Hanging Out at the Venue

“The most important tool the artist fashions through constant practice is faith in his ability to produce miracles when they are needed. Pictures must be miraculous.” ~ Mark Rothko

It’s official. My work is now hanging on the walls and in the halls of The Venue @ Mohaupt, in Duluth’s West End. The show is titled First Hand Experiences and for the next couple weeks, till the opening July 21, I will attempt to explain (from time to time here on my blog) some of the sources, stories and meanings behind a few of these paintings and drawings. First off, I will comment on the naming of the show.

Naming can be one of the most enjoyable or challenging parts of any creative endeavor. Several discarded names for the show preceded this one, but when it hit there was a sticktuitive quality which inspired me.

First Hand Experiences not only speaks of the process of creation in which every work is a first hand experience of the artist… but it also points to the interactive first hand experience of the viewer who participates in the piece as he engages its features and forms.

My artistic influences include Dali, Matisse, Duchamp, Picasso, Magritte, Rivers and Rauschenburg among others. The other day I mentioned several personal influences and would like to add to that list Mr. Sebes, my high school art teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan West in New Jersey. During two years of art tutelage I gained exposure to a wide range of creative expression. I also learned a few techniques with regard to my painting. As for my drawing, it developed on its own up in my room after my homework was done.

Possibly my strongest influence at that time was a painting by medieval Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, a peer of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Bosch’s tryptich The Garden of Earthly Delights had a profound impact on me with its depictions of the Garden of Eden, the earthly delights and of the darkness of Hell. The latter appeared on an early Deep Purple album called Tetragrammaton, a reference to the unpronounceable name of God.

As my imagination entered into the Bosch depictions on this album, they were translated into my own striking pen and ink drawings. What I lacked in skill was made up for in imagination at this time.

There is possibly no greater joy than the act of creation.

As for the show, consider yourself invited!