Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
and all conditions were met
Interview with Fernando Fraga
I'm here with Fernando Fraga
He's an artist from Montevideo, who at the moment lives in Colonia
First, I would like you to tell us something about your career as an artist
Well, I've been painting for 22 years more or less
maybe and exhibition, what would you choose?
and 10 years ago I started to dedicate myself entirely to art
and I do it professionally.
Luckily, I can do what i like for a living.
I take it as a job
Every day I investigate, I look for new things
I work on my paintings, on sculpture...
There are many things around it, it's not just a painting...
I also like wood, collage, mixing textures...
If you had to point out something in particular about your career,
I have had important exhibitions in the USA,
at the Uruguayan Embassy in Washington
I was there in the year 2004
Since that moment I also have a permanent exhibition at the World Bank.
I have some exhibits at the Bohemian Gallery in Kansas.
I've had exhibitions in New York,
also in Miami.
Maybe those were the most relevant.
Do you travel often?
My works travel more than I do, in general.
But i like doing it, too, when I can.
Some years ago you came to live here in Colonia
and you also have your Gallery here
What led you to take that decision?
Well, it was an exhibition, indeed.
I was invited, together with other artists,
to set and exhibition at the Argentinian Consulate here in Colonia
and I oferred to bring the works of the other artists.
And the following day
while I was visiting the Old Town,
I found De Los Suspiros Street,
which is really famous.
I had even painted it at the workshop,
but I had never been there.
And the most emblematic house
the Portuguese pink rancho,
that appears in every magazine
and every book,
had a sign that said "for sale"
and then we tried to find a way to come to live here,
and to buy a house.
It was 2002, a very special year
because the Argentinian crisis was taking place.
for us to end up here at this Portuguese rancho
with my atelier in it.
It's been 10 years now.
And how has this endeavor been?
In fact really good, because Colonia is a place that is growing a lot
in a touristic level, it's amazing.
People from all over the world come
Every day there are Americans, Europeans, even on weekdays...
It's an audience that you don't get in Montevideo
I have some paintings in galleries in Montevideo
and the only way you can compare is when cruises arrive
but that's a very low percentage
compared to what you see here in Colonia every day.
How do you see the artistic scene in Uruguay nowadays?
Is it active?
Yes, in general it is...
What I would call artistic scene
I believe there is a whole movement at present
which I don't completely agree with.
There are some things that are getting out of hand, I think.
Art is so free...
and it is so... how would you call it?
It's a bit distorted
As there are too many branches in the same tree
you come across stuff that make you feel hatred or rejection
when you see them.
Nowadays you can find that a work of art can be that
somebody ties a dog with a chain and leaves it to die
and they say that's a work of art.
So when you find those things
and you are painting with oil on canvas
you feel as if you were in the past
So everything at present... I think it's getting a bit dangerous
So you have more of a conservative attitude in that sense.
Yes, I like painting...
Painting on canvas, on a wall, on a piece of wood...
But I'm not stuck with the same
I try to have some variety among my works
I have no two equal pictures
I try to keep looking for ways
This is a permanent search for colours, images
synthesis... I sort of define my paintings as figurative
with spots.
But it's a whole path...
it never stops being a quest.
Do you think in Uruguay it's more difficult to become a professional artist...
or you believe that those who have talent can make it?
I think it's more difficult here than in other places
because we are few people in Uruguay.
And the market is very, very small,
and there is a great quality of artists in Uruguay.
Therefore, there are many unknown artists
who can't stand out.
It's very difficult to get there
Galleries in general have their doors closed
and work for many years with the same artists from tha same circles,
and don't incorporate new artists.
Yes, I believe it's very difficult to make a living as an artist in Uruguay.
Was it hard for you to start?
Well, yes... I was lucky because my works appealed from the start
And I was accepted at Adolfo Sayago's MVD Gallery in Montevideo
and we formed an interesting group of artists
who worked together, and went to paint here and there
we did many things together,
and that was more productive than working individually,
because the artist's job itself is very solitary:
you are generally not in touch with colleagues,
except when you meet others in an exhibition,
but it's not something that you do as a group.
And in this group of artists
we achieved that.
We have even made shared paintings, in groups of three...
and that's great.
How's your relationship with your public?
How is it to be here at the Rancho
when people come and comment on your work?
