Zoe Bray News

2012-01-25T17:35:00.000+01:00

23 January - 10 February 2012. My painting 'Garlic' (oil on board) is exhibited as part of the collective show 'No strings attached' Valentine Biennal, at the School of the Arts, Reno. The painting can be bought in a silent auction on the evening of 10 February.

2012-01-20T00:37:00.000+01:00

13 January 2012 - I speak on the phone to Radio France Bleu Pays Basque for their special event on the Basque diaspora.

2012-01-08T18:11:00.004+01:00

Happy New Year everyone!
With the end of 2011, I have completed my 365 drawings.
As from 2012, I am posting drawings on my new blog ´Line and Light´.

2011-11-28T03:37:00.000+01:00

28 November - 2 December 2011. My paintings Quietude 1 and Quietude 2 will be on show at The Gallery in Cork Street, London, as part of the Bryanston Now exhibition, also showing Lucian Freud and Howard Hodgkin.

2011-11-09T21:48:00.001+01:00

9-13 November 2011. I present a paper on 'Corporate Social Responsability and the Local Community: ethnographic perspectives,' together with Christian Thauer, at the ISA MidWest (International Studies Association) in St. Louis, Missouri.

2011-11-08T05:54:00.000+01:00

The Basque magazine Argia publishes an article about me in their November edition no. 2297.

2011-11-05T18:13:00.001+01:00

5 November 2011. I give a talk on 'Painters of the valleys of Baztan and Baigorri/Garazi Today' at the Basque Cultural Center in San Francisco, California, on the occasion of the celebration of Nafarroaren Eguna.

2011-10-01T05:27:00.005+02:00

October-November 2011. Work in progress: painting Marie-Louise Lekumberry in my new studio/home in Reno, Nevada, USA.

2011-06-10T11:37:00.007+02:00

28 June - 28 August 2011. My exhibition of recent paintings 'Des gens et des lieux / Lekuko jendea' at the Musée Historique de Biarritz, rue Broquedis, French Basque Country.

See Interview on the French TV channel FR3 (as from 4min. and 10secs.)

2011-06-09T13:07:00.002+02:00

23 June. I give a talk on realist portrait painting and ethnography in Uhartz-Cize, French Basque Country, invited by Femmes 3000, at 7pm. (In this photo, one of the projects I talk about: painting Nestor Basterretxea at his house in Hondarribia).

2011-05-20T12:31:00.002+02:00

OPEN STUDIO. Saturday 4th of June, from 6-9pm. You are welcome to see what I have been up to over these past two months in Berlin. Works are for sale. The rest shall be flown to an exhibition I am having solo in Biarritz later that month. Address of studio: Naumannstrass 79, building 34B. U-Bahn: Sudkreuz.

2011-05-18T13:33:00.002+02:00

30 May. I give a lecture on Ethnography, Painting and Identity at the Freie Universitat, Berlin.

2011-03-13T11:12:00.003+01:00

March-June 2011. I am based in Berlin, painting life-size portraits in my ad hoc studio in Sud Kreuz. Here, painting photographer Maria Ponte Jauregui.

2011-03-05T17:59:00.001+01:00

30 March 2011. I talk via Skype from Berlin with students of the college Xalbador, in Kambo, French Basque Country.

I did this drawing for my 'one drawing a day 2011 challenge', which you can see here: 365 blog.

2011-03-01T22:53:00.001+01:00

February 2011. I was interviewed by Fermin Munarriz for the newspaper Gara in Spanish. ARTICLE. VIDEO.
I was also interviewed by Panpi Mercapide for the radio Gure Irratia in Basque. LISTEN

2011-02-02T23:57:00.000+01:00

February 2011. I continue my portraits of the artists Nestor Basterretxea and Jose Antonio Sistiaga. In this photo, painting Jose Antonio at his home in Ziburu.

2010-12-31T02:37:00.012+01:00

Starting 1 January 2011, I launch my project of producing a drawing every day of 2011. See the drawings on my special blog:
http://365days365drawings365dosh.blogspot.com/
Each drawing is on sale for 36pounds and 50pence.

2010-12-13T11:46:00.004+01:00

December 2010. I am in Florence and Rome, to take part in workshops and activities on the subjects of identity, ethnography and art, at the European University Institute, the Florence Academy of Art and the Associazione Culturale Euskara.
See extract of one video made about artists living and working in Florence.

