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IGNACIO ALPERIN : Curatorial Statement by Alfredo Ratinoff *

CURATORIAL STATEMENT *

Ignacio Alperin

Our beloved Ella Fitzgerald once said: “Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”

When I first met Ignacio Alperin, I was intrigued by the fact that the composition and color treatment in his work, facets that are so visual, are influenced by other senses – that is, the sound and emotional intensity he derives from a variety of musical genres, including Jazz, Soul, Motown, the American songbook, Tango, and the Classics, which fascinated me even more.

Therefore, in my task to adequately capture the artist’s work in words, it is insufficient to use only visual terms. A discussion of contour lines, color, positive and negative space, and abstraction only tells part of the story. To begin to characterize Alperin’s work more fully, it is perhaps more necessary to augment the visual portrayal with musical and emotional metaphors to express his aims and ideals with such passion and free spirit, such as tempo, syncopation, and pitch. The capacity to create multisensory experiences is a gift in the spirit of the true artist who believes in the eternal search for the perfect alchemy of shape, color, and line along with volume, speed, and emotion, and is evidenced by these images that combine the landscapes of sound and sight into captivating works of richness and depth.

The meaning of “symbolist tradition” in art has been used to express a view in which the artist creates works that evoke as well as describe. To quote one of the great masters of this school, Wassily Kandinsky: “The relationships in art are not necessarily ones of outward form but are founded on inner sympathy of meaning.” The works of Ignacio Alperin are an exemplary exponent of that view, eliciting the power, joy, and freedom an eternal traveler attains when he seeks to materialize his dreams and to express his views without doubts or fear.

Alfredo Ratinoff – Curator

* Alfredo Ratinoff (2018): Curator  & Artist. Former Faculty Member, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC , USA – Senior Curator at Embassy of Argentina, Washington DC and Inter American Development Bank Gallery, Washington DC, USA

*ALFREDO RATINOFF – BIOGRAPHY

Alfredo Ratinoff was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he trained in ceramics with his master Teodolina Garcia Cabo starting at the age of eleven. He then studied at the National School of Ceramics and also studied drawing and painting at the National Art Academy.
Alfredo specialized for many years in large scale installations of tile and mosaic murals and his works are in many private collections all over the United States and have been exhibited at the Museum of the Americas at the Organization of American States, The N.A.S.A Headquarters in Washington D.C, The AT&T Headquarters in Oakton ,VA, Barnes & Noble Corporation in Rockville, MD and New York, N.Y, Strathmore Hall Art Center, Bethesda, MD, The Target Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA and the South Florida Art Center in Miami Beach, FL. He also has the distinction to be in the permanent collection at the Embassy of Argentina in the office of the ambassador.
In 2004 Alfredo created a stained glass piece for the mausoleum of the renowned Cuban singer Celia Cruz in Bronx, N.Y commissioned by Hispanic TV host Cristina Saralegui. Most recently, Alfredo was selected to be the artist in residence for the AARP Foundation during the 2007 Women’s Vision Summit in Tucson, Arizona where he created one-of-a-kind pieces that were presented to corporate donors at the event.
Alfredo Ratinoff was for more than 20 years a faculty member for the ceramics department at the Resident Associates Program at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He was selected by the Education office from the Embassy of Italy to work in the 2004 summer program at Georgetown University teaching mosaic workshops sponsored by a grant from the National Endowment of Humanities in Washington D.C.
In 2007 Alfredo was invited by the Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies at the University of Maryland as a faculty member to teach ceramics at the Multi-Disciplinary Summer Institute for Maryland School Teachers. In 2008, as the current artist-in-residence for Lee Arts Center in Arlington, Virginia, he designed mosaic columns for the center’s Butterfly Garden for Arlington County residents. During fall 2008, he completed his installation of “Zodiac Art”, an interactive piece involving mosaics, the twelve signs of the zodiac, and kaleidoscopes, at the mansion at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, Maryland. He serves also as a curator for the art committee at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington D.C. Alfredo currently resides in Philadelphia where he also has his private studio.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Chief Curator Mr. Alfredo Ratinoff, Mr. Gerardo Díaz Bartolomé, then Head of Political Affairs at the Embassy of Argentina in the USA, and Ignacio Alperin

Ignacio Alperin is an international artist based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He grew up in Australia and has lived in several countries around the globe.
The selection of works in his exhibitions are compellingly influenced by his synesthesia (”gift” he shares with Kandinsky).
His art is full of ideas, movement and visual interpretations of musical compositions -from Jazz, Soul, Motown and the American songbook, to Tango and the Classics-.
The end result is a visual idiom that borrows from the inventive and spontaneous methods of jazz musicians. This is so much so that his style has been often described as a visual kind of jazz, or “Visual Jazz”.
We find in his paintings a marked rhythmic musicality and improvisational counterpoints, which are always based on a well thought-out idea.
While his robust use of an extended palette extracts unthought-of shades and gradations that have become a signature and a characteristic of his bold and powerful style.