It's really good.
Because you have the public's direct opinion
In general, when I'm at the Gallery I don't say that I am the author
I prefer to go unnoticed and listen to their true, sincere opinions
Last year you had some particular health problems
how was that stage in your life?
Well, yes, last year was quite complicated.
I had an ulcer in the esophagus, it was perforated overnight
they had to take my esophagus out
and I spent a whole year without esophagus
feeding through a catheter
plugged to a machine 24 hours a day, at the beginning
then 20 hours a day.
The machine also needed electric power,
so I was like a cellphone, more or less.
And it took a year and two months, more or less
to fight the infection.
Here in Uruguay there was no experience to do the reconstruction
And my family and I decided to go to the USA to do the intervention
more specifically to Seattle, where was Dr. Low,
the most skilled person to perform the surgery.
He was the one who reconstructed it, and who saved my life.
It was a whole experience,
it was a very hectic year,
but I think that painting kept me going
because I never stopped painting.
I painted the whole year
And although at first I closed the Gallery because I couldn't be here
I kept painting, even in bed
and that kept me thinking positive.
How long did you stay in the USA?
I was there 2 months, I went a bit earlier for the tests
then I had the surgery
It was a success
Few hours later I was already walking
and then it took me some time to start eating normally again,
like a baby, starting with liquids.
And now I'm eating anything, and luckily I'm back to normal.
Apparently, the doctors found curious the number of people
who were with you there.
Well, yes, I went with practically all my family:
my parents, my girlfriend, my sister and my brother.
And also my aunt and uncle who were already in the USA
went to Seattle.
And all that support that we are used to see in Uruguay...
when a relative gets sick, or something happens
the family is always around, in most cases.
They saw it as something very strange, they had never seen that.
They go to the hospital by themselves, or with one person, at the most.
And sometimes we felt that we were too many,
we didn't want to bother. But on the contrary,
The doctors told them to go in, and they wanted the family to know first...
That was good. They took us some pictures for medicine magazines
also because it was a rare case.
And they were surprised by the fact that I was at all times with my family
it was like a novelty for them.
How was it from your perspective to be in a foreign hospital?
It must be nothing like what we see here.
Yes, you encouter very innovative things...
For a start, if I had been there the year that I spent plugged to a machine
I could have solved it with a little backpack this size.
And I wouldn't have had to be plugged in
With much more autonomy...
Or the catheter, instead of having it stitched
I could have had it set with some kind of surgical tape...
I mean, they have a technology that's really noticeable
You are constantly being scanned
They give you a bracelet that contains all your information
And they scan it as if it was a supermarkey scanner
and they see in their computers exactly what you need, and what you have.
They can never give you the wrong medicine or treatment.
Because everything is really checked.
You notice the difference between that and what we have here.
Apart from the health problem, did you feel comfortable during your stay there?
Yes, the whole group of doctors and nurses were really kind.
Sometimes people say that in the US people are colder...
But no, we encountered an entirely different scenario
Even now, we still keep in touch with the doctors.
As soon as the surgery was over
I started painting a picture for each doctor
I was still in bed and working on 8 paintings.
In grattitude for bringing me back to life.
The group was excellent.
Did you miss Uruguay?
No, not Uruguay.
I only missed my dogs.
And evidently, the rest of the family that was left here, but...
No, not much.
So, in what stage of your career would you say you are right now?
Probably making up for the lost time...
Yes. This whole thing taught me a huge lesson.
Although it was a complicated year I tried to get the most out of it.
And I found that I had more positive things, and more strength than I'd thought.
when I found myself in that situation
I felt that I could solve it, day by day.
trying to be positive. And it works. It does work.
Not to mention people's support
my friends, and people who I didn't even know
but I could feel the positive energy they sent me at all times.
That helped me a lot.
And now I find myself in a very creative process.
I really feel like painting. I'm enlarging my workshop,
because there is no more space with all the pintings I have
And next month I'll start giving lessons, too.
I'll be back to the workshop...
Here in Colonia?
Yes, here in Colonia.
And I'm think I'm getting a positive result out of everything.
Thank you for your visit.
Thank you.
And we're waiting for all of you
here in De Los Suspiros Street, at this 1720 Racho.
Which, I think, everybody must recognise trough a picture or a photo...
Yes, it's a must.