For this installment of BA Lives, The Argentina Independent spoke with Linda Neilson, the Scottish owner of ‘Galeria Mar Dulce’ – one of the newest art galleries in Palermo Soho.

Linda Neilson opened Galeria Mar Dulce in summer 2010 (photo/Jessie Akin)

Before coming to Buenos Aires, Linda received her Master’s degree in Cultural Policy at the University of Warwick in England. After working as a ‘cultural development official’ for the Scottish government, Linda moved to Valencia, Spain to try to establish herself as an art professional. In 2006, Linda and her husband, Ral Veroni – an Argentine artist – decided to move to Buenos Aires. She has been managing Galeria Mar Dulce since its opening in summer 2010.

How did you like living in Valencia?

It’s a beautiful city, but my husband and I find it very protectionist there. There’s a lot of bureaucracy in starting up a business there. It was a really lovely place to go and to live, but for long term prospects… I was teaching English there, which is fine, but it’s not my profession. So we moved over here four years ago.

Do you like it?

Yeah, I love it here. I really love it.

How does the art scene in Buenos Aires compare to Scotland’s?

It’s very different. In Britain the arts receive a lot of help from the local authorities. I was a local authority officer in Glasgow for a number of years. Most of the art organizations receive 80 percent of the running costs from sponsorship from the local authorities and the arts councils. But it was very interesting: when I moved here I found out that the arts organizations get no funding from the state. It’s really just up to the art galleries. But still there really is a vibrant scene. There’s a lot going on and there’s a lot of energy.

I really enjoy the sense of community here. If you have an exhibition and you don’t have any money, perhaps someone will help you framing your work, someone will do your catalog, someone will come and take photos of the exhibition for you. You manage everything among your friends and that’s how things happen. After opening up this gallery I’ve found that other galleries have been my supporters, although technically they’re my competition. They told me where to find the lighting, told me where to find the lettering for the windows.”

What is the story behind the opening of your gallery, Galeria Mar Dulce?

I was working for a photography gallery, and that was a great experience. But the owner shut that down in December for personal reasons. And at the time I had a six-month-old baby, and I was thinking: “What are we going to do now?” It was just not the time you want to lose your job.

But our friends, Alfonso and Marian – the owners of this place – this, in fact, used to be their house. The main gallery area used to be their living room. The fireplace here still works. We even had dinner here years ago. Alfonso and Marian moved out a couple of years ago and converted this place into a designer handbag shop, which went out of business.

And then Alfonso and Marian came up with this romantic idea of opening up a gallery. I was ready to do it. It coincided with the loss of my photography job. They invited my husband and me to open up a space here. It may not be the best time to start a new venture when you’ve got a six-month old baby, but it was one of those opportunities that was too good to say no to.

An exhibition at Galeria Mar Dulce (photo/Jessie Akin)

How did you come up with the name ‘Galeria Mar Dulce’?

On one of my trips to Colonia – I grew up in a small town so to go from a big city to wide open spaces like in Colonia is fantastic – but a friend there told me that Rio La Plata used to be called Mar Dulce – ‘sweet sea’. And that sort of stuck with me and gave me this idea of working with artists on both sides of the river and displaying their art here

I read on your website that you studied art. Do you still draw now?

I tried to draw when I was pregnant, but I hadn’t drawn in so long that the drawings were really awful. And I sort of gave up. For some reason, this urge to draw and create left me. To be an artist you have to have the urge – it’s almost an illness. I mean, being an artist isn’t something that I would necessarily choose to do. But I get a lot more satisfaction from organizing exhibitions. That shift really took place when I went from art school to working on my masters in cultural policy, where I learned I really loved the organizational aspect of art.

You have a family now. Could you tell us more about them?

My husband works as a full-time artist. Well, and father. We look after our daughter between the two of us. So when she’s not with me, she’s with him.

How old is she?

She’s 14 months old.

Has she taken to drawing yet?

Not yet, but she likes to draw all over the walls from time to time. My husband and I like to think that she’ll become something completely different from us, like an accountant or something. But, no, we can already tell that won’t be the case.

Galeria Mar Dulce is located at Uriarte 1490 in Palermo Soho and is open Mondays to Fridays from 3pm to 8pm and Saturdays from 11am to 2pm and 3pm to 8pm. You can find their website at http://galeriamardulce.blogspot.com/

Photo by Mark van der Aa

There is no shortage of ‘bohemia’ in Buenos Aires. Or rather, you cannot escape claims of ‘bohemian vibes’ as restaurant owners, landlords or entire neighbourhoods attempt to convince you of the authenticity and quirkiness of their offerings. Such claims are commonplace and, in most cases, perhaps best ignored.

