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Archive for August, 2017

Stand!

Posted in Current Events, Music, Opinion, tagged , , , , on August 20, 2017| 2 Comments »

It was heartening to see the huge turnouts yesterday in  protests against the recent upsurge in white supremacists, neo-nazis and other hate groups. In Boston, a crowd estimated in the range of 40,000 hit the streets in response to a Free Speech Rally organized by an alt-right group whose own crowd ended up being counted in the dozens, not thousands, with estimates ranging from 20 to 100.

The organizers of the event claimed that they were against white supremacy, bigotry and neo-naziism and that they were there to simply exercise their First Amendment rights. The problem is that they have consistently aligned their cause and their political power with the groups that espouse these very things. You can’t build your coalition with these people then simply say they aren’t part of what you are as a group. You willingly let them in the tent knowing who they were– they are part of your circus.

The other part of the free speech argument is that everybody forgets that free speech is susceptible to reaction. You are free to say whatever you want but you must know that it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Your expression has cause and effect.

That was shown this past week with the public unmasking of the white supremacists from the events in Charlottesville. Many lost their jobs and faced public ostracization and shaming when they returned home. I am sure there are some out there who see this as being unfair but that is part of the bargain– their freedom to express their views doesn’t not take away the right of anyone else from reacting to it. Reaction is expression and is, so long as it remains non-violent, a First Amendment right.

I go through this on daily basis as an artist which means I am also a small business owner. I have the right and freedom to say or paint whatever I want. But I understand that by doing so I risk alienating potential collectors. It’s not a problem for the most part but I am sure there have been instances when I have expressed political opinions here that have rankled those who lean more to the right. And maybe they won’t buy my work or even like it anymore. That is their right and I accept that risk because I think being fully honest as to who and what I am is a big part of my work.

So, for this Sunday morning music I chose  a song that really fits the subject. It’s Stand! from Sly and the Family Stone. You can’t go wrong with Sly. I urge everyone to stand and express themselves fully. Just leave the guns and clubs at home. If you need them to express yourself, you should ask yourself what you’re really standing for as a human being.

Have a good and peaceful Sunday.

“Stand!”

Stand 
In the end you’ll still be you 
One that’s done all the things you set out to do 
Stand 
There’s a cross for you to bear 
Things to go through if you’re going anywhere 
Stand 
For the things you know are right 
It’s the truth that the truth makes them so uptight 
Stand 
All the things you want are real 
You have you to complete and there is no deal 
Stand. stand, stand 
Stand. stand, stand 
Stand 
You’ve been sitting much too long 

There’s a permanent crease in your right and wrong 
Stand 
There’s a midget standing tall 
And the giant beside him about to fall 
Stand. stand, stand 
Stand. stand, stand 
Stand 
They will try to make you crawl 
And they know what you’re saying makes sense and all 
Stand 
Don’t you know that you are free 
Well at least in your mind if you want to be 

Everybody 
Stand, stand, stand

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Maudie

Posted in At the Movies, Folk Art, Video, tagged , , , , , , on August 18, 2017| 2 Comments »

Took a break from the outside world yesterday and finally got to see the film Maudie which is about the late Canadian folk artist and national treasure, Maud Lewis.  Sally Hawkins lovingly portrays the artist and Ethan Hawke  serves as her rough and surly husband. It is an absolutely charming and moving film, one that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in the creative drive.

Or in the human spirit.

It captures that compulsive drive that so many self taught artists, particularly folk artists, possess. It is an inherent need and desire to have a means of expression using whatever is at their disposal. Looking around my studio now, I feel spoiled beyond belief by the materials I have on hand. Or by the fact that I am relatively healthy and can hold a brush easily in my hands. Thinking about Maud makes me feel a little guilty for not using all my advantages and painting even more.

It is, simply put, a lovely film. In these dark days filled with stupidity and hatred, it is a breath of fresh air — cool Nova Scotian air!— to focus on that image of a arthritis-wracked little woman sitting in front of her humble window in her tiny remote cabin, happily painting the world as she saw it and as she wanted it to be.

Here’s a link to a little video that gives a brief history of Maud Lewis.

