I’ve been editing the video of my Virtual Gallery Talk over the last day or so, cutting away some of the rougher sections. I am not an experienced film editor so it’s going slow. Plus, it takes time because it’s so painful to watch myself on the recording that I can’t do it for too long at once. But there should be a version available within a day or so on YouTube, if you’re interested.
The first will just have the beginning monologue. The second will be more complete, with a look at some of the work in the show at the West End Gallery and the questions put to me by the participants.
Because the viewer knew that we shared a love for baseball, he posed a questions that had to do with a piece of public art from artist Red Grooms that resides beyond the centerfield fence at Marlins Stadium in Miami. Called Homer, it’s an epic piece, 73 feet tall, comprised of colorful rainbows, flamingos, swaying palm trees, and marlins jumping from the waves. It even goes into motion with water a-gushing whenever a Marlins player hits a home run.
It’s a pretty gaudy piece with it cartoon-like imagery and bright colors, which are a Grooms trademark. As a result, it has become somewhat controversial. People seem to either love it or hate it. I was asked for my thoughts on it.
Hey, if I were in the ballpark, I would love it. Why not? It’s loud and celebratory. It’s fun. It serves its purpose ideally. Nobody goes to the ballpark to see Botticelli paintings or Rodin sculptures, as enticing as it might be to see a homer dinging off The Thinker.
Would I want it in my front yard?
Nah.
Art serves different purposes in different settings. Epic public pieces can seldom speak in intimate terms though there are certainly those that do. The sitting Lincoln at his Memorial, for instance, has a feeling that is inward and seems to reach out to the viewer in personal terms.
As powerful as it is, I don’t want that in my yard either.
Or out in centerfield. Though I hear Lincoln was a helluva fielder.
All glove, no bat, as they say.
To sum up, Homer is the art it is meant to be. Have fun with it. It’s baseball!
Thanks, for the question, Dave.
Here’s Mabel Scott with her wonderful Baseball Boogie.
Redtree Times 
I was sorry to miss the talk, but I’m glad there will be a video. It will give me something fun to watch while I’m hunkered down in my presumably powerless home during Laura. I’ve got my devices charged up and have a couple of power banks, so I won’t have to miss the video!
The shorter version should be out later today or tomorrow morning. Hope you find something interesting in it while you’re staying safe. Good luck!
The beginning of that video reminded me of a Chihuahua Lucy & I know from walkies named “Seven”.
we could use some pitching!!!
Mr Tony
Man, they need pitching and a few other things! That was quite a drop off. I think a couple of them are just hoping the season is called because of the covid at this point.
There’s going to be an asterisk next to ALL the stats and results from 2020.
I wish Yogi Berra were around for this season, He would come up with some gems!!
Or Casey Stengel. He had some gems when he was heading the Mets in their first years.
I thought you gave a good, thoughtful answer to the Homer question during your talk, but thanks for going into a little more detail here. One of the reasons Homer appeals to me is its cartoonish nature and I like cartoons. I think cartoonist get the bad rap as not being “serious” artists. R. Crumb is probably the best example of this.
For many reasons baseball has lost some of its appeal over the years; part of the reason is the pace of the game and the fact that the season is such a grind. But I think it’s also gotten too serious. There aren’t as many “characters” in the game any more.
Where have you gone, not Joe DiMaggio, but Bill “As in Wreck” Veeck, Yogi, Jimmy Piersall, Bill “The Spaceman” Lee, et al.
Also, thanks for mentioning Lincoln who is famously known as Honest Abe, but how many know that during his playing days he was known as Abe “The Statue” Lincoln! Hey Abe, get the bat off your shoulder!
Ironically, I guess you could say he was the General McLellan of hitters!
Finally, thanks for posting the song “Baseball Boogie”.
Anyone interested in more of the same can find it here on Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour addition on baseball
https://www.themetimeradio.com/episode-4-baseball/
Hey, Dave-
Couple of things. Frist, I agree about cartoonists not getting their due respect. I know that I was as influenced by cartoonists and pop culture as I was by any fine artist. That was the world in which I lived as kid. One of the first serious exhibits in which I was ever invited to hang my work was an illustrators show where I was bale to hang with some big name illustrators and political cartoonists. Great show.
You’re definitely right about baseball lacking the characters that once populated the game, including the names you mentioned. Bill Veeck, in particular. And don’t forget Mark “The Bird” Fidyrich and Mad Al Hrabosky– the Mad Hungarian. Or Joe Pepitone. Or managers like Casey Stengel, John McGraw or Connie Mack. Once the $100 million contract became common, it became too big. It was always a lucrative business, even in the 1870’s and 80’s, but now it’s a true corporate entity.There is just too much to lose now and you lose some joy with that.
Another character, Earl Weaver, used to manage our local minor league team, the Elmira Pioneers, before going on to lead the Orioles. His wife’s family lived in this area and, while managing the Orioles in the 60’s, spent his off seasons in the winters here, working in a local Chrysler Plymouth dealership, acting as a salesman/ goodwill ambassador. He didn’t make enough money to just cruise or take it easy. It was not yet a year round business.
And yes, Abe was the McLellan of hitters. Like Michael Jordan, couldn’t handle the curveball worth a damn. One final thing. Loved the Dylan baseball episode. A while back, Dylan had a tour– Willie Nelson opened for him– that was staged solely in minor league ballparks. We caught the first show of that tour at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown. It was a pretty cool show. Thanks for the conversation, Dave! Be well.-gary
That music’s video brought back childhood memories of Saturday afternoons in the knotty pine paneled den in the house my mother’s stepfather contracted and he, one of her brothers and my dad helped build. My dad in his Barca-Lounger watching baseball on the old black and white TV with Dizzy Dean and PeeWee Reese doing the announcing. #7 was Mickey’s (Mantle) number. I thought I saw Joltin’ Joe (Dimaggio) in the mix, the inimitable Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson.
Yeah, it raised a lot of memories for me, too. I remember my first games on TV in black and white.