Viewing page 13 of 23

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

[[image]]

POEMS OF PABLO NERUDA

ILLUSTRATED BY NAUL OJEDA

INAUGURAL EXHIBITION IN THE ARTIST'S STUDIO
1911 R STREET, N.W. APT. 103
JANUARY 22, 1982
RECEPTION 6 TO 8 PM

Washington artist Naul Ojeda has produced a limited edition series of woodblock prints which illustrate 10 poems of Pablo Neruda. The verse is carved in Spanish and integrated with imagery in the distinctive style that has become Ojeda's signature. As always, he has hand printed each piece on rice paper. 

Ojeda embarked on this project because it enabled him to combine several of his loves and talents and share them with a broader public. From early days as a student in his native Uruguay, Ojeda was fascinated with the transformation of the imagery of poetry into graphic form. He was weaned on the verse of Liber Falco, Garcia Lorca, Gabriela Mistral, Nicola Guillen, Cesar Vallejos, and of course that of Chilean, Pablo Neruda.

The special affection Ojeda holds for Neruda intensified when he worked as a photographer in Chile from 1970 to 1973. He learned to love the country of this great poet, and to understand the source of the passion with which Neruda wrote of his homeland. Ojeda also grew to admire the countrymen of Neruda.

In September, 1981 he mounted an exhibition of more than 50 photographs entitled "Homage to the People of Chile." The illustrated poetry is in a way a sequel to that exhibition for it very well could be called "Homage to Pablo Neruda." In Ojeda's studio where the exhibit is being inaugurated, one enters and sees a stark and powerful portrait of Neruda; "our Pablo" carved into the wood. Enhancing the viewer's appreciation of the portrait is the carved woodblock hanging alongside where one can examine the delicate carving at close range.

In the intimate ambience of a dining room temporarily annexed to the studio hang the 10 intriguing prints with the woodblocks also on display. The selection of poems is a very personal one ranging from "Ode to Wood" and "Ode to Typography," themes that predictably would be of interest to Ojeda, to several pieces treating Chile directly, "Hunger in the South," and "Ay Chile." There is a fragment of the poem "The Flight" which perhaps explains the flying figures in many of Ojeda's prints.

Ojeda remarks of the show that he wanted to do this series and make the exhibit available to schools and Hispanic community groups. He is especially interested in reminding youth of Hispanic descent of the richness of their literature. He comments, "We must respect and remember our language and the gifts our writers give us."

At the inauguration the public will also have an opportunity to see how OJeda works in his studio and to view a short video interviewing the artist for the WETA television program Art Beat.

This project was made possible in part by a grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.Special thanks to Dr. Egla Morales Blouin for assistance with translations.