A Blast From the Past Diego Rivera Art Film

Recently I attended a film festival and sat through a film that was originally created in 1971, but has been "masterfully" redigitized, "RIVERA, OROZCO, SIQUEIROS: WALLS OF FIRE"
Directed by Herbert Kline; produced by Gertrude Ross Marks and Edmund F. Penney. (1971, 75 min.)

The film was narrated by the sultry Ricardo Montalban (yes, of Star Trek fame and a million other classics). The film is the story of Mexico's "Los Tres Grandes" - The Three Great Ones: Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros, whose public work murals remain an integral part of the contemporary life and culture of Mexico.

The film was told personally by Siqueiros at the time he was completing his monumental mural, "The March of Humanity," in his home town of Cuernavaca, Mexico. The documentary weaves the lives of the three "larger-than-life" artists and their personal involvement in the Mexican Revolution for Independence. The film won a Golden Globe for Outstanding Documentary in 1972 and was an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature 1973.

My time flies --1971 just seems like yesterday, but the degradation of this award-winner was all too apparent, even with state-of-the-art reconstruction. While the film was wonderful, I kept saying to myself, "if I could only really see the art." Well, this brought to mind what a wonderful job the History Channel does now with historical interpretation.

The film did accomplish one thing that documentaries are supposed to do I think. It got me thinking about these three art giants, and what their lives and art have meant to humanity. And while I was clearly not entertained passively like I am now accustomed to, my interest was piqued enough to get me to explore the work of these artists further.

Shopping for Art Online

I'm wondering how many of you out there shop online? I moved to the country a few years ago, and now I do it all the time, because of the lack of access to good shopping experiences. One time I ordered shoes online one evening from Zappos.com and the shoes arrived on my doorstep by midmorning of the next day. It seemed like magic that something could get to me so fast, and I've been hooked ever since.

This geographic move also put into play a need for change in my life, and after a few months of what I describe as bubbly thought, my focus gelled on a concept I developed called Creative Consumerism tm which we immediately trademarked. This concept developed into a website known as buyoutsidethebox.com

This is the place where our company sells art: beautiful/contemplative/brilliant/whimsical/playful/thought provoking art, and other quality, hand-made items whether it is an award-winning coffee produced by a boutique roastery, or a vitamin C serum for your face. The idea being that we get enough homogneization in our lives, and sometimes--while there's nothing wrong with shopping at the doorstep of corporate America we do it ourselves often--it is sometimes good to reward ourselves with art or something made with the passion and intimacy of an artist or entrpreneur.

In my lifetime I've seen a man walk on the moon, the iron curtain fall, the development of the internet, cell phones, a machine that can zap a weinie in 30 seconds flat, and now a time a place where people can connect and buy something as personal as a painting without ever leaving their home or taking off their house slippers.

It's really cool, and I'm grateful to be a part of such incredible change.

I sincerely hope you will visit our site, and get to know our artists and the thoughtful and beautiful work they are creating by their own hands.

Catch 'ya later.....

Look at this beautiful vase by glass artist Eric Dandurand...

Sunset Ascension series -moon vase - Art glass