2010-11-25T18:31:00.005+01:00

24-27 November 2010. Young SIETAR Congress in Istanbul. I offer a workshop on 'Reflecting on our inter-personal identity relations'.

2010-11-08T23:37:00.000+01:00

2 November 2010. Read article in HABE.

2010-11-01T11:41:00.001+01:00

1 November 2010. Read article in the newspaper Gara.

2010-10-26T09:49:00.002+02:00

28-29 October. I attend the Scottish Policy Innovation forum, in Edinburgh.

2010-10-22T10:11:00.001+02:00

18-22 October. I take part in WeeKreate, a week of creativity at the Engineering School ESTIA in the French Basque Country where I give a course on creativity in painting, and illustrate live a roundtable discussion between different business people. A video of these experiences will soon be available.

2010-10-06T23:12:00.005+02:00

9 October. I inaugurate my series of 22 portraits of Iparraldeko bertsolariak (French Basque improvised singers) which I have been working on since 2008. Together with the association Iparraldeko Bertsolarien Lagunak, the exhibition marks the beginning of the 'bertsu' championships that will last till November. The exhibition is at the house of Larraldea in Sempere, in the French Basque Country.

On 13 November, the exhibition will be moved to the Jai Alai in Saint Jean de Luz on the occasion of the final championships.
The Basque radio EITB interviewed me on two occasions: listen here and here.

2010-09-12T11:30:00.002+02:00

7-8 October. I present a paper on 'Innovation in working practices: an anthropological perspective' at the Projectics conference hosted by the Ecole Superieure de Technologies Industrielles Avancees (ESTIA) in Bidart and San Sebastian, Basque Country. Here, one of various drawings I did to illustrate my talk.

2010-08-07T17:57:00.013+02:00

8 - 13 August. I attend a master class with the painters Antonio Lopez Garcia, Maria Moreno and Jose Maria Mezquita at the University of Navarre, Pamplona, Spain. In this photo, talking with Lopez and Moreno (who happen to also be husband and wife). I write about this experience: read it HERE.

2010-08-05T13:57:00.012+02:00

July 12 to August 5 - I am between France and Spain to paint the portraits of three Basque artists in their homes. In this photo, with sculptor, film-maker and painter Nestor Basterretxea. I also did a sketch of Nestor which can be seen here.

2010-07-03T11:20:00.007+02:00

2 - 18 July. I am having a solo show in the fascinating town of Urretxu, surrounded by small steep mountains, south of San Sebastian (Basque Country, Spain).
“ERREALITATEAK / REALIDADES / REALITÉS / REALITIES”
Hall 'Juan de Lizarazu'.

Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday, 17:30 – 20:30.
On the 21st of July, I'll give local children a visit of the exhibition with a treasure hunt specially prepared in Basque.
See article in DIARIO VASCO

2010-06-18T16:09:00.002+02:00

25 June - 25 August 2010. My painting 'A florentine woman' is on show at the collective exhibition 'Les magiciens de l'art du Pays basque' at the Villa Ducontenia, Saint Jean de Luz, France. Opening times: Wed - Sun: 3pm-7.30pm and Sat also: 10-12.

2010-05-03T17:37:00.008+02:00

14 May - 12 June. My charcoal self-portrait is included in the exhibition 'Impulse: the choices of an art lover', in Saint Jean Pied de Port, French Basque Country. The exhibition shows the collection of works belonging to the art lovers Juan Pablo Zabala and Elena Ponte. Other artists included are Goenaga, Sistiaga, Basterretxea, Ruiz de Balerdi, Etchevers and Mendiburu.

2010-05-01T15:33:00.005+02:00

13 May - 15 June. 'Un mundo - dos visiones'. I show my paintings alongside those of abstract painter Josette Dacosta, at the Escuela de Musica del Valle de Egues, Olaz, just next to Pamplona (Navarre, Spain).

2010-04-23T14:08:00.002+02:00

23 April, I give a lecture at the Florence Academy of Art on Basque nineteenth century painters, from Leon Bonnat, to Marie Garay, to Ignacio Zuloaga to Antonio Ortiz Echague.

