Social Distancing

Columbia, SC – 2020

(Notes from my drawing book about this idea)
Alejandro García Lemos,

Participating Artists

(In alphabetical order as of January 16, 2021)

(Five months of isolation! + Two months trying to get back to the so-called “new normal”, two weeks after the lockdown of the Capitol Building in DC)

  1. Valerie Aranda, Milledgeville, Georgia – USA
  2. Mariangeles Borghini, Granada, Andalucia – Spain
  3. Edgar Cano López, Mexico, DC – Mexico
  4. Gustavo Carvajal, Dallas, Texas – USA
  5. Omar Castillo Torres, Ciudad de Mexico – México
  6. Juan David Cruz, Bogotá, Colombia
  7. Heidi Darr-Hope, Columbia, SC – USA
  8. Heather Dearmon, Columbia, SC – USA
  9. Santiago Echeverry, Tampa, Florida – USA
  10. Diana Farfán, Greenville, SC – USA
  11. María Cecilia Galindo Oñate. Bogotá – Colombia
  12. René Galván, Durham, North Carolina, USA
  13. Alejandro García Lemos, Columbia, SC – USA
  14. Bonnie Goldberg, Columbia, SC – USA
  15. Britt Hunt, Columbia, SC – USA
  16. Patricia Khobzi Hoyos, Paris, France
  17. Josh Klatt, New York City, USA
  18. Lee Ann Kornegay, Columbia, SC – USA
  19. Daniel Lombardi, Madrid, Spain
  20. Sammy López, Columbia, SC – USA
  21. Ed Madden, Columbia, SC – USA
  22. Lee Malerich, Nesses, SC – USA
  23. Betsy Newman, Columbia, SC – USA
  24. Eliana Pérez Rayo, New York, NY – USA
  25. Juan Guillermo Pérez, Rionegro, Antioquia – Colombia
  26. Johny Samuka Abreu, Griffin, NC – USA
  27. Polly Stout, Washington, DC. – USA
  28. Roberto Tejada, Houston, Texas, USA

I am still accepting submissions, so if you feel that you have some work that you have been creating during COVID-19, please go ahead and send it to: alegar78@gmail.com. Please include a short text about your project and a short bio (100 words max) Thanks! Please stay safe and healthy!

Social Distancing – Our Response

Columbia, SC

March 20, 2020

The outbreak of CoronaVirus and its resulting disease CoVID-19 has resulted in an unexpected chain of events around the world. The Pandemic that we all are facing today and in the coming weeks, if not months, is resulting in all kinds of feelings and memento mori, from isolation to boredom—and in the worst case scenarios even to death.

This change in pace and peace of mind has also resulted in an increased time on our hands, our minds and our bodies. The so-called “Social Distancing“, a concept that not long ago was alien to most of us, became our new reality. Not only that, social distancing is already the new standard that all of us are trying to understand, digest and practice with the aim to flatten the curve for the well being of all.

How do artists respond to Social Distancing? How does it affect our creative process? Can we use this moment of loneliness, pondering and tinkering to create and produce art?

Either painting, gardening, video, music or poetry, if you are interested in creating an artistic and all on-line response to Social Distancing, please let me know (alegar78@gmail.com) and we will all work together in putting together an artistic response, a fresh perspective into our new reality.

Please send me your image(s) or file(s) including the entire information: Name, title, media, year and place of creation (feel free to add an art statement). I will only post them in this page as they come to me. I will also link your name to your personal website.

For your information, I don’t use any social media, so no posts will go there, at least from me. Feel free to share the project.

Thanks and please stay safe!

Curated by Alejandro García Lemos

alegar78@gmail.com

UPDATE
June 11, 2020

It has been almost three months since we started with this project. I am impressed by the quality of the works I have been receiving and posting, and especially amazed by the connections amongst some of the works. The one commonalty of the works have been the especial interest in nature and observation. From Bonsai to fiber arts most artists have felt a connection to Mother Nature during this times of isolation and self-questioning.

