Jane and Wayne

It was hard to believe that twelve hours earlier we were camping on our mountain land in North Carolina, lost in the present moment of natures beauty.  Arriving in the pre dawn hours the highway lights that mark the beginning of South Florida,  guided us home.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy camping but our bed and air-conditioning was well appreciated.  

The straight through, accelerated drive southward was to attend a very special parade at the Hollywood Circle.  The event curated by the incredible Jane Hart, the  Art and Culture Center of Hollywood featured the caricature puppet of Napoleon Bonaparte Broward followed by a parade of amazing creations of both native animal and birds. There was artist Wayne White,  as the master of ceremony leading the way around the circle parade directing the gigantic green county name-sake, the rhythm driven by Brazilian drum beats.

http://www.southflorida.com/theater-and-arts/sf-hollywood-project-lsd-wayne-white-video2-premiumvideo.html

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The end of a successful parade.  Wayne (second from left) with students and faculty from New World School of the Arts, Miami who volunteered to help create and build the creatures pose for media after a successful event..  

The festivities continued down the street to the  art opening at the Art and Culture Center of Wayne Whites paintings in an exhibition, Art is Supposed to Hypnotize You or Something.  Whites irreverent text based art is carefully painted on top of thrift store finds complete with ornate frames.  The type is determined by its underpainting and floats effortlessly on top of typical thrift store art.

The gallery  is painted red with improvised drawing that gave me the feeling of being in a mock formal salon that was tagged with intriguing graffiti.  By contrast the space is dominated by the giant green (what appears to me to be a snake oil salesman type) Napoleon Broward.  The Center has created a wonderful unique installation that would be a nice visit to escape this crazy summer heat.

Installation of the main gallery exhibit Art is Supposed to Hypnotize You or Something.

Here are a couple of highlights from the show.

If  I have your interest  and would like to delve a little deeper into Wayne's mind I would like to encourage you to take a look and listen to him during a TED talk presentation.

And then there is Jane Hart who courageously exhibits challenging, beautiful and edgy shows that my former students always looked forward to field tripping there.

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/best-of/2015/arts-and-entertainment/best-curator-7038961

You may be wondering what pulled me into Wayne's hilarious world.  That would be  the documentary   Beauty is Embarrassing  a film some LA friends encouraged me to watch immediately.  I did and I was hooked.  To my surprise not only did I know of White's work with Pee Wee's Playhouse but I was attracted to the mesmerizing word paintings years earlier at the Nada Fair during the very first Art Basel.  This somewhat out of the way Fair at the Deauville Hotel in North Miami Beach always presented a fine array of both national and international art.

I've include the full version of the documentary with the hope that some will take the time to view it and I promise it will be an enlightening experience!

Discovering this film arrived at the moment  I was undergoing a radical reinvention of my art due to health issues,  Beauty is Embarrassing gave me the courage to move forward with whatever media and ideas my new art may lead.  And most importantly to enjoy every moment!

Up Close and Personal. Recent observations from National Gallery of Art

While visiting museums I find myself on instinctual drive by mode.  Every visit potentially draws me to different artworks seeking varieties of visual experiences. I had these thoughts and captured some beautiful moments in paint.  The mastery of so many approaches humbles and invigorates me.

While the days of working six inches from the surface of my oil painting may be over for now I have been happy to replace this meditative approach to my digital explorations.  I have been drawn to pattern and repeating forms from the days I began making images.  The source may surprise you but I will save this discussion for a different conversation.

But now contemplating a return to painting (only with total outside air) and I have started drawing once again with graphite and color pencil.  I will find some time when it is not unbearably hot or I will wait until fall or a cooler climate.

At dinner we all enjoyed a stimulating conversation in Old Alexandria with Shaina Rowell, a grad and pre med student about her memory research and maintaining memory.  I was thinking about how memory would serve my return to painting.  Research substantiates that repetition is the path to keeping and maintain previous connections.  With that in mind the depth of the brain’s capacity to store information is extensive however if you don’t use it you may lose it is proven to hold some truth.  We can nurture memories, repeat older tasks, remember the positive or dwell on the negative memories.

Detail from Life Voyages by Thomas Cole.  1842

My art training was all about the mark, the surface the design and to me most importantly the narrative (which was not as well accepted but I knew I had to be serious  about it to fly).  I feel like I have the opportunity to return to my roots of mark making fused with present thoughts.

Detail from Gare Saint-Lazare.  Edouard Manet.  1873.  The master of the mark.

This selection of images were photographed on Mother’s Day (2015) At the National Gallery in DC.  I was intuitively draw to examine the mark close up revealing the texture, the layers and the drawing with the brush.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share some close up captures of amazing paintings.  With limited time I cruised on auto pilot and let instinct direct my attention.

Detail from an Edgar Degas painting.  I have searched National's collection and the web and can't find this painting.  hmmm

Detail from Odalisque.  Auguste Renoir  1870.  

Slightly cropped Still Life of Oranges and lemons with Blue Gloves.  1889.  A recent acquisition to the National Gallery collection.

Detail from A Young Girl Reading.  Jean-Honore Fragonard.  1776.

Detail from Still Life:  Apples on Pink Tablecloth.  Henri Matisse.  1922.

Still researching title and date. Was draw right into those eyes...

Detail from Daniel in the Lion's Den.  Peter Paul Rubens.  1614 / 1616.

Detail from Head of a Young Man.  Anthony Van Dyck.  1617 / 1618.

Detail from Woman Holding a Balance.  Vermeer.  1664.

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Video discussion of relevance of painting in the 21st century.

An interesting conversation about realism and its role in art today.