Nico Fernández Rubio is the curator of El Gato Viejo art gallery. He describes his new Thursday evening venture, ‘Noche de Emergentes’, as “diverse artists and people, gathering together to eat, drink, and enjoy live music and painting, in a bohemian setting”. On this occasion, the adjective seems apt. El Gato Viejo is one of the most interesting cultural spaces I have seen in the city.

Housed in an old train depot near Retiro, it is a challenge to find. The warehouse roof blends into the corrugated iron horizon of the station, and the space outside could be mistaken for a scrap yard. It is only upon closer inspection that the various eight foot heaps of metal can be identified as intricately designed sculptures of insects and animals, constructed from old car parts, typewriters, pipes and scrap materials.

Inside, the gallery is a shrine to utter miscellanea. The centrepiece is a small stage, bathed in a soft, blue glow, around which is clustered a selection of antique furniture, interspersed with plastic ‘7-Up’ bar tables. Ornamented with small sculptures, vintage trinkets and paper lampshades, each table is dimly lit by candles and equipped with toilet roll, serving as makeshift napkins. Luckily, any danger posed by the potentially flammable tableware could be counteracted using the sandbags which hang above the bar, alongside green orb lanterns and strings of garlic.

The evening begins at 9.30pm, when people start to filter in. The crowd is young and ruggedly arty. They seem unfazed by the inconspicuous location, tiny, unassuming doorbell or impromptu bonfire beside it. It is the first ‘Noche de Emergentes’, and Nico explains that the majority of the guests are regular visitors to the gallery, seasoned art buffs, or artists themselves, who have exhibited there in the past. Many helped with organising the event. For them, the evening is also an opportunity for more people to see – and even buy – their work.

Photo by Mark van der Aa

Before the music begins, guests have a chance to explore the gallery, which is spread over three warehouses. Set to a contrasting backing track of Sinatra classics, the abstract and unconventional pieces exhibited provide entertainment in their own right. A baby pink, retro Impala car is surrounded by metal sculptures of cows and greyhounds, pieced together with nuts and bolts. In the main gallery, the work of emerging contemporary artists is showcased in monthly cycles.

However, the most prominent work is that of resident artist, Carlos Regazzoni, for whom the gallery serves as a workshop. He is the man behind the remarkable sculptures and the enormous scenes which line the walls, painted by a feral hand in an erratic palette. A sign welcomes guests to “El Gato Viejo: art gallery, museum and theatre of a bombastic and renowned character with an unlimited imagination…The world of Regazzoni.”

At 10pm, the band takes to the stage, introduced by Carlos Regazzoni himself, whose cameo appearance is fleeting but memorable. With unruly white hair and clad in multi-coloured cargo trousers and a carelessly buttoned shirt, the artist is the epitome of eccentricity. He dances briefly with a waitress, devours a pizza, shouts praise at the band, and disappears.

On the opening night, the act is ‘Sri Lanka’, a Buenos Aires four piece, who fuse acoustic and jazz with world music. Behind them is projected a flock of birds taking flight in shades of magenta, and the resulting atmosphere is calming. Closed-eyed vocal harmonies are met by immense audience appreciation. The spirals of their cigarette smoke catch the light, creating a quintessential bohemian ambience, alongside the laidback sounds.

Photo by Mark van der Aa

The evening is accompanied by Nico’s very own cuisine. I find him decked out in a striped apron, dashing through the open kitchen, hands deep in pesto. Each week the house dish will be whatever he decides to cook on that particular evening. The bar offers a good selection of beers and spirits, and wine is priced around $40 a bottle. Drinks were a necessity to wash down the somewhat rock-like pizzas Nico served up at $15 each.

Nonetheless, he is quick to attest: “But the best thing is the place, right? It has a spirit and an atmosphere. It’s kind of homely; hence the toilet paper.” In the weeks to come, different acoustic and jazz bands will play, and he will set up canvases outside for guests to get creative. His philosophy? “The ‘Noche de Emergentes’ is for people to come together who have one passion in common: art. Here, they can relax, enjoy the setting and connect in a different way”. Whether or not you are an artist, and even if you remain sceptical about ‘bohemia’, you will leave ‘Noche de Emergentes’ having enjoyed a feast for all the senses, in a unique space which oozes creativity.

‘Noche de Emergentes’ is every Thursday from 9.30pm until 1am. El Gato Viejo is situated at Av. del Libertador 405, near Retiro station. Food prices will vary each week, depending on what Nico cooks. For more information on the gallery and the bands scheduled each week, contact: galeriaelgatoviejo@gmail.com

   

Photo by Sophie Spandonis

Tucked down a small street in San Telmo, Pan Francés is a bright, open space, with whimsical objects in the window, a variety of paintings and photographs on the walls and three people seated companionably around a table. Hernán Reig, a porteño photographer; Parisian artist Ange Potier and Sophie Spandonis, a photographer and writer also from Paris have been installed here since January of this year and held their inauguration event in March.

