Celebrating Unlearning
My first real face-to-face interaction with the work of Cy Twombly was in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Not Here/There
The works in this latest series bring focus to one of the key aspects of being human that I find compelling - the idea that we, as people, spend a lifetime working on our identity and yet it, like our bodies, is completely false. It is impermanent at its root,...
What the world needs now is…
...no more bullshit. That's the simple truth. And whether it's in architecture, politics or art, it's about time that everyone start calling a spade, a spade. There's a great blog article I was reading that brought this concept and it's encumbant realities to...
The almost-Great Depression is a reality.
How many of you have noticed, as I have, how incredibly bad off a lot of people are right now? I mean, it's easy to ignore if you want, and god knows lots of people do, but WOW!, it's really getting ugly out there. (If you don't see it, are you blind?) As an artist,...
1990’s expressionism
My full-fledged work with Neo-expressionism began and ended in the 1990's. My imagery moved away from landscape as the primary subject and it became more of a ground for images of people, emotions, ideas and reactions. I was completely enthralled by the idea of...
Slice me up, slice me down
I remember. Unlike so many people I know, I remember. The details may not be 100% but the colors, emotions and general tone of the experiences are still vivid. So many middle-aged adults, like myself, look at young people and say, "Look at them. How can they... that...
Thinking, dreaming… and preparing
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately working out the issues of how I want to spend the balance of my days. Given my family history (mom dead at 62, dad at 76) if I make it to 80, it will be a miracle. Combine that with having smoked for way too many years, which...
Depression sets in (Less is More)
What does it mean to be an artist? and then what does it mean to be an artist in the 21st century in the US? I've written here before how Duchamp determined what an artist was through a leap of complete conviction and belief and that concept continues to operate for...
Afflatus:
A strong creative impulse, especially as a result of divine inspiration.
Had you ever heard of this word? I certainly hadn't until recently when I read it in a blog interview with Claude Emile Furones on the website The Art Point. It's an amazing interview with the most articulate of artists. Unfortunately, the interview is no longer...
What Michelangelo, Raphael and Manet have in common.
As I'm finalizing all the pieces for my new work, Le Dejeuner sous la Pluie, I have been spending a great deal of time with the Manet work, Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe, something I commented on in earlier posts. During this time I found that Michelangelo was the likely...