THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 18 : Enola Gay

yo!

the artist has noticed this American symbol..

how could he not..

seven years before he was born..

the skys over Europe..

were full of airplanes displaying this recognition symbol..

he thinks of this as the logo/pictogram..

of the American century..

AN AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

in American Art of the 1940 - 1950 period..

Abstract Expressionism..

was the result, in part, of a turning away..

from the horrors of the war..

the artist has read..

that the energy of Pollock's..

Summertime 1948

is descriptive of the energy released by the nuclear bomb..

the airplane that dropped the bomb was called..

Enola Gay..

Mark Rothko 

 

"There is no such thing as good painting about nothing"

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 17 : A BOOMER'S PAINTING

yo!

here we are in the artist's studio..

what a mess..

well it's a grey January day..

and the studio is cold and unused..

THE LANDSCAPE THAT WAS

this canvas was started in 1984..

and was part of a series about Idealised Landscape..

an American USAAF decal from WWII..

with a quatrefoil in the centre of the star..

a promised land..

this image was his thing for a while..

this was the first one in 1985..

a nice dove of peace vibe happening here..

Lavender Mist..

probably the artist's favourite..

Jackson would have approved..

military vibe here..

you may notice how the colours of the rectangles..

either side of the star are different from each other..

the idea was mood and balance..

a balance of power..

A BALANCE THAT WAS

so 70 years of Pax Americana..

gone like snow on the water..

next time on..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

painting over paradise..

the fool on the hill..

the future that was..