R E C E N T P R E S S
The Following article appeared on the June 2008 issue of Gulf Coast Times http://www.gulfcoasttimes.net I invite you to visit their site and to enjoy the excellent articles and the high standards of this most special publication.
Tiité
 Image by: Dough Heslep |
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By:
Yohana de la Torre
Harmony, freedom, happiness, and tranquility are all ideals of world peace. And although ambitious past and present world leaders strive to achieve it, the so called “utopian” belief is the underlying strength amongst many.
Many interpretations
of world peace exist. Some feel it is a resolution of global and
regional conflicts through nonviolent means. Others argue it’s about the
absence of conflict all together, to the point where institutions are
not necessary.
But to artist Tiité Baquero, world peace goes beyond a resolution and beyond not having institutions; world peace is about a change with a useful purpose. “I have always embraced the idea that art has a utilitarian role,” Tiité says. “Anyone can purchase a piece of art for their living room, above their couch. That gives it a utility, doesn’t it? But none of that was going into drawing the efforts of a dying world in the 21st century and that’s what I wanted to do with art. I wanted to take art to where it could have a new element of utility about itself that will be reminiscent of how art used to work before it was art.” He goes into an explanation about the Native American drawings on the walls of their caves. To that civilization, the marks on the walls were more than just a bison or an arrow. To them, those marks were the bearers of their history; a creative response to the critical survival issues of their world. To Tiité, his artwork is about a task he brought upon himself to make art relevant to the culture it’s in.
A native of Bogota,
Colombia the artist admits that he does not remember getting into art.
“I’ve always been me and I’m an artist, so I never really thought about becoming an artist,” he says. “My mother tells stories that I would build sculptures with my rice and meat. And when she’d ask when I was going to eat, I would say, ‘I can’t its too pretty.’ I never had to be talked into art.” Throughout his formative years, Tiité attended school, but says he was more comfortable teaching himself natural philosophy, art history, drawing and painting. He remembers going to the university anticipating to use the fabrication shop and the dean told him to follow his own path because he was “a natural and the system would destroy [him].” “I didn’t know how to take that because I really wanted to be in the shop building things,” he says. “But that man did more for me than I was able to realize. Today, I am sure that if I had been touched by the academy, I would be just another artist.” Living in New York in the late 1960s, Tiité continued his education in art, philosophy, and engineering design in order to create. Throughout his time in the big apple, the artist designed an experimental program that needed virgin territory to be implemented. “I knew that in New York, I could not do my thesis because it is hard to grow a new flower in a place where there were millions of them,” he explains. “I was looking for a place where there was no art and I found it here. And that was the beginning of my thesis.” Today, Tiité’s lifetime work can be described as a revolutionizing concept of art. As an artist, he is hoping that the very being of our species moves us to take action in a more meaningful way. Something he learned from what pressed this artist to take on such a daunting task. “In 1957, my country was in great turmoil,” the artist sadly recounts. “A dictator had been deposed and cold murders and killings were everywhere. I had a chance to see what they call collateral damage, casualties of pregnant women, children, so sad. And I said to myself, ‘This is no way to live. How could anyone say that they are against someone’s political ideas and turn around and shoot a woman selling potatoes?’ None of that ever made sense and it still doesn’t.” Therefore, Tiité says that this formative memory instilled in him a different idea of art. “Every time I create art, I see myself inside that cave, painting those images and the motivation behind them,” he says. “As an artist, I have been entrusted by the consciousness of the people. And there is no difference between life and art here because my work is art and life reconciled; the same as the cave art in the environment.” For this reason, Tiité’s 27-year undertaking has been to develop a model of art that embraces the challenges of today’s world and brings utility to his work. And so the World Peace Marker Project was born— a stand for world peace, where you, I, and they can see, understand, and savor peace collaboratively. The WPMP is a work of art seeking to construct a model of world peace that has never existed. Involving 198 artists or ambassadors, from 198 nations around the world, the project will unite all cultures into one species. Basically, an earthly canvas set to paint one of the most touching and beautiful pieces ever. Each Ambassador seeks out a cultural and physical environment where a marker will reside. Tiité provides the ambassador with a sculptural piece of art containing a world peace coin and the nations name to serve as the “point of peace” in that area. The Peace Marker is an “I” shaped stainless steel piece of art that works dually as a local marker to the nation and a global piece to the installation. Each marker signifies a “point of peace” in a global perspective that will be shared from person to person and from nation to nation.
“The marker speaks
for itself,” the artist says. “The idea is a beautiful work of art that
goes into the ground and serves as a nucleus, or a center of expansion
to where peace is physical. At a very fundamental level, this says that
it’s a model of world peace because it gives the world an aesthetic
idea, with a physical presence, of what is the smallest amount of world
peace we can have to create somewhat of a culture of world peace.”
