Personal performance art, revisited
Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross (The Gross Clinic), 1875, Thomas Eakins. Who knew Eakins was such a visionary? Yesterday, I had a minor medical procedure done, which—as is the nature of these things—will be followed by a slightly-less-minor medical procedure. While discussing scheduling, the surgeon mentioned that he could do it either at an …
I don’t object because it cheapens sex, but because it cheapens art.
William Blake’s The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with Sun (1805). This is what conceptual art used to be about. The Daily Mail reportedthat a young British art student plans to have sex in a public gallery for a project entitled Art School Stole My Virginity. It’s both sad and quaint that he imagines there’s …
Continue reading “I don’t object because it cheapens sex, but because it cheapens art.”
The Witty City
The restored Hotel Lafayette. My home town of Buffalo, NY is certainly one of the most beautiful cities in America. Each time I return, it’s in better repair. Take the Lafayette Hotel, where I stayed this weekend. I remember it as a dilapidated building with one room open to the public. Local and out-of-town acts …
Two books I keep recommending that people buy, over and over…
Trouble is, I never remember their titles when I’m asked. The first is Kevin Macpherson’s Landscape Painting Inside & Out, which is a nice introduction to plein air painting by an extremely competent teacher and painter. If you like this book, you might also try his Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light &Color. I was …
Continue reading “Two books I keep recommending that people buy, over and over…”
That mysterious synergy between artists
Pokeweed and ferns set off those florist flowers. When the creative process is working well between two people, there’s what a friend calls “flow.” Solutions seem to flow naturally into the openings created by problems. Jennifer Jones makes smashing statement jewelry out of repurposed buttons, gems, earrings, brooches (and the occasional tiny hot sauce bottle). …