Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick *  Today   - a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.   Featuring  A Balance of Shadows  from my 2004 solo exhibition in San Francisco and an overview of my artwork from 1999-2017, my studio will be a time capsule for one day.  Many of the artworks on view have been loaned from private collections and are rarely on public view. In addition, a choice selection of paintings and monotypes will be available for purchase.  Gregg Chadwick The City Drifts (San Francisco)  18"x14" oil on linen 1999 from San Francisco solo exhibition - A History of Light 1999 Many of my paintings are inspired by poetry, history, and literature. When I lived in San Francisco and often on return visits, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's bookstore City Lights beckoned. A few years ago with my great friend Phil Cousineau on...

by Gregg Chadwick " Lou Reed gave us the street and the landscape - and we peopled it."  - David Bowie in the documentary "Rock 'n' Roll Heart - Lou Reed" Well hey, man, that's just a lie It's a lie she tells her friends 'Cause the real song, the real song Where she won't even admit to herself The beatin ' in her heart It's a song lots of people know It's a painful song A little sad truth But life's full of sad songs Penny for a wish But wishin ' won't make you a soldier. With a pretty kiss for a pretty face Can't have it's way Y'know tramps like us, we were born to pay  -  From the beginning of the "Slipaway" section of Lou Reed's song Street Hassle .     Uncredited   spoken vocals by Bruce Springsteen. Annie Leibovitz Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson  Coney Island, New York, 1995 Silver Print When I found out about Lou Reed's death yesterday morning from Roll...

by  Gregg Chadwick I wrote this when I heard of Lou Reed's death in 2013. Three years on the thoughts still stand. Reposted as an elegy to an inspirational figure for so many.  " Lou Reed gave us the street and the landscape - and we peopled it."  - David Bowie in the documentary " Rock 'n' Roll Heart - Lou Reed " Well hey, man, that's just a lie It's a lie she tells her friends 'Cause the real song, the real song Where she won't even admit to herself The  beatin ' in her heart It's a song lots of people know It's a painful song A little sad truth But life's full of sad songs Penny for a wish But  wishin ' won't make you a soldier. With a pretty kiss for a pretty face Can't have  it's  way Y'know tramps like us, we were born to pay  -  From the beginning of the " Slipaway " section of Lou Reed's song  Street Hassle .      Uncredited   spoken vocals by Bruce Springsteen...

Opening June 17 at the SJICA : Monotype Marathon XI Exhibition: June 17 - July 9, 2005 Closing Reception and Auction: July 9, 5:30 -8 An exhibition of over 125 prints produced in a marathon weekend of Bay Area print workshops. Gregg Chadwick "Whispers of Siam" 33"x20" monotype 2005 Notes on the Monotype Process: Spontaneity characterizes the monotype. A monotype is made by brushing printer's ink or oil paint onto a smooth surface such as glass or a metal plate. The image is then transferred to paper before it dries, using a printing press or other means of pressure. Because most of the image is transferred in the printing process, only one strong impression can be taken, hence the term monotype (one print). Additional impressions of the residual image are sometimes printed (ghosts). They are significantly fainter than the first pull, yet at times these lighter open images are more successful as works of art. The personal nature of the monotyp...

Gregg Chadwick The Crossing 72"x36" oil, monotype and collage on Japanese Torinoko paper 2010 The morning of my last day on a trip to Thailand, was particularly luminous. I got up especially early and wandered through the alleys of Chiang Mai, following some monks on their serene morning pilgrimage. The light was almost incandescent and the blur of movement seemed to create paintings for me. I just needed to pay attention. To really see. I spent the time on the short flight to Bangkok watching a kind of film playing in my mind of saffron robes scintillating in the morning mist. Later, as I waited for my connecting flight to San Francisco, I caught sight of a different clip on a television monitor as the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center. It was September 11, 2001. I felt the horror of the crowd as we watched in disbelief. I longed for home and my son. Weeks later when finally back in my studio, the juxtaposition of the monks’ serenity in Thailand that day and...

Gregg Chadwick A Gion Rain 22"x30" monotype on paper 2011 I came home from a memorial service for a great artist and a great friend, Sylvia Moss, on Sunday night. In times of loss and uncertainty, I tend to turn to the arts - books, music, film, theater and museums - for solace. But when an artist is severely ill or dies I find that I have to create. I have been in my studio for the past few weeks creating monotypes. A monotype is a singular impression made from an image which has been drawn or painted on to a printing plate. My monotype process is technically straightforward but pushes my artistic subconscious in both image and mark. When I painted "A Gion Rain" onto a copper plate, thoughts of Sylvia fell like rain across my mind. Sylvia Moss died in Zurich, Switzerland on May 9, 2011. Sylvia had long suffered from the challenges of multiple sclerosis. Sylvia Moss grew up in Piedmont, California and then moved east to a beckoning New York City to pursue...

Chester Arnold, the visionary Bay Area painter who exhibits at the Catherine Clark Gallery in San Francisco, has inspired his students at the College of Marin to create a moving exhibition of memorial portraits of American troops killed in action in Iraq. According to the San Francisco Chronicle Chester Arnold encouraged his students to take on the project after the United States military death toll in Iraq reached one thousand killed in action, "Perhaps ‘Faces’ can change the political debate,” said Chester Arnold. “Instead of ‘red states vs. blue states,’ I hope that we can find common ground as we did after September 11th.” In the College of Marin’s “To Never Forget: Faces of the Fallen” exhibit art students and faculty have painted portraits of American troops killed in Iraq – more than 1200. From the College of Marin's website: “Faces” has tapped into a river of emotion in towns and communities across America, many of which have brothers, sisters, m...

by Gregg Chadwick I am excited to invite you to a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.   Featuring A Balance of Shadows from my 2004 solo exhibition in San Francisco and an overview of my artwork from 1999-2017, my studio will be a time capsule for one day.  Many of the artworks on view have been loaned from private collections and are rarely on public view. In addition, a choice selection of paintings and monotypes will be available for purchase.  Copies of my brother Kent Chadwick’s wonderfully detailed book on my art will also be available for purchase.  A Balance of Shadows: Gregg Chadwick's Paintings  Hardcover – February 6, 2016 Available Online at Amazon E-book Version  Available Online Here Also, I am happy to announce that I have designed a line of clothing and accessories based aroun...