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Exiles: Quartet/ A Replay

Posted in Biographical, Early Paintings, Quote, tagged , , , on August 17, 2017| 2 Comments »

Busy this morning but wanted to share a post from several years back. This concerns a group of four paintings in my early Exiles series which is work that I often find myself turning to in times of anxiety. I show these four paintings together as one piece called Exiles: Quartet. It’s a pretty honest look at how the Exiles series came about and what it meant to me. I hinted several years ago that I might restart the series but it hasn’t come about. Yet. We’ll see– there’s definitely enough anxiety around to fuel their creation.

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Exiles--QuartetWe all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, and our ravages. But our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to fight them in ourselves and in others.

—Albert Camus

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I have written about and showed a number of the pieces from my early Exiles series here on this blog. It was a very important group of work for me in that it was the first real break towards forming my own voice, creating and displaying work that was emotional for myself. It was also the work that spawned my first solo show in early 1997.

The inspiration for this work was mainly drawn from the experience of watching my mother suffer and die from lung cancer over a short five or six month period in 1995. Her short and awful struggle was hard to witness, leaving me with a deep sense of helplessness as I could only wish that there was a way in which I could somehow alleviate her pain. Most of the work deals with figures who are in some form of retrospection or prayer, wishing for an end to their own suffering.

But another part of this work was drawn from my own feelings of emotional exile, a feeling of estrangement in almost every situation. I had spent the better part of my life to that point  as though I didn’t belong anywhere, always on the outside viewing the world around me as a stranger in a strange land, to borrow the words of that most famous biblical exile, Moses. These figures were manifestations of that sense of inner exile that I carried with me.

Little did I know that these very figures would help me find a way out of this exile. With their creation came a sense of confidence and trust in the power of my self-revelation. I could now see that the path from the hinterlands of my exile was not in drawing my emotions more and more inward, allowing no one to see. No, the path to a reunion with the world was through pouring this emotion onto the surface of paper or canvas for all to see.

This is hard to write and I am struggling with it as I sit here this morning. I started writing this because I had been reconsidering revisiting this series, creating a new generation of Exiles. But in pondering this idea I realized that the biggest obstacle was in the fact that I no longer felt so much a stranger in a strange land. I no longer felt like the Exile, no longer lived every moment with these figures. It turned out that they were guides for me, leading me back to the world to which I now feel somewhat connected, thanks to my work.

If there is to be a new series, they will most likely not be Exiles.

The piece shown here, Quartet,  is one of my favorites, a grouping of four figures.  You may not see it in these figures but the visual influence for this work were the carvings found on Mayan ruins of Mexico and Central America.  I myself see this mainly in the figure at the bottom right.

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The Paradox of Tolerance

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged on August 16, 2017| 3 Comments »

White Supremacists surrounding Counter-Protesters at Statue of Thomas Jefferson- UVA

“Less well known is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.”

—Karl Popper, “The Open Societies and Its Enemies,” 1945

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I would like to be here this morning talking about cooperation and tolerance, about extending a hand of peace and understanding to those whose ideals and beliefs veer far afield from my own, which happens to be based on the equality and betterment of all people.

Well, that ain’t gonna happen today.

That was all blown to hell yesterday by a surreal press conference where the pOTUS* basically defended and sanctioned the behavior of  white nationalist/supremacist groups. To be blunt, he provided comfort and cover for Nazis.

In the time since I have heard moral outrage from the left and right as well as some who try to create an equivalency between the white supremacists and those who came to shout them down. One group came brandishing symbols of hatred and bigotry along with helmets, riot shields, masks, body armor, clubs, mace and guns– all supposedly to peacefully protest the removal of a Confederate statue. All the time chanting racial epithets and Nazi-era slogans.

On the other side were counter-protesters who were basically unarmed. True, there were a few sticks and pepper sprays but if you really watch the skirmishes, the neo-Nazis are overwhelmingly more armed and aggressive. And I didn’t see a gun on any of the counter group. Can you imagine the outrage on the right if a group of black men in camo carrying assault rifles had showed up like the white militia groups that acted as security on one side of the white supremacists flank?

