88. The Chaser’s Park
The Chaser‘s Park 150x100cm
As the moon rose high in the sky, casting a pale glow over the city of Paris, the air in Chaser's Park crackled with a certain energy. Known for its reputation as a place of love and heartbreak, passion and longing, the park was a haven for those seeking the thrill of romance.
The park was dotted with life-size statues of the goddesses of love, their marble forms aglow in the moonlight. Legend had it that those who looked upon them would be blessed with a love that would last a lifetime. But for many who visited the park, love was an elusive thing, hard to find and even harder to hold onto.
On this particular night, two male musicians perched on a cemented fence, strumming their guitars and crooning songs of love and loss. A beautiful girl sat beside them, her eyes closed as she listened to their serenade.
Nearby, a decent-looking man in a gray suit was pleading with his girlfriend in a skimp red dress to wait. She gazed back at him with adoration, but he seemed distracted, his eyes fixed on something in the distance.
A biker in a yellow jacket had parked his bicycle beside the statue of artist Egon Schiele's muse. He sat on the bike with his right leg raised, his hand gripping the handlebars, lost in thought.
A woman ran across the street, a rabbit darting in front of her. She looked frantic, as if she were searching for someone or something.
A man played his cello, the haunting melody filling the air. A woman knelt beside him, watching him with longing in her eyes, silently begging him to notice her.
As the night wore on, two yellow horses appeared in a coach, driven by an unknown coachman. They trotted through the park, their hooves clattering on the pavement.
In the midst of Chaser's Park, love was both elusive and all-consuming. For some, it was a source of joy and wonder, while for others, it was a painful reminder of what they had lost. But no matter what their experiences, all who visited the park were touched by its magic. They left with a sense of hope and longing in their hearts, feeling as though anything was possible in the city of love.
The Chaser’s Park 150x100cm
87. “The Enlightenment"
Is this finally the most scandalous painting of Helenna Jouja?
87. The Enlightenment
150x100 cm acrylic on canvas
After the success of her painting called "The Biggest Ball," which remains on display at the office of a well-known Austrian millionaire, Richard Lugner, Helenna Jouja continues a heartbreaking enigma, whose notable and exciting life remains as enigmatic as the psychedelic characters of her "Ice Cream on the Cone" painting series. Her imaginative output is unrivaled, from ingenuous female artist to genius short film maker. Not long ago, Helenna Jouja was also a stunning socialite, socializing effortlessly with the notable, intelligent, controversial immigrants in so many countries, where she temporarily stayed.
Little is known about the deeper most recent private life of Helenna Joiuja, as she recently avoided crowds, not because of the ongoing corona virus problems, but because as she becomes skillful in painting, it`s becoming apparent to her that she`s borderline introverted. Can we now understand what led her to paint unusual scenes that you would probably not see on televisions, social media or photographs, but only on her unique imagination illustrated on canvas, that is so free from perversion despite the nakedness of the painting`s imaginary characters? Certainty not yet! But remember, perversion is in the eyes of the beholder, not only the so called "beauty."
"You disappointed me Helenna!" said her close friend, Gerd, upon seeing this painting. "The Enlightenment" in progress! He couldn´t believe his eyes that such an artistic woman as questionably decent as Helenna Jouja could paint something so offensive as "The Enlightenment." Are criticism and disappointment normal feedback for such an artist but why should an artist be held responsible for what one wants to see and expect, unless she got paid to paint what one has to see and expect. Deeply an artist is innocent of what others feel about her art, as if she`s not emphatically able to feel others`s impression. An artist will always be a virgin, innocent about the reality of others. An artist has no dirty mind, she sees every little detail as ugly or beautiful and paint it whenever necessary. Once an artist freed herself from expressing herself in painting, she just released herself to greatness, which is not common for self-proclaiming artists.
Another thing that is in question is if such freedom of expression can be inherited? Helenna Jouja's father, Jesus Barrera, was a professional musician, but her mother, Maria, was so disinterested in music, who was so surprised that it had taken Helenna Jouja only 3 days to learn, understand and speak English at the age of 5. Her mother was neither a musician or an artist. She was just an intelligent woman, who graduated in college a summa cum laude, and had no idea that her daughter, whom she named Helenna for being born with a light complexion would one day excel in the most competitive generation of arts ever. Is being a suspected genius at an early age an indicator that one would suddenly succeed to achieve freedom of expression in arts?