This is certainly no stuffy gallery; Ange quickly explains that part of the significance of its name is that it is “something to share every day, something convivial, not cold…interaction is very important”.

The focus of Hernán’s present exhibition is ‘Blister Universo’. The “blisters” themselves are tiny, black and white photographs framed in pill packets; images occupy the windows where medicinal tablets would usually be. Hernán explains that this is a metaphor for the power of art to cure some of the social ills he saw during his time working for Amnesty International. Black and white photographs are traditionally framed in silver. There is no silver (here a play on South American slang for money: plata, or silver) so “you have to make art with what is there…everything is possible,” Hernán declares. This creative resourcefulness is relevant to the current financial crisis as much as to the economic crash in Argentina in 2001-2. Each packet follows a theme: ‘Double Dose’ shows pairs of people; two old ladies walking, a father and son, two ducks.

   

Photo by Sophie Spandonis

‘Wonderful Life’, Sophie’s series of photographs, captures beautiful images from cemeteries. A cemetery is “a world in itself”, she explains. She describes the intense peace of these places as “something like an invitation to live”. The photographs are beautiful and truly decorative as well as poignant.

Ange’s vibrant paintings are on the walls, but for me the most captivating are his artisanal magnets, featuring characters such as ‘Yuri’ (a spaceman named for Yuri Gagarin) and ‘cajitas’, windowed boxes with three-dimensional scenes inside. He also creates small picture books, such as the eerie ‘Gods of Death’, painstakingly binding them himself.

Ange reflects that artists run the risk of too much solitude but this is mitigated by direct contact with the customer or visitor. Sophie compares the place to a “laboratory”, pointing out that both she and a customer can benefit from knowing a little about each other.

I left Pan Francés with a box of particularly stylish postcards and a certainty that I will return. Even if you have no plans to invest in a piece, I recommend dropping by for a browse and a chat. If you are as lucky as I was, you might hear some original views on whether a photographer is a thief, or every visual artist a voyeur…

Pan Francés: Piedras 1055, open Wednesdays to Saturdays 1-8pm and sometimes Sundays 4-8pm. Check out their blog for more details: www.panfrances-santelmo.blogspot.com.

 

Photo by Kate Stanworth

Amadeo Azar shows his work

Seeing an artist’s atelier, or studio, is like going behind the scenes at a rock concert. Although the official, finished product is what the artist has intended to show to his public, and can be awesome in itself, it is the nitty gritty details that really fascinate.

Galería 5006 offers anyone interested in seeing contemporary Argentine art a chance to peek behind the curtain – to see the art as it is created, and to speak and interact with the artists who create it on their own terms, in their own spaces, through their own words.

Our tour began with a visit to a gallery where four different artists work; there we spoke to Amadeo Azar, who specialises in watercolour illustrative pieces with surrealist twists inspired by David Lynch films, and to Carlos Masoch, he of the bare chest and dirty apron. Masoch was a talkative and enthusiastic character whose depictions of Argentina as a small girl who’s been caught with her hand in the cookie jar provoked mixed reactions from our group. The conversation was mainly in Spanish, but interpreters were on hand to translate in English, Portuguese, French and German.

Andres Waissman, our next stop, is less of a contemporary artist and more of an old master. His atelier felt more homely and the coffee and cakes were welcome after two hours of touring. An engaging speaker, he spoke about his famous ‘Multitudes’, layer upon layer of acrylic paintbrush marks covering the whole canvas so that they become a mesmerising mass representing crowds of people.

 

Photo by Kate Stanworth

Carlos Masoch painting

Fabiana Barreda was the final stop on the tour and interacts with the group the most: I was asked to stand up in front of the group, and she began to draw up and down my arm while asking me questions about my old house and what memories I associated with it. Without really thinking I started talking about a birthday cake in the shape of a castle I had when I was very young. It was only afterwards that I found out that one of Fabiana’s pieces is a photograph of the Casa Rosada made entirely of cake. I ended up with a long line drawn up my arm with a small house in the palm of my hand and a castle drawn in the crook of my elbow; definitely one of my more original souvenirs.

The number of artists visited, and the time spent with each, varies on each tour, according to the interests of the guests. The tour finishes at Galeria 5006 itself, in Palermo Soho, with a delicious three course lunch with wine. Our guide insists there is no pressure to buy any of the pieces seen, but that the US$100 fee is refundable against the price of one of the pieces. This is not a tour for people who just want to have a look at some nice art – it is more serious than that, but not intimidatingly so. Indeed, the intimacy of the artist’s surroundings makes for a much more relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. You almost felt part of the process. And with an impromptu tattoo from Fabiana crawling up my arm, I definitely felt like it.

For more information on the art tour please visit www.galeriadearte5006.com.ar or call 4814 8700, or email galeria5006@fibertel.com.ar