But I have also seen many people argue for the legality of the white supremacists right to free speech, as much as we may dislike that.  We basically allow and tolerate hate speech in this country. While I understand and accept the legality of it, there is a counter-argument to that in the form of the Paradox of Tolerance–if you don’t stand up to intolerance at some point, if you allow those who would harm or take away the liberties and rights of other citizens, then you risk being destroyed by your tolerance by the intolerant.

We have been brought to an extremely dark place by a small, weak minded man who would willingly provide aid and comfort to the very people who stand against most of the basic tenets that we as a nation hold dear– equality, liberty and justice for all. We are at  a point where we must decide if we are willing to risk the existence of this  country as the land of liberty by turning a blind eye, thinking that it won’t affect us, and allowing these groups of hatred to flourish and grow or if we will make a united stand now.

Do we want to stop this before it becomes stronger and even more dangerous?

There is no turning away, as tempting as that seems. That is, in itself, a tacit endorsement of their brand of hatred. We have an administration and a pOTUS* that has lost all moral standing, having shown us yesterday who and what they really are.  So it is now upon us as citizens to protect the future of this nation. It is a responsibility and a duty. Make no mistake, there is no gray area here, no place for equivocation. You have to pick a side.

If we don’t stand up, don’t take action, the ugliness and the violence will grow. You will not dissuade these people with rational argument nor will they simply get bored and move on. A quick examination of history and of these groups’ beliefs and goals should provide proof of that. It will take the force and power of the collected citizens of this country to suppress this hatred.

My question to you today is: What side are you on?

 

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Grosz

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, tagged , , , on August 15, 2017| 2 Comments »

I have been thinking about the work of the German painter George Grosz, who was born in 1893 and died in 1959. Maybe it’s the tone of these recent days in this country, darkly ominous and tinged with potential violence, that bring his work to mind. His work definitely dealt with the tenor of his time, mirroring the mood of  the two world wars and the rise of fascism in Europe and Hitler in Nazi Germany to which he was a witness. I thought I would replay an earlier blog post about Grosz that ran six years back. I’ve added a few more examples of his work as well as a video slideshow. The music in it is Andre Rieu playing a selection from The Merry Widow which adds a slightly lighter touch to the film.

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I woke up in the dark this morning after a fitful night of sleep filled with horrible dreams.  I don’t want to go into the details but they were awful and constant, each sweeping from desperate scene into yet another.  Dark and tinged in deep colors of black and red.  Hopeless in the scope of their finality and, though I am hesitant to use the word, there was a sense of apocalypse.  I was shaken.  I’ve had many horrifying dreams over the years but they seldom felt so vast and desperately final.

 As I trudged down to pick up my newspaper I tried to sort out the dream and try to find an equivalence in imagery that I know that captured in some way the feel of these dreams.  As I neared the studio the dark paintings of George Grosz done in Germany in the years before World War I came to mind.  They were forebodingly dark and angry and just the overall look of them made me think of the darkest corners of man’s mind.  The red tones and the way they filled the picture plane along with the chaotic nature of the compositions brought to mind the nightmarish feel of my dreams.

Grosz’s work changed over the years, especially after fleeing Hitler’s Germany, moving to the New York in the 1930’s where he lived until the late 1950’s when he returned to Berlin, dying there in 1959.  His American work is often considered the wekest of his career, less biting and more esoteric.  There were exceptions during the war such as 1944’s  Cain, Or Hitler in Hell, shown here, which reverts back to the colors and nightmare feel of his early work.  Very powerful work that may not sooth one’s soul but rather documents the darker aspects of human existence.

I don’t know if my own nightmares have an effect on my work.  Perhaps they come out in work that seems the antithesis of them, work that seeks to calm and assure.  I don’t really know to be honest.  I know that I want to put last night’s visions behind me.  To that end, I think I should get to work and let my nightmares only dwell in the work of Grosz for now.

 

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No Idiots Today

Posted in Uncategorized on August 14, 2017| 10 Comments »

I couldn’t write a post yesterday and to be quite honest, I don’t want to write one today.

I am tired. Tired of so many things but mainly of one thing in particular.

Idiocy.

