The sky reminded me of the Hudson River School of American painters. These painters were devoted to an idealized portrayal of nature—a new garden of Eden. In this evening moment, tiny human beings and "nature" were coexisting peacefully. Even a digital camera to capture this pixelated manifestation of God. The Garden of Eden is on 14th Steet—really!
There is a major Francis Bacon show marking the centenary of the artist’s birth in 1909, at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. I've been several times already and also attended the all day symposium. The exhibition hosts together many significant works from each period of Bacon’s career. The thing I found most exciting was that he was trying new methods and ideas in his paintings at the age of 70+. One of the later paintings that really sent me was "Jet of Water" painted in 1988.
I'll be going back again several times I'm sure before it closes. I'd say I'll see you there but you might not see me. In case you don't know, I love bright orange and wear it a lot, so it occurs to me that this show is one of the few places where I am truly camouflaged.
One of the lectures was about the archaeology, transportation, reconstruction and exhibition of Bacon's 7 Reece Mews studio at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin was humorous to me in its absolute devotion to Mr. Bacon. However it was gripping in the depth of illumination of how Bacon worked. Over 7,000 items were found in the studio and all of them were database catalogued before they placed them back in their exact place in the reconstructed studio. They even took the walls section by section. I loved that he used walls as his palette, and I wish I'd been there to drink some of the champagne from the many empty boxes he threw at one end of the studio. A circular mirror hung behind him when he worked. Bacon might have turned and looked at the reflection of his work, perhaps looking at the structure in a more abstract way. Pieces of thick corduroy and things like cotton wool were found in the studio, which Bacon used to impress into wet canvas. And one last note, so no artist should ever be ashamed by their methods, cut-out photo heads of George Dyer with number of pin holes in them and paint all around the outlines, suggest they were used to trace Dyers profile on to the canvas.
O.K. you've guessed I'm now deep into the cult of Francis Bacon, if you are too...enjoy these vids!
I was having dinner downtown with Jill Leininger, a poet that I met at the Vermont Studio Center. Afterwards, we stopped at one of our local downtown ice cream places. There regular is defined as Avocado, Black Sesame, Taro, Wasabi and Durian, while Chocolate and Cherry Vanilla are "exotic" flavors. It was the perfect place to discover in the company of a poet. This is why I love New York.
You only have a week left to run down to CANADA at 55 Chrystie St (between Hester & Canal) to see this great show. The surfaces of the paintings are truly beautiful and... Carrie is one of the most interesting painters I know.
When you have more than one child you need to follow the equal time rule. Here are some of the artistic pursuits of my other two and yeah, I'm just as proud.
Max is interested in Dance and Theatre. Here are clips from recent performances:
Chloe is more interested in design and photography when she's not playing the guitar, violin, mandolin, clarinet, piano or drums. This is a book of her photographs that I really like.
There you have it. New York is a place for creative people—and for apples. We're the second largest producer of apples in the United States. As for our creative people, it's a wonderful fragrant orchard, apples and interesting seeds.
Susan Shaw is an internationally exhibited painter and photographer. Private and public collections include the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Israel Museum. Shaw is the recipient of two New York State Artist’s Fellowships and residency fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center and the Women's Studio Workshop.
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