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Archive for April, 2011

The Work of Lorenzo Scott

Posted in Favorite Things, Neat Stuff, tagged , on April 9, 2011| 7 Comments »

I often like to periodically check out sites that deal in folk art and one of my favorites is Candler Arts, an Atlanta based site that has an online gallery and blog.  I generally find something new and interesting, most often the result of self-taught artists.  This piece for sale there recently caught my eye.  It’s a painting of God expelling Lucifer from Paradise by Lorenzo Scott, a self taught visionary painter from the Atlanta area.  I was intrigued by the composition and decided to look up more on Mr. Scott.

Born in 1934 in Georgia, he moved in the 1960’s to New York City, where he noticed the numbers of people who who paint and sell their work outside the museums there.  He had maintained an interest in drawing since he was boy in school to the point of distraction from his studies but that was about the extent of his knowledge about art. Inspired by these other artists, he started going to the Metropolitan Museum and began studying the works of the Renaissance masters, examining closely how they painted the features of their subjects and the manner in which they composed their pictures.  In a way, he went through a Renaissance guild-like training as an artist without the benefit of a Master to fine tune and influence his talent. After several years in NY, Mr. Scott returned to Atlanta and continued his studies before the paintings of the High Museum there. 

 What emerged was a truly interesting mix of Renaissance-influenced imagery and the folk art hand, a unique interpretation that had classic themes and the raw immediacy of the self-taught visionary.  Vibrant.  His work caught the attention of collectors and curators and over the years he has been the subject of several museum shows and has placed his work in a number of museums, including two at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.  In the 1990’s he began to include with his classical based compostions a bit of work with more contemporary and traditional folk art themes, many based on visions that, Mr. Scott has said, come to him while asleep. 

His framing is also unique.  They are generally self-made from from lumber topped with bondo, the autobody filler, then painted with gold paint.  They carry that same mix of classical and folk as the paintings and are a perfect companion for the work.

It’s great to see folks who find a way to tap into this inner pool of creativity, inspired by brushing against things far removed from themselves.  For Mr. Scott it was seeing the work of the masters and carrying their work forward in his own personal style.

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The Maine Mural Aftermath

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged , , on April 8, 2011| 3 Comments »

A last word or two on the Maine mural controversy that I wrote of in  a couple of posts here.  I came across an interesting project from guerilla artists who went to the Maine state capital building and projected a large image of the mural on it,  re-installing the mural in effect.  Like the mural itself, it was symbolic, which is the purpose of art.  The anonymous statement for their project was simply put  but effective:

We put this video up to remind our peers that you have a voice, as soon as you choose to use it. If your government takes a symbol away and tries to hide history, you can make the truth resonate a thousand times stronger with your own 2 hands.

This is a lesson the labor unions taught us all, though some have chosen to forget it. We will remind you.

The maker of the art is unimportant. What matters is that you see it, and you have the freedom to speak about it.

I was also contacted by an AP reporter, Glenn Adams, who had somehow stumbled across this blog while researching an article on the widespread response across the nation to the mural controversy.  We talked for a while about why I had responded to the removal of the mural  and the symbolism to the whole thing.  He told me he planned on using a quote from  my blogpost as a sort of summing up.  The article came out yesterday afternoon and mentions the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Diego Rivera mural as well as an incident concerning Ralph Fasanella, who I have also mentioned here in the past.  One of Fasanella’s paintings had to do with a famous strike at one of the mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts in the early part of the 20th century and had hung for years in a hearing room of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Labor and Education.  It was removed in 1994 after the Republican’s took control of congress.  So this is certainly not the first time nor will it be the last time that politicians try to alter the symbology of our history.

Here’s the video of the Maine mural being projected:

 

 

 

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Hubris

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged on April 7, 2011| 1 Comment »

When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities. 

—David Hume

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Confidence is a big element in what I do and probably in the careers of most folks, regardless of their field.  Nobody buys from a salesman who doesn’t express supreme confidence in his product, nobody attends the sermons of a minister who isn’t cure that his beliefs are absolute and nobody wants their financial adviser to tell them that he’s not sure if they will make money with his investments.  Likewise, nobody is drawn to paintings that are unsure of what they are trying to express.  I think that people feel enough uncertainty in their own lives that they find work that contains a surety of vision an appealing thing, something that speaks to what confidence they do maintain.