What will world peace look like? That is not known at this time. In fact, it has never been known; but with the WPMP Tiité seeks to leave behind footprints, which have a history about the way in which the model of world peace is evolving. To him it’s simple, with the project “together we will show peace comes in a lot of flavors, evidence that civilization can embrace new ideas and cultures with art.” “With the World Peace Marker Project, I have joined other artists to demonstrate that our species can work together to address the sustainability of a civilization,” he adds. “It’s about demonstrating that role of utility, that re-connection to a point in time in which art wasn’t even art, but it had a role to play because it was crucial to the identity or culture of those people. We need to do that before going to preserve the world because you don’t preserve things you don’t care about, and you can’t care unless you’ve been made part of it.” Thus far, the project has reached seven nations— the United States, Bosnia, Germany, Canada, Japan, Turkey, and Lebanon. Currently, the next five nation’s markers are under construction. The strength in numbers is apparent in the fiber of this project. Together with the ambassadors, the artist is seeking to know and practice the ways of peace by bringing to light concepts and ideals never expressed before. And to kick-off its second phase, Tiité will be hosting a traveling exhibit called “We Changed Art Forever.” “The show is about sharing a piece of history with those around me,” he says. “It’s about showing them what a peaceful future can be through a completely new experience. It’s about bringing art and life together before your eyes and experiencing a reality you cannot avoid. “I have and will always continue to try to embrace an idea that supports the thoughts that an artist is a creative spirit that sees in the world the ways to make life bearable,” says Tiité. “And if all it takes is a beautiful piece of identity, then I will make that piece to where when the recipient gets it, it gets a “me”; a “me” that translates into hundreds, thousands, and maybe millions of identities that will change art forever.” - To find out more about the World Peace Marker Project visit www.wpmp.net or make history with Tiité on June 12 at 6 pm at the Ferrari Gallery of Contemporary Art located at 4635 Coronado Parkway in Cape Coral, FL! |
 Saturday, June 11, 2008 — Time: 1:54:02 PM EST Cape artist to unveil his exhibit; Art follows ‘Vo’ ideal By DREW WINCHESTER, dwinchester@breezenewspapers.com
Tiite Baquero buzzes around his small studio. He talks a mile a minute,
pointing at his various pieces of art, which are scattered around the
cramped and disheveled space. |
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Local artist Tiité Baquero explains the concept of
his latest exhibit Thursday at the Ferrari Gallery in Cape Coral.
Image by: Terry Brady |
If it was initial impact Tiité Baquero was going after Thursday at his latest art exhibit, he got it.
The exhibit, “We Changed Art Forever” was held at the Ferrari Gallery
in Cape Coral. The gallery floor was covered with $12,000-worth of the
local artist's prints.
The prints, which were images of endangered animals, were taped to the
floor, offering only small narrow paths for those visiting the gallery to
maneuver around, which at first glance, many attempted to do.
“Who feels uncomfortable stepping on the prints?” Baquero asked. “How come
we don’t feel uncomfortable when we clear thousands of trees in the rain
forrest?”
Baquero said he sacrificed the prints to symbolize how mankind is
destroying the earth and its inhabitants.
“I like how when we came in(to the gallery) no one knew what was going
on,” said Cape resident Matt Haghanipour, 22. “The pictures on the floor,
you didn’t know what to do. You felt it.”
Baquero said he felt by making those who see the show feel his art,
instead of just looking at it, they had a better chance of making a
difference.
“If you can feel it, (the world) won’t become what (the show) represents,”
he said.
Both Cape Coral councilman Jim Burch and mayor Eric Feichthaler were on
hand to take in the show.
“You have to have the peacemakers,” Burch said. “They make the world go
round.”
When asked if he planned on purchasing any of Baquero’s works, Burch said
he was just there to take it all in.
“It’s a little high end,” he said.
Baquero’s pieces were on sale for as much as $90,000.
“I’m very proud to have him here in Cape Coral speaking his vision of
peace,” Feichthaler said.
The weather outside the gallery was storming, which seemed to please
Baquero.
“The weather was a blessing,” he said. “I want (the prints) to get dirty.
I want them to have footprints.”
Also on display was a project Baquero is participating in called the
Worldwide Peace Marker Project.
Baquero had everyone who attended the show, sign a WPMP print to show
their participation.
The WPMP is a work of art that spans the globe. The goal is to have 198
artists from each of the world’s 198 countries working to create 198
points of peace that will be marked with a “Peace Marker” -- a stainless
steel sculpture.
The Peace Marker must be installed somewhere within the artist's native
land with the support of their government and the public.
So far there are seven complete markers in the world:
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Canada, Japan, Turkey, Lebanon and the
United States.
The U.S. “Point of Peace” is in Cape Coral and was unveiled November 30,
2002.
If you go
The Ferrari Gallery is located at 4635 Coronado Parkway, Suite #6.
Tiite Baquero’s exhibit will be on display for the next few weeks at the
gallery.
For more information call 945-2211.
--Terry Brady
tbrady@news-press.com
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N E T W O R K I N G June 18, 2008
Opening reception of Ferrari Gallery's exhibit of artist Tiité
Alexis, Barbara and Loren Hosack
Brook Johnson, Rhonda Rashbaum, Lorelei Hummel
Cole and Rachel Peacock, Deb Stone Ferrari and Jim Ferrari
Jordan Sasaki, Matt Haghanipour
Kalon, Ayla, Maya and Tiité Baquero
Chuck Weisinger, Reina Schlager Mike Shapiro |
