Berlin Art@Site www.artatsite.com Romero Britto Best Buddies Friendship Bear
Artist:

Romero Britto

Title:

Best Buddies Friendship Bear

Year:
2011
Adress:
O2-Platz 1, Mühlenstrasse
Website:
From: Tao van Poeh, Benjamin Hoff:
‘What's this you're writing?’, asked Pooh, climbing onto the writing table.
‘The Tao of Pooh’, I replied.
‘The how of Pooh?’ asked Pooh, smudging one of the words I had just written.
‘The Tao of Pooh’, I replied, poking his paw away with my pencil.
‘It seems more like ow! of Pooh’, said Pooh, rubbing his paw.
‘Well, it's not’, I replied huffily.
‘What's it about?’ asked Pooh, leaning forward and smearing another word.
‘It's about how to stay happy and calm under all circumstances!’ I yelled.
‘Have you read it?’ asked Pooh.

sharp and confrontational
You say ‘yes’, to the Best Buddies Friendship Bear! No one can resist this adorable invitation for a hug. Everyone would be happy and is lit to smile because of these funny colors, this bright joy. It seems to me that Best Buddies are specially lovely and happy. In my opinion they could be sharper and more confronting. Perhaps Pooh can be a good example for this.
Pooh looks a lot like Best Buddy. Pooh is a sweety. In addition, he can be sharp and confrontational as wel. Pooh can ask on a friendly way to be happy and calm under all circumstances. I’m in awe: combining extremes like being heartbreaking as well as confrontational.
By Theo, www.artatsite.com

Uit: Tao van Poeh, Benjamin Hoff, vertaling Hilde Bervoets:
‘Wat zit je daar te schrijven?’ vroeg Poeh, terwijl hij op de tafel klauterde.
‘De Tao van Poeh,’ antwoorde ik.
‘De hóe van Poeh?’ vroeg Poeh en maakte een vlek op een woord dat ik net had geschreven.
‘De Tao van Poeh,’ antwoordde ik, zijn poot wegpriemend met mijn potlood.
‘Het lijkt meer op de au! van Poeh,’ zei Poeh, terwijl hij over zijn poot wreef.
‘Nou, dat is het dus niet,’ zei ik nijdig.
‘Waar gaat het over?’ vroeg Poeh, terwijl hij zich naar voren boog en weer een woord bezoedelde.
‘Het gaat over hoe je blij en kalm moet blijven onder alle omstandigheden!’ schreeuwde ik.
‘Heb jij ’t gelezen?’ vroeg Poeh.

Vertaling
scherp en confronterend
Tegen Best Buddies Friendship Bear zeg je ‘jah’! Deze vertederende uitnodiging tot een knuffel kan niemand weerstaan. Iedereen wordt blij en wordt aangestoken door deze glimlach, deze grappige kleuren, deze felle vrolijkheid. Het lijkt mij dat Best Buddies vooral lief en vrolijk zijn. Naar mijn gevoel hadden zij iets scherper en confronterender gemogen. Misschien kan Poeh hiervan een voorbeeld zijn.
Poeh lijkt een beetje op Best Buddy. Poeh is een schatje. Daarnaast kan Poeh ook scherp en confronterend zijn. Poeh kan op een vriendelijke manier vragen om blij en kalm te blijven onder alle omstandigheden. Dat vind ik knap; om uitersten te combineren als vertederend als confronterend.
Door Theo, www.artatsite.com

www.pinterest.com:
The Best Buddies Friendship Bear created by Romero Britto was dedicated to the city of Berlin by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in honor of people with intellectual disabilities who inspire their communities worldwide. The Anschutz Entertainment Group is displaying the sculpture in front of the O2 World Arena in Berlin's popular Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough. The Best Buddies Friendship Bear is 12 feet tall and sits on a 5 foot base, and weighs approximately 4000 lbs.

www.prnewswire.com: Britto, who believes art is too important not to share, has become an artistic activist through charitable organizations worldwide, including Best Buddies International.
Britto's works, which reflect his optimistic faith in the world around him, are characterized for his intense colors, pop themes and commanding compositions.

www.medium.com:
Romero Britto, one of the world’s most iconic pop artists, realizes the importance of young people immersing themselves in the arts and general education.
Growing up in Recife, Brazil, Britto didn’t have many resources in life. One thing that kept him going, though, was art. According to an article from T Brand Studios of The New York Times, Britto was influenced by a local artist, Francisco Brennand, who was very well known around his hometown.
'He did murals, ceramics,' he said of Brennand. 'I loved to see that all over the city — he had art everywhere.'
Even with art being one of the only accessible creative outlets in his life, it still wasn’t an easy hobby to take up. Britto had to teach himself how to paint by working on scraps of paper and cardboard, as his family simply couldn’t provide the tools he needed.
'In a family with nine children, what I learned very early was to struggle and try to figure out [how to make art] myself,' he said.
'I still think that, in school, they should emphasize more arts and culture,' said Britto. 'It does give a possibility [to] create something unique and new. And this goes for anything and everything — art and business.'

www.wikipedia.org:
Romero Britto (* 6. Oktober 1963 in Recife) ist ein brasilianischer Neo-Pop-Künstler.
Romero Britto, der seit 1987 in Miami arbeitende Vertreter der Neo-Pop-Art, ist bekannt für seine fröhlichen bunten Bilder und Skulpturen. Mit seiner neuartigen Ausdrucksweise reflektiert er seine optimistische positive Einstellung gegenüber dem Leben. Hierbei lässt er sich von alten und modernen Meistern beeinflussen. In seinen farbenfrohen Arbeiten kombiniert Britto Elemente aus dem Kubismus, der Pop-Art und dem Graffiti.

www.wikipedia.org:
Romero Britto (born October 6, 1963) is a Brazilian artist, painter, serigrapher, and sculptor. He combines elements of cubism, pop art, and graffiti painting in his work, using vibrant colors and bold patterns as a visual expression of hope, dreams, and happiness.
Born in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, on the Northeast side of Brazil, Britto lived and grew up among a big family of eight brothers and sisters. However, his innate creativity allowed Britto to fill his life with images of a bigger and more beautiful world beyond his own at an early age, he painted what he saw and what he imagined on surfaces such as newspapers, cardboard or any scraps that he could find. With an inordinate passion to excel, he prospered academically. Still, Britto's artistic nature eventually led him to seek experiences outside his home. In 1983, Britto went to Paris, France where he was introduced to the works of Matisse and Picasso, Britto was encouraged to travel to the United States where Pop Art was flourishing. www.wikipedia.org:
Pop art as a movement presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular and mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and mundane mass-produced objects.
Pop art and minimalism are considered to be art movements that precede postmodern art, or are some of the earliest examples of postmodern art themselves.