{"id":5497,"date":"2021-03-13T19:12:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-13T19:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/?page_id=5497"},"modified":"2023-07-13T15:34:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T15:34:36","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"About me"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5497\" class=\"elementor elementor-5497\" data-elementor-settings=\"[]\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-8169e63 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8169e63\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3756437\" data-id=\"3756437\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-c5a5a93 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"c5a5a93\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e21b171\" data-id=\"e21b171\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-892f351 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"892f351\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1296\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Foto_Balmaseda-BN.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Foto_Balmaseda-BN.jpg 1296w, https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Foto_Balmaseda-BN-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Foto_Balmaseda-BN-664x1024.jpg 664w, https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Foto_Balmaseda-BN-768x1185.jpg 768w, https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Foto_Balmaseda-BN-995x1536.jpg 995w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1296px) 100vw, 1296px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-bfc21cb\" data-id=\"bfc21cb\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f0c8e29 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f0c8e29\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>Nacido en Cienfuegos (Cuba, 1971), donde inicia sus estudios en la Escuela de Artes Pl\u00e1sticas Rolando Escard\u00f3. Prosigue su formaci\u00f3n acad\u00e9mica en La Habana, en el Instituto Superior de Arte y en la Escuela Nacional de Artes pl\u00e1sticas ( ENAP) donde se especializar\u00e1 en escultura. Posteriormente se traslada a Europa y actualmente vive y trabaja en el Principado de Andorra.<\/p><p>Expone con regularidad desde los a\u00f1os 90 y su participaci\u00f3n en la <em>55a Bienal de Venecia<\/em> con la instalaci\u00f3n \u2018Fixed in contemporaneity\u2019 marca un antes y un despu\u00e9s en la visibilidad de su obra. Actualmente colabora en Francia con la galer\u00eda <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baudoin-lebon.com\/galerie\/foires\/presentation\/100\/art-elysees-2014\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Baudoin Lebon<\/a> y\u00a0 la <a href=\"https:\/\/www.galerieboa.com\/javier-balmaseda\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Galer\u00eda BOA<\/a> ambas en Par\u00eds, y tambi\u00e9n la Galer\u00eda Bisunjae de Corea del Sur. Destaca su presencia en las ferias internacionales <em>Art \u00c9lys\u00e9es <\/em>en el contexto de la<em> FIAC<\/em> , la coreana <em>Art Jeju <\/em>y <em>Art Shenzhen <\/em>en China.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6dba561 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6dba561\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-dea29ef\" data-id=\"dea29ef\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-653a93a elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"653a93a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-588a5be elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"588a5be\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a8c31b1\" data-id=\"a8c31b1\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f088c6b elementor-widget elementor-widget-toggle\" data-id=\"f088c6b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"toggle.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toggle\" role=\"tablist\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toggle-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-title-2521\" class=\"elementor-tab-title\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"tab\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2521\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon elementor-toggle-icon-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-closed\"><i class=\"fas fa-caret-right\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened\"><i class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened fas fa-caret-up\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"\" class=\"elementor-toggle-title\">JAVIER BALMASEDA\u2019S ESSAYS ON THREE-DIMENSIONALITY \u00b7 Joaquin Badajoz, cr\u00edtic d\u2019art<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-content-2521\" class=\"elementor-tab-content