The sheer unabashed idiocy of those who cling to the idea of some fantasy land of racial and ethnic purity, who wave the flag of a failed and misguided revolt as a symbol of their stupidity. Idiots who have enjoyed a life of relative entitlement and opportunity simply due to the color of their skin then whine and cry and lash out when others seek a level playing field.

And even more than that, I am tired of the idiocy of those who seek to rationalize and sanction their words and actions, who seek to find some sort of equivalency in the actions of those who stand against these purveyors of hatred. It’s an idiocy that blinds them to their own lack of moral and ethical decency, leading them to believe that this pouting weakness is somehow a strength or is right in some way.

It’s the same idiocy that failed to see the events of this past weekend ( and most likely many more similar events to come) was an inevitability when they voted for a man lacking any moral or ethical compass, a creature who would exploit anything in order to achieve his desired selfish ends, to act as the de facto leader of this nation. The same idiocy that sees his fake tough guy act as strength when it has been glaringly apparent for decades that he is an absolute weakling in so many ways, someone who constantly portrays himself as a victim, who whines incessantly and can’t tolerate criticism of any kind.

I am sick and tired to death of the idiocy of those fools that thought a man-baby who refuses to accept any responsibility for any action could somehow bring this country together or solve anyone’s problems. He will discard people and step over any number of bodies to keep his head above water.

Unfortunately, he is the perfect leader for the white supremacists– spoiled, intellectually weak cry babies who shun responsibility for anything they do or say and whine that are entitled to any and all built in advantages.

I am tired of dealing with the idiocy of young white men who somehow feel they are victims, that they are being shortchanged in some way, that others are responsible for their shortcomings, that others have in some way taken away a birthright to which they alone are entitled.

I am tired. Jesus, I am exhausted from witnessing these idiots. But even so, I know that can’t keep me from maintaining a vigilance and standing actively opposed to these hate-filled idiots.

That is a responsibility we all must take upon ourselves.

After the election, I saw several people, including some I know personally, write that they supported the person who won the election but was appalled that anyone would think that their endorsement in any way meant that they endorsed racism, homophobia or xenophobia in any way. They claimed that they would stand opposed to any of these things if they arose during his presidency.

It is time for these people to step up the plate. This is not a time to remain quiet, to shrug it off and pretend it isn’t part of your world. Silence sanctions more of the same and soon, whether they like it or not, it will soon be at their door. And then it will be much too late.

I know this doesn’t mean anything, doesn’t change a thing with so many words being written, spoken and screamed. No, this was just written for me. So if you’re one of those idiots and you think I am not being fair to you, keep it to yourself.  If you can’t see the lack of morality, decency and humanity in the actions of the white supremacist morons or this so-called president who readily endorses them with his actions and words — or lack of words– then it’s not my responsibility to convince you.

You are responsible for who you are.

 

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A Changing View/ Early Sunday Music

Posted in Early Paintings, Favorite Things, Music, Quote, tagged , , , on August 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

 

Let Us Now Praise...

 

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

      – Thomas Edison

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I was going through old blog posts recently and I noticed that I had used the painting above a number of times in my earliest posts. It’s part of my Exiles series from back in 1995 and is titled Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, borrowed from the title of a group of Depression-era photos of sharecroppers in the American dust bowl shot by photographer Walker Evans.

I never really wrote about this painting except in what I saw as it’s similarity to what I saw in those photos of Depression era workers. I always felt a connection to this piece but thought it was an outer connection, one that simply had to do with my reaction to form and color and not with anything I might see of it in myself.

Maybe that was my hope.

But it is a painting that I find has more meaning for me than I might want to let on. It’s a piece to which I always return, again and again, to study closely. While I sometimes see it as apart from me, more and more as I live with it, part of me feels like I am that man, standing alone in his landscape.

A sometimes self portrait.

It’s not a flattering self portrait. I used to see this figure as sad or regretful, world weary. But that has changed over time.  There is some sadness, some regret but more than anything, I now see him as resigned, neither happy or sad. He is in his place with work behind him and much more work to do. It still has a weariness in it, but not from a physical standpoint. It is more a sense of tiredness from working to stay ahead of the world’s constant encroachment, the world’s constant erosion. But while it appears tired there is also a sense of implied strength and determination to stay on task.