SOBRE EL ARTISTA

Ignacio Alperin es un artista internacional basado en Argentina, país que lo vio nacer.
Creció en Australia y ha vivido en varios países alrededor del mundo.
Sus obras se encuentran fuertemente influenciada por su sinestesia (“regalo” que comparte con Kandinsky).
Su arte se nutre en gran parte de las ideas, movimientos e interpretaciones visuales que extrae de composiciones musicales -desde el Jazz, Soul, Motown y el cancionero americano, hasta el Tango y la música clásica-.
El resultado final es el de un lenguaje visual que extrae lecciones de los métodos inventivos y espontáneos de los músicos, y particularmente del jazz. Tal es así, que en numerosos artículos, su estilo ha sido descripto como un manera visual de hacer Jazz, o “Visual Jazz”.

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©2021 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

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ALPERIN DIGITAL: UNIQUE AFFORDABLE & ORIGINAL ART

Until next time
Ignacio

 

 

 

 

©2018 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

 

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A little bit like Sherlock, a little bit like Dirk

I always like to look at pop or literature icons as a way of referencing certain interesting characteristics or conclusions. It is a short, simple, and effective way of coming across with complex ideas in ways that do not seem so complicated.

For example, whenever I teach my course or I give a lecture, I usually talk about the need of any inquisitive and creative mind to think a little bit like Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock, the super sleuth, concentrates Socratic logic, and puts in very practical terms the impact that deep observation, careful reasoning, and the use of hypotheses will have on any issue. This method helps to open up horizons not seen until then, while paying attention to indicia and actual evidentiary proof.

As many already know, author (and physician) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, based his character on a doctor and professor named Joseph Bell.

Bell was famous at the time for his deductive reasoning and his amazing accuracy in coming up with information about, not only his patients´ illnesses, but also their nationality, family, work, activities, customs and other personal data that was not available to him. All this from simple observation.

Conan Doyle decided that all the mystery stories that were popular at the time showed detectives which, for some non-explicated reason, would come up with clues and resolutions. He decided that it would be great for a detective to use the same techniques that Bell used, and decided to publish the investigator´s adventures.

The actual way in which the Strand´s short stories became famous is, by itself, a great example of how a new concept or idea gets accepted by a difficult market, and how a combination of doing the hard work, plus the influence exerted by a necessary dose of luck, will get you closer to success. I would also recommend you read the many articles written about this for inspiration.

But with time, and as I finetuned my understanding of facts and theories, I decided that it was not enough to be like Sherlock. Part of the answer to any conundrum will be elucidated from the diagnostic threesome that is made up by “Observe carefully, deduce shrewdly, and confirm with evidence.” But there is much more to life than that.

Amongst other things, there is a holistic approach to problem solving, or project building, or market conquering which goes beyond the closeness of solutions based on observation, no matter how accute or accurate.

That is where another, albeit lesser known, pop culture detective comes along to offer a different perspective.

Many of you may follow the adventures of “Dirk Gently, holistic detective agency” on Netflix. This is a crazy mix of mistery, philosophy, sci-fi, super powers, psychological thriller, and organic detecting which kind of rounds up a series of characteristics that the original Conan Doyle creation missed.

The basis for this crazy adventure is that there are things we do not understand, but that nevertheless, are important even without us working out what they are for, or where do they fit into our story. The reasoning is that everything seems to be connected with everything else in life. It is just a matter of time, or sleuthing, or mind opening, or a combination of those -and other characteristics and actions- which will get those unusual, almost unfitting events, to fit in.

And this combination is almost magic.

It puts Sherlocks ideas, well characterized by psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova’s book, Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes (Viking), as his “natural skepticism and inquisitiveness toward the world”, and his critical, analytical, and hellbent passion to solve all those questions that seem to remain unsolved in front of him, right alongside Gently´s curiosity, his peaceful acceptance of facts that are not yet resolved, and his search for the connectors that will show how that, which he yet cannot fathom, fits into the universal grid of life.

Dirk Gently, like Sherlock, normally lacks desperation to the point of causing desperation in everyone around him. But he realizes that no matter where he is, and as satisfying as it may feel, there is always somewhere else where things will make even more sense, or perhaps, just sense. He doesn´t look for clues all the time. He realizes that sometimes, if he waits, clues will find him instead.

