.
http://www.thelantern.com/arts/argentinian-artist-to-show-work-in-columbus-1.893487
Dreams and Realities
The Argentine artist Sol Halabi exhibits her works in Panama and tells us about her work, her life and her motivations.
Esther M. Arjona
Ellas. Panama. FRIDAY, JULY 20th, 2007
We perceive reality as something clear and well defined, whereas dreams
appear as blurred images without definition.
Under these parameters we could define the Sol Halabi’s work as
a combination of dreams and realities. Maybe these two elements are present
in her work but differently. The realistically-stroked faces, which appear
in rather abstract backdrops, have a lot of similarity with their creator.
She relates some of the traits with the ones of her sister’s, but
she acknowledges the fact that there is a lot of her in those images.
"I don’t intend to achieve anybody’s traits because this
is not the work’s idea. The work is closely related with me, it’s
as if it were part of me", says Halabi, as we chat in one of the
rooms of the art gallery.
That coherence that is easy to be found in her works was something she
discovered later on. "It’s something that belonged to me but
I didn’t realize that I could work or show". Those faces are
not particular characters. They are the way to express the artist’s
own world and when in contact with the spectator they become part of them,
too. Halabi considers her works as fruit of the action but not of the
thought. "I don’t even think deeply. I just work and see what
comes up".
This is the reason why she does not think that there is something specific
to be said in her paintings. In spite of the fact that there is nothing
specific to be told she is sure that many things come to life since painting
has its own language, totally different from the world of words.
"Art abides by other laws, not by reason", expresses the Argentine
artist.
This is the reason why she considers that when trying to impose reason
painting loses. "When you go with the flow, many things inside you
come to the surface, things you have never thought about but that become
part of the painting. But when I want to see what they are all about,
where they go, what they are, what they refer to, since you never paint
just for the sake of it, I think they are related to a particular event
that I remember since I was six years old".
That event is to feel the absurd, to be standing somewhere although you
do not know why you are there or what for. "I think that the images
in the painting also wonder where I am going and what I’m here for.
They just look outwardly asking to somebody to find out an answer for
that. And all the surrounding material seems to be the matter itself and
you are there without knowing why what surrounds you surrounds you",
explains Halabi.
It is a feeling similar to painting. "When I want to ponder, things
get complicated and when you just let it go things come up and it’s
very similar to taking it easy amidst chaos".
It is not about showing specific life moments. Nevertheless, some of these
faces show a certain placidity that can only be done by means of a deep
inner peace and others struggle with the accompanying darkness.
It does not mean that she decided to paint happiness or a sad moment consciously.
They are things that only the unconscious is capable of.
References
Rather than having pictorial referents Halabi seeks support in words.
"I like reading and I love Jung (Carl Gustav). When referring to
the power of the unconscious he says that the unconscious is not limited
to a person in particular, it is not limited to your personal history".
This way to see things makes a lot of sense to the painter since "If
things were not this way nobody would feel anything for my paintings,
they would have nothing to do with others. Nobody wants anything as a
mere decoration. It’s because it conveys something and this that
it conveys is not what I think, it conveys what the spectator feels in
that moment", explains Halabi.
As soon as a painting is being exhibit in a gallery, the vision of its
creator is not what it can be perceived. According to the artist, the
images of what the spectator sees are what come to life.
"The painting serves a purpose in the workshop, but those purposes
change when it leaves the premises. On the wall it conveys a lot of things
to the person in front of it, but it’s not necessarily my things
the ones perceived. Maybe nothing of what I intended is perceived".
The artist’s personal unconscious is based on the collective unconscious
which, according to Halabi "is what makes us humans".
So, this information together with your own life experiences and stories
produces that message that every one in particular sees. A different message
but with things in common: emotions and feelings. "He who sees a
face or a look will remember something of his own, but eventually we join
by means of this emotion".
Blank...
To
Halabi, rather than panic when facing a blank page, to start a work is
like diving into a swimming pool.
Because of the work she makes it is not about highly-structured sketch.
On the contrary, the work is likely to end up as something totally different
from what it started.
If the structure is very obscure it might not prosper. However, if there is a brief planning it might end up as something very rich.
Six characters might end up being only one. Details can be covered, changed or altered.
"What matters is to interact with the canvas: the more I stain, the quicker I will start working and the easier it will be for me to come up with something. Sometimes it doesn’t happen on the first day and you don’t know what the work will end up in. Sometimes it takes shape as time goes by and you have to be really patient", says Halabi.
The thing is that when somebody sees a finished work on a canvas, if the creator is bothered deeply with something, she will decide not to bring it out of the workshop. "I generally tear it up or something happens to it. I put it somewhere. It might fall, I might step on it or paint might be dropped on it or I use it to wrap something up and then it no longer exists".
But in most cases this mistake becomes the element of a different work.
"When I work with something wrong I cover it or do without parts of it and then I like the remnants. Instead of throwing the work away I remove or I paint over it again and what lies beneath usually comes to the surface and I like this because it’s like working with tracks or traces".
Tracks or traces which make her work unique and where a single mistake becomesthe main detail of a different work.
"No matter what you cover you know that the canvas is not blank. There is something beneath". In a work there is definitely much more that what can be perceived on the surface. If you do not consider this way, ask Sol Halabi.
Translation by Ramón Halabí.