beliefs
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Love Conquers All, another story about censorship
In 1602, Caravaggio completed Amor Vincit Omnia, or Love Conquers All. It was the kind of work only Caravaggio could create: Cupid, standing with arrows in one hand, seems to tread casually over symbols of human accomplishment—armor, a lute, a lined notebook—suggesting that love supersedes all human endeavors. The painting was an instant sensation among Rome’s…
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The Silent Demand
I know it seems odd, as if taken from an episode of The Twilight Zone, but I assure you this was real. It began in the quiet solitude of my studio, where I was immersed in the creation of a life-sized charcoal drawing. My focus was razor-sharp, the deadline looming large. I couldn’t afford distractions.…
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Swinging for the Fences
Embracing Failure in the Pursuit of Success In the grand theater of Major League Baseball, a batting average of .250 is par for the course, while the lofty .400 club remains an exclusive enclave for the most extraordinary of players. A batting average of .500, however, is the stuff of myth—no player has ever reached…
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Unintentionally Censored: The Artist’s Struggle with Instagram’s AI
Over the past month, I’ve embarked on a seemingly Sisyphean task: scrubbing my Instagram account clean of any posts that the platform deems non-compliant with its vaguely articulated guidelines on sexually explicit material or something along those lines; I can barely remember what they call it anymore. Each day, without fail, Instagram flags around five…
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Nude of the Green Room (Homage to Bacon)
Crafting a statement for a painting can be a daunting task. What do I wish to convey? How best to articulate it? Will it resonate with viewers? These questions swirled in my mind as I embarked on this artistic endeavor. Recently, I had the privilege of showcasing my work at an Art Show of Miniatures…
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Instagram and the Holy Inquisition Algorithm
Instagram, the arbiter of digital decency, embarked on a censorship tango with my artistic pursuits – a saga that unfolded not once, but twice. The stage was set in the unassuming realm of a Canadian Erotica Themed Art Show: “A Hot Minute” a three ring erotic art show with venues in Victoria BC, North Vancouver…
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About the utility of Art
I have read a lot about Art, its meaning, its purpose and about how useful is in the real world. Do we need Art? What is the purpose of an artist? My answer it’s no, we don’t need art, the vast majority of my friends and acquaintances have zero interest in art and never have…
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Taylor Swift and the Duct Taped Banana
–Taylor Swift is better than that music… and let me tell you: Taylor Swift is very bad! And that’s how it ended my introduction of John Cage to my 13yo kid. We started the conversation talking about modern art and it raised up the work “Comedian” AKA the Duct Taped Banana from Maurizio Cattelan. He…
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Nude of the Green Room (Homage to Bacon)
There are some compositions in Francis Bacon’s works that aim the use of geometrical lines to define an architectural space almost like an invisible room that Bacon makes visible by drawing lines as in a comic book. I didn’t realize that until I read about it in an article in internet, I don’t even remember…
Carlos Fentanes 