#maria gainza

[sublecturas]

"La luz negra", de María Gainza

[world-literatures]

Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza

This was, unfortunately, in many ways a novel where the synopsis sounds more interesting than the book actually is. That said, once I accepted this for what is was (literary fiction) and not what I thought (thriller/mystery) I did appreciate it. I liked the shifting timelines and the discussions around art, forgery and identity.

genres: literary fiction

translator: Thomas Bunstead

rating: ★★★

goodreads synopsis:

In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she seems especially gifted at forging canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentine high society. But who is this absurdly gifted creator of counterfeits? What motivates her? And what is her link to the community of artists who congregate, night after night, in a strange establishment called the Hotel Melancólico?

On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation, she warns us “not to proceed in expectation of names, numbers or dates . . . My techniques are those of the impressionist.”

What follows is a highly seductive and enveloping meditation on what we mean by “authenticity” in art, and a captivating exploration of the gap between what is lived and what is told. Portrait of an Unknown Lady is, like any great work, driven by obsession and full of subtle surprise.

[poetlcs]

sharing some books I read recently and recommend for women in translation month!

for more: @world-literatures

Two Sisters by Ngarta Jinny Bent & Jukuna Mona Chuguna (Translated from Walmajarri by Eirlys Richards and Pat Lowe)

The only known books translated from this Indigenous Australian language, tells sisters Ngarta and Jakuna's experience living in traditional Walmajarri ways.

2. Human Acts by Han Kang (Translated from South Korean by Deborah Smith)

Gwangju, South Korea, 1980. In the wake of a viciously suppressed student uprising, a boy searches for his friend's corpse, a consciousness searches for its abandoned body, and a brutalised country searches for a voice.

3. Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez (Translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell)

Short story collection exploring the realities of modern Argentina. So well written - with stories that are as engrossing and captivating as they are macabre and horrifying.

4. Portrait of an Unknown Lady by Maria Gainza (Translated from Spanish by Thomas Bunstead)

In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she seems especially gifted at forging canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentine high society. On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed.

5. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrente (Translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein)

My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists.

6. Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen (Translated from Danish by Tiina Nunnally and Michael Favala Goldman)

Tove knows she is a misfit, whose childhood is made for a completely different girl. In her working-class neighbourhood in Copenhagen, she is enthralled by her wild, red-headed friend Ruth, who initiates her into adult secrets. But Tove cannot reveal her true self to her or to anyone else.

7. La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono (Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel)

The first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, La Bastarda is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other village outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of “mysterious” girls reveling in their so-called indecency. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself falling in love with their leader and rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture.

8. Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge (Translated from Chinese by Jeremy Tiang)

In the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an, an amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. Aided by her elusive former professor and his enigmatic assistant, our narrator sets off to document each beast, and is slowly drawn deeper into a mystery that threatens her very sense of self.

[josh0555]

