New Work on canvas - and quote from Henry Miller

Side by side with the human race there runs another race of being, the inhuman ones, the race of artists who, goaded by unknown impulses, take the lifeless mass of humanity and by the fever and ferment with which imbue it turn this soggy dough into bread and the bread into wine and the wine into song.  Out of the dead compost and the inert slag they breed a song that contaminates. I see this other race of individuals ransacking the universe, turning everything upside down, their feet always moving in blood and tears, their hand always empty, always clutching and grasping for the beyond, for the god out of reach: slaying everything within reach in order to quiet the monster that gnaws at their vitals.  I see that when they bellow like crazed beasts and gore, I see that this is right, that there is no other path to pursue.  A man who belongs to this race must stand up on the high place with gibberish in his mouth and rip out his entrails.  It is right and just, because he must!  And anything that falls short of this frightening spectacle, anything less shuddering, less terrifying, less mad, less intoxicated, less contaminating, is not art.  The rest is counterfeit.  The rest is human. The rest belongs to life and lifelessness.

- Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

Couple at Play

I have provided a couple of details in order to give a greater understanding of how I constructed the piece. Hope you enjoy.

Do crazy times equal tame paintings?

I am constantly hearing about the concept of a contemporary painting. In a postmodern world, does such a thing exist? A sound approach to painting in today's world would be to have a greater understanding of history. De Kooning built of off Picasso (Broke through with excavation), Rembrandt, Rueben, Gorky and who knows whom else. Name a great painter who did not take this approach. Even the conceptual demigod Duchamp finished his life with the creation of a modeled object. As creative people, I feel it would do the world a great justice to build off of the four corners of the world that have created paintings and sculptures for at least the last twenty thousand years. People let’s start pushing the image.

What do you think??

I just wanted to introduce one of my new larger scale paintings. I hope you enjoy.

The importance of material

Today’s painter has a wide variety of materials to work with that make pigment look and feel differently than it has in the past. It is my assumption, that the use of such material is essential in the formation of a contemporary painting. By experimenting with new materials (much like the impressionists of the late 19th century), one might think of formal characteristics of the past in order to have greater opportunity for invention. I feel that it is this type of visual invention is essential for the potency of an image.

Can you believe Bacon was not included in the resent publication of Art Since 1900

I find it amazing that Francis bacons work has been overlooked by some of todays most respected art critics. What were they thinking. The image shown can be viewed at the Art Institute of Chicago. Just in case you are interested in viewing a really mind blowing painting.

Thank you Leon

The image above is a work by leon Golub. One of Chicago's original members of the "Monster Roster". I feel his work to be a real visual treat, and thought I would post "Parturition" 1955.
In order to give any possible viewer an idea of were my visual aesthetic is coming from.

Conceptual Mannerism

The other day I was handling a contemporary drawing at the Art institute of Chicago. This drawing was a simple line drawing that produced an abstracted image that looked much like a cloud. After looking at the drawing, I kept feeling like the image seemed remedial. Its formal construction looked much like a doodle of someone that was not thinking of the work.

Because, this image disturbed me I did some research, and in fact the drawing was the result of the artist placing his pen on a piece of paper while riding the subway. Highly conceptual, but the drawing seemed to be so closely linked to other conceptual work of the past, that the impact of the drawing seemed both visually and conceptually flaccid. This type of critique had already occurred. The Neo Dadaists of the nineteen sixties and their critique of abstract expressionism, as well as, the grand abstractions of Gerhard Richter seem to have already reflected this point.

It made me think that the majority of work that is created now and doted over by the powers that be (art critics and other institutional entities within the art worlds hierarchy) are nothing but one-liners. This seems to be the result of a learned, not invented activity; therefore the result of mannerism. Being that the primary source of production of the last twenty years, the conceptual school of thought was bound to come to such result. In many ways this result could be a sign for change.

Comment on Irony

"Irony is, of course, indispensable, but it comes later, it is the 'eternal fine-tuner,' as Norwid called it; it is more like the windows and doors without which our buildings would be solid monuments, not habitable spaces. Irony knocks very useful holes into our walls, but without walls, it could perforate only nothingness."
A Defense of Ardor: Essays By Adam Zagajewski
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

"amazing and forgettable, wonderful and oddly hollow result”
David Foster Wallace, Television Essays

The above quotes are from two contemporary authors. David Foster Wallace is a Mcarther Foundation winner and Adam Zagjewski is a successful poet. They are comments on the over abundant use of Irony in writing. I have had really no luck looking for similar criticism of Irony in the discourse of visual arts. I feel that the same thing is currently happening in the visual arts. Much like Zagajewki, it seems that the use of irony would be better served as a part of the over all construction of an image, poem. Images that rely primarily on one part of a total sum seem likely to become flat, uninteresting and unimportant in the grand scheme. We should be working in order to gain maximized result. Limiting ones work logically creates limited work. I feel that the path of irony is the wrong way to explore the visual world.

Two images from Karl Wirsum and Jim Nutt

In my previous blog I made mention of Karl Wirsum and Jim Nutt as examples of visual effective imagery. So, I have provided recent examples of their paintings'

The Importance of the Image

The current and prevailing dogma within the visual arts relies on the conceptual nature of work, rather than its visual effectiveness . I feel this approach to be completely ineffectual. Anytime an artist conceives of an image and creates that image, whether presented in earnest, ironically, and or sarcastically, in fact the end result can be labeled as conceptual. Therefore, I feel it is high time to reflect on the visual nature our work.

It is possible to present work that is highly conceptual and visually exciting. When a painting is shrouded in the idea, it looses its potency. Lacking visual interest, the idea can get lost, and left up to only a few to accept the image. This approach is inherently alienating to those outside of the art world.

I feel that art (painting, sculpture, video, film) by its nature deserves a potent visual component. Historical president for this approach exists right here at the school of the art institute of Chicago. The Chicago Imagists approached art in much the same way that I am suggesting. Karl Wirsum and Jim Nutt are prime examples of this creative approach. Their work have highly formal characteristics, as well as, strange and potent imagery. Their paintings are also successful reflections on the nature of society. If one is to take on the difficult task of intertwining the conceptual and the visual, the fruits of their labor may create interesting results.

A Side note

I am a painter and my observations will primarily be in regards to the activity of painting. I will also use this site as an opportunity to display my work, and the work of others that may be interviewed and/or contribute to my thought process.

Introduction

This site is a reflection of my views in regards to the current state of the art world, and an attempt to ratify perceived problems. In essence it is a half asse attempt at a manifesto. This manifesto unfortunately is still in progress. Therefore, this site could be perceived as a rant, as well as, a thorough investigation into current issues that effect artists.