Hallidd's Weblog

Last Rites

Maybe you could tell me. The steps coming down the stairs. Your shoulders shaking. Too many pills. Chasing you down the boulevaard. Maybe it was something I ate for Christmas.

Listening to each other. The last syllable hangs in the air. Help you on with your jacket. You ask. Did you tip the waiter. I return to the booth. For my teeth. They’re still talking.

Maybe you could die. And I could start over. I’d divorce the first woman I married. And go through the bitter redress of my complaints. You get the children. You get the house. You get whatever is in our accounts. I get the last breath. From your lungs.

Why does life leave you. Feeling used. And worn out. I can hear the feet going down the stairs. Its Christmas morning. And the kids are laughing.

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Paintings of Mati Klarwein

SANTANA: ABRAXAS – Full Album Remastered

Mati Klarwein

I came about learning of Mati Klarwein through the backdoor, you might say.  His famous paintings decorate several album covers, Santana’s Abraxas among them, as well as his first album Axis, and Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew.  I was listening to the album first, then became fascinated enough by the art depicted to do a little research. This is how I discovered Abdul Mati Klarwein

Born in Hamburg, Germany, he studied art in Paris at the Academie Julian. Under the tutelage of Fernand Leger, he was influenced by the surrealist art of Salvador Dali and Bunuel. He also studied with Ernst Fuchs, a Viennese realist who taught techniques of the old world Flaemish masters such as Van Eyck.

Having been born in relative priviledge, to a Jewish architect father of Polish origins and a German opera singer mother, Klarwein was forced by circumstances to travel much in his life. First, his family escaped Nazi Germany by moving to  Palestine, then Jerusalem Israel. It is because of his time in contact with Muslims, that Mati adopted the preface “Abdul” in front of his name. Mati’s father was an architect involved in the design of Israel’s Parliament building, the Knesset. The family vacationed in Saint Tropez, and lived in Deia, Majorca for a while. There, Mati was friends with the poet Robert Graves, and other artists in the small community.

Having been to art school in Paris, Mati moved to New York in 1965, there to be influenced by artists involved in the psychedelic movement, and personally knew  Timothy Leary. But as Leary said, “Mati didn’t need psychedelics!” He’d been inspired by his travels through various countries of different cultures and non-Western deities and symbolism. His piece de’ resistance was a large scale project called The Aleph Sanctuary. This so-called temple of all religions, featured 68 paintings illustrating symbolism and scenes from multiple spiritual universes, including reflections on Biblical passages. Some of these, such as “Anunciation”, “The Tree of Life”, and “Grain of Sand” are seen here. Some of these paintings are those he’s most known for.

Mati in later life settled in Deia on Majorca, and painted celebrity portraits as well as landscapes. He died in March 2002.

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Sabina Nore | the art of surrealism

I’d like to share this website of fantastic art by Sabina Nore in Vienna, Austria. Her psychologically fascinating pieces are surrealistic in style, colorful and delicate, visually poetic and symbolic. Her technique is sophisticated, spell-binding, evocative, emotional. Please take a look and enjoy the art of Sabina Nore!

Sabina Nore | Paintings and Art.

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