Remains of the Traianeum (Temple of Trajan) on the Acropolis of Pergamon in Turkey. This most recent trip to India, South Africa and Turkey brought me into even closer proximity to some of the most persistent, larger-than-life issues like belonging, tribalism, identity, belief. In looking at those enormous ideas more closely, it is impossible to […]
Belonging to the Rank
Rudeau, 24 x 24″, from a recent painting series Compendium, now on view at the Islip Art Museum (running through December 27), explores the interchangeable qualities of both art and science. Curators Lorrie Fredette and Beth Giacummo included this quote by Albert Einstein in their show commentary: The most beautiful emotion we can experience is […]
The “Don’t Know Mind”
So many points of light. (From a Kiki Smith installation at the DeYoung Museum, San Francisco) Some people are more certain of everything than I am of anything. –Robert Rubin In the spirit of “everything is autobiographical,” this blog is a map of the ideas that matter most to me. A quick search here for […]
- Art Making
- ...
The Right Way
“Guardians of the Secret”, collage by Barry Swyers, an artist and friend who passed away earlier this year. Artist Ben La Rocco in conversation with Craig Olson, on Hyperallergic: There is some kind of confusion in my nature with regard to received methods of doing things. I’ve always had it. I’m left handed, mildly dyslexic […]
Whales, Horses and the Hand
In praise of the hand (found on a trip to India several years ago) Laurie Fendrich (painter/writer partnered with painter/writer Peter Plagens,) has written thoughtfully about the concept of a “mature” or “signature” style. “All serious painters, no matter the quality of their work, inevitably end up with a mature style,” she wrote in the […]
Let the Mystery Be
“Tezoom”, from a new series that seems to have a mind of its own In an interview with the artist Claerwen James, she was asked about what useful advice she received while she was a student: One was from Bernard Cohen who was director of the Slade at the time. During a lecture he said, […]
Song of a Convalescent
Michael Rau and Matthew Yates Crowley (Photo: American Repertory Theater) The window is a small one, so you will need to move quickly. If you are in the Boston area and are interested in idea-driven theater that captures the mind and the imagination both, here’s one for you: Song of a Convalescent Ayn Rand Giving […]
The Through Line
Porthole glimpses into the complexity of layers under the surface of the ice and snow Megan Hustad‘s memoir of a childhood as the daughter of evangelical missionaries, More Than Conquerors, brings her insightful mind to bear on more than Christian theology and the usual themes found in a Bildungsroman. In a conversation recounted near the […]
Multifariousness
News this week: Scientists have found the first evidence that briny water may flow on the surface of Mars during the planet’s summer months. Photograph: Nasa/JPL-Caltech/ University of Arizona/Reuters Perhaps it would be fair to say that I am on an analog mission. Much like NASA’s efforts of the same name (“conducted on earth, in […]
- Art Making
- ...
Practical Virtues
Lori Ellison: Untitled, ink on paper, 8.5 x 11″, 2006 (Photo: McKenzie Fine Art) Lori Ellison: Untitled, ink on paper, 8.5 x 11″, 2012 (Photo: McKenzie Fine Art) Over the nine years of writing this blog, I have returned frequently to the theme of staying open, vulnerable and accessible in the art making process. The […]