My recommendation then, besides brushing up on books and movies on Mr. Holmes and his bumbling companion Dr. Watson, is to also have a look at Dirk Gently (you will have fun while doing it), and give him a chance to show you how a combination of answers and alternative views will usually result in a richer and more satisfying result, than those conclusions which are reached by concentrating just on a single theory.

In any case, and as always, it is a matter of training your brain to think in new ways, to explore new concepts, to connect the dots, and to come up with logical conclusions -and some illogical ones as well-. It is a matter of accepting that life, if anything, does not always make sense right away.

 

Until next time

Ignacio

 

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©2018 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

Ignacio Alperin Art
http://www.ignacioalperin.com
http://www.theartofthinkingoutloud.com

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You might as well leave this for later…or perhaps not

I wasn´t sure whether to write this. I thought about it and then it felt it was not the right time, or the right place. Maybe tomorrow, or later if I need to do it fast.

The truth is that we all need to mature ideas, and get them to the point of inflection where they become more than just ideas. And for that we need time. Or do we?

In any case, before we consider this, first we may need to get to that book someone recommended as a great inspirational read. Better yet, before that there is a YouTube video we can watch and which will summarize everything, opening our apetite for knowledge, no doubt.

And as long as we are talking about appetite, we may be hungry by now so why not better get something to eat and come back to this afterwards…or after a siesta perhaps?

Anyhow, even while having a bite, how about watching Tim Urban talk about the fact that procrastination doesn’t make sense, while he explains that he’s never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done.

You, me, and most of us will feel in familiar ground somehow by watching this funny and insightful talk from TED Vancouver in 2016.

And if you never had a chance to have a look at this subject, let´s just say that you kept putting it off perhaps, this may be a great opportunity to get on track again.

 

Until next time

Ignacio

 

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©2018 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

Ignacio Alperin Art
http://www.ignacioalperin.com
http://www.theartofthinkingoutloud.com

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2016 art works 2017 Artworks 2017 Exhibitions 2018 2018 Exhibitions IN ENGLISH Promoting your Art Visual Jazz

Alperin Contemporary Art

 

Until next time
Ignacio

 

 

 

©2018 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

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2018 Creativity Creativity / Creatividad Design IN ENGLISH Innovation Promoting your Art sustainability Visual Jazz

IF YOU THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW, LOOK AGAIN

Reality is a construction. What we see, we see through a series of “intermediaries”. Senses much like a security video camera, a concert speaker, a microphone and other electronic sensors that we already have commonly available.

As an artist I am keenly aware that color is refractive. Thus according to the amount and type of light I have in front of me, colors and shapes will change (more colors than shapes, but those will too). In other words, we redefine the world by modifying our capacity to see. We are part of an ecosystem that is constantly moving and forcing us to modify our focus with it.

It means that everything is quite relative as each one of us creates our reality based in short term memory “bursts” of schemas, photos that make up a nice little movie that will most probably, but not necessarily, become long term memory.

From the same accident scene, 10 people looking at it will “record” in their memories 10 different movies. People will incorporate things that others have not seen, and many times, things that were never there.

As a synesthetic artist, I already “see” what I hear. This TED lecture, from 2009, by Beau Lotto plays with your vision, your perceptivity of sound, other senses, and your brain, thus spotlighting what you can’t normally see: how your brain works.

I hope you enjoy this fun perception of what’s really out there.

Until next time

Ignacio

 

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©2018 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

Ignacio Alperin Art
http://www.ignacioalperin.com
http://www.theartofthinkingoutloud.com

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2018 Creativity Creativity / Creatividad Design IN ENGLISH Innovation Promoting your Art sustainability Visual Jazz

Why is there something instead of nothing

This is a very nice lecture by Philosopher and writer Jim Holt in which he digs into this subject, and attempts three (four, five, none?) possible explanations.

It raises many of the long-standing questions we will always have, at least until 4 or 5 Einsteins come into existence…. (you will get it later).

This is a live recorded TED lecture from 2014.

 

Until next time

Ignacio

 

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©2018 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

Ignacio Alperin Art
http://www.ignacioalperin.com
http://www.theartofthinkingoutloud.com

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2018 IN ENGLISH jazz Promoting your Art The Sunday Concert (Jazz) Videos Visual Jazz

THE SUNDAY CONCERT: PHAROAH SANDERS

Pharoah Sanders and his Band recorded Live at Jazz Cafe, London, in 2011

Band:

Pharoah Sanders – tenor sax, William Henderson – piano, Antoine Banville – drums, Miles Danso – bass,

 

Until next time!

Ignacio

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©2018 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera