May/111
and another…
"F" table, 18x 35.5x 35.5, made with reclaimed materials
Christine and I were invited to participate in an exhibition called A is for… which opens in June at COCA (Center of Creative Arts), and we turned in our art work this weekend. It is a group exhibition featuring 26 artists who have been influenced in one way or another by their children. Each artist chose or was assigned a letter of the alphabet–we chose F and S because they are our daughter’s initials. In this way the exhibition will end up presenting the entire alphabet. A catalog is being produced, and the work will be auctioned off as a fundraiser for COCA.
After working my way through several designs, I settled on this low table. On the top, the F is created out of the mosaic of reclaimed painting palettes. Each leg is an F as well, made from yellow pine reclaimed from a shipping pallet. The pun is both convenient and meaningful. Palettes are a great symbol of ultimate potential, and function as a testing ground for the ideas of a painting. Pallets are facilitators, a means of transport and protection while moving from one point to another. In addition, Florence makes most of her own artwork at a low table like this one– a steady stream of drawings, collages, cut-outs, books, poems, and works which defy categorization. So I see these ideas at work in my relationship with my daughter as I try to help her discover her own potential and as I try to launch her gently into her own experience of the world.
Oct/100
a reading list
photograph by Sylvester Jacobs
photograph by Sylvester Jacobs
After my gallery talks a few people expressed interest in pursuing the topics further, so I am including a list of works that were informative and influential in my own preparation. Black Robe White Mist includes an excellent set of essays, by far the most comprehensive source that I found regarding the life and works of Rengetsu. Francois Cheng’s Empty and Full has been a source of inspiration and understanding in my own work for several years now, and was worth re-reading. The other texts vary widely in their density, some being quite accessible and others requiring a slow and careful read with no distractions. In any case I hope that this list will get you started on your own search.
Empty and Full: The Language of Chinese Painting, by Francois Cheng
Myth and Meaning in Early Taoism, by N. J. Girardot
Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu, translated by Stephen Mitchell
Lotus Moon: The Poetry of the Buddhist Nun Rengetsu, translated by John Stevens
Black Robe White Mist: Art of the Japanese Buddhist Nun Rengetsu, catalog for the exhibition, National Gallery of Australia
Emptiness: A Study in Religious Meaning, by Frederick J. Streng
Religion and Nothingness, by Keiji Nishitani, translated by Jan Van Bragt
Poetics of Emptiness: Transformations of Asian Thought in American Poetry, by Jonathan Stalling
Metamorphosis of the Private Sphere: Gardens and Objects in Tang-Song Poetry, by Xiaoshan Yang
77 Dances: Japanese Calligraphy by Poets, Monks, and Scholars, 1568-1868, by Stephen Addiss
Working Emptiness: Toward a Third Reading of Emptiness in Buddhism and Postmodern Thought, by Newman Robert Glass
The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry, by Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound
The Structure of Emptiness, by Graham Priest, Philosophy East and West, Volume 59, Number 4, October 2009, pp. 467-480 (Article)
Emptiness as a Paradigm for Understanding World Religions, by John P. Keenan, Buddhist-Christian Studies, Volume 16 (1996), pp. 57-64
Sep/101
A Structured Use: Emptiness and Opportunity in Creative Practice
This summer I devoted much of my time to reading, and a significant part of my reading list was chosen in preparation for the series of gallery talks that I will be delivering at the Saint Louis Art Museum next week. For the past five years or so I have been particularly interested in questions of emptiness– a byproduct, I am sure, of a longer engagement with Chinese painting and calligraphy. When I was invited to give these gallery talks on a subject of my choice, it seemed like a good opportunity for an investigation, definition, and articulation of this “emptiness”. The title of the talk refers back to a quotation from Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching:
From a lump of clay, one fashions a vase; the emptiness in the vase permits its usefulness. One makes doors and windows for a room; the emptiness in the room permits its usefulness. Being is what creates advantage, but emptiness structures use.
Using the tangible, visible, and literal as points of reference, we will quickly move farther afield to explore the role of emptiness as it relates to artistic action, the role of the viewer, the question of relevance, and even our concepts of space and time. It’s a lot to pack into 45 minutes, but I hope that you will come out to join the conversation. Location, dates, and times are:
Saint Louis Art Museum: meet at information desk, then proceed to the East Asian gallery
Thursday, September 30, 11:00 a.m.
Friday, October 1, 6:00 p.m.
Mar/100
new work
installation view with bench
Friday’s opening was an enjoyable one, thanks to the large crowd that didn’t seem to want to go home. I had a real sense of accomplishment seeing the 12 pieces on the wall and under the lights, with six of the paintings being finished very recently– some as late as March 2nd. Many thanks to Ellen Gochnour for orchestrating the exhibition, which will be on view through March 26. I have included images of the most recent work, below.
love seat, oil on canvas, 54x 64, 2010
annunciation, oil on canvas, 41x 30, 2010
where we stand is beginning to end, oil on canvas, 50 x 46, 2010
a tree for our sorrow: memorial, oil on canvas, 40x 54, 2010
a tree for our joy: memorial, oil on panel, 9.25x 10.5, 2010
our geometry is a fiction of cleanliness, oil on canvas, 64x 54, 2010