Vigilant (2002)- Coming to Principle Gallery
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.
–Wendell Phillips, speech to Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, January 28, 1852
This is another older piece that is included in my upcoming solo exhibit that opens June 12 at the Principle Gallery. Titled Vigilant, this 8″ by 14″ painting done in transparent inks was painted in 2002 as part of a print series that circulated at print galleries in the Mid-Atlantic region for a few years. The prints from this painting were easily the most popular of the series. For some unknown reason, the painting itself was never exhibited, spending the last 24 years hanging in my studio.
I never even considered showing it, to be honest. And, again, the reason for this remains a mystery to me. But while I was assembling work for this show, I began to consider sending it along. It is, after all, both a fine example of my work in inks at that time and a bit of an anomaly, with the Red Roof houses displaying windows and doors, something that is seldom seen in my work.
It also has a striking presence on the wall and carries
This was painted not long after the 9/11 attacks and the idea of being super alert to threats from abroad was fresh in our minds. The Red Tree here stands on a hillock that casts a wary eye out towards open water and protectively over the homes below it. It has the posture of a watchdog.
It carries a message that was on point in both 2002 and 2026. However, today the Red Tree casts an equally wary eye inland. Some threats are home grown, as we now know. It seems that our watchfulness for foreign threats suffered a lapse in our own self-vigilance. Hopefully, we can recover from this and bear in mind the words at the top from Wendell Phillips, that if we wish to remain a free people, we must be ever on the alert for the corruption of the power we bestow on our leaders.
By the way, Wendell Phillips (1811-1884) was an attorney who was an abolitionist, an advocate for the rights of women and Native Americans, as well as a labor reformer. Phillips was held in the highest esteem by abolitionists and especially among the Black community. George Lewis Ruffin, a black attorney, stated that Phillips was seen by many black people as “the one White American wholly color-blind and free from race prejudice.”
I mention Phillips for partly selfish reasons. When I read his words, I thought I would compare his to the Phillips line in my own genealogy and found that we descend from common Puritan ancestors. He is a distant cousin. Of course, it means absolutely nothing. He has hundreds of thousands, maybe even in the millions, of such relatives. Probably a bunch of you out there, as well, though you might not be aware of the connection. Not that it changes anything in my or your life.
I am always just glad to find a distant relative that makes me somewhat proud. As anyone who has done genealogy in any sort of depth knows, that is not always the case.
There aren’t many songs that come to mind that have anything to do with vigilance. Here’s one that does but in a somewhat creepy way. It’s a great song, nonetheless. This is Sting with an acoustic version of the Police song, Every Breath You Take.
Okay, I have a lot to do so get out. But remember, I got my eye on you.