Sunday 7 June 2015

Crossroads

Perhaps chasing those elusive ‘AHA!” moments appeals to us all – certainly to artists of every stripe. Lately I am preoccupied with thoughts about certain critical moments in the lives of artists I admire. With this in mind as I begin a new series of paintings, I have also embarked on a separate but concurrent project, in which I am writing fictionalized accounts in first person voices about decisive turns in the lives of several artists.

As in my earlier Juicetrain paintings, my Crossroads works make no attempt to emulate the style of any artist, or to represent the characters or physical settings associated with decisive moments in their lives. However, as a kind of homage to the artists about whom I am concocting stories, the titles of the new paintings are also the titles of the fictions I have proposed.

The new work is decidedly abstract, its genesis dictated only by my own working process. I have tried through my own experience in the studio, to imagine what it must have felt like, when impending change electrified the lives of artists I admire, perhaps hoping for new ‘aha’ moments of my own.

This series of new paintings extends my exploration of artistic legacy – the connection among artists of various times and places – a subject that continues to engage me.

June, 2015

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