the length of the shows never provided me enough time to finish the pieces - nor was it the intention of the experiment ...
ice house performance - 1997
since then, i’ve dabbled with the 20’h x 30’w surfaces, but once again was limited by working conditions and adequate space to complete the projects ...
20' x 30'
my interest in large-scale work is similar to providing an accomplished improv musician a forum without limitations - there’s often more room for playfulness and exploration - and, opportunity for the essence of the individual’s abilities and attitudes to emerge less constrained by expectations ...
sometimes the subtleties of the artists’ predispositions, thought, and process are revealed more fundamentally when confronted with freedom ...
the common theme behind each performance was pretty much aligned with all my work : to articulate the present; to focus or meditate on the moment - to identify the energy, nature, or impulses - tonality, frequency, or vibration - then respond to it - observe, evaluate - readjust - re-engage - over and over again until the idea reaches maturity or the abstraction becomes clarified ... [very much the same way a mathematical equation represents an event or characteristic of nature] ...
since i was a kid i’ve been going to the philadelphia museum of art - and usually through the rear entrance so my first experience is with the gigantic chagall painting ...
for me, it’s an immediately transcendent experience - first to be physically overcome by the sheer scale of the work - the muted background accented with contrasting images, the earthy odor of clay retained by the canvas, the zillion brushstrokes, the dreaminess, and paradox of something so obviously intentional done with apparent whimsy - mastery ...
chagall
unlike any other museum i’ve been to, the experience uniquely sets the stage for my reverence to generations of painting and the evolution of humanity - and as if that isn’t enough, there’s an unfrequented cy twombly room of heroic “Iliad” paintings to keep things in perspective ...
the presence of so much genius, history, and divinity is humbling ...
twombly room
recently, a few opportunities to take on the challenge of four large scale paintings have aligned themselves ...
harryn
more to follow ...
