Okay, for that (phantom) reader out there who feels that the work in the portfolios in my website is
very diverse, let me say that you are not mistaken. After many years
working in a semi-abstract vernacular, while not abandoning my mixed-media explorations, I have returned to my first love
which is the figure and, in particular, the face. How can one resist the
human face - that pattern that is imprinted on us from the first moment
of our lives.
Yet I cannot tell you, dear reader (are you there?),
how often I have heard people dismiss the ability to draw and paint from observation - most of mine are from life - as being a mere "facility" that, with a little
effort, anyone can pick up, like tracing a dot-to-dot in a child's
coloring book, presumably. Mostly those people - artists working in non-rep modes - have not, so far, "picked
it up" themselves. In the meantime others that I know, accomplished
artists, have spent half a lifetime trying to chase down that elusive
thing, the human face and, despite sharply honing their skills of
observation and deepening their technical knowledge, continue to be
eluded by that will o' the wisp: the life force within. Being able to see deeply and transform that knowledge into an image is not a facility, it is a gift - quite a rare gift and I am fortunate to possess it to some reasonable extent.
I am no hater of
non-representational art - see my own Mixed Media portfolio on this website - and much of the art I write about is
installation, assemblage, conceptual, and abstract. But all art is
abstract, certainly in its execution. A case in point is Ellsworth
Kelly, one of the most abstract artists of our time, still with us at
age 90. His most well-known paintings tend to be vibrant monochromes on
shaped canvases - no Rotho-esque romantic washes or soft edges. But
Kelly is a superb draftsman who draws every day from nature and takes
what he discovers there into his painting. When I read what Kelly says
about his most abstract work, I think "but that is what I am thinking
when I am painting a face." The difference is that he takes those shapes
he sees in nature, separates them from their context, unifies the
color, and reproduces them on a monumental scale. Here are some of his
plant drawings:
http://mhsartgallerymac.wikispaces.com/Ellsworth+Kelly
That is enough waffle out of me for now, so I shall leave you, Phantom Reader
(may I call you Phan for short?), to draw your own conclusions.
Oh wait - while I have your attention. Do check out my commentaries about art on
Roll Magazine online. Latest is about the new, massive show going on right now (until Dec 15, 2013) at Industry City in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn:
Come Together: Surviving Sandy. The show is a fund-raiser for artists affected by Hurricane Sandy last year and includes both artist victims and those wanted to support the cause, 300 in all. Artists include a number of "Bold Face" names: Alex Katz, Chuck Close, Kiki Smith, Shirin Neshat and very interesting works by Shojo Azari, Bruce High Quality Foundation, Dustin Yellin, Diana Cooper, Corban Walker (from my old alma mater) among many others and also under-recognized and emerging artists. A good read, if I say so myself.
Also check out my article immediately before the
Surviving Sandy piece - this is about a very different kind of art show:
The Woodstock Landscape, Then and Now, and is worthy of note if you are interested in how
Woodstock became
"Woodstock" and why it all happened in New York State instead of, oh, North Carolina...
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