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Archive for August, 2013

John Lee

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , on August 16, 2013| 1 Comment »

John Lee HookerI have been listening to my young friend Michael Mattice‘s debut CD, Comin’ Home,  quite a bit lately.  It’s been really well received, putting him regularly near the top of the “hot releases” in acoustic blues list from Amazon.  The mp3 album has been as high as #18 on their top 100 and currently sits at #84 in acoustic blues.  A really prodigious start for a self-produced album with no real promotion outside of the word of mouth created by Mike’s shows.   Like I said here before,  based not on sheer talent (of which he has loads) but on his devotion and drive, I see big things for him.

But the point of this is that listening to Mike brought me back to one of my first musical loves, the late blues great  John Lee Hooker.  Oh, I had favorite bands and songs but it was John Lee who I felt first spoke to me directly.  I remember coming across an old beaten up copy of one of his albums from the 50’s when i was in my teens.  It was a revelation, a sonic slap in the face with distorted electric wails coming from his guitar, all in a mesmerizing rhythm.

I didn’t know anything about the man at the time, didn’t know that he couldn’t read or his place in the history of the blues.  Didn’t even know of his rebirth a few years before my finding his album as a result of the British Invasion of the 1960’s, when youngs Brits discovered and brought the music of the great bluesmen to the world’s attention, giving them new and greater fame than they had had in their primes.

None of that mattered.  It was just the groove on that album that counted.

I found and listened to more of John Lee’s music over the years.  I was intrigued by the constancy of much of  it, the driving rhythm that is his signature which pervades most of his work.  Some might call it repetition.  I didn’t see it that way.  It was all about nuance and subtle explorations within the form and performance.  You know a John Lee Hooker song immediately but each is different and carries its own weight and emotion.

I carried that thought with me when I began painting and hoped that my work would operate in that same way.  I wanted to have that repetitive quality so that the work would be easily identified as mine but to have the differentiation  occur in the individual performance of the act of  painting.  By limiting what I painted I was able to go deeper into an exploration of the subtle aspects of the composition.  They sometime looked similar but were often widely different in tone and emotion.

When it works I feel like John Lee Hooker must have when he was in his groove.  One of my favorite lines from one of his albums, I believe it was a live set from Soledad Prison, was- “If you can’t dig this, you got a hole in your soul… and that ain’t good”

Here’s a video from the 60’s when he was in midst of being found by the youth around the world.  It’s one of his trademark songs, Boom Boom.

Late addition: Here’s the song from Soledad Prison– Boogie Everywhere I Go. Be careful– it’s a deep groove.

 

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Step Forward

Posted in Current Events, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on August 14, 2013| 1 Comment »

GC Myers-Step Forward By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible. Those who have cautiously done no more than they believed possible have never taken a single step forward.

–Mikhail Bakunin

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There has been a lot of talk over the last few days about the new form of transportation proposed recently by entrepreneur-inventor Elon Musk, the man behind PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX.  His idea is to have people shooting all over the country in a larger ( and more sophisticated) version of the vacuum tube system that you might see at your local bank’s drive-through, where the transaction is placed in a receptacle by the driver of the car and , once placed in the tube,  it is whisked with a whoosh to a waiting teller in the building.  Musk’s claims that you could shoot from San Francisco to LA in about 30 minutes, reaching speeds of around 700 mph in the tube.

It’s not a mind-bending idea in itself.  I mean, haven’t you wondered about the possibility as you sit waiting at the bank’s drive-through?  I know I have.  No, it’s not the idea but the sheer scope of such a project that raises eyebrows.  We look for any reason to not move ahead with big and bold innovative projects now.  The idea of pursuing the seemingly impossible, that trait that defined our last century, has for the most part disappeared from our psyche.

All you hear is how this project cannot succeed. And maybe the naysayers are right.  But at least there is a tap in this idea into the creative mind, the wellspring that allows us to dream bigger, something we seem to be backing away from.   But our world faces big challenges that require big ideas and big dreams.  Maybe this is not the ultimate answer to one of our challenges but kudos to Elon Musk for daring to dream big.

The painting at the top is in this same vein.  I see this piece as being about being bold and daring to step forward, away from the accepted normal.  Titled Step Forward, it is a 36″ by 24″ canvas that is part of my ongoing West End Gallery show, Islander, that hangs for a few more weeks there.  I’ve had a surprising number of comments about this painting over the course of the show.  Hopefully,  that is a good sign for us all…

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Jump Into the Fire

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2013| 7 Comments »

GC Myers 2001One of my favorite songwriters is the late,  enigmatic Harry Nilsson, who passed away in 1994.  While he is somewhat still well known, it is probably not the same level of fame that his work deserves even though he achieved great fame and earned many accolades during his life.  He recorded and wrote many hits, earned Grammy Awards, and cavorted with the biggest names in music. Lennon and McCartney named him as their favorite songwriter  ( he also recorded an album and more with John Lennon) and Keith Moon and Mama Cass both died in his London flat.  Yet how many twenty or thirty year-olds even recognize the name?