elementor-clearfix\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\"elementor-tab-title-2521\"><p>A herd \u201con wheels,\u201d a harras of hybrids mutilated by some steampunk taxidermy, with their extremities replaced by hydraulic jacks, ball joints with nuts and spindles, mythological beings given birth by the monstrous crossbreeding between degeneration and precariousness in communist dystopian paradises; a paved road lined with ceramic crabs, an allegory for the millions of shells crushed each year during the reproductive march of crustaceans; amazing volumetric drawings of living structures, \u201cinhabitable\u201d sculptures, \u201ccolored\u201d by the racking of lab rats, the intersection between the living and the by-products of\u00a0<i>sp\u00e4tkapitalismus<\/i>. Javier Balmaseda has undertaken some of the most challenging, politically incorrect, provocative, and radical sculptural (and bio-sculptural) projects of recent decades, working hard from his study workshop in the Andorran Pyrenees, often passing as a missing link under the radars of art\u2019s \u201ccustom officers,\u201d those who between conferences and cocktails continue to practice an endogamic and ethnocentric system of legitimation. All his work is a powerful reflection on man&#8217;s impact on his environment\u2014and vice versa\u2014and an anthropological essay on the integration of image, thought, and language.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toggle-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-title-2522\" class=\"elementor-tab-title\" data-tab=\"2\" role=\"tab\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2522\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon elementor-toggle-icon-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-closed\"><i class=\"fas fa-caret-right\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened\"><i class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened fas fa-caret-up\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"\" class=\"elementor-toggle-title\">FIXED IN CONTEMPORANEITY \u00b7 Henry P\u00e9rier, cr\u00edtic d'art <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-content-2522\" class=\"elementor-tab-content elementor-clearfix\" data-tab=\"2\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\"elementor-tab-title-2522\"><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">Born at Cienfuegos in Cuba, on 25 December 1971, his mother a teacher and his father a mechanic, Javier Balmaseda evidenced a vocation very early. From 1983, he started to follow courses at the Elementary School of Plastic Art in his home town, where he acquired the bases of various forms of plastic expression, while also showing an early interest in the third dimension. When he was fourteen, he passed the exam for entry to the National School of Plastic Arts in Havana. Two years later he entered the Advanced Institute of Art of Havana. From 28 August 1990 he did his military service, for two years instead of three. This was an experience which, against all expectations, allowed him to reflect on the human condition, later to become one of the sources for his artistic work.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">The meaning of a work comes as much from its context as from its composition. The globalisation of the image should not suggest semantic uniformity and the art of this Cuban cannot be understood outside its legitimising context. In this installation made for the Biennale in Venice one quickly realises that he has not escaped the troubled horizons of his childhood and youth, passed on that island where he faced the upheavals of history without complexes. He takes reality as it is, plain and unvarnished, without artifice, resorting to analogy to draw from it its painful quintessence. In any case, the visible face of the exhibition, if often concealed in art today, is here surely present.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">The space located in the\u00a0<em><span style=\"font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;\">Nappe dell\u2019Arsenale<\/span><\/em>\u00a0will show an installation composed of ten horses truer than nature, but whose legs have been cut off and replaced by the hydraulic shock-absorbers of cars! The artist\u00a0affirms his idea aloud: to show the darker face of the human being, certainly, but considering the social system as \u201ca paradox and an imposture\u201d\u00a0 capable of transforming man into \u201can assassin and executioner\u201d. All depends, in the end, on his social and cultural environment.