Speed of Life

“A 15th-century painting is the deposit of a social relationship.” -Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience in 15th-Century Italy , 1972 According to William Grimes in the New York Times, Baxandall in his ground breaking work of art history, Painting and Experience in 15th-Century Italy , " laid bare not only the patron-client transactions that influenced the making of an artwork, but also something he called the period eye : the act of perception determined by social circumstances. In a famous example, he showed how Italians knew how to appraise the volume of a barrel by sight, and how artists played to this carefully cultivated skill." “Baxandall provided the tools we needed to take works of art out of the frame and off the pedestal to see how they really worked,” said Thomas Crow, a professor of modern art history at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. “Baxandall made it possible to see, through the art, how societies organized themselves and, conversel...

Matthew Hinton/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A storefront, boarded-up to protect against the coming storm, awaits Hurricane Gustav in the French Quarter of New Orleans. As Hurricane Gustav speeds towards New Orleans, our thoughts and emotions turn to this historic city and its residents, again, and, yes, again. On this Sunday morning, we all are citizens of New Orleans. Over the last three years, as organizations and individuals have collaborated in the slow, complex rebuilding of this amazing city a couple organizations stand out to me. Habitat for Humanity and Music Rising are two noteworthy groups. It is astonishing to contemplate how much will be needed after Gustav moves through beginning Monday morning. It will call upon all of us to turn our concern into action. Lets all start now. Gregg Chadwick Ghost of New Orleans 48"x36" oil on linen 2006 Julie Nester Gallery featured in the film La Cucina Follow the storm at: National Weather Service, Hurricane Gustav Rem...

- As Carl Pope of the Sierra Club says, “No one is closer to the oil industry than Governor Palin.” Biologists who have studied polar bear populations have concluded that Sarah Palin's assertion that polar bear populations are on the rise is mere fiction and a politically motivated misreading of the facts: Ian Stirling's, an emeritus scientist with Canada's Department of the Environment and a professor at the University of Alberta, peer-reviewed research conducted with other scientists for the US Geological Survey clearly shows that "polar bear populations have not been increasing for the past 30 years, and that's a well-known fact." Stirling has studied polar bears for 37 years which puts him at the top of his field. "In fact, the polar bear population has actually declined by 20 percent in Alaska's Southern Beaufort Sea since the mid-1980s," Stirling said. "The research reports with this information have been available to Palin for more ...

" I saw Obama's speech tonight at the Democratic Convention in Denver as a political masterpiece. As I had a chance to say on CNN a few moments ago, it was in many ways less a speech than a symphony. I also sensed that we saw tonight an Obama who is growing into a new, more mature leader — stronger, tougher, harder-hitting." -David Gergen Full Video: Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech at Democratic Convention August 28, 2008 Full Text: Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech at Democratic Convention August 28, 2008 To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation; With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest – a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton...

Full Text: “I Have A Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. August 28, 1963, Washington DC I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his ...

Sunset at the Esalen Institute This past week I was honored to lead a workshop on creativity with writer Phil Cousineau and writer/musician RB Morris. The Esalen Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 1962 by Stanford alums Michael Murphy and Richard Price as an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of what Aldous Huxley called the "human potential." This world of unrealized human capacities that lies beyond the imagination has brought to Esalen a steady influx of philosophers, psychologists, artists, and religious thinkers. Late afternoon at Esalen in Big Sur. Taken during a workshop on creativity by Phil Cousineau , RB Morris , and Gregg Chadwick. Recently Phil Cousineau's new book "Stoking the Creative Fires" has hit the shelves. It is an impassioned volume on creativity that combines myth, story and personal pilgrimages in a primer on the creative life. My painting "Fire Dream" graces the cover. We used this book as...

As the Democratic Convention in Denver begins, Drew Westen in the Huffington Post describes how Obama can effectively attack John McCain by explaining that: "a vote for McCain is a vote for continuing the failed policies of George W. Bush, policies that have weakened us economically and threatened our national security in a world whose greatest dangers lie in international terrorism (which require coordination with other nations, not condescension toward our allies, refusal to speak to our enemies, and saber rattling when we have no sabers left to rattle.)" Secondly, "McCain is not the straight-talking maverick who many admired in 2000 but a man whose ambition has gotten the best of him, who learned the wrong lessons from watching himself swift-boated by George W. Bush and Karl Rove--a man who is so desperate to be President that he will say whatever he has to say to convince conservatives he is one of them, say whatever he has to say to convince moderates that he isn...