I know I am drawn to confidence and try to maintain a certain level of confidence in my work.  I am usually sure that a piece has a level of surety before it leaves my hands and goes out into the world, away from protective space of the studio.  But I generally go through several crises of confidence throughout the year , unsure that I am expressing fully what I desire or uncertain that a new path I may be following is the right one for that time.  This has been going on with me forever and it’s gotten to the point that I am expecting these times of self doubt and when I am working, especially on new work that hasn’t made its way to the public yet, and don’t feel this doubt, I begin to be suspicious of whatever I may be working on at the moment.  I’m always most suspicious of new work that excites me the most, uncertain if my reaction is real and related to the work or if it is merely a reaction to something new and different in the work, something that may be fleeting in its appeal.

It’s times like these that I wonder about those folks in other fields who seemingly never express self doubt, who maintain a shell of absolute belief.  Is it real or is it merely hubris, an arrogance born of a certainty that clouds the vision and the judgement?  When I think of all the problems in the world, this cocksure confidence, this absolute belief in ones own view of whatever is driving the issue, be it religion, politics, economics or race, is surely in the forefront of factors of causation.  I think of the Florida minister who burns the Quaran because he is so steadfastly sure that his religious vision is the one and only tolerable view.  Or politicians from either side who feel that there is no room for compromise, that their vision is the only way forward.   That their vision allows them to do whatever they might do to achieve it and that anyone who questions their viewpoint is against them and must be destroyed or removed in some manner. 

Their confidence turns to arrogance and these  people begin to  see only in black and white.  They can’t see the subtle shades of gray that are present in everything, can’t recognize the  absurdities, as Hume points out above, they have fostered.  There is only right or wrong, black or white. And even though we are a people who live for the most part  in a world of grays, they persist.  I don’t really understand it but I am just a person who lives daily with self doubts and eyes such absolute self-confidence suspiciously.  Unfortunately, these zealots of self belief will always be front and center in this world.  They rise, again and again.  And they fall, again and again, because their visions tended to be flawed or not inclusive of all the factors that they need to keep up the momentum of their efforts.  After all,  this is a world of shades of gray and not simply black and white.  There is seldom one right answer to any question.

Okay, enough thinking aloud for now.  I have my own work to question…

 

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Diego Rivera’s Paean to Labor and Industry

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, Opinion, Video, tagged , on April 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

Yesterday, I wrote about the mural controversy in Maine where the work depicting the history of labor was removed from a state building.  It made me think of other murals and immediately brought to mind the work of Diego Rivera,who I have written briefly about here before and who was arguably the greatest muralist of recent history.  Rivera’s work often focused on the struggle of the worker. 

The Mexican Rivera (1886-1957) was an ardent Marxist who saw the mural as a way to to make expressive art available to the masses, away from the confines of museums and galleries which he saw as elitist.  But it took money to commission his masterpieces so he was often working with those powerful forces that he often eyed with suspicion.    There were episodes where the two sides bumped heads, the most famous coming when his mural at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC was destroyed because of his inclusion of Lenin in the mural and his subsequent refusal to remove it.

The work he considered his finest was centered around the worker and the industry of America.  In 1932-33, Rivera painted , under the auspices of Henry Ford (who is depicted in the mural) and at the height of the Great Depression, an epic mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Covering more than 447 square yards, Detroit Industry is massive.  It is filled with vibrant imagery depicting the worker, in both a heroic and subservient manner, as integral cogs in the rhythmic throb of the busy industrial world.  It is a feast for the eyes.

I have always been drawn to Rivera’s work on a gut level, drawn in by his gorgeous color and exciting composition.  When I see his grand murals I am deeply humbled and this work is no different.  I am pleased that it has survived the changing tides of political favor without somebody suggesting it be painted over.  If anything, it should remain if only as a reminder of the part the worker has played in building the wealth of this country at a time when the American worker is quickly overlooked by industry in favor of cheaper, unregulated labor on distant shores.

