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Last posts

Hangar: Barcelona Artist´s Colony

Mónica Boixeda Barcelonian, Only-Be

Everyone, deep down, has dreamed at least once of being an artist. Although money to live on is a daily dilemma for most artists, in recent years we have seen a steady proliferation of scholarships, awards and opportunities of various kinds for emerging artists. One of the most interesting options for emerging artists is to take part in an Artist in Residence program. These residencies are site-dependent and involve experimentation in the arts (including visual arts, music, film, theater, literature, dance and curatorial studies). The centers or institutions where the guest artists stay and work on a specific project allow them to get in contact with industry professionals, and in most cases, allowing the possibility of organizing an exhibition when the stay and the project is completed. Naturally, a cultural capital like Barcelona has a number of interesting options to take a few months to research and workon an art project. One of these residences is Hangar www.hangar.org in Poblenou, an old abandoned factory which has been restored and also runs a production company which offers technical support for artistic creation. Hangar, founded in 1997 by the Association of Visual Artists of Catalonia (AAVC) is a space of 1,800 m2, which is very well equipped. There, they run 15 individual workshops, 2 studios, a media lab, an equipment rental service, and offer technical and advisory production. You can take advantage of their support and technical assistance, training workshops and scholarships for artists in Spain and abroad. You can sign up for Workshops through the annual call, and the studio rent is very accessible. Given the number of options available,... read more

Psychobilly in Barcelona

Mónica Boixeda Barcelonian, Only-Be

Zombies with colored Mohawks or shaved heads, tight jeans, earrings and military boots for boys, and for girls, pin-up makeup, corsets with 50´s hair styles and fuchsia, green, yellow or pink sexy clothes and torn stockings: these are just some of the aesthetic elements associated with psychobilly. This movement it today enjoying a “third wave” of popularity and has one of its major festivals very close to the city of Barcelona, in the city of beaches and palms, Pineda del Mar. Before I tell you about the psychobilly movement in Barcelona and especially the emergence of bands that are playing the scene on the European and international level, here’s a little history on the psychobilly movement. Born in the 80´s and influenced primarily by the band “The Cramps”, the music began to differentiate from rockabilly and punk rock, its main precursors. One of the first bands to become known for this style, “The Meteors,” was born in England in the early 80´s. Over the years the movement grew and other groups like the German “Phantom Rockers” and “Mad Sin” broke on to the scene. These early bands feature a more stylistically pure sound, as from the 90’s on psychobilly began to be influenced by other genres like goth rock, indie, surf rock, etc.. The zombie or monstrous look comes from literary and cultural references, especially horror movies, exploitation flicks from the 50´s, and sci-fi, but its almost always worn with a comic touch. You can see these influences in the clothing and aesthetics of psychobilly cats worldwide. Barcelona is a city with a very productive and entertaining psychobilly movement.... read more

Sweet Dreams of Venice

Mónica Boixeda Only-Be, Venetian

Once upon a time, a group of Italian journalists was astonished when a distinguished art critic in town for the Venice Biennale and known for her affection for the city did not include it amongst her favorites, something they all took for granted. The writer replied that she did not consider Venice a city but rather, a dream. I remember when I heard this story at the Cafe Florian, my eyes were looking for some evidence of reality on the other side of the glass window overlooking the Piazza San Marco. I recall the glimmering facade of Canaletto Doge´s Palace, shimmering in the mirror of the water. Glancing back at my marble table and thinking that, although he had never paid so much money for a cappuccino, it was perhaps the cheapest cup of coffee I would drink in my life.. There is a sense of living a lucid dream every time you rent apartments in Venice. That same almost nomadic quality of resting in the liminal territory between two planes of existence seems to scent much of the literature and life inspired by the city, ever since Marco Polo. His cellmate surely felt the sense of being penetrated in a dream when he first spoke, feverish, about his travels. Unless, as suggested by the historian Frances Wood, his dream was another, a mere reflection, and Marco Polo never even made it to China (why would he mention paper money but leave out other key details of Chinese life like chopsticks and foot binding?). Perhaps his tale was simply a cooperative dream tinged with elements of stories heard of... read more