Chet Edwards Sources are saying that Democratic Congressman Chet Edwards from Texas could be Obama's choice for VP? Is this a feint? Biden, Bayh or Webb perhaps? More soon...

As the Beijing Olympics nears its finale, I can't help but think about the conflict between the Olympic ideal and the Chinese state sponsored attempts to make China appear good and powerful at all costs. It seems that at least one of the star Chinese gymnasts has not yet reached the needed Olympic competition age of sixteen and has submitted a state-forged passport with an inaccurate date of birth to the International Olympic Committee. And most of all, the question of Tibet hangs over Beijing like the smog that chokes the athletes lungs. It appears that the Chinese government has blocked the Apple i-tunes site for the past week to keep the Chinese people from hearing and purchasing the benefit album Songs for Tibet. It seems that many of the athletes from around the world had downloaded the album in the Olympic village and were listening to what has become a top rated i-tunes download around the world. The album is a benefit for the Art of Peace Foundation. Gregg Chadwick Throug...

(Bela Szandelszky/AP Photo) Breaking info from the newswires: "Georgians with their eyes covered sit atop of a Russian armored personnel carrier while being detained by Russian troops in the Black Sea port city of Poti, western Georgia, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008. Russian troops entered the port of Poti on Tuesday, to detain people and to loot US military equipment left behind after a joint Georgian, US military exercise. The movements of Russian forces in Georgia raised questions about whether Russia was fulfilling its side of the cease-fire intended to end the short but intense fighting between Georgians, Russians and its allies". McCain and his foreign policy advisor Scheunamann's dealings with the government of Georgia and the ongoing foreign policy disaster unfolding in the region need to be investigated. This is what we would look forward to under a McCain presidency: blindfolded troops captured and carted off by an emboldened aggressor. Already the Russians are stealin...

Hans Heiner Buhr "view-old-tbilisi-thief" digital collage 2007 - image courtesy the artist As the small country of Georgia continues to pay the price for taking on the Bush administration's seemingly overt dare, "Go poke that big bear in the eye!" - word has gotten out that McCain's chief foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann was paid "just short of a million dollars" to represent Georgia. On the same day that Scheunemann signed his most recent contract, John McCain had a lengthy conversation with the President of Georgia. I quote Robert Creamer's insightful article at length below: "The Georgia conflict has shined a spotlight on McCain's chief foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann. Scheunamann was a major organizer of the campaign to get the U.S to invade Iraq. He was a board member of the Project for a New American Century that circulated the now-famous manifesto signed by key Neo Cons that first called for the Iraq invasio...

Gregg Chadwick Barack Obama 48"x36" oil on linen 2008 "Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers." -Barack Obama Frank Schaefer and Adele Stan at the Huffington Post have the best responses I have seen to last night's "give the Presidential candidates a Christian litmus test in Orange County." Frank weighs in, "Obama offers a spiritual vision of life founded on the Sermon On the Mount. It is the freedom of "we." It is the same view of freedom that my Marine son learned in boot camp: that the person standing next to you is more important than you are. That concept of freedom is more in keeping with valuing all human life. It will create a climate more friendly to mothers and children. As I listen to Senator Obama speak, as I see the selfless altruistic energy he has generated in a whole new generation of yo...

Gregg Chadwick Where Elephants Weep 60"x50" oil on linen 2008

Hans Heiner Buhr "Big Horse Thief" 125 X 90 cm mixed media on a collage of Caucasus Maps - image courtesy the artist As Russian forces continue to attack Georgia, my thoughts go out to fellow artist Hans Heiner Buhr in Tbilisi and his compatriots. Follow the events at the official Georgian site: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia - map by the BBC More at: Georgia Today Russia Orders Halt in Georgia as Fighting Continues A Russian Viewpoint: A Path to Peace in the Caucasus - Mikhail Gorbachev Below is a review from Georgia Today written about a recent exhibition by Hans: "The most striking of the works displayed this past weekend in the exhibition “Horse Thief Sayat Nova Street” by Hans Heiner Buhr at the Baia Gallery is a painted work, called “Big Horse Thief” (125 X 90 cm), set against a collage of Caucasus maps. It portrays a masked gunman on horseback, with a jutting pair of triangular prongs for a nose and mouth. While the oddly conjoined figure of horse and ...