I finally finished with my own project: “Bird Taxonomy of Our Garden” was based solely in the increasing presence of birds around our house. Please take a look of my work within the Social Distancing section of this website.

Not to be a negative but it seems that the pandemic is getting worse everyday, the most concerning part is that cities and States are “opening” and there is a false impression of everything being fine. The truth is that in the United States and in particular here in South Carolina, things are getting worse, there are more people infected than ever and the number of cases only keeps increasing. We have not been successful in flattering the curve and the experts expect a second wave of the virus, if we were ever out of the first wave… Not good!

We have all the time in our hands as long as we are still Social Distancing, so feel free to keep sending me more work, I will post it.

I will keep y’all posted!

Stay safe!

Alejandro

12 thoughts on “Social Distancing

  1. Dear Diana,

    Thanks for your prompt response, I am responding in English so all of us can understand. Your two main questions are:
    1: What are the dates?
    Dates are from now until, I mean as soon as you have time to create something I will posting it on this website. So, no rush and at the same time it goes with the fluidity of our reality.
    2: When should the works be ready:
    Anytime as long as we are still practicing social distancing.

    Thanks again,

    Alejandro

  2. Today is the first day that this proposal goes on-line and we already have more than twelve artists involved, (including me) they are:

    Santiago Echeverry, Tampa, Florida
    Eliana Pérez, NYC
    Betsy Newman, Columbia, SC
    Edgar Cano López, Mexico, DC
    Bonnie Goldberg, Columbia, SC
    Diana Farfán, Greenville, SC
    Mariangeles Borghini, Granada, Spain
    María Cecilia Galindo Oñate. Bogotá, Colombia
    Heidi Darr-Hope, Columbia, SC
    Juan Guillermo Pérez, Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia
    Sammy López, Columbia, SC
    Lee Malerich, Neeses, SC
    Alejandro García Lemos, Columbia, SC

    Please feel free to share this effort with any artist that you think could be interested.

    Thanks again to all of you and please stay safe!
    https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/corona-virus-cases-tracker-covid-19-tracker-lite/reviews/#new-post
    Alejandro

  3. Thank you Alejandro for this space of expression and connection during these difficult times. Un abrazo.

    1. Thanks Mariangeles for your perspective from Spain. We are all bracing for the worst here in the states. In the mean time I will keep posting art in this site.

      Big hugs!

      Alejandro

  4. We just received three new images from Colombian artist: María Cecilia Galindo based in Bogotá, Colombia. I will post them tomorrow!

    Gracias Ma. Ce!

    Un abrazo a tod@s!

    Alejandro

  5. Juan Guillermo Pérez suggested to add a bio and profile picture; so, if that is something that somebody would like to include as part pf your page on Social Distancing – Our Response, please send me your pic and very short bio. 100 max, thanks.

    I hope everyone is stay home and healthy!

    Thanks y’all!

    Alejandro

  6. Dear participanting artists,

    We have been in isolation for more than two months and most of you have now sent your artwork. I just wanted to hear your thoughts about an idea that I had. I was thinking about having a printed book, including all artists and their pieces, as well as all texts included on this page. For that I will need a brief bio, no longer than 100 words. Please let me know your thoughts about it and if you are interested please go ahead and send me your bio and if you wish send me your face pic to include. I am going to start working on this during the Memorial Day long weekend.

    If you have any ideas, please let me know.

    Thanks,

    Alejandro

  7. I’m working my way through these again and seeing new things. Heather Dearmon’s poem hit me hard, Valeria Aranda’s illustrations also moved me. It all moves me. Britt Hunts garden sculptures made me smile. Thank you Betsy Newman for sharing your journal . Are you still writing? I’m about half way through the entries again. I appreciate so much being able to drift through these works and be a part of it.

    1. Thanks Lee Ann for your comments. I am really happy to have included Valerie´s drawings, they are so personal and also remind me of the Retablos from Mexico as well as the Frida Khalo’s approach to being sick. I am glad that you are part of this project and please feel free to send me some more images. Did you read Juan David’s poems. They are really strong!

      I will ask Betsy if she is still writing a journal.

      Alejandro

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