local
ART&CULTURE
By Jen Wead
10 questions & answers with José Rodeiro
1. Do you listen to music while you create, and if so, what
is your favorite? When painting, I enjoy 17th Century Baroque music,
particularly François Couperin, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Pachelbel, Johann
Sebastian Bach, and Tomaso Albinoni. In all the arts, I favor the Baroque,
e.g., in painting, I love Velazquez, Vermeer, & Rembrandt.
2. When did you first start painting? Around the age of three,
I began painting. I was primarily inspired only by women painters, because
my mother (“Mama Olga”) filled every room in my childhood
home (on the edge of Ybor City,Tampa) with beautiful printed-copies of
works by three French artists (Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Marie-Denise Villers,
and Rosa Bonheur), which I incessantly viewed while playing on the
floor with my toys.
3. Who or what influences your work the most? As mentioned
above, I came to visual art thanks to primarily three French women painters
(Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Marie-Denise Villers, and Rosa Bonheur). And,
like them, everything that I envision and create emerges or derives from
either divine inspiration, keen observation, or from my immanent imagination.
Thus, I fully agree with aesthetic views espoused by William Blake,
Stéphane Mallarmé, Henri Bergson, Duane Locke, Nicomedes Suárez-
Araúz and others; wherein art results from an artist’s unique (individual)
personal vision.
4. Do you have a pre-conceived goal within the pieces that
you create? I approach creativity without preconceptions, because I
sincerely feel that my art is wholly inspired by my faith in Jesus Christ. Thus,
I fully concur with Socrates, Plato, Plotinus, St. Augustine, Marcilio Ficino,
Pico, Vico, Blake, Carl Jung, Federico Garcia-Lorca that generally great
“New Constellations Weeki Wachee” 20” (W) x 16” (H), Oil on
canvas, 2019.
artists (whether directly or inadvertently) create her/his art inspired and
guided by supernatural forces that (either furtively or transparently) compel
her/his creativity. Thus, I fully agree with Paul Klee, “The artist knows a
great deal; but, only after she/he has created it.”
5. Which current art world trends are you following? I adhere
to the concept of “Amnesis Art” developed by Dr. Nicomedes Suárez-
Araúz, which maintains that art is not actually inspired by memory; rather
he contends that all art is always inspired by what is forgotten: amnesis. I
have also been involved in Raul Villarreal’s global Neo-Latino Art Movement.
In addition, Charles Jencks’s theory of “Radical Postmodernism”
is evident in my 24 ft.-long mural entitled “The Discovery of Tampa Bay
by Hernando De Soto,” currently installed within the Tampa Convention
Center, Tampa, Florida, 2004. And, this same light, in October 2009, I
lectured on my Radical Postmodern painting “9/11” at The Tribute WTC
Visitor Center (at Ground Zero, New York City, NY). I have also contributed
art to Federico Garcia-Lorca’s Duende Art exhibitions in NYC’s
metropolitan area; as well as Duda Penteado’s We Are You Project, and
Robert Rosado’s La Ruche Art Contemporary Consortium, Union City, NJ.
Plus, in 2019-2020, I played the Exquisite Corpse Game within the vortex
of Ann Marie Cash’s “game-keeping.”
6. Where can a consumer find your work to purchase? I
am currently represented by Bella Unica Art Gallery, Saint Petersburg,
Florida. The founder & art director is Natalie Vélez, her gallery’s official
Email is: info@bellaunica.com . My art is available for sale online via the
gallery’s Website: https://bellaunica.com .
7. What female do you look up to most and why? My mother:
“Mama Olga” Perez Rodeiro and her mother (my maternal grandmother)
Abuela “Cookie” (aka: Mrs. Rosa “Nena” Perez (maiden surname: Valdez
Ledon). When I was a child, both of these women gave me unconditional
love as well as a sense of security and belonging, most importantly,
they were very funny, making me constantly laugh. Thanks to them, I’ve
Continued on next page
A Poets Suppertime Ruminations in Cumberland, Maryland.
10 • DECEMBER 2019 813.682.9364 FLORIDA WOMEN MAGAZINE
/bellaunica.com
link