2010-03-30T22:04:00.002+02:00

31st March. I present a paper on Ethnography and Methodological Pluralism in Edinburgh, at the annual conference of the Political Science Association, UK.

2009-09-18T16:51:00.008+02:00

4th October 2009, the French television FR3 showed a 7 minute documentary on me in their Magazine.

2009-09-18T16:50:00.022+02:00

Occassionally I write articles on something to do with the arts. My latest article (January 2010) is about the 19th century realist painter Fernand Pelez whose work was recently on show in Paris' Petit Palais.
Before that (October 2009) I wrote about the exhibition that just ended at London's National Gallery, The Sacred made Real, curated by my elder brother Xavier.Other articles of mine on the history of art are to be found here.

2009-08-07T23:06:00.005+02:00

Portrait duel, July 2009. Cuban painter Silvia Haydee and I paint each other’s portrait live. While I go about my naturalistic approach, Silvia’s paintbrushes see right through my bikini ! The process was photographed and filmed by Juan Pablo Zabala in his house in Hondarribia.

2009-07-03T15:50:00.004+02:00

15 to 19 July, Errobiko Festibala, Itsasu. I will be exhibiting some paintings in this very special festival taking place on the banks of the river Errobi in the French Basque Country, together with two other locally renowned artists, Josette Dacosta and Lola Saratea.

2009-07-02T13:12:00.012+02:00

1 July 2009 - I give an experimental course in portrait sculpture to Master students in Ingenierie de Projets at the Ecole Superieure des Technologies Industrielles Avancees, in Bidart, Basque Country.
The idea is to explore their artistic creativity in first-time sculpture-making and thus reflect on their personal approach in their other professional (and life) projects.
I encourage them to first look at the model from a point of view as objective as possible, stand back, look at the object from all sides, use the mirror (a device used by Da Vinci amongst others to refresh the eye), touching, pausing and observing. After an initial phase spent doing this, understanding the bigger picture, are the students encouraged to zoom in and embark finally on a more subjective and personal approach.

2009-06-09T21:47:00.005+02:00

9 to 23 June - ''Art in process: Looking through the eye of the photographer and the painter", at the European University Institute, Florence.
I exhibit together with photographer Niccolo Tognarini. While I painted friends and familiar objects in the palazzo Bargellini, Niccolo took photos of the process.

2009-06-07T13:55:00.008+02:00

June 5 2009 - I receive the Tintori Family Scholarship to pursue my apprenticeship in realist painting.

2009-05-05T11:10:00.004+02:00

May 2009: My charcoal nude portrait 'Bizia aurrean' is exhibited at the Salon des Independants of Saint Jean de Luz, Villa Ducontenia.

2009-04-27T19:42:00.015+02:00

April - May: I paint Miriam Aziz, singer, song-writer, musician, dancer and eternal researcher, during her brief visit to Florence.

2009-04-06T19:04:00.008+02:00

April 2009. I am exhibiting half a dozen paintings, including my war series, in the town of Auritze (Burguete) in Navarre, Spain. It forms part of the collective exhibition 'Emazteen Artea' , organized by the cultural association Itzal Aktiboa. For more info see here.

2009-04-06T18:53:00.007+02:00

March - ten intense days in the Basque Country amongst other things to continue my portraiture of Basque improvised singers (bertsolaris). Here is Xanti Iparragirre who drove all the way from Arrasate (Mondragon) to pose for me patiently in my studio in San Sebastian.

2009-02-27T19:48:00.000+01:00

24 February 2009 - Seminar to First year Phd researchers of the European University Institute on 'Research techniques: open-ended interviewing and participant observation'.

2009-02-14T12:56:00.007+01:00

2009. I spend some weeks studying at the Florence Academy of Art (FAA), to learn more about anatomy and technique of realist drawing and painting.
I am also carrying out various research assignments, some personal and others in collaboration with different organizations, including the European University Institute and the University of the Basque Country.

2008-12-31T10:12:00.011+01:00

December 2008. Over the Christmas period, I sketch landscapes from my studio in San Sebastian (Arteleku). My subjects are the notorious Spanish prison Martutene, the vegetable patches and orchards that surround it, and its neighbours the Carmelite nuns in their nearby convent whom I can often observe working peacefully in the garden. My aim is to capture the presence of these extraordinary sites, a lasting testimony to the history and heritage of this part of the Basque Country which will soon be demolished by the relentless urbanization process taking place all around us. In a few years time Arteleku, and its fellow abandoned factories around, are also due to disappear.