This is the 2015 Station ID of GMA. The GMA Orchestra Crew returns after their inactivity for 9 years. Sadly, Fernando Poe Jr. died of leukemia in September 11, 2005 at the age of 90, Mark Gil died in November 11, 2005 due to respiratory failure at the age of 52, Rene Hawkins died in February 14, 2009 due to a heart failure at the age of 54 and Rodolfo “Dolphy” Quizon died in April 25, 2015 due to natural causes at 95. However, The 2015 Station ID of GMA marks the return of Martin Nievera as the conductor, Sharon Cuneta as the concertmaster, Piolo Pascual as the pianist, Ruffa Gutierrez as the Clarinet player, Christopher de Leon as the Bassoon player, Edu Manzano as the Timpani player, Richard Gomez as the glass harp player, Heart Evangelista, Dimples Romana, Bea Alonzo, Jericho Rosales, and Lucy Torres-Gomez as the First Violinists, Janno Gibbs, Mel Martinez, Patrick Garcia, Justin Cuyugan and Pen Medina as the Second Violinists, Maricel Soriano, Epy Quizon, Eric Quizon, and Vandolph as the Viola players. Eddie Gutierrez, Tonton Gutierrez, Janine Gutierrez, Richard Gutierrez, Raymond Gutierrez, and Michael de Mesa as the Cello players and Jaime Fabregas, Leandro Muñoz, Mark Lapid, Cherie Gil, Geoff Eigenmann, Gabby Eigenmann, Albert Martinez and Efren Reyes Jr. as the upright bassists featuring the GMA News and Public Affairs crew members like Henry Omaga-Diaz and Mike Enriquez as the trumpeters, Cheryl Cosim as the Clarinet player, Karen Davila as the Oboe player, Jessica Soho as the Bassoon player, Mel Tiangco as the French Horn Player and Amelyn Veloso as the Cornet Player. Somehow, Arcee Muñoz, Alice Dixson, Tuesday Vargas, Ritz Azul, Eula Caballero, Hero Angeles, Aga Muhlach, Niño Muhlach, Coco Martin, Toni Gonzaga, Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, Bayani Agbayani, Raymond Bagatsing, RK Bagatsing, Andi Eigenmann, John Lloyd Cruz, EJ Falcon, Eric Fructuoso, Fernando Poe Jr., Mark Gil, Rene Hawkins and Rodolfo “Dolphy” Quizon are replaced by the new GMA Orchestra crew members. Gelli de Belen will be taking over as the guitarist, Luis Manzano will be taking over as the drummer, Junell Hernando will be taking over as the Bass Clarinet player, Pooh will be taking over as the French horn player, Pokwang will be taking over as the Trombone player, John Prats will be taking over as the Trumpeter, Raymart Santiago will be taking over as the Mellophone, Matteo Guidicelli will be taking over as the Euphonium player, Ogie Diaz will be taking over as the Baritone Horn player, Joem Bascon will be taking over as the Tuba player, Christine Bersola-Babao will be taking over as the glass harmonica player. Other orchestra crew members like Janice de Belen, Jerome Ponce, Kristine Hermosa, Julia Montes, Jay Manalo, Marlo Mortel and Jan Nieto will be taking over as the First Violinists while Terence Baylon, JM de Guzman, Jessie Mendiola, Jodi Sta. Maria, Joyce Jimenez, Jayson Gainza and Zanjoe Marudo as the Second Violinists, Chad Kinis, Albie Casiño, Martin Escudero, Polo Ravales, Diego Loyzaga, Ion Perez and Lovely Abella as the new Viola players, Amy Perez, Erich Gonzales, Beauty Gonzales, Precious Lara Quigaman, Dino Imperial, Meg Imperial, Barbie Imperial, will be taking over as the Cello players, Derek Ramsay, Benjamin Besa, Carl Cervantos, Wendell Ramos, MJ Marfoni, Joseph Bitangcol, Joross Gamboa, Ketchup Eusebio, Imee Hart, Iwa Moto, Sugar Mercado, Ping Medina, Alex Vincent Medina will be taking over as the new Upright Bassists Players, But eventually, Lovi Poe will be taking over as the English Horn player to mark a tribute to Fernando Poe Jr who died in September 11, 2005. Luckily, Anne Curtis will be taking over as the oboe player while her twin sister Jasmine Curtis-Smith takes over as the flute player and a new GMA News and Current Affairs crew member Julius Babao will also be taking over as the Sousaphone player. Somehow, The Station ID includes James Reid on electric bass and Nadine Lustre on Xylophone.

[leeberardo]

maria gainza / el nervio optico

[jurassicbooks]

September 24, 2022

Got some new books today! I’ve discovered recently that I am a short book person, and I think this selection really shows that. Anything that’s about 200 pages is, I think, the perfect length. All that needs to be said is said, and there’s no room for the author to put in unnecessary and confusing sub-plots or side character romances.

True Crime Story by Joseph Knox is the outlier of this haul, and that is because I listened to the audiobook way back in January of this year, and then today when I saw the physical copy in the bookstore for the first time I decided to pick it up. It is a truly unique book, because it was written as if you are reading from a police report, with each character’s speech being encapsulated in it’s own section on the page, similar to how plays are formatted. The plot follows a group of friends in the aftermath of the disappearance of one of the friends sister. You get to see how well some of these characters move on with their lives, and how some seem to be crushed under the weight of guilt and sorrow. There’s also a huge reveal at the end that completely blew my mind!

[dk-thrive]

We have little and nothing: only what we are today, at a stretch what we did yesterday and, with luck, what we’re going to do tomorrow.

Maria Gainza, from “Portrait of an Unknown Lady” translated by Thomas Bunstead (Harvill Secker, March 22, 2022)

[thecolorsinouruniverse]

now i've had a look at the person i once was, i find myself interested in knowing what i'm going to become.

maria gainza, optic nerve

[whilereadingandwalking]

Optic Nerve by María Gainza, translated by Thomas Bunstead, is a quietly excellent, short novel of a woman in love with art, telling the story of her life in anecdotes sparked by the biography of artists who have inspired or affected her. 

The chapters read almost like personal essays: rich and reflective. Stories of El Greco, of Rothko, of Courbet and Rousseau, all influence and inform her stories about moments that impacted her—moments of death, illness, of bad days. The protagonist pushes out her story, wanting to share her intimate thoughts but only through the stories of others, not letting us get too close and yet also baring her soul to us. 

