Below: Alex's original artwork featured sand sculpture nestled along the Qatarian coast.
Ceasar!!!!!!! yess!!!!!!!!!
Your blog is terrific! i'm so proud of you!!!! You' re a brilliant writer!!
I’m gonna go ahead and upchuck my life to you in a chronological manner. It’s fun for me to do this and probably therapeutic as well, so that I can establish what kind of person I’ve become, due to traveling like a madwoman.
So I was born in Toronto, which is quite random I must say, since my entire family is full on French. My parents just happened to be living there when they had me, and this is how I got to start my life in a bi-lingual environment. I only spent the three first years of my life there, and needless to say, I don’t remember a god damn thing.
Then my dad got moved to Abu Dhabi, in the wonderful middle east, where they build 50 story skyscrapers in 3 days under the blazing sun. My parents placed my older sister and I in an American Academy, and although we spoke French at home, we were completely mesmerized by the expatriate American culture that surrounded us at school. Obviously the local culture was cool as well. We were learning Arabic and learning how to barter like there’s no tomorrow. Negotiating has been in my blood ever since.
After 5 years in the U.A.E, we moved to a country nearby, the Sultanate of Oman, a luxurious oasis, so glorious and beautiful it’s hard for me to describe. My dad is obsessed with boats and fishing massive baracoudas, so every weekend we’d hop on his boat and discover all sorts of empty islands. At that time, my most precious treasures were corals, different types of sands and shells of every shape and color.
The souk was also like entering Ali Baba’s carvern. This was a place where we could purchase the most ridiculous and unnecessary things. What I mainly remember from roaming around the souk was inhaling mad sorts of incense, and being blinded by the shine of silver, gold and random colorful objects.
Being in the middle east was such a treat, we were close to other growing cities like Dubai. I remember Dubai when it was still a somewhat modest fishing port and to see what it has become now is really unbelievable. It’s like witnessing the construction of NYC in less than a few decades.
After three years in the Sultan’s land, my dad was once again transferred because of his job….back to France, in suburban Paris. I had never lived there before and it was a total culture shock for me. Europe is great but I had to adapt my mentality to be able to communicate politely to Europeans.. Haha that was a challenge.
The French. What a people. They taught me a lot. I learned how to stay in my place, and other times I learned how to let loose. I learned how to write and think in a philosophical way and mostly I learned how to eat like a god.
I was incredibly fortunate because once again, my parents placed me in an international school, where I made best friends from all over the world. My closest friends are from Italy, Spain, Sweden, England, America and this is all because I grew up with them. We’re like a third culture community.
Thanks to that school I speak fluent Italian, Spanish, French and English. Which is tha bomb.
Living in Europe was so practical. every so often I would go to southern france (my family is from Perigueux which is close to Bordeaux) or spain (Alicante, Valencia, Barcelona..)
After high school, I went off to the American University of Rome, where I spent three years perfecting my Italian and learning all there is to know about early art history. I was amidst the most romantic ruins ever. And as cheesy as it sounds, they were my classroom. Rome is also a pretty international city, which made it feel like home. During my stay there, I was also able to travel: Genova, Naples, Venice, even Pompei!!!
Also during that time, I went to Russia, which was tremendous. Saint Petersburg and Moscow are incredible. The vodka was so tasty it was like downing water, the streets were like a live circus, I remember seeing hilarious tourist attractions around the Nieva river, namely full grown bears on leashes or free wandering iguanas, and, to top it off, monkeys wearing nike shoes.
I got to see the Kremlin, which owns the world’s biggest collection of gigantic diamonds. I also saw Lenin’s body, which was just weird.
During my last year in Rome, I felt so sick of studying old art. Studying renaissance and baroque was great but I was thirsty for fresher, more modern works. This is what lead me to apply to Hunter College. I had never lived in the united states before, so this was my chance. AND I DON’T REGRET A THING. NEW YORK IS NEW YORK and It is a fabulous city filled with trends and traditions I wanted to be submerged in, and I got it all baby. Living in Bushwick was definitely awakening and I enjoyed every bit of it no matter how many rats, bugs and killings I had to face. I miss the dodgy neighborhood, During my stay, I was able to visit Philly, Baltimore, Chicago, San Diego, L.A, and I can’t wait to finish off cruising the crazy continent properly.
After getting my degree, I felt a Masters would be most appropriate if I wanted to get a decent job in the art world, but in order to get into the masters program I needed to have a little working experience. Off I went to Berlin, to work in the Magnus Muller Gallery for four months, learning basic German and familiarizing myself with Berlin’s art market. It was a great experience but I have to say 4 months was not long enough for me to fall in love with that city.
Anyway here I am now, living a Londoner’s life. Sorted.
By next September, I’ll be well versed in Contemporary art and have sufficient expertise to enter the art market, or whatever other industry that awaits me. Curating would be ideal but apparently it’ll take me a few decades to obtain that job. KEEP THE FAITH!!!
I miss you my dear Ceasar, I hope this description will entertain you. COUNTING THE DAYS UNTIL YOU GET HERE!! Xoxoxoxox
P.S.
sweetheart i also forgot to mention the places i went to on vacation with my family. my parents live in Qatar, which is so cool cause i get to visit them like twice or three times a year!!!!! thanks to them, i got to see Dominican Republic, Portugal, and this August i'm off to Bali!!!)
looove youuuu
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