What show did I see of Philip Guston’s work? It’s the prerogative of the amateur to neither care nor remember, however, I do remember not being particularly excited about his work. I saw it in Chicago and for some reason I thought he was a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (where some of my friends still teach). Even if I got all my facts wrong (and who knows, he could have been a visiting artist there) he was solidly IN MY MIND in the school of Chicago Imagism which I still revere. This school includes Roger Brown, Jim Nutt and H. C. Westermann. Given that kind of company, artists unabashedly “pro-image”, Guston’s work seemed uninteresting. Sure I could see there were social critical themes underneath (why else all the Klansmen?) but they weren’t painted in a way that shouted at you (like Diego Rivera shouts “Marxism Good!”) nor were they interesting to me as images. I didn’t even like his signature “flesh rose” or whatever it was. So, I dismissed him. Wrong!
The year was 1979. The place, Chicago. The environment, well, let’s say it was highly influenced by Laurie Anderson, the fall of the Shah, Three Mile Island, Jimmy Carter attacked by a swamp rabbit, the Unabomber, the dominance of disco music, the Soviets invade Afghanistan and the Iranian hostage crisis, and the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” coming in at number five song for the year. Go figure (it all out).C. B. Murphy at the time was in his “industrial metal salesman by day, mad cartoonist at night” phase. He started his cartoon series in the Chicago Reader, beginning with the breakthrough “Zombie Toll Booth Collector” and the prophetic “The Difference Between a Punk and a Dork.” Read More »
As an artist I find that my interest in “outsider art” is complicated. On the one hand, I am like any other appreciator of the diverse artists who fall in the categories (outsider, visionary, et al) and on the other hand, I am able to use my appreciation to inspire me in certain values. Those values “arise” (if you will) from Outsider Art.
They are: (1) pursue your vision despite what is fashionable and/or going on in the art world; (2) be prepared to sustain yourself in your art without acclaim from the world; (3) listen to the various “voices” that arise, follow them, even when “the world” might be calling you nuts, non-commercial or merely underemployed. Read More »
What do these people (and paintings) have in common?
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie) was one of the innovators of the modern notion that as an entertainer you are allowed (and can profit by) a series of persona changes. Madonna, too, cashed in on this. Ali G (and Borat and Bruno), all creations of Sacha Baron Cohen, pushed the “hidden identity” issue further. Many people, including the officials in Khazakstan, thought Borat was real. At first they were outraged, then they saw it as a way of making money and were less so. Read More »
I’ve seen Kitaj paintings before. I think before I was seriously painting I found them interesting. I even remember marking him down once on a sheet of paper along with Anselm Keifer–people to look up. What a great name, too.
As my own paintings have evolved, the only “modern” artist (besides Magritte, of course) I have allowed “into the family” has been Neo Rauch.
Yesterday I read in THE ECONOMIST that R. B. Kitaj died. At first, I was only mildly interested but nevertheless read the obit. Then it hit me. The story of the “1994 Tate Gallery disaster”–this was something! Without knowing much about it (so far), this is what I know:
(1) Kitaj is considered “illustrative” which means “bad” or “decorative” to many critics;
(2) Kitaj moved around stylistically, realism, surrealism, other forms, this also irritates critics who like people to be stylistically unique, evolving, in a word comprehensible. The idea that artists, perhaps whimsically, move around and try things goes against the image of “serious/obsessed” that critics like. Stylistic whimsy is considered “freshman in art school” sort of work, lost, sans personality, even immature;
(3) The critics finally got an opportunity rather late in Kitaj’s successful career to savage him and they did so with a vengeance at the Tate Gallery show in London in 1994. The shock was so great to Kitaj that he claimed his second wife died (heart attack?) from the impact of all the negativity;
(4) I think it was about this time that Kitaj got more serious about identifying himself as a Jew and even casting the criticism as anti-Semitic and also moved to the United States (ostensibly to punish London). Read More »
A great site for those interested in carnivals, Carnivale, sideshows and all of that. They create individual galleries for artists with circus-related art. Check out the page they made for me, it includes some pieces not on the www.mnartists.org site.
Ken Bloom, curator of Duluth’s Tweed Museum, has selected C.B. Murphy’s painting LECTURE ON HUMANS to be included in his digital collection for his guest curatorial assignment for this month’s access+ENGAGE publication.
“Jesus/Devil” painting won second place at the Fredericksburg Center For The Arts Show: Exploring Spirituality (March, 2007). The painting pictured here entitled “Lecture on Humans” was also in the show.
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