She has struggles that felt very familiar. The anticipatory anxiety struggle is real; she is terrified of airplanes and quietly worried even in moments of happiness. And so moments of turmoil, scenes of stormy seas, appeal to her in ways she tries to explain. For people with anxiety, there is a sort of solace in things going definitively wrong, because now you know. She tries to explain what her anxiety looks like through reflections and depictions; her life in Buenos Aires slowly comes into view, at once distant, disassociated, and up-close, intimate. It's a novel I enjoyed and thought was fascinating in terms of craft. It was a quick read, flowing easily from one chapter to the next.

[brokenncompass]

El nervio óptico - María Gainza

[bonpourbruler]

[crowdsourcing] e-books

does anyone know where i can get a free e-copy of these books? i need it for my thesis ;___; i’ll be very grateful if you can send me a link! tysm <3

1. Syzygy, Beauty: An Essay by T Fleischmann

2. Optic Nerve by Maria Gainza

3. Girls Against God by Jenny Hval

[sublecturas]

"El nervio óptico", de María Gainza en la #LíneaB

[dcamanes]

Una vida crítica - María Gainza

Las virtudes de una crítica de arte dudosa

“Una vida crítica” recoge estos textos escritos entre el 2003 y el 2017, la gran mayoría publicadas en el suplemento Radar de Página/12 pero también para ArtForum o en catálogos para la Bienal de Venecia. Son muchos, pero destacaría los ensayos sobre Alejandro Kuroptawa o Jorge de la Vega, abriendo una ventana a una vibrante escena pop, o el sublime juego de imágenes mentales que crea para Alberto Goldenstein. Si el lector o lectora que desconozca gran parte del panteón artístico argentino contemporáneo (hablamos sobre todo de artistas en activo en los 80 hasta la actualidad) tiene miedo de sentirse perdido entre nombres que no le resultan familiares, decirle que no se asuste, que el estilo de Gainza es tan enriquecedor, tan hipnótico, ameno y placentero que no se arrepentirá de su elección.

En la portada de “Una vida crítica” vemos un dibujo a lápiz del dibujante argentino Rodolfo Azaro, donde unas piernas de mujer cruzadas, calzadas con merceditas de tacón y vestidas con liguero y medias, hacen a su vez de puente que cruza el río por un angosto desfiladero. A un lado, una frondosa vegetación y del otro un camión que parece estar a punto de atravesar esas piernas hasta la arremangada falda-orilla del otro lado. La elección de este dibujo fetichista y cómico no es baladí. En la misma crítica que María Gainza dedica a Azaro, la escritora apunta a “esa brecha que queda sin expresar, donde la imaginación humana toma dos objetos o imágenes separadas y completa la idea, el movimiento, y hasta le pone sonido”. Y es que, los textos que María Gainza escribió del 2003 al 2017 ahora recogidos en este volumen editado por Clave Intelectual, son precisamente eso; el puente que cubre la brecha, la imagen que ayuda a completar la idea, las palabras que nos guían, nos sustentan y nos encauzan. 

En 2017 la editorial Anagrama lanzó “El nervio óptico” (originalmente publicada en Argentina en 2014) que supuso todo un éxito de ventas y crítica en ambos lados del charco. Detrás de esta novela, que destaca por la virtuosa maestría a la hora de mezclar géneros, se encuentra María Gainza, nacida en Buenos Aires en 1975 en el seno de una familia de la nobleza periodística de su país. Tras ese fulminante arranque en la ficción vino “La luz negra” que seguía la estela de la primera novela, trenzando sus vastos conocimientos sobre el mundo y los entresijos del arte con un relato cuasi policiaco de gran potencia y luminosidad narrativa. Gainza se inicia, siguiendo la tradición familiar, como corresponsal en The New York Times y ArtNews, siendo a su vez colaboradora durante más de diez años en la revista ArtForum, así como en el suplemento cultural del diario argentino Página/12, con sus chisporroteantes, frescas y nada académicas críticas de arte. “Yo fui una crítica de arte dudosa”, dice Gainza, “floja de papeles, insegura respecto a mis calificaciones y vaga en mis convicciones”. Y, a pesar de estas minimizadoras palabras, sus críticas se convirtieron en piezas que sagrados y profanos leían con verdadero disfrute. 

 María, que estudió Historia del Arte en el elitista colegio inglés Northlands, afirma que fue la suerte (y quizás el apellido, sin duda) la que la llevó a escribir crítica, aunque según sus palabras no “manejaba rudimentos básicos de teoría estética”. Con esta formación y su desparpajo convenció a un editor (“tuve la delicadeza de no advertirle que se encontraba frente a una novata. ¿A quién hubiera ayudado esa información?”), y lo demás es leyenda. Gainza renovó el canon con piezas que trascienden la pura crítica, adentrándose en el ensayo, la crónica y hasta el obituario. Sin academicismos, pero con rigor, profundiza en las obras y las vidas de los artistas de una forma exhaustiva y personal, fruto de numerosas entrevistas y encuentros con los creadores, mezclando géneros también en sus biografías. 

