My impulse to create arises from my deepest depth, from the need to discover and reveal the mysteries of femininity, what it covers and what it conceals, desire and the body.
During much of my career as a painter, I emphasized that the figures I painted felt like women of flesh and blood. The focus was on the skin, the border between the person and what surrounds them, part of what is inside shines through the skin, the battlefield between what is wanted to be hidden and what comes to the surface anyway. and also the surface of the body on which something new is written, something different than expected is presented.
More recently it was emerging a transformation of the corporeal, of the contour and of the matter, to take the edge to the extreme of doubt, making it confusing, permeable, crossed, undone, in a subtle tension between what is contained and what is let go, producing a bordering in another way, with other mixtures and interactions
The fluid was appearing, which unites space and figure , the figure that is emptied in that space, which has something aquatic, amniotic, depth and light.
In my paintings the resistance to filling coexists with the emptiness that is present, and they need each other.
Argentine artist born Buenos Aires in 1966, English and piano teacher. He moves to NY and joins the Art Students League. He then continued his education in art at the University of Singapore and finally at the IUNA. Attend drawing workshops with a live model by Carlos Fels and Ernesto Pesce, painting with Mirta Kupferminc, Diana Dowek, Nicolás Menza and Ariel Mlynarzewicz and sculpture with Lidia Batisti, Leo Vinci and Sara Mansilla.
I am very pleased to announce that I will be showing my work at this fair
Video pintura "El encierro"
Video pintura "Contemplando mis sueños"
Pintura "De vuelta al insomnio" de Alicia Besada
Pintura "Humos" de Alicia Besada
Pintura "Soñando con ser mujer" de Alicia Besada
Pintura "Mujer en azules" de Alicia Besada
Organizado por Galería RvanR
Centro Cultural Recoleta - Sala 13 1er.Piso
"Bajo el lema del autorretrato, aparecen aunados los pintores y pintoras que emergieron del taller del artista Ariel Mlynarzewicz, constituyendo a fines del 2006 el Grupo Boedo. Diversas reflexiones pictóricas y sensibles sobre la propia identidad, emergen a través de la realización de estos 42 autorretratos.
Durante los cuatro años transcurridos desde su fundación, la agrupación ha realizado 22 muestras colectivas, siendo esta la 13º ocasión en la que expondrán la totalidad de sus integrantes. En este mismo período varios de ellos llevaron a cabo 38 exposiciones individuales. En estas 60 muestras se expresa la voluntad de pintar y el dinamismo y vitalidad que caracterizan al Grupo Boedo."
Argentinian artist born in Buenos Aires in 1966, Piano and English teacher, and Systems Analyst. She moves to New York and enters the Art Students League. She continues her art education in the University of Singapore and lastly in IUNA.
In Buenos Aires, she algo attends living model drawing classes with Carlos Fels, and painting with Mirta Kupferminc, Diana Dowek, Nicolás Menza and Ariel Mlynarzewicz. She learns sculpture with Leo Vinci and Sara Mansilla.
Between 2009 and 2011 she was part of Grupo Boedo participating in several exhibits including "Self-portraits" in Centro Cultural Recoleta.
In october 2010, her painting "Cheap labour" gets the first prize in Contest "La pintura y el Campo Argentino" organized by National Ministry of Agriculture and is shown in Fine Arts Museum of Luján and Evita Museum.
In March 2011 she shows "Women who broke the mold" in Buenos Aires Legislature Palace and "Getting together and falling apart" in Manzana de las Luces.
In March 2011 she wins First Prize in a Woman's Day Contest organized by RvanR Gallery with her portrait of Mercedes Sosa "La Negra".
In 2012 she participated in Artecláscia Art Fair, Art Sale 2012, Bada (Art Boutique Direct from the Artist) and "Arte al paso" .
In 2013 she shows her work in several shows in Guijuana de Arte, she wins the second prize in the Summer Contest by Nes Zona 54 Art Gallery and finally she participated in Buenos Aires Stock Exchange Building
Currently she continues teaching painting and drawing at her art studio and also offering seminars on human figure in several art galleries.
“Buceando en lo femenino” (Luis Alposta)
En los retratos Alicia Besada crea ritmos con rasgos inventados, no exentos de carácter y reveladores de un pleno sentido plástico.