The hand here is important to me, a symbol of the bond of a working mind and working hands. Ideas set in motion and realized.

It’s a painting that means more and more to me as times passes and the world works its erosive qualities on my self and my world, my landscape. Maybe I am that dirt farmer, looking back with pride in his work along with an apprehension that it will someday be carried away like dry soil in the wind.

I am not going to be around Sunday so here’s a little music for the morning, a day early. It fits pretty well in tone and substance to the painting above. It’s the immortal Otis Redding with I’ve Got Dreams to Remember.

Have a good weekend.

 

 

 

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Loving Vincent

Posted in Uncategorized on August 10, 2017| 5 Comments »

There is a film coming out in September that deals with the death of Vincent van Gogh. Called Loving Vincent, the film has been in the works for several years and features several high profile actors–Chris O’Dowd, Saoirse Ronan and Aidan Turner  as van Gogh.  It tells the story of the artist’s sudden death as a sort of mystery/detective tale with one of van Gogh’s portrait subjects as the narrator. The characters move through scenes and locales easily recognizable to fans of van Gogh.

But what makes this project truly interesting is the manner in which the story is told on film. It is supposedly the first completely hand-painted feature film. I guess they somehow distinguish between this and the drawing/painting of features such as Disney’s Snow White.

Maybe it’s in the manner of painting. They used a team of 125 artists specifically trained to emulate the thick, vibrant strokes of van Gogh, which seem well suited to film with their rhythmic, vibratory qualities. Even as paintings there is a sense of movement.

I thought I would share the trailer to give you an idea of how this looks.


 

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Rouault

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, tagged , , on August 9, 2017| 1 Comment »

Georges Rouault -Christ in the Suburbs 1920-24I am a believer and a conformist. Anyone can revolt; it is much more difficult to obey our inner promptings.

–Georges Rouault

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I’ve been a big fan of French painter/printmaker Georges Rouault  (1871-1958) from the moment many years ago when I stumbled across a copy of Miserere, a book of his deeply expressionistic etchings. The title translates as Mercy and it contained raw and expressive work that dealt with deeply personal and religious themes along with those inner promptings, as he calls them in the quote above. It was a work that was very influential on my early Exiles series.

His entrance into the world of art was serving, at the age of fourteen, as an apprentice glass painter and restorer which shows itself in his mature work which resembles leaded glass windows with its dark dividing lines and glowing colors that feel sometimes as though they are lit from behind with the light shining through. Both are qualities that excited me and made me want to emulate in my own work. Not to mention the purity a of the emotional feeling throughout.

Now, if only I can obey my own inner promptings…

This is kind of a replay of a blog entry from a couple of years back. I changed some of the wording and added a video that better shows the work of Rouault. Here is that video with more of his work:

Georges Rouault Sunset 1937georges-rouault-christ-and-the-fishermen-1939-Georges Rouault The Old King

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Golden Beacon

Posted in Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on August 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men.

–Thomas Huxley

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This painting, Golden Beacon, was an addition to my current show at the West End Gallery that got its first showing at the Gallery Talk on Saturday. I am pleased to say that this piece found an adoring home in the aftermath of the talk.

I spoke with its new caretaker for a while after the talk, describing what I saw in this painting and how it differed in feeling from a similar painting hanging in the show that I wrote about in an earlier post. That painting, The Center Holds, was about the individual holding strong to its beliefs and core values as the chaos of the world swirled threateningly above and below.

I see this piece in a slightly different light. It is still about strength, still concerned with perseverance and staying true to inner truths. But it is also about how that type of behavior acts as an example for others to follow. Standing up to the fear, anger and hatred that is so often sowed by agents of darkness serves as beacon shedding broad beams of light that guide others past those perils.

I see a calmness in this painting that is based on a belief in logic, knowledge and truth. And in the glow of that light, the darkness separates and flees.

I think this piece is about both finding a source of light and calmness to guide you through times of darkness and, in turn, becoming a beacon to others. My hope is that the new owner of this painting sees this as such an inspiration. I know that it will always live that way in me.

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