Speed of Life

Gregg Chadwick The Sound of Silk 40"x90" (Triptych) oil on linen 2008

We were at Kepler's Bookstore this weekend and had a good laugh while reading Erich Origen and Gan Golan's politically inspired parody of the children's classic Goodnight Bush . “Goodnight earth? Goodnight heir? Goodnight failures everywhere.” In this month of graduation speeches and thoughts of the road ahead, one future date stands out: 1/20/09. On his recent tour Bruce Springsteen has been playing the haunting title track off his new album Magic . The song is like a nightmare - the nightmare of the last eight years. Good news is at hand though, " the coming end of the worst presidency ever." I got a coin in my palm I can make it disappear I got a card up my sleeve Name it and I'll pull it out your ear I got a rabbit in my hat If you want to come and see This is what will be, this is what will be I got shackles on my wrist Soon I'll slip 'em and be gone Chain me in a box in the river And I'll rise singin' this song Trust none of what you hear...

Politics and art are in my blood. I went to High School in Northern Virginia where the human side of government is as much a part of daily existence as a morning coffee (espresso in my case). Meet the Press on Sunday mornings was a topic of discussion throughout the week. My dad did his best to stay out of the press while others embraced the glare. I stood on the sidelines watching and making images - much as I do now. On television it seemed that Tim Russert was happiest when he was in the thick of it. And Tim was happiest when he honored his father and his fatherhood. On this father's day my son Cassiel is here with me as I write. And my father is in the thick of it in Africa. We send our best to Bob Chadwick, my brother Kent Chadwick, my father in law Ralph Heilemann, my brothers in law Paul Heilemann and Tom Bavlnka as well as my artistic comrades in arms Alan Caudillo, Sergio Arau, Gerard Bourgeois, Phil Cousineau, RB Morris, Sheldon Greenberg, Mikkel Aaland, Grady Harp, Rob ...

- wall art by Banksy “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.” - Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, United States Supreme Court Foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba have constitutional rights to challenge their detention by seeking appeal in United States courts, the Supreme Court ruled today. Guantánamo Bay photo by Todd Heisler/The New York Times The New York Times reports: "Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said: “When Congress passed the Military Commissions Act in 2006, Senator Kennedy called the act ‘fatally flawed’ and said ‘its evisceration of the writ of habeas corpus for all noncitizens is almost surely unconstitutional.’ Today, the Supreme Court agreed, and rejected the Bush administration’s blatant attempt to create a legal black hole beyond the reach of the rule of law.” Complete text of the Supreme Court decision on Guantánamo at: BOUMEDIENE ET...

a documentary by Kevin R. Wright USMC "Approximately 20,000 African American recruits received training at Montford Point Camp (less than 10% of the Marine Corps end strength) during World War II. The initial intent of the Marine Corps hierarchy was to discharge these African American Marines after the War, returning them to civilian life - leaving the Marine Corps an all-white organization. Attitudes changed and reality took hold as the war progressed. Once given the chance to prove themselves, it became impossible to deny the fact that this new breed of Marine was just as capable as all other Marines regardless of race, color, creed or National origin."

Nice words from Japan: 日本での個展が開かれるのを楽しみにしています "We hope that his exhibition would be held here in Japan someday, really." Me too... Thanks minestronek at lolalways.exblog.jp

Roy Lichtenstein Masterpiece Photo: Estate of Roy Lichtenstein, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery In the New York Times, Roberta Smith has a nice piece on the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit at the Gagosian Gallery in New York: "This show makes especially clear how Lichtenstein’s work functions as a kind of primer in looking at and understanding the grand fiction of painting: the thought it requires, its mechanics, its final simplicity and strangeness. These great paintings convey all this in a flash of pleasure, compounded by the thrill of understanding." Roy Lichtenstein Girl at Piano Photo: Estate of Roy Lichtenstein, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery Coming Up: Opening at Gagosian in Beverly Hills on June 14, 2008 is Denise de la Rue's photo exhibition - Matador . More at: New York Times on Lichtenstein: Girls Lichtenstein at Gagosian

by Gregg Chadwick Update: Montford Point Marines: Make Us Proud Black Marines pose with one of the Army DUKW amphibious trucks used to bring cargo ashore and carry away the wounded for medical treatment to ships offshore. National Archives Photo 127-GW-334-114329 Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood got into a verbal dust-up at Cannes. Spike criticized Clint for not featuring any black troops in his recent World War II pictures: Flags Of Our Fathers , which weaves together the stories of the marines who raised the flag over Iwo Jima in Joe Rosenthal's iconic photograph, and Letters From Iwo Jima , which focuses on the Japanese soldiers who fought to the death on the bitter island. Though black Marines were not on Mount Suribachi when the flags were raised, they were caught in the thick of the battle as the official Marine Corps accounts of the assault on Iwo Jima make clear. Passages below are quoted from the USMC history of African-American marines during World War II written...

The members of the UK band James laugh as lead singer Tim Booth answers a question. The band was set up for an interview in my studio complex just outside my studio door in Santa Monica. It was an interesting day of painting with Tim Booth's quiet, lilting voice filtering into my workspace. Tim Booth expressed that James has unfinished business in the US and are hoping to tour here in the near future. James had just finished a session with Nic Harcourt at KCRW before they stopped by. The complete KCRW session below: website: wearejames.com

The New York Times has a powerful mix of words and images in Janet Maslin's article on Jim Sheeler's new book Final Salute . Jim Sheeler's book is based on a 2006 Pulitzer Prize winning series of articles that he wrote for The Rocky Mountain News . I have posted a brief selection of quotes and photos below: "When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the res...