[poetlcs]

2023 reading tracker

total: 75/52

sff

a sky beyond the storm - sabaa tahir

enclave - claire g. coleman

a criminal magic - lee kelly (dnf)

the shattered city - lisa maxwell

a feast for crows - george r.r martin

the ballad of songbirds and snakes - suzanne collins

chain of iron - cassandra clare

hell bent - leigh bardugo

chain of thorns - cassandra clare

the bronzed beasts - roshani chokshi

the drowning faith - r.f kuang

how high we go in the dark - sequoia nagamatsu

the jasmine throne - tasha suri

the hunger games - suzanne collins

catching fire - suzanne collins

mockingjay - suzanne collins

a far wilder magic - allison saft

translated

the transmigration of bodies - yuri herrera

portrait of an unknown lady - maria gainza

love in the big city - sang young park

my brilliant friend - elena ferrante

frankenstein in baghdad - ahmed saadawi

la bastarda - trifonia melibea obono

bolla - pajtim statovci

contemporary

you are eating an orange. you are naked - sheung-king

seeing other people - diana reid

the henna wars - adiba jaigirdar

you and me on vacation - emily henry

now that i see you - emma batchelor 

delilah green doesn’t care - ashley herring blake

becoming kirrali lewis - jane harrison

style - chelsea m. cameron

yellowface - rf kuang

the summer i turned pretty - jenny han

it’s not summer without you - jenny han

the charm offensive - alison cochrun

love & virtue - diana reid

the divines - ellie eaton

sincerely, carter - whitney g

crushing - genevieve novak

icebreaker - hannah grace

cleopatra & frankenstein - coco mellors

duck a l’orange for breakfast - karina may

happy place - emily henry

wildfire - hannah grace

i am not your perfect mexican daughter - erika l. sanchez

you don’t have a shot - racquel marie

mystery/thriller

final girls - riley sager

nine liars - maureen johnson

the box in the woods - maureen johnson

a good girls guide to murder - holly jackson

good girl, bad blood - holly jackson

queen of the tiles - hanna alkaf

as good as dead - holly jackson

kill joy - holly jackson

five survive - holly jackson

the dry - jane harper

non-fiction

mirror sydney - vanessa berry

in byrons wake: the turbulent lives of lord byron’s wife and daughter, annabella milbanke and ada lovelace - miranda seymour

the lavender scare: the cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government - david k. johnson

odd girl out: the hidden culture of aggression in girls - rachel simmons

dinosaurs rediscovered - michael j. benton

queer others in victorian gothic - ardel haefele-thomas

alone time: four cities, four seasons and the pleasures of solitude - stephanie rosenbloom

how to break up with fast fashion - lauren bravo

the white album - joan didion

the gene - siddhartha mukherjee

the new hite report: the revolutionary report on female sexuality - shere hite

my body - emily ratajkowski

historical fiction

the mountains sing - nguyen phan que mai

one for the master - dorothy johnson

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow - gabrielle zevin

the christie affair (dnf) - nina de gramont

classics

things fall apart - chinua achebe

northanger abbey - jane austen

jamaica inn - daphne du maurier 

[little-miss-readable]

Una jaula es perversa: no te sofoca, sino que te acostumbra a vivir con la mínima cantidad de aire indispensable.

María Gainza, El nervio óptico.

[egoschwank]

al things considered — when i post my masterpiece #821

first posted in facebook april 2, 2020

hubert robert -- "colloseum, rome" (ca. 1790)

"[robert's] works heighten the monumentality of the structures they are depicting by lowering the viewer’s eye and inserting small, almost minute, human figures in the foreground for comparison. the vegetation growing in and around the aging temple and the ruined basilica helps to further highlight and dramatize their levels of decay" ... sheree y. liu

"it depicts a group of young people at play in the ruins of a greek temple. anywhere you look in the painting, at the crumbling temple, at the withered tree, or at the starving mule, everything points to endings, or THE end. the only distraction, and a momentary one at that, is the young people's game. like the dog that, after the bombing of berlin, emerged from the rubble, dug up a bone, and played with it for a short while, and when it saw a tank rumbling past at top speed threw itself under its tracks" ... maria gainza (discussing a similar painting of hubert robert's in her book "optic nerve")

"if dogs run free, then what must be must be, and that is all" ... bob dylan

"the world was ... unlasting, what could be forever? or only what it seemed? rock corrodes, rivers freeze, fruit rots ...and who is lonelier: the hawk or the worm?" ... a 12 year old truman capote

"what could be deadlier: a tank or a dog? for if tanks rumble free, then what it is it is, and that is al" ... al janik