Here’s a video showing the scope of Rivera’s work.  As an artist, I am both inspired and intimidated by the sheer amount of amazing work here. 

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Maine Mural Controversy : Update

Posted in Current Events on April 5, 2011| 1 Comment »

History of Labor in the State of Maine- Judy Taylor Studio

A week or two back I wrote here  about the mural depicting the history of labor in the state Of Maine that hung in the Department of Labor building of that state.  At that point, Gov. Paul LePage (R) was threatening to remove the mural on the grounds that some anonymous business people had complained that it was too pro-labor and too anti-business, despite the fact that it hung in the Labor Department.  Since that time, Gov. LePage kept his word and had the mural removed over the following weekend.

The story does not end there. 

Since that time, the fury over this act has really snowballed.  It has sparked protests in Maine  where there were 350 protesters, many calling for LePage’s recall, at the state capital yesterday ( compare this to a Tea Party protest on the National Mall that drew about 100 protesters) .  LePage has drawn the ire of a wide  swath of people including fellow GOPs in Maine and elsewhere.  And to top it off, the Federal government is demanding that LePage either reinstall it or pay back the cost of the mural to the federal fund that paid for the mural when it was originally installed.  You see, the mural was installed from funds from the Department of Labor, paid into the state’s unemployment fund for this express purpose.  Since LePage removed it, the mural is no longer serving its intended purpose and the cost ( about 63% of its fair market value  of $60,000 at the time of installation)  must be repaid to the state’s unemployment fund.

I am heartened that the people of Maine took this act of political bullying and censorship seriously and that it has drawn national attention.  It’s a classic example, and symbol,  of the hubris  being displayed around this country by political leaders who mistakenly interpreted the results of recent elections as some sort of vindication for their personal agendas.  I think they may have thought that general public was asleep or just didn’t care enough to respond.  Glad to see we’re waking up a bit.

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Breaking Light

Posted in Recent Paintings, tagged on April 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This 18″ by 18″  painting is a continuation of the new work I’ve been featuring here the past few weeks, work that highlights the clouds in the sky above.  Most have been very upbeat, almost jubilant, in their feel but this one has a darker tone underneath, accentuated by the second layer of dark blue cloud silhouettes through which the light breaks.  This creates a pool of light, a bit of breaking hope,  in the center surrounded by the dark clouds.

The deep red of the field in the foreground also adds a foreboding quality to this piece, creating a dark contrast to the lighter fields in the middleground.  It also provides a strong, earthy foundation on which the entire composition rests, creating a real sense of strength for me in the whole piece.

This piece feels more contemplative, more introverted, than the other recent cloud pieces, even though there is a lot of color and activity in the composition.  There is still a naive quality but it is not exuberantly optimistic.  It is more guarded in its optimism, wavering in its own absolute belief in anything.  Almost wary and questioning of the breaking light, as though not sure it is a lasting hope.

I keep finding more to say about this piece as I look at it but I think I should just let it say what it will without my words.

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The SL-1 Incident, 1961

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged on April 3, 2011| 8 Comments »

During the ongoing nuclear event taking place in Japan, I have numerous proponents of nuclear power here in the States make claims on television defending the safety record of the industry here by stating that there have been no deaths caused by nuclear reactors here.  But they state it with a caveat: there have been no deaths at commercial nuclear power plants.  There have been other incidents at military and research reactors that have resulted in the deaths of workers at these facilities.

There is, for example, the SL-1 reactor in a remote part of Idaho.  SL-1 stood for Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number 1 and was a very small experimental reactor operated by the US Army.  On January 3, 1961 , there were three workers present as the plant was being powered down for maintenance.  The control rod was pulled from the core too quickly and there was an instantaneous ( 4 milliseconds) heat ing and steam explosion, killing all three workers, athough one survived the intial blast and died soon after from head injuries.  The descriptions of their deaths are pretty gruesome.  All were buried in lead-lined caskets and special vaults.  That is, the body parts of the workers that weren’t buried in the Idaho desert as radioactive waste.