En los desnudos, en los que predomina la gama del rojo, la sensualidad se manifiesta plenamente. En ellos la forma es expresiva por sí misma y lo que destaca es la línea vibrante que recorre los cuerpos remarcando formas dinámicas llenas de tensión.
Todo lo que ocurre en la vida es símbolo, afirmaba Goethe. Alicia lo ha comprendido así y nos muestra a través de sus figuras lo realista, lo místico y lo alegórico del mundo femenino. Un mundo que pasa por el tamiz por momentos sombrío, por momentos luminoso de su conciencia y sus recursos.
Ante los cuadros de esta artista se siente la plenitud de la forma lograda, en la que no hay un acento que distraiga. Frente a ellos nos sentimos transportados a esa esfera en la que sólo cabe una emoción estética.
“Buceando en lo femenino” (Zully Villalba)
“Buceando en lo femenino” permite, a quien dialoga con la obra de Alicia Besada, sentirse como un pez en el agua porque invita a transitarla con familiaridad –la figuración tranquiliza- y en el mismo instante sorprenderse con colores que, desde las profundidades, presentifican lo desconocido.
Aquí se hace imprescindible recordar una definición que Sigmund Freud formula cuando dice que “lo siniestro” es “lo inquietante y a la vez lo extrañamente familiar”.
En sus pinturas, Alicia une “lo conocido” con “lo extraño” en cuerpos que se tocan, se entremezclan y se confunden, cuerpos que portan tanto lo femenino como lo masculino. Las curvas de sus mujeres traen, sin esperarlo, la fuerza de lo masculino y allí aparece el color, sin evitaciones, sin desvíos.
Lo que caracteriza su obra es la potencia, con imágenes que avanzan; sus pinceladas no son solamente trazos de pintura, son las marcas de la huella que ha dejado su propio cuerpo en la tela. Cuerpos, que como lo definió la escritora Virginia Woolf “a pesar de lo diferentes que son, los sexos se entremezclan. En todo ser humano tiene lugar una vacilación de un sexo al otro.”
11/12: Open Arts en Norcenter
10/12: Colectica en Arte al Paso, recorrido por Las Cañitas
09/12: Individual en BADA (Boutique de Arte Directo de Artista) en Espacio Pilar
08/12: Art-Sale 2012 en el Barco Madero Mystic
05/12: Individual Arteclásica 2012 en el stand de Cadmio Espacio Arte.
09/11 : Colectiva "100 pintores con Cristina 100" en la Universidad de José C. Paz inaugurando la muestra con el retrato de la Presidente de mi autoría
09/11 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en la Asociación de Magistrados y Funcionarios de la Justicia Nacional
Junio/11 : Colectiva "El arte con Cristina" en la Galería Palermo H y luego en la Universidad de Lanús
03/11 : Individual “Encuentros y Desencuentros” en la Manzana de las Luces, sala Arq. Buschiazzo
Marzo/11 : Individual “Mujeres que rompieron el molde” en la Sala de Exposiciones de la Legislatura Porteña
03/11 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en el C. C.del Sur
12/10 : Colectiva de los seleccionados en el concurso “El campo y la pintura” de la ONCCA en el Museo Evita
Noviembre/10 : Colectiva de los seleccionados en el concurso “El campo y la pintura” de la ONCCA en el Museo de Bellas Artes “Fernán Félix Amador” de Luján y en el “Salón Cultural” del complejo Museográfico Provincial Enrique Udaondo en Luján
11/10 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en el Casal de Catalunya
10/10 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en el Museo Verdi, homenaje a la obra “Sin pan y sin trabajo” de De la Cárcova
08/10 : Colectiva de Arte Erótico en la galería Espacio10
08/10 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en el C. C.del Sur
05/10 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en el C.C.Recoleta
11/09 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en la Escuela Taller del Casco Histórico de Bs.As.