Moreover, could we trace Helenna Jouja's freedom of expression from the DNA of her great great-grandparents, who originated from Spain? Even Helenna Jouja`s father`s 500 year old house, that was passed on by her father´s ancestors to the latest bloodlines had two antique portraits of their great great-grandparents on the wall, was shrouded in mystery as if they were photo realistic, that one, upon seeing these portraits might have an impression that during the century they were painted, there was already technology for colored photos, but no, they were hand-painted beautifully, so realistic as if Leonardo da Vinci himself was the one who painted them. Were these portraits painted by one of the bloodlines of Helenna Jouja in the past centuries? Did Helenna Jouja inherit her exceptional talents in painting from him? It is rumored that in this very huge old house, which wide windows were always widely open, "mistakenly" or was it really a mistake, visited by a wild white dove which tail´s feathers slightly touched Helenna Jouja´s right delicate cheek when she was just a newly born baby, as the dove was trying to get away from the room, a rare incidence that Helenna Jouja herself described as an important omen, a premonition of the prominence to come, a similar omen that happened to Leonardo da Vinci when he was just an infant. Has the premonition already come true to Helenna Jouja, or is it just about to happen, certainly nobody knows yet when. Well, at least not probably in this century, but possibly in the next centuries to come. Helenna Jouja is such an ambitious woman, yet her ambition is not set for our generation as she always dreams of being famous in the next centuries to come and be in line with the great artists in the past such as Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, et al. Would it be nice to include with them a female artist, who is of Filipino origin, who can inspire the world that talent has no nationality as well as no gender?
Helenna Jouja is so fascinated with Leonardo da Vinci`s Last Supper, and so she created her own version of "the Last Supper" and called it "The Enlightenment," in the hope that in the next centuries "The Enlightenment" will find its special position in the limelight of the next most admired Arts in the next centuries. As da Vinci's Last supper continuously deteriorates on a wall of an old convent, sooner and later it wont´t have anymore the original strokes of da Vinci, and hence just like most antique paintings which still exist in our time, just restored and retouched by other contemporary artists.
"The Enlightenment" painting is a life comedy, a challenging idea for painting suggested by Helenna Jouja's art manager and gallerist, Hubert Thurnhofer, a serious interpretation on how matured people from all walks of life are losing a sense of morality, when poor homeless children are being ignored and left outdoors, unheard, desperate, and needing the right guidance but never had it. How everyone pretended to hear the message of God, or leaders or the oldies, but ends up doing the things that are forbidden and not ideal. The odd inclusion of a staircase right in the middle of the painting serves as a relevant symbol. Would you take the stairs to go up or down or join the crowds upstairs or downstairs, or would you rather be alone or with your dance partner? There are, of course, so many other life situations that are interesting and controversial or scandalous to paint but Helenna Jouja chose this time lighter issues in life and created more happy and satisfied people to show that despite the immorality, there is still hope to be enlightened from what is morally right or wrong. "The Enlightenment" is a symbol of hope, faith and love that one day everyone will find unity, love conditions, universal morals that are applicable for every society; and understanding that the truth will one day set everyone free finally, but the question of when will all these be possible that the Truth be proven the truth and nothing but the truth is still unknown. It can not be promised or sworn just like in the court of justice. In fact, the obvious mixture of the past and the present, the different sizes of characters in this painting is a ridiculous symbol n the sense that for many centuries the search for the truth still continues and far from over! "The Enlightenment is definitely another interpretation of Innocenticsm Art, a name given by Helenna Jouja herself to her paintings. An art is an Innocenticism Art if the characters in the painting are innocent about the danger that is about to happen, and the art lovers should guess where the danger lies.
Vienna, September 16, 2021, Helenna Jouja
The following photos are not an individual painting but together they form the painting „The Enlightenment“
Fotogalerie
86. The Bathers 150x100cm acrylic on canvas by Helenna Jouja. I started this painting during the eruption of Mayon Volcano last year in the Philippines, thinking I should paint its sad memory but I said oh I want only to show an act of love in my paintings. It’s soon March and I have nothing done so thanks everyone for inspiring me to continually paint this. ❤ ❤ ❤
85. Strozzi’s “Lute Player” of the 17th Century, 100x80cm painting on canvas by Helenna Jouja
When my art gallerist, Hubert Thurnhofer, and I visited the Kunsthistorischer Museum in Vienna, Austria, we saw this old painting of the Lute Player of Strozzi in the 17th Century in the corner beside the window. My gallerist took a picture of it saying one of his dead artists named Biber had done a replica of it. So I said „Oh I would also do a replica of it, but not only one but two!„ Just to show him that I could do better. Immediately after arriving in my art studio, I have made sketches of it on two 100x80cm canvases. But the fate of the 1st Replica is to be owned by a rich beautiful lady living in Germany. I wasn’t even finished painting it and I am no longer its owner. Well, try your luck on the 2nd replica. :D Jusz to let you know also, I made it look a little bit interesting by making its face funnier. :)
The Lute Player 100x80cm painting on canvas
84. the Millionairess, 100x80cm painting on canvas. isn‘t she lucky, she was born Rich and now i am painting her?
83. Cope’s “Maiden Meditation” in the 19th Century, painting by Helenna Jouja, Filipina-Canadian international modern artist in Vienna, Europe. I love this 100x80 painting and agree with the critics that it’s beautiful and impressive in its touching simplicity but extremely stiff and formal. The model was derived from the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament: I will greatly rejoice in the Lord...; for He hath clothed me with a robe of righteousness. Thanks for the likes and for sharing 🥰🥰🥰 The big news is that this painting will be featured in a popular Austrian art magazine soon! 😀