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">The young Balmaseda was present in his native isle at episodes of violence committed against horses, when they were precipitately amputated, sometimes still alive, in order to get meat and not die of hunger\u2026 These attacks of incredible violence became known as \u201ctaking off the wheels\u201d. In fact, it was frequent to see cars in some streets which were sitting, without wheels, on elements of construction. 2012, the year of \u201cLands of blood\u201d, an essay by Timothy Snyder published by Gallimard, evoking the cannibalism which was rife in Ukraine and Poland between 1933 and 1945, following the famine deliberately caused by Stalin and Hitler, prepared us to understand all kinds of horrors when man is truly suffering from hunger. The story that gripped Balmaseda can be perceived at first in its original cruelty. However, the work has not been made for the purpose of sensationalism, the Cubain artist insists firmly on this point. Like all works which disturb, this portrays the less agreeable parts of our nature while drawing its force from the reality of a time.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">But the artist has been able to keep his distance and preserve the most valuable assets: the integrity of his life force. And it is no surprise that he has made a terrible reality pass through the looking glass, just as Picasso did when he painted Guernica on the subject of the atrocities of war, taking as his central subject a horse transfixed by a spear and twisted in pain. Impossible also not to evoke the group of horses which were found trapped, at night, in a lake covered with ice, a spectacle that Malaparte described perfectly in Kaputt, that mad and magnificent book. We are far here from the images of Epinal by David or Delacroix. This Cuban artist, himself, has naturally recovered his \u201cotherwise\u201d in memories of his childhood.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">Javier Balmaseda is embarked on unique and existential career, a long voyage in precariousness, but also a life entirely dedicated to art. Art is his reason for living and nothing has been able to counter this perseverance in belief, even though the ups and downs of his own destiny have been punctuated by unhappy times. However, while one is in the presence of this charismatic young man, always ready to burst out laughing, one would be wrong to imagine him developing a work inspired by nothing but despair.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">Design is governed by a mastery of black and white, powerful coal-black drawing, producing images which always accompany the theoretical and conceptual framework of his installations, true receptacles of his thought. I had the privilege to see the sketches for works done at the start of the 1990s, such as \u201cThe armour\u201d and \u201cWhat I want is to eat\u201d where social questions are evoked by the slant of the conceptual force of the objects. In 1995, he showed his \u201cHomage to Mondrian\u201d, a marvellous patchwork of canteen plates in white metal. In 1997, while studying at the Advanced Institute of Art in Havana, he did \u201cLife out for a walk\u201d and \u201cHard knocks of life\u201d, on modules of a car cut up like a puzzle in three dimensions.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">But he began then to feel confined in the context of Cuban art. It was the time of his great leap towards Europe which would prove to be a stay of five years in Andorra, this principality where administratively he no longer has the right to leave, under pain of being sent back manu militari to Cuba\u2026 Even so, he has had time to show \u201cSolid screens\u201d in France, a large scale installation, an accumulation of daily objects in metal mesh inhabited by a host of living mice. A reflection on this consumer society to which he remains opposed. In 2001, he took part in the La Massana Workshops and produced \u201cToday nothing matters to me\u201d, a fortress constructed with bones, where he refers to the different stages of his artistic and personal career. In 2007, the Bolivarian Contemporary Art Museum in Colombia invited him to have a show with Kcho and Carlos Chacin. He showed there \u201cThe pleasure of staying still\u201d, a bit of road in bitumen, which constitutes a hammock fourteen metres long.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">One sees him in this selection, not exhaustive, and it is difficult to be assailed by boredom and the grisaille of habit with this work which runs no risk of becoming ossified under the weight of repetition or routine recipes. In fact, every work made as though it were the last, represents a vital capital gain for Balmaseda. There is with this artist, who seems dazzled by all that he wants to show us, a progressive exaltation in his step and a consequent freedom in his vision.