The music of Puerto Rico has been making its way back and forth between the mainland states and its own clubs. It has always had a very significant influence on the music of the world, whether the rest of the world knew it or not. But thanks to the efforts of enormously creative people who are pushing artistic barriers and making new work, along with a few who are enormously talented about being outspoken, it’s been a very interesting time in the world of music.

Puya’ s time spent in Fort Lauderdale was unquestionably time well spent. It got them the gigs they needed, and connection to a large city close by, in order to start getting the songs out there. It earned them enough attention to warrant their being invited to play opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they’ve also spent more than enough concerts playing the headliners as well. They are a musical phenomenon throughout the world, but Latin America has a very special love for them, and between San Juan and Fort Lauderdale, they’ll always have a home.

Fans today can occasionally catch them in Fort Lauderdale. Cheap hotels are plentiful and comfortable, and give a great vista from which to enjoy the city’s live music scene in general. But there’s no one around who plays quite like Puya. They sound like heavy metal mixed with a little bit of punk at first introductions, but after a little listening, the salsa influence starts to come through, and the punk core starts to get stronger. These are very accomplished musicians, and they’ve got almost two decades of experience together.

Their name is a reflection of both culture and sensibility. Puya could mean the point of a spear, or a strong shot of coffee

Fort Lauderdale and Puya is a post from: Cool Comment

Despite the extremely fickle nature of the art world at large for abstracts, the works have a very palpable potency to anyone who has the right rods and cones to pick up color.  In large cities, where the contemporary art world demands a kind of stern adherence to a new post-structuralism that needs to maintain an aesthetic that is almost anti-beauty at times, these works can stand as a kind of oppositional statement, and invite in the kinds of visual pleasure that are, at root, more populist than any other ideology.  The sense of design and splendor of the New York boutique hotels have a similar effect, and it is a welcome sight to any eye, but especially tired ones.

It’s rather a delightful thing, then, when artists like Beatriz Milhazes can find a home for their works here.  For this Brazillian-born visual artist, however, it’s not just one single gallery, but her work is represented in some of the big cultural giants.  With works in the permanent collections of MOMA, the Guggenheim, and the Met, it might be safe to say that she has landed.  In many respects, the work here is almost gravy for a career that has seen plenty of opportunities to reach fresh eyes.  Her work has showings all over the world, is popular in Brazil, and has a secure position in the Parisian art scene as well.

What’s truly extraordinary about her work, however, is the acute sense of design.  At first glance, it might be easy for art snobs to dismiss it as simple bright colors put together to attract attention, surely, but devoid of content.  That is certainly not the case, as a closer look reveals a great deal of attention to the history of abstract art, drawing on a wealth of European influences while remaining firmly in a Brazilian Tropicale sensibility.  This is but another example of how Brazilian culture is continuing to gain force in popular conceptions, being recognized at last for its deep and evolving contribution to global visual culture.

NY Carioca is a post from: Cool Comment