Artist Spotlight

Esteban Blanco

Name:  Esteban Blanco

City:  Miami Florida

Birthplace:  Cuba

Artistic Medium:  Mixed media; Mostly wood and ceramics. Photography.

How did you get started?
I studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and began showing my work during the 1970s at a gallery in Soho (Razor on West Broadway) and in Mexico City (The San Carlos Institute and Z Rodriguez Arts).

Who or what are your influences?
I studied under Duane Hanson in Miami while attending Dade Junior College and with Jack Sonnemberg in New York. I'm very interested in the Dada movement of the 1920s and 1930s; Cobra and the Chicago School (Jim Nutt, etc.). Joseph Cornell is evident in my work, as well as the work of the pop artists of the 1950s and 1960s. I worship Marcel Duchamp, Andre Breton and the rest of the surrealists, although I try my best not to rip them off. Kurt Schwitters and Man Ray for sheer inventiveness and I really don't think we would have a civilization without Giotto.

What inspires your work?
I wake up every morning wondering if I'm really alive and the best way I have to convince myself of this is to create.

How does Miami/South Florida influence your work?
I could not live anywhere else. The blue skies, the beach and the excruciating traffic, I need it all. There's a foolhardy notion in Miami that multiculturalism can succeed here, that's something that's hard to find elsewhere. Anyway, without this stupid optimism, I can't bear to think what my work would look like.

How would you describe your work?
All art is by nature autobiographical, by necessity dishonest; Susan Sontag made the argument that art should not be interpreted and I would add that the day I can really explain what I do, I'll stop. Besides, it's been said that contemporary art is always explained, but never understood.

What has been the most unusual reaction to your work from the public?
A woman in her 60s came straight at me during Art Miami and snarled, “You must hate women and Barbie!” It took me more than a half hour to calm her down and bring her around. When she left, I made notes and I'm currently sketching out a piece dealing with the experience.

If you are an artist and would like to be a part of Artist Spotlight, contact Mary Damiano at StarrWriter2000@aol.com