10/09 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en el Museo Verdi
07/09 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en el C.C. Adan BuenosAyres
06/09 : Colectiva con el Grupo Boedo en el Casal de Catalunya
02/07 : Individual “Buceando en lo femenino”, en la Galería de Arte de Mercedes Giachetti
09/06 : Escenografía del espectáculo "Lulú de Buenos Aires". C.C. Borges
02/06 : Individual en la Galería de Arte de Mercedes Giachetti
Artista plástica argentina nacida en Buenos Aires en 1966, Profesora de inglés y piano y Analista de sistemas. Se muda a NY e ingresa al Art Students League. Luego continúa su educación en arte en la Universidad de Singapur y finalmente en el IUNA. En Buenos Aires además asiste a los talleres de dibujo con modelo vivo de Carlos Fels, y de pintura con Mirta Kupferminc, Diana Dowek, Nicolás Menza y luego con Ariel Mlynarzewicz.
En escultura asiste a los talleres de Leo Vinci y Sara Mansilla.
Entre 2009 y 2011 integró el Grupo Boedo con el que participó en numerosas muestras, entre ellas, "Autorretratos" en el Centro Cultural Recoleta.
En octubre de 2010, su pintura "Mano de obra barata" obtiene el Primer Premio en el concurso "La pintura y el Campo Argentino" organizado por la ONCCA, dependiente del Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería de la Nación, y es exhibido en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Luján y el Museo Evita.
En marzo de 2011 expone sendas muestras, "Mujeres que rompieron el molde" en la Legislatura Porteña, y "Encuentros y Desencuentros" en la Manzana de las Luces.
En Marzo de 2012 obtiene el Primer Premio en el Salón Homenaje a la Mujer organizado por Galería RvanR con su obra "La Negra".
Durante el 2012 participó en distintos eventos, como Arteclásica 2012, Art Sale 2012, Bada (Boutique de Arte Directo del Artista) y "Arte al paso".
En 2013 participa varias muestras colectivas en la galería Guijuana de Arte, gana el 2do. premio en el Salón de Verano de la Galería Nes Zona 54 y expone en la Bolsa de Valores de Buenos Aires.
En el presente continua desarrollando su tarea como docente dictando clases de dibujo y pintura para adolescentes y adultos y seminarios de figura humana en su taller y en varias galería de arte.
Concurso de pintura "La pintura y el campo argentino" organizado por el Ministerio de Agricultura de la Nación en ocasión del Bicentenario de la República Argentina
ExtraImaginary: We have Alicia Besada with us today. Alicia, please tell us a little about yourself and your art.
Alicia Besada: I think I realized I wanted to paint when I was 14 and I won an art contest in my school district. Even though I graduated as a Systems Analyst and worked with computers for about 20 years, after high school I started going to learn drawing and painting. When I moved to New York I entered the Art Students League. Afterwards I lived in Singapore where I attended the Fine Arts School in the University there. Back in Buenos Aires I completed my art theory education at the university and kept going to different art studios, to learn sketching, drawing and painting human figure live with models. Human figure is my main interest. I focus on expression, on emotion, on telling a story about whoever I’m painting and there is always some identification and connection with the subject I choose to portray or paint. I usually paint nude bodies or portraits because I am attracted to skin, that border between a person and everything around. Part of what is inside transpires through the skin, a battleground between what you want to keep for yourself and what comes to the surface anyway. Restraint and pleasure. The body and its language. What could be more interesting!
I am currently working on a project called “A couple in love: getting together and growing apart”. This is how it started. I called two models who are actually a couple, and asked my husband, who is a photographer, to help me take pictures of them. I already had a clear idea of the poses and situations I was interested in, and that was the starting point. Then I asked them to start moving and acting these scenes meanwhile my husband kept taking pictures. The photo session was three hours long, we got more than 600 photos. Then came sketching, painting and finally selecting what to show. It took me over a year to finish this work. Love, not an easy subject. I tried to convey some feelings, emotions and sensations that associated with love such as desire, tenderness, posession, joy, passion but also jelousy, pain, fear, anguish…
I am in the process of finding an art gallery to exhibit this work, I have not posted these latest paintings on Facebook or my blog for the moment.
ExtraImaginary: When did you first realize you were an artist?
Alicia Besada: I think of myself as a painter. I don’t know if there is a particular moment someone becomes an artist. Perhaps that comes when what you do is truly you, it has your own seal, and it is unique. I try to keep learning, improving, going deep into myself and bringing it out.. When I’m painting, when I’m all alone with my work in my studio, that is when I really feel myself. That is the only thing I want to be faithful to.