But there is still a great deal of interest in his music and life and there are those out there trying to let the world about the talent of this flawed man.  This past month there was a release of a  large box set spanning his career at RCA as well as a biography, Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter,  from author Alyn Shipton.  Not to mention, a celebrated documentary from several years back, Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?  So, hopefully his work will stick around in the public eye a bit longer.

If you don’t know his name, you probably know the music.  It is used extensively by filmmakers including this song, Jump Into the Fire, that was used in a pivotal scene in Goodfellas by Martin Scorsese.  It’s a good song to pump up a dreary morning.

FYI, the painting at the top is an older piece of mine from back in 2001.

 

 

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Maria Blanchard

Posted in Influences, tagged , , , on August 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Maria Blanchard-Enfant aux pâtisseries1924I often highlight artists here whose work  has been little known or appreciated or those who have overcome great obstacles in finding their artistic voice.  Maria Blanchard is one who falls into both of these categories.  Born in Santander, Spain in 1881, Maria was dealt a harsh hand due to a damaging fall her mother took during her pregnancy.  She suffered from dwarfism, was hunchbacked and had great difficulty in walking due to a hip deformity.  Unfortunately, these disabilities made her the subject of much ridicule throughout her life.  But through it all, she had her art and made the absolute most of it.

In 1903, she went to Madrid to study painting and reveled in the expression it offered.  She learned much and worked hard, finally winning a grant in 1909 to continue her studies the Academy Vitti in Paris.  It was during this time in Paris that she broke free from her traditional training and was introduced to Cubism, the art movement then in its formative years.  Her work became very cubist at this point but evolved over time into a distinct style that incorporated elements of cubism and traditional sensibilities of form and composition.

Maria Blanchard-Still LifeIn 1914, she returned to Spain, taking the chair of drawing in Salamanca.  But her appearance brought her taunts from the students and in 1916 she returned to Paris where she still painted in a Cubist manner, producing work such as the still life shown here on the left.  Around 1920, she made the move to the incorporated style that she worked in for the remainder of her life.  With her work, Maria supported herself along with her sister and her children who had come to Paris to live with her.

Maria Blanchard -L'Enfant à la glace1925However, the economic bust of the late 20’s caused her sales to suffer and she struggled mightily, her already fragile health suffering from the added stress of trying to produce work that would create enough income for her family.  She continued to deteriorate and finally passed away in 1932 at the age of 51.

As I said, her name and her work is not well known to the casual observer.  She has remained collectible, however, with her work’s value continually rising.  For example, an early Cubist painting of hers from around 1917 sold at auction in 2012 for over $700,000 and her work regularly sells well at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Of course, this is small comfort for the harsh life she endured.  But this recognition by collectors of the enduring quality of her work is testimony to the strength of her vision and the way in which she expressed it.  Her legacy lives on.  Such is the beauty of art…

Maria Blanchard-MaterniteMaria Blanchard-L'Enfant au Bracelet (1922-23) Maria Blanchard-Jeune Fille à la Fenêtre Ouverte (1924)

Maria Blanchard-La Echadora de Cartas

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I Am the One Who Knocks

Posted in Favorite Things, Television, tagged , , , , on August 11, 2013| 2 Comments »

breaking-bad-posterI am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No! I am the one who knocks!

–Walter White

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This was the response from Walter White, the geeky high school chemistry teacher turned drug lord, to his wife Skyler’s fears that he would someday answer the door and be shot down by the thugs with which he was now associated.  It was a hallmark moment in the AMC series Breaking Bad,  which returns tonight to begin an eight episode wrap-up to Walter’s  saga.

And what a staggering saga it has been.

Creator Vince Gilligan and actor Bryan Cranston have treated us over the last several years with one of the most fascinating heroes in television or film.  I use the term hero very loosely here.  Cranston’s Walter White at once gives you every reason to root for yet despise him.  He is highly intelligent which gives him  the ability to find rationale for the most deplorable moral decisions, each of which seems to send him into a deeper descent into the bowels of some evil hell.

He has went from the cowering weakling to the one who knocks, gun in hand.