The plant was ultimately buried in  the same Idaho desert and the SL-1 design was discontinued, replaced by designs that benefitted from the lessons learned from this tragedy.  The incident is seldom mentioned in any discussions of nuclear safety and remains pretty small on the radar screens of most folks.  While it should not be held up as the primary evidence against nuclear power as a major source of energy  it does illustrate the immense power and risk involved in nuclear energy. 

So when you hear those words about the safety of nuclear power  and how there have never been any deaths, listen for those words that take the SL-1 out of the equation for their claims: in a commercial power plant.  They know the real truth.

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Batter Up!

Posted in Favorite Things, Video, tagged , on April 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Groucho, Chico and Harpo with Lou Gehrig

Baseball season is finally here! 

I consider it one of the best times of the year, when my routine starts to include reading boxscores and checking the standings.  There is nothing like the rhythm of baseball for me and the way it weaves together with the daily lives of people who follow the game.
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One of the most vivid visual images of my youth are coming up the steps of Shea Stadium at night and suddenly having the bright green grass of  the diamond emerge before you.  Everything was rich and deeply colored.  The greens were dark, the dirt of the infield a warm clay red and the whites of the lines shining like lasers.  It felt like that moment in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy opens the door and everything changes from a bland, colorless scene to one filled with powerful, vibrant colors.   I still get that same stir of  familiar excitement when I see scenes of a ballpark at night, ablaze in color.
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So my marathon season begins and, as a fan, I am filled with optimism because my team has won its first game.  Everything is rosy until that inevitable first loss which tastes bitter going down.  Losing and failure, a subject I’ve discussed this week, is all part of the game and it’s how a team or player responds to failure that determines the direction of a season.  That is where the drama lays in baseball.  Can’t wait for the game today!
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Here’s one of my favorite things, one that I showed here two years ago.  It’s Harpo Marx’s wonderful rendition,  from his appearance on I Love Lucy, of Take Me Out to the  Ballpark, one that strikes that ethereal chord I feel for the game.  Have a great Saturday!  Batter up!

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Pure Optimism

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on April 1, 2011| 4 Comments »

As I walk down to get the newsapaper in the morning, often in the dark, I will sometimes begin to think about what I might write in that day’s blog entry.  But sometimes the my mind might be occupied with the chorus of some long past song that mysteriously pops into my head without my permission.  Sometimes it’s pleasurable and sometimes I find myself asking how this annoying ditty became entangled in the synapses.  Today was such a day.

Up, up with people
You meet them wherever you go
Up, up with people
They’re the best kind of folks I know

Oh, god, no!  It was chorus from Up With People!   If you have never heard it, it’s a sugary sweet tune of upbeat energy that spews a love of all people everywhere that sprung from a traveling group of youths that began touring the world in the mid-60’s and are still doing so to this day.  Growing up, they quite often came through our area and the airwaves would be filled with television and radio commercials of this annoyingly happy song.  The TV ads showed very attractive young women and men with exceedingly large smiles and neat Osmondish hair.  I think there were sweater vests and pressed bell bottoms but can’t be sure if my memory is correct.  We forced by a grade school teacher to learn this song and to this day it has periodically wormed its way forward through the tangled mess in my brain to emerge, much to my chagrin.  Some people have LSD flashbacks, I have this damn song of ultra optimism.

Which brings me to the painting shown above, a smaller 12″ by 16″ canvas that I recently finished.  It threw me for a loop as I neared completion, it’s feel so completely different than that I had envisioned as I worked on it in its earlier stages.  It may be the mosy overtly optimistic thing I have ever done.  It is bright and happy and even the dark edges that I often employ as emotional counterweights seem far removed and less ominous.  It oozes positive energy.  As I said, I was taken aback by this.  Much of my work is forward looking and has an optimistic perspective but this seemed to push optimism to the extreme and made me a bit nervous because I found myself really beginning to like this small piece that wore its positive message like a badge of honor.  There is a simple naivete to it of which I find myself  feeling very protective, as though it is something I know can’t exist for long in this cynical world without someone looking out for it.

Days of viewing this painting has not changed that feeling.  I’m still surprised by this piece but it somehow works for me.  I’m thinking of calling it Pollyanna.

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