ExtraImaginary: Is art your main source of income?
Alicia Besada: Yes it is. I sell paintings and sculptures of tango musicians in an art gallery in Buenos Aires. I am also teaching drawing and painting, and my main source of income is selling my work through contacts and my blog.
ExtraImaginary: What medium do you use for your art?
Alicia Besada: Mainly oil. It could be a spatula, brushes, my fingers, but definitely I am most comfortable with oil. At times I work with chalk pastels and oil pastels when I am interested in subtlety or texture. It depends on the subject and my inclination at that particular moment.
ExtraImaginary: Tell us about the process of creating your art.
Alicia Besada: I always worked with photos. When I was younger, I used to look for pictures that called my interest and used them as triggers, as a point of departure from where I drifted away, most times quite far from the original. Later on it happened the other way around, I started taking photographs myself once I knew what I wanted to tell. It turned out far more interesting. After I get the image I want, I think of the composition, I start painting. I give myself freedom to let go. I paint quickly, very energetically letting my intuition prevail over my head. I am very attentive to “mistakes” or things that happen apparently by chance. When I find someting interesting I follow it, most times it happened tob e a good idea. Only after all of that is done, I think of corrections, changes and things to balance.
ExtraImaginary: Do your models pose for you throughout the process?
Alicia Besada: Not every model likes to be photographed. If I am set for a sketch or a drawing, I can do it fairly quickly and I keep the model until I am done. But if what I want to do is a painting, I need photos.
ExtraImaginary: So you take the photographs and use the photographs to do the final paintings?
Alicia Besada: Yes, I don’t paint out of my imagination. I need to see what I want to paint and from there I can get an image quite different from the original. I might need long hours to get a work done and I also need to be in the right mood, when I paint I do not want to have a time limit. I prefer to keep the picture and work with it whenever I want.
ExtraImaginary: Who are your favorite artists?
Alicia Besada: My favorite is Van Gogh. Other artists I like are Cezzane, Matisse, Schiele, Modigliani, Sorolla and the German Expressionists.
ExtraImaginary: What are the German Expressionists?
Alicia Besada: There was a group of artists in Germany that founded “Die Brücke” or The Bridge at the beginning of 20th century. Among them Kirchner, Heckel, Schmidt Rottluff, Mueller and Nolde. It is probably obvious from my paintings that I am quite influenced by expressionism.
ExtraImaginary: What are your goals with respect to your art?
Alicia Besada: My goals… I don’t think I have a goal or a place I want to reach. Once I started putting my stuff on Facebook, I realized that it gives me a lot of satisfaction that people that I do not know like what I do, have access to it. My next step is to open the door and show more what I do. I was too much into myself for some time, working in my studio. I did have individual exhibits in 2006 and 2007 and I did the scenograpgy of a tango show in a prestigious theatre here in Buenos Aires. Last year I joined a group of artists called Grupo Boedo and we do show what we do once a month in different cultural centres. And now that I put much of my energies and effort into this latest work, I want to show it. I want people to see what I do.
ExtraImaginary: Do you get creative blocks and how do you overcome it?
Alicia Besada: I do sometimes. It happens when I am going through changes, and when I am in the middle of it and I am not sure of what I am trying to incorporate, I get uncertain. I get stuck, the past is comfortable but I have already done it, and the change is growing in me but I have not fully grasped it. Those times I go to safe ground: I draw. I get away from color and just draw. It is easier for me, relaxing. Later on, it all comes back to me.
ExtraImaginary: How is the state of art in Argentina?
Alicia Besada: Well, the Argentinian market is complicated, perhaps just like in like other places. Galleries normally want to charge you a rental for a place to show, or they charge huge commissions. If you are not well-known you need to be connected, basically someone in the art circle has to give you a hand.
Plus the painting I do is not “in fashion” here now, and the trend is clearly towards interesting textures, non-traditional materials, ingenious designs. I do not want to generalize, but much of these is lacking emotion and content. I go for something else. I do what I have to do, if it gets popular, a lot better.
ExtraImaginary: What do you want people to understand from your art?
Alicia Besada: I want them to be moved. Really that’s most important to me. I want it to make people wonder, to try to figure the story behind, to feel touched, to find a connection between my paintings and themselves.