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">The installation he has chosen for Venice, \u201cFixed in contemporaneity\u201d, is a metaphor of despair but above all of the powerlessness that we, in a dehumanised contemporary society, must call into question.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"background: white;\"><span lang=\"ES\" style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif; color: #222222;\">This impossibility of movement experienced by the horses with their amputated legs resembles the impassable obstacles that some men meet today in fully realizing their potential. The horse &#8211; a domestic animal and physically strong, but also wild and beyond tricking &#8211; brings to this work all of its symbolical connotation. The barbaric mutilation that the animal has suffered serves as a simile for the frustration and tragic fatality that is felt by many men in the world. This installation, with the same force of the\u00a0<em><span style=\"font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;\">Cry\u00a0<\/span><\/em>by Munch, allows Javier Balmaseda to attain, using the full range of his abilities, a maturity that generates a faith in art and in life seen here for the first time in his work\u2026<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toggle-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-title-2523\" class=\"elementor-tab-title\" data-tab=\"3\" role=\"tab\" aria-controls=\"elementor-tab-content-2523\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon elementor-toggle-icon-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-closed\"><i class=\"fas fa-caret-right\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened\"><i class=\"elementor-toggle-icon-opened fas fa-caret-up\"><\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"\" class=\"elementor-toggle-title\">MIGRACIONS HUMANES I EST\u00c8TICA DE LA REALITAT \u00b7 Arnau Puig, fil\u00f2sof i cr\u00edtic d\u2019art<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-tab-content-2523\" class=\"elementor-tab-content elementor-clearfix\" data-tab=\"3\" role=\"tabpanel\" aria-labelledby=\"elementor-tab-title-2523\"><p>El que exposarem aqu\u00ed no \u00e9s un comentari erudit del c\u00e8lebre grup hel\u00b7len\u00edstic del Laocoont en el que l\u2019escultor plasm\u00e0 el dolor f\u00edsic corporal real dels cossos entortolligats i retinguts per l\u2019estranya for\u00e7a irracional d\u2019una serp m\u00edtica i el dolor\u00a0 an\u00edmic d\u2019un pare que no pot fer res per lliurar els seus fills dels horrors inc\u00f2gnits de la naturalesa o del fat. El que aqu\u00ed exposarem \u00e9s la realitat humana d\u2019unes persones que fugen espaordides de la destrucci\u00f3 natural, f\u00edsica i social de la seva vida ciutadana i que abocats a les ribes del mar o a les absurdes l\u00ednies frontereres, pels dict\u00e0mens d\u2019ajut d\u2019organitzacions estatals nacionals i internacionals all\u00e0 s\u00f3n retingudes sense cap mirament i al marge d\u2019una dita moral natural o proclama \u00a0internacional que especifica que entre a nosaltres &#8211; la anomenada gent del primer m\u00f3n \u2013, ens ha volgut fer creure que tothom \u00e9s igual davant de mancances o de necessitats vitals.<\/p><p>Tanmateix, per\u00f2, l\u2019art \u00e9s el tractament simb\u00f2lic i conceptual de la sensibilitat emocionada. Aquests mots volen sintetitzar que l\u2019art \u00e9s sempre una q\u00fcesti\u00f3 formal extreta, depurada de la sensibilitat que determina el fet d\u2019existir. L\u2019art \u00e9s exist\u00e8ncia sublimada. Per\u00f2 per la sensibilitat tot sembla invertit perqu\u00e8 \u00e9s un fet que \u00e9s la poesia la que d\u00f3na paraula a les realitats f\u00edsiques, l\u2019est\u00e8tica la que fa sensibles les formes; l\u2019art investeix de sentit l\u2019an\u00f2nima i indiferent natura. \u00a0<br \/>Aquesta \u00e9s la realitat que tenim davant dels ulls i que alguns d\u2019entre nosaltres \u2013 certes ONGS &#8211; corporalment, t\u00e0ctilment assagen d\u2019alleugerir. Per\u00f2 siguem objectius: una cosa \u00e9s la realitat i una altra molt diferent \u00e9s l\u2019impacte sensible est\u00e8tic de les realitats, naturals o socials, que ens rodegen. A aquest m\u00f3n nostre hi ha determinats sers humans que tenen una percepci\u00f3 molt personalitzada del que se\u2019ls mostra davant dels ulls. Aquesta actitud la senyalem com la de <em>l\u2019homo<\/em> <em>aistheticos<\/em> \u2013 els que prioritzen la realitat des de la vessant formal de les realitats tot sentint-la com seva, personal i amb necessitat immediata de traduir-la en formes aut\u00f2nomes creades. Aquests estrafolaris existencials els designem com els artistes i el resultat visual, t\u00e0ctil i sonor s\u00f3n les obres d\u2019art. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>No hi ha ni idees noves ni idees velles sin\u00f3 visions, perspectives diferents de la realitat. Hi ha qui visiona i qui viu el que se\u2019ns presenta; viure, visionar, pensar aquesta amalgama entre ps\u00edquica, biol\u00f2gica i social, als temperaments <em>aisthetics<\/em> genera, desencadena els processos que condueixen a l\u2019obra d\u2019art.<\/p><p>Javier Balmaseda \u00e9s, efectivament, un d\u2019aquest cassos. Com ho \u00e9s cadascun dels \u00a0humans, Balmaseda \u00e9s producte i fill de la seva circumst\u00e0ncia tant familiar o social com geogr\u00e0fica i pol\u00edtica. Nat a la costa caribenya de Cuba (Cienfuegos, 1971), la seva sensibilitat i l\u2019educaci\u00f3 i formaci\u00f3 conseq\u00fcents \u2013 \u201cels humans som fills de la nostra circumst\u00e0ncia\u201d, havia insistentment senyalat el fil\u00f2sof Ortega y Gasset &#8211; s\u2019ha format al caliu d\u2019una segona generaci\u00f3 de cubans producte del castrisme pol\u00edtic: formaci\u00f3 pl\u00e0stica cl\u00e0ssica impregnada d\u2019una pregona inquietud pol\u00edtica i social. La conformaci\u00f3 definitiva, la digesti\u00f3, cadasc\u00fa aporta la seva.<\/p><p>La fuga revolucion\u00e0ria perempt\u00f2ria i la realitat d\u2019una subsist\u00e8ncia material dins d\u2019un context pol\u00edtic concret el va fer adonar i convertir sensible per als m\u00e9s inusuals residus de la quotidianitat. Tot esdevenia meravell\u00f3s, nou, funcional, \u00fatil, plaent i, si calia pel seu tarann\u00e0, transformable fins obtenir-ne un objecte creat per l\u2019alian\u00e7a entre el goig \u00edntim i la forma sensiblement i sensual obtinguda amb un resultat que tant podia ser acad\u00e8mic com de la modernitat pl\u00e0stica.<\/p><p>Un altre factor radical i b\u00e0sic interv\u00e9 a la creaci\u00f3 de l\u2019obra pl\u00e0stica de Balmaseda. Ultra els fets socials que l\u2019afecten hi ha uns fets naturals \u2013 entre ells els propis del seu indret de naixement, les costes de l\u2019illa properes a Cienfuegos \u2013 que consisteixen en el flux anual dels crancs que a desenes, centenars, milers penetren al mar i provinents de terra endins; indrets en els que a l\u2019actualitat hi ha una\u00a0 carretera que barraria el pas als crancs per\u00f2 que aquests instintivament travessen aliens a qualsevol altre factor que no sigui aquell natural que els impulsa a migrar vers el mar. Assemblatge natural pl\u00e0stic resultant de l\u2019acci\u00f3 conjunta de la natura, la societat i l\u2019angoixa pol\u00edtico-social de la sensibilitat que hi sigui present.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>Hippolyte Taine \u2013 un fil\u00f2sof de l\u2019art del positivista segle XIX &#8211; va observar que en realitat les formes de l\u2019art provenien del context natural i social en el que els humans vivim. Totes les cultures responen amb formes pr\u00f2pies al contacte viu i espiritual amb el seu entorn, encara que els mitjans o els m\u00f2duls utilitzats siguin procedents i apresos d\u2019altres cultures. La realitat ambient i la pressi\u00f3 social determina la intencionalitat de l\u2019obra que l\u2019artista executar\u00e0, si b\u00e9 l\u2019execuci\u00f3 no deixar\u00e0 en cap moment de respondre a la particular manera personal\u00edssima d\u2019observador l\u2019entorn.<\/p><p>La geologia, l\u2019orografia, la biologia, la clim\u00e0tica, l\u2019ed\u00e0fica i les exig\u00e8ncies familiars i socials, la natura, fan que aquell indret en el que viu el jove artista Balmaseda es converteixi en una reflexi\u00f3 que, pel seu cas, ser\u00e0 la sensible i emocional, i elucubrar\u00e0 i verificar\u00e0 en aquells crancs que sorgeixen de la terra i impassibles travessant l\u2019artificialitat de la inerta carretera i baixen vers la riba marina per enfonsar-s\u2019hi. Destinaci\u00f3 i dest\u00ed biol\u00f2gic i natural que els impulsa i els constitueix i justifica el periple empr\u00e8s. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>I \u00e9s des d\u2019aquesta realitat natural entrecreuada per l\u2019obra de l\u2019artifici social que a la sensibilitat est\u00e8tica de l\u2019artista brota l\u2019obra d\u2019art.