Yet, we still somehow root for him to pull out of it, to find that moral root of rightness that appeared to be with him at the beginning of this journey.  I think that’s the brilliance of this show, taking a person who we easily relate to and putting him into situations that are so far from what we would normally face that it leaves us wondering if we are any different, any better  than Walter.    In Walter, we see the same fears and weaknesses that most of us possess, things that could easily lead us into bad situations given the right (or wrong) circumstances.  Do we have that same capacity for rationalizing our own poor moral decisions rather than seeing the obvious wrongness in them and doing what we know is right?  This show brings it into doubt.

It’s been a ride that leaves me cringing and gasping with every twist that Vince Gilligan throws into it.  I have come to expect the completely unexpected with this show.  I am sad  see it wrapping up for the pure wonder of its storytelling but relieved to see it end for the questions it raises about us all.

On a lighter note, for those who haven’t partaken of this particular treat, here’s a video that gives a very abridged rundown on what has happened thus far in the form of a Middle School Musical.

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David Maisel’s World

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, Photography, tagged , , , , , on August 10, 2013| 1 Comment »

David Maisel Oblivion 1382-52nI really don’t have the time to really get into the work of photographer David Maisel but wanted to at least pass on a few of his images as well as a link to his website.  Initially, I came across some of his black and white views of Los Angeles taken from great altitudes, transforming the landscape into an abstract form that feels darkly uneasy and machine-like, the urban sprawl constantly self-replicating.  I am drawn to aerial imagery and these pulled me in at once.

David Maisel Terminal Mirage 22But going to his site, I was hit with a wide spectrum of images that knocked me out.  Color filled views of geometric beauty shot over the Great Salt Lake. Creepy shots of clear-cut forest zones in Maine with massive piles of logs splayed out like toothpicks.  Images that capture what he calls the apocalyptic sublime in the aftermath of Mount Saint Helens.  Images in black and white and in colors that come off as shocking of mining sites.  It was stunning work that captured the environmental impact of the continual push of humans into all spaces– beautiful and terrifying at once.

David Maisel Library of Dust 1165Even the parts of his body of work that seem to stray from his aerial assault on our perceptions were fascinating.  X-rays of antiquities.  A series called Library of Dust that shows the degradation of copper canisters containing the cremated remains of patients of an Oregon Insane Asylum who died there between the 1883 and the 1970’s, all unclaimed by family and forever resting anonymously in a decaying building.  Thousands of these sealed copper cans lining simple shelves while time works its magic.

It’s all remarkable and thought provoking work.  As I said, beautiful and terrifying.  I could see myself getting lost in any of his projects.  I encourage you to check out his site and see for yourself.

David Maisel Terminal Mirage 19 David Maisel Terminal Mirage 18 David Maisel Terminal Mirage 8 David Maisel Oblivion 1381-41n David Maisel Oblivion 1380-45n David Maisel Terminal Mirage 20 David Maisel Untitled [Library of Dust]

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Retelling the Tale

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, tagged , , , on August 8, 2013| 3 Comments »

GC Myers- The Eternal Gift At last week’s Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery, there was a question about the painting shown here, The Eternal Gift.  The questioner  wanted about the two different colors for the foliage in the trees, especially since I seldom use green in my central trees.  I explained that this how I chose to translate the story of Baucis and Philemon from Greek mythology, one of my favorite stories.  I gave a quick synopsis of the story explaining that I first used this imagery of two different trees entwining and growing together  to illustrate this tale a few years ago a when I was commissioned to do so by a couple celebrating their anniversary.

I thought I would take this opportunity to relate the story again here, as I wrote about it back in 2010:

I often get requests for commissioned work but usually am not excited by the prospect of being dictated to in the creation of my work, actually turning down many that get too specific in their requirements. I want my paintings to reflect my thought process and emotion as well as my craft. As a result, I have an informal set of rules that let me have free rein in the creation of the work so that the painting is allowed to form in an organic way. Not forced, which often takes away the vitality of many pieces, in my opinion. 

But this particular request is unlike many others that I receive. They want this piece to relate the story of the classic myth of Baucis and Philemon, which is the tale of a poor but happy couple who are unknowingly visited by Zeus and Hermes disguised as dusty travelers. Beggars, really. The two gods had went door to door among their neighbors seeking hospitality and were rebuffed in every attempt, often with harsh words. Zeus became angry as door after door was slammed in his face. Finally, they came to the door of the shack of Baucis and Philemon, the poorest looking home they had yet approached. 

Upon knocking, they were greeted warmly by an elderly couple who welcomed them in to their simple but cleanhome and treated them with what little they had in the way of food and drink. They were gracious and hospitable, seeking to give comfort to the strangers. As the night wore on, the couple, who had been serving their simple wine to the travelers from a pitcher, noticed that the pitcher stayed full even after many pours. They began to suspect that these were not mere beggars but were, in fact, gods. 

