Category: Artists

Burlington VT Knows Hate

Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington VT was the site of an anti-semetic attack in 2009. First they went to Temple Sinai. Then they went to the Chabad. Everyone knew about it and few came, not Peter Welch, not Bernie Sanders, and not Pat Leahey. Miro Weinberger, the Mayor, a Jew, also passed. I went and cried, too upset to even make a lot of photos. And I can still hear the kid yelling hateful slogans he didn’t know the meaning of and had been taught to say.

My friend Stan Greenberg, who is blind, said he came to “Bear Witness” and to protect the shul against evil thoughts. He brought his dog, Ernie. “They’ll come through me,” he said. “I’m not moving.”

Clowns who follow the haters made fun, showing the absurdity. But as good intentions as they had, the stench of the haters and the sound of their chants could be smelled and heard. Nothing could make it go away.

Rabbi Joshua closed the Thrift Shop. He went back to his study. No mitzvahs today.

We try to live in peace, but we have little to do with what others do. We try to do our best to be kind and giving, to be thoughtful and loving. But sometimes it don’t work. Killing those who would kill you first may be morally correct, but killing those who haven’t had a chance to live and don’t know why they are dying and cannot do anything about it, never is.

 

 

 

Basquiat Not By Duckman

In photo school, they teach or try to teach creativity. Look around as you walk. Find natural frames. Examine the landscape. Imagine. Use technical skills. Breathe. Shoot. Move on without chipping.

I do and I did, without their help. I see with my eye without regard to what I think others will see, feel or want to know. I just have a feeling sometimes. Upon return to my studio, I download. Voila.

Now, why did I make this image?

Caravaggisti Duckman

 

Mystery woman is a mystery to the photographer. “Carravaggistis in literature  use psychological fiction (also psychological realism); theirs is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of the characters….” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggisti

Bruce Harden died. Had I ever met him, I would have asked me to teach me how to see. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/arts/brice-marden-dead.html.

Chuck Close, Dead at 81

 

Chuck Close died. He made art, lived a life that challenged his body and his mind, and lost the battle of the sexes. His sexually charged comments to some of his models led to the cancellation of a major retrospective and probably some lawsuits. Our loss.

What is the matter with these women? Their puritanical views deprived us of seeing his works and deprived him of us showing him our respect. Can you imagine Manet’s or Cezanne’s models complaining? How about Rueben’s models for the “Rape of the Sabine Women“?

Cezanne Stieglitz and Van Gogh

My favorite artists, at least for today. Human and productive. Sensitive, maybe too much. Very much alive. Much of what I know about art comes from studying them.

Stieglitz “contributed not only scientific and artistic photographic studies, but also introduced modern art to America and furthered the theory of photography as art.” In his time, the greatest photographer living.

Van Gogh was mentally ill, an affliction that didn’t interfere with his love of color. Prolific and introspective, he cut off his ear, because of some problem he has a a bordello. He was checked into a mental hospital, got better and did a self portrait which he sent to him mother. Bold, emotional, impulsive. No mystery in his work.

Cezanne, the father of all modern art, somber tones, geometric shapes. Tried to shock the staid salon members with his nudes and ambiguous forms. Acted out. Didn’t observe the rules of human interaction or painting. Didn’t like photography, but may have used it to copy from. Preferred his studio where he could produce more orderly organized images to the outdoors. Always had a story which he didn’t tell.

Back to my work, whatever it is. Like Van Gogh and Cezanne, no one will appreciate my art during my life. Unlike them, I will have no after life. But, then, I am not them. But I will leave a few self-portrtaits just like they did.

John Baldessari, Conceptual Artist, Dead at 88

Hat’s Off

John Baldessari will never die, even if he did. He was an artist who taught, did and saw. When he said Giotto influenced him, I looked at Giotto. When he covered his face with a hat, I did too. And when he did a picture I looked at it. We all steal from other artists; may he be the complainant in my case.