2008-12-12T10:59:00.004+01:00

12 December. Andrea Calderaro and I publish a letter in the International Herald Tribune on Italian governmental cuts to Education.

2008-11-21T15:09:00.002+01:00

24 November: I give a seminar on 'Ethnographic methods', as part of the course on 'Methods in the Social Sciences' organised by Donatella Della Porta, at the European University Institute, Florence.

2008-09-18T11:36:00.003+02:00

18-19 September - I attend the conference on 'European governance of migration' hosted by the Heinrich Boll Foundation, Berlin.

2008-08-04T12:41:00.008+02:00

August 2008 -Together with three other artists, I found the transnational artist's collective Artitadeto. First performance took place in the abadoned factory SACEM, in Villabona, Basque Country, on the art of collage and the use of recycled material.

2008-07-22T18:15:00.010+02:00

I produce a new series of postcards of life in the Basque Country, on sale at Arteis, Elkar and Le Jean Bart in Bayonne and at Kukuxka and Dacosta Gallery in Saint Jean Pied de Port. These can also be ordered by contacting me directly.

2008-07-22T18:11:00.004+02:00

I publish an article in the July-August edition of the magazine Euroregio.

2008-07-16T17:22:00.002+02:00

My latest contribution to research networks, here on the case of the Basque Country divided by the Franco Spanish frontier: Contested Spaces video project

2008-07-16T17:04:00.006+02:00

August 2008 - I near completion of my series of portraits of Basque improvised singers (Iparraldeko bertsolariak). In this picture, portrait of Amets Arzallus, who came to pose for me in my studio in Arteleku, San Sebastian (Basque Country).

2008-07-02T20:34:00.001+02:00

I contribute a chapter on ethnographic research methods in the book Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective, published with Cambridge University Press.

2008-06-30T14:37:00.002+02:00

10 July 2008. I am presenting at the summer school in Media and Nationalism at the University of Vic, in Catalonia.

2008-06-29T15:00:00.006+02:00

June - August 2008. My paintings of the village of Izura and its inhabitants are on show at the summer exhibition of Haize Berri, in Izura. I also make an installation in hommage to nature and the Basque language, 'Bizia':

2008-04-06T16:31:00.005+02:00

11-12 April. I am participating as discussant at the conference on Diaspora and Transnationalism organised by IMISCOE at the European University Institute, in Florence, Italy.

2008-02-06T20:45:00.003+01:00

April 2008. I am given a scholarship to attend the conference of the Portrait Society of America taking place in Philadelphia, USA.

2007-12-10T22:25:00.004+01:00

14 December 2007. I give a seminar on research methods in ethnography at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.

2007-11-21T22:46:00.001+01:00

November - December 2007.

Solo Exhibition of latest paintings and drawings: 'La Condition Humaine'.

Bayonne, in the Basque bookshop Elkar Megadenda.

2007-11-02T20:04:00.001+01:00

October - December 2007

Group Exhibition: 'L'Art du Portrait'.

Gallery of Josette Dacosta, Saint Jean Pied de Port, Basque Country.

Zoe takes part with four oil and charcoal portraits.

Guided visits are given to local schools.

2007-10-12T23:02:00.002+02:00

October - November 2007. I go to Madrid to work at the Fundacion Arauco with the realist painter Guillermo Munoz Vera.

2007-08-20T23:09:00.002+02:00

August - September 2007. I begin my series of portraits of Londoners, as part of my long-term project of depicting identity in today's pluricultural world.

2007-07-24T20:30:00.001+02:00

July 2007. I present at the conference on 'EthnoNationalism, Borders and European Integration' at Kingston University, Western Ontario, Canada, funded by the Carnegie Foundation, and cycles around Quebec.

2007-06-06T16:34:00.004+02:00

May 2007. I earn the 'Young Prize' at the Salon des Independants painting exhibition in the French Basque coastal town of Saint Jean de Luz, with this charcoal portrait of Croatian student Elena:

2007-06-04T20:33:00.000+02:00

May - June 2007. Solo Exhibition of Florentine Paintings and Drawings. Bank corridor of the Badia Fiesolana, Florence.