\u00a0 Les tesis de la creativitat\u00a0 contempor\u00e0nia ens parlen no d\u2019una c\u00f2pia de la realitat sin\u00f3 d\u2019un <em>transfert<\/em> entre el subjecte (l\u2019artista) i l\u2019objecte \u2013 per aquesta circumst\u00e0ncia &#8211; sensualitzat. \u00a0<\/p><p>Balmaseda \u00e9s un ser viu, sensible, reflexionador i amb una peculiar resposta est\u00e8tica per temperament i formaci\u00f3 \u00a0per tot el que l\u2019afecta. I una d\u2019aquestes coses que l\u2019afecten \u00e9s la imatge dels migrants actuals per tota la Mediterr\u00e0nia i gaireb\u00e9 pel m\u00f3n sencer, emprenen des del seu pa\u00eds, del seu territori, de la seva historia ancestral un \u00e8xode de bivac en bivac vers una destinaci\u00f3 sense l\u00edmits ni al temps ni a l\u2019espai hum\u00e0. Els crancs ho fan per instint biol\u00f2gic, per un finalisme determinat per la natura, per\u00f2 aquests humans migrants actuals ho fan for\u00e7ats per la bestialitat actual de les guerres d\u2019ambici\u00f3, de poder, de domini, de r\u00e8dits financers. Als migrants actuals nom\u00e9s els toca migrar i abandonar-se a l\u2019atzar i ventura del que succeeixi. Gaireb\u00e9 fins que esdevenen peces inamovibles d\u2019una realitat social que no han provocat per\u00f2 que, tanmateix, \u00e9s inspirador i model de cruels noves impressions est\u00e8tiques.<\/p><p>Balmaseda, amb el seu pare, caminant o en cotxe travessaven aquella allau de crancs, els aixafaven, els clavaven puntades de peu i en tant que dominador del terrer, amos del territori, pare i fill, avan\u00e7aven indiferents. Pels migrants d\u2019ara \u00e9s l\u2019administraci\u00f3 pol\u00edtica, el <em>macadam<\/em>, la base dura de la cal\u00e7ada, que esdev\u00e9 indiferent.<\/p><p>Per\u00f2 dins del jove artista, aquella realitat ha anat pouant i s\u2019ha convertit en una escultura: una carretera ben definida i senyalitzada en la que el macadam s\u00f3n els crancs, ara sentits, experimentats com humans sense orientaci\u00f3 per\u00f2 amb fita: arribar on trobin l\u2019escalf acollidor, la seva segurament. La sensibilitat est\u00e8tica actual ha qualificat el procediment com el propi del moviment <em>flexus<\/em>: duresa, indifer\u00e8ncia, innoc\u00e8ncia i estult\u00edcia. Balmaseda r\u00e0pidament atrapa per mitj\u00e0 del dibuix aquestes sensacions, les trama, les lliga, les suggereix, les poleix (la sensibilitat est\u00e8tica \u00e9s molt exigent i l\u2019obra d\u2019art no \u00e9s qualsevol cosa o sensaci\u00f3); \u00a0el dibuix d\u2019antuvi ho ret\u00e9, despr\u00e9s esdev\u00e9 escultura a l\u2019espai on reflecteix amb m\u00e9s impacte la realitat vivencial i est\u00e8tica al\u00b7ludida. Una cer\u00e0mica real, un engany visual substituir\u00e0 la realitat.<\/p><p>Contemplar aquesta aparent carretera vista de lluny, plena d\u2019humans sofrint en la realitat de la seva constituci\u00f3 la insensibilitat de l\u2019observador indiferent, nom\u00e9s es possible fer-ho des de la serenor de l\u2019obra d\u2019art. Qualsevol altra visi\u00f3 seria dram\u00e0tica.<\/p><p>Despr\u00e9s, potser &#8211; dep\u00e8n del receptor de la realitat pl\u00e0stica \u2013, hom \u00a0pot clamar la ira de la injust\u00edcia o la pau d\u2019un dibuix, d\u2019una pintura, d\u2019uns colors encaixats o d\u2019una escultura monol\u00edtica o desenvolupada a l\u2019espai. L\u2019obra ben feta, es vulgui o no, aporta a qui la contempla la pau de l\u2019esperit i la del paisatge.<\/p><p>\u00c9s per la for\u00e7a de les formes que ens sentim afectats en positiu o en negatiu; n\u2019\u00e9s un exemple <em>La ruta migrat\u00f2ria. Una singularitat Paisatg\u00edstica, <\/em>de Javier Balmaseda.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-d2bb037 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"d2bb037\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7d8480c\" data-id=\"7d8480c\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4769cf1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"4769cf1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b6226b4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b6226b4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9b13402\" data-id=\"9b13402\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37e6bad elementor-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon\" data-id=\"37e6bad\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-icon-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/\">\n\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-step-backward\"><\/i>\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nacido en Cienfuegos (Cuba, 1971), donde inicia sus estudios en la Escuela de Artes Pl\u00e1sticas Rolando Escard\u00f3. Prosigue su formaci\u00f3n acad\u00e9mica en La Habana, en el Instituto Superior de Arte y en la Escuela Nacional de Artes pl\u00e1sticas ( ENAP) donde se especializar\u00e1 en escultura. Posteriormente se traslada a Europa y actualmente vive y trabaja [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5497","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5497"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6366,"href":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5497\/revisions\/6366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/javierbalmaseda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}