Wednesday, August 26, 2020

What do Crytsal Bridge, Bill Murray, Matt Oman and The Mask Police have in common?

We're nearing the end of August and thus far it's been the most unusual year of my life. Many years have been marked unanticipated events that either happened (60's assassinations, 9/11) or didn't happen (Y2K), no year has been as life-changing in terms of its effect on behavior and the economic impact, nor the variety (surge in violence in the cities and racial friction).

In short, the year is two-thirds complete and I wish I could say that the worst is behind us but with an election ahead and no end to the violence in sight, I have a foreboding about what's
to come.

Against this backdrop, here are a few links that can serve as miniature diversions for whatever comes our way in the week ahead.

1) My satirical poem The Mask Police was published this past week in No Crime In Rhymin'.

2) Bill Murray has made an industry of his deadpan demeanor. Someone that that in addition to playing roles in films, he might be a good candidate to be inserted into famous paintings from history. It's an imaginative stroll through art history not unlike Woody Allen's Zelig. Here's the link.
https://mymodernmet.com/bill-murray-art-throughout-history/

3) While visiting the garage gallery of Matt Oman a few weeks back I learned about the Arkansas art museum Crystal Bridges in the vicinity of Branson. There are many great exhibits there, including an Ansel Adams exhibit for photography buffs, but Deborah Sverbers After The Last Supper, produced with 20,736 spools of thread, is utterly mind-blowing. Follow this link to learn more:
https://crystalbridges.org/exhibitions/after-the-last-supper/

4) The images on this page are Matt Oman's. We met at an art show in 2012 and have stayed in touch since. This is how I began my review of his gallery in 2018:

Unconventional means someone who doesn't follow conventions. Matt Oman's garage is not a garage at all. It's an art gallery. I've known people who can't use their garages because they're so full of clutter. I have not known any who turned their garage into a gallery. (I do know a few who have converted their garage into an art studio though.) 
You can read more about Matt Oman here.

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Onward and upward. 

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