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..

AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

 yo!.. one that got away.. innit!

in the winter 1994 edition of..

modern painters..

I placed this ad..

waste of time and money..

shit happens..

get over it..

30 YEARS ON

well 29 years nearly anyway..

I am writing this..

because it is coronation day..

and I am bored rigid..

on another three day weekend..

banks don't need holidays..

people do..

so why not just give the days to the folks.. 

and let us all have ordinary days..

where we can work..

ANYWAY

the point about this painting..

is that it is gone..

got lost in life somewhere..

chucked in a skip perhaps..

maybe painted over..

who knows..

sometimes you think you have created..

something good, worthwhile, profound..

maybe you have..

maybe not..

people need to see it..

get feedback..

encouragement maybe..

SOME OF THESE DAYS YOU'LL MISS ME HONEY

I think it was rejected from..

the royal academy summer show..

maybe I should have framed it..

maybe I'm just lost in space..

like in the movie..

DARK STAR

this usage decal has always..

been on my mind..

it's my american gothic..

you start out full of promise..

and belief..

looking for a bigger bang..

sometimes I thing we got there..

maybe for a minute..

or maybe just a..

flash in the pan..

is there gold in them there hills?..

it's an american landscape..

a 20th century fox..

they have a military bearing..

scared and battered survivors..

testament to hope..

let there be light..

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE MOVIE

The bomb, 

having learned Cartesian doubt, trusts only itself. 

It is convinced that only it exists, 

and that its sole purpose in life is to explode, 

and it does so. 

Dark Star is destroyed,

MORE GREAT PLANS REVEALED

one of ginny's birthday card designs..

one of my airbrush pieces from 1980's..

two from the american spiritual series..

limited edition screen print..

native americans in the bag..

student piece from 1975

this one has a fault..

one of the images is upside down..

oh dear, how sad, never mind..