2007-04-10T19:59:00.000+02:00

March 2007. The new headquarters of the Academy of the Basque Language in Bayonne are inaugurated, with a portrait by Zoe of former president Jean Haritschelar.

2007-03-21T16:38:00.001+01:00

Group exhibition: 'L'art au feminin', in Saint Jean Pied de Port, French Basque Country.

Zoe exhibits three big canvases in the main gallery of the town hall.

March 2007.

2007-01-11T16:50:00.004+01:00

January 2007. I preview my short documentary on Frontiers, at the conference Territorial Management at the University of Bayonne. Thanks to Andrea Calderaro for the film editing.
On the 1st of January 2007, I wander about the villages of Arneguy/Arnegi on the French side of the frontier, and Valcarlos/Luzaide on the Spanish side, both in the Basque Country, and talk to three of its inhabitants. This is only a small peep into the life of these border inhabitants. I am conscious that there are many other and diverse experiences, and am sorry I did not manage to bump into some women and people of other age ranges who could also talk to me. That would be for a next project... Here, I discuss with three men the changes lived in the area, with the opening of the frontier as part of the European Union's Schengen agreement, and how the relationship between inhabitants on either side are sometimes close, sometimes distant, and often complex. One issue that currently divides them is a plan to construct a highway which would cut across the valley. Lifestyles and mentalities are also changing, And with it also the use of the local languages, Spanish, French and Basque...

2007-01-02T22:33:00.001+01:00

January 2007. I paint in the fish market of Syracuse, Sicily.

2006-12-21T16:48:00.000+01:00

December 2006. Zoe receives the Prix de Bayonne-Eusko Ikaskuntza.

2006-10-21T12:23:00.000+02:00

October 2006. Zoe presents at the workshop on Minorities and European Integration hosted by the Rumanian Academic Society in Bucarest, and travels across Rumania for painting and research.

2006-06-21T17:31:00.000+02:00

June 2006. Solo exhibition of drawings, paintings and videos, in the gallery of the Basque bookshop Elkar Megadenda, Bayonne.

2006-04-21T17:19:00.007+02:00

April 2006. Zoe is the subject of another five minute documentary for the Spanish Basque television Euskal Telebista.

2006-03-21T17:25:00.001+01:00

March 2006. Solo exhibition of photos, 'Frontiers', in Sankara bar, Bayonne.

2006-03-11T17:13:00.000+01:00

6 and 7 March 2006. Zoe is the subject of a five-minute documentary on the Spanish Basque television, Euskal Telebista. 'Bertatik Bertara', at 9.45pm.

2006-02-21T17:24:00.000+01:00

February 2006. Zoe presents at the conference on 'Inter-Generational Transmission of Ethno-National identity', at the Geary Institute, University College Dublin, and travels to Belfast for painting and research.

2005-08-11T17:12:00.000+02:00

August 2005. Zoe wins first prize in the landscape painting competition, Saint Palais, Basque Country.

2005-04-21T10:03:00.000+02:00

April 2005- Zoe takes on the new job of researcher for the project on Minorities and European Integration. She travels extensively across Europe for research and conferences.

2005-01-21T17:10:00.001+01:00

January 2005. Zoe presents at the conference on Identities, Frontiers and Europe, at the University of Malmo, Sweden, and goes travelling for painting and research in Denmark.

2004-09-08T09:47:00.001+02:00

September 2004. Zoe shares a studio in piazzale Donatello, Florence, with the painters Marc Dalessio and Greg Horwitch.

2004-02-21T09:55:00.001+01:00

February 2004- Zoe Bray publishes her first book 'Living Boundaries: Identity in the Basque Country'.

2002-09-21T09:57:00.003+02:00

September 2002- Zoe obtains her Doctorate in Social and Political Sciences, from the European University Institute, in Italy. She embarks finally on realising her dream: developing herself as a skilled artist. She follows a few drawing and sculpture lessons at the Charles Cecil Studios, which she pays for by working as a model and cleaner. She continues with academia as half-time research assistant to Prof. Helen Wallace at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, and works on the publication of her book 'Living Boundaries: identity in the Basque Country'.

2002-05-23T05:39:00.000+02:00

May 2002 - Zoe poses for the painter Charles Cecil.

2001-02-23T23:00:00.001+01:00