They apologized to the gods for not having much to put before them then offered to catch their prized goose, which was really a pet, and cook it for them. The old couple chased the goose around the shack until finally the frightened creature found sanctuary on the laps of the gods. Stroking the now safe goose, Zeus then informed them of their identities and, after complimenting on their hospitality and of the mean-spiritedness of their neighbors, told them to follow them. They climbed upon a rise and Zeus told them to look back. Where once their town had stood was nothing but water, from a deluge that had washed away everything, including all who had insulted Zeus. From where their poor home had been, a majestic golden-roofed temple with sparkling marble pillars rose from the receding waters. 

Zeus told the couple that this was their new home and asked what wish he could grant them. They asked that they be made priests, guardians of this temple and that they should always remain together until the ends of their lives. Seeing their obvious love for each other, Zeus readily agreed. The couple lived for many more years together, reaching a prodigious age. One day they stood together and all the past moments from their life and love together flooded over them. Baucis saw leaves and limbs sprouting from Philemon and realized that the same thing was happening to her. On the plain outside the temple, they transformed into two trees, an oak and a linden, that grew from the same trunk, their limbs intertwined, eternally together. 

That’s a simple re-telling of the tale but I think you can see why this couple might want a symbol of this story to mark their time together…

[The painting shown here, The Eternal Gift, is part of my current show and is available at the West End Gallery.  It is a 10″ by 18″ image on paper.]

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A Little Indorock

Posted in At the Movies, Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2013| 2 Comments »

Crazy Rockers- Indorock Band circa 1962One of my favorite movies is The Third Man, which was filmed in post-World War II Vienna and stars Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard— three of my favorite actors.  With a screenplay by Graham Greene and great black and white cinematography, it’s just a great film.  But the thing that holds it all together and makes it memorable is the theme song that runs through the whole film, a haunting yet lively tune played on a zither by Anton Karas, who wrote and performed the song.  It was so catchy that it topped music charts around the world in 1950.

A number of people have recorded the song over the years but one of my favorites was from a group called the The Crazy Rockers from the early 60’s.  They were part of the Indorock scene in Holland at the time which was guitar-driven rock music played by Indonesians who were living in Holland.  It’s not a genre that many of us here in the states are familiar with but it was pretty big in that part of the world.   Still is from what I understand– the Crazy Rockers and the Tielman Brothers, who are the best known Indorock band, are still performing with over 50 years in the business.

I loved their version of The Third Man Theme with their choreographed movements and gyrations and matching sparkly costumes.  It was sort of kitschy but in a very authentic way.  I featured it here in a post back in 2008 but unfortunately can  no longer locate that version online.  So I will show a song from the same time frame, Carioca.  I’m also showing the original The Third Man credits  with the theme from Anton Karas playing over it  just to give those who aren’t familiar with it a chance to hear it.  If you get a chance, definitely catch the whole film.

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The Wolves Inside

Posted in Influences, Music, Video, tagged , , , on August 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Spirits Within - Artwork from Charles Frizzel

A Native American grandfather talking to his young grandson tells the boy he has two wolves inside of him struggling with each other. The first is the wolf of peace, love and kindness. The other wolf is fear, greed and hatred. Which wolf will win, grandfather? asks the young boy. Whichever one I feed, is the reply.

I came across the above, a short and often told story along with an illustration from artist Charles Frizzell,  on the Facebook page called Hippie Peace Freaks.   So simply put, it speaks of the dual natures  that reside in each of us, that polarity that I often try to capture in my work.  Our actions and choices form who we are and, hopefully, we opt to feed our peaceful wolves.

Here’s a video featuring the music of the great early bluesman Robert Johnson that also illustrates the point in a slightly different manner.  In Me and the Devil  Blues, his inner demon, his bad wolf, has taken a place beside him at all times.

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You Are Here

Posted in Influences, Quote, tagged , , , on August 4, 2013| 4 Comments »

Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.

–Carl Sagan

Earth Seen From Dark Side of Saturn NASA-JPL-CaltechWhen I saw this recent photo taken from the Cassini  Spacecraft capturing Saturn and its rings as well as our own little blue speck of a planet, all I could think of was how utterly trivial my own worries and concerns were in the scope of all things.  I guess that can be a frightening thing, to feel so small and insignificant in relation to the universe, to realize that you are but a grain of sand on an immense beach filled with more grains of sand than you can possibly imagine.

 But to my surprise, I am not frightened.  If anything, I am pacified, knowing that  I am but a grain of sand subject to forces beyond my control.  And a grain of sand cannot alter the beach or stand up to the force of the ocean.  It goes where the tide carries it, where the wind blows it.

What good is worrying to a grain of sand?

So, go with the flow today.  We are all grains of sand and should enjoy our time on this beach while the sun shines down on us.

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