Speed of Life

Against the Light - سهراب - Sohrab 29"x69" oil on screen 2009 (detail) "Also arrested were the mother and brother of Sohrab Aarabi, a young Iranian man slain during protests in June." - Los Angeles Times - 28 December 2009 Leading Iranian dissidents arrested, body of Mousavi's nephew missing "This is a very important moment in Iranian history, and it is probably time to start asking whether Iran's uprising could become a Berlin Wall moment. It's not just an issue of the sporadic protests once or twice a month... It's also one of the most vibrant and imaginative civil disobedience campaigns anywhere in the world." - Robin Wright, author of "Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East," from a conversation with CNN.

Photo by NASA Happy Holidays to all! *Note to DC residents - be careful throwing snowballs ...

photo courtesy Christie’s Rembrandt Portrait of a Man, Half-Length, With His Arms Akimbo 421⁄4" x 341⁄4" oil on canvas 1658 Carol Vogel in the New York Times reports that the mystery buyer of Rembrandt's Portrait of a Man, Half-Length, With His Arms Akimbo at Christie's last week was casino mogul Stephen Wynn. The $33.2 million is a record for a Rembrandt at auction. The painting has an interesting recent provenance and after its donation by George Huntington Hartford II hung in the President's office at Columbia University in New York for ten years from 1958 to 1968. My hope is that Stephen Wynn will put the painting on public display in the near future. After closing his private gallery at the Wynn hotel, Las Vegas lost an intimate collection of important paintings. I enjoyed the Wynn collection immensely and as a non-gambler I was intrigued with the mix of great art within the glowing and at times tawdry Vegas of American pop culture. photo courtesy Reuters ...

Very nice 3D animated video of the planned Michigan State University Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum slated for groundbreaking on March 16, 2010. Opening in 2012. Architecture by Zaha Hadid. For more on the project: Michigan State University Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum More on Zaha Hadid and her work at Zaha Hadid

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience" -MFK Fisher This week three of my greatest enjoyments come together in a rich mix: painting, food and film. Opening this week in New York State is a brand new restaurant headed by Executive Chef Chris Brandt, and Sushi Chef Satoshi Yamaguchi. My painting Silk was commissioned for the space. Also this week, the film La Cucina , in which a number of my paintings are featured, is being shown on Showtime. The Blu Ray is on pre sale at Amazon and the Dvd is available at Turner Classic Movies. The film stars Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Joaquim de Almeida (24), Leisha Hailey (The L Word), Rachel Hunter (Supermodel), Clare Carey (Crash), Oz Perkins (Star Trek), Michael Cornacchia (Hannah Montana), Kala Savage (8 Simple Rules), Cinematography by Alan Caudillo (Day Without a Mexican), and Ian Ball (Gomez) scores the film. Gregg Chadwick Silk 7'x5' oil on linen 2009 Executive Chef Chris Brandt, and Sushi Chef Satoshi Yamagu...

Leo Ballate, the Head of Information Systems and Services at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art goes on vacation for a week and finds upon his return ... Full story at: SFMOMA's blog Open Space

photo by Richard Perry / New York Times Pictured in the New York Times is my courageous family member Hannah Johnson tearing up as she applauds a New Jersey Senate committee vote on a bill to legalize gay marriage. The bill cleared the committee, 7-6, and will be voted on by the full New Jersey Senate on Thursday. Last night on his website Bruce Springsteen lent his voice in support of marriage equality: A BRIEF STATEMENT FROM BRUCE Like many of you who live in New Jersey, I've been following the progress of the marriage-equality legislation currently being considered in Trenton. I've long believed in and have always spoken out for the rights of same sex couples and fully agree with Governor Corzine when he writes that, "The marriage-equality issue should be recognized for what it truly is -- a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law." I couldn't agree more with that statement and urge those who...

Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) Above the Narrows 48" x 32¼" tempera on panel 1960 Andrew Wyeth's Painting "Above the Narrows" sold for $6,914,500 at Christie's. Wyeth's painting is an evocative portrait of his son that captures the mysterious journey from boy to man.

Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need For this bright morning dawning for you. History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage, Need not be lived again. Lift up your eyes upon The day breaking for you. Give birth again To the dream. -Maya Angelou Twenty years ago on December 1, 1989 the first Day Without Art was held to spark dialogue and create a day of action concerning the AIDS crisis. At least 800 museums and galleries across the United States closed their doors, shrouded artworks or removed them from view as symbols of mourning and loss. The goal was to show that AIDS can touch everyone. And it worked. Today on December 1, 2009 museums are again engaged in remembrance for those lost to AIDS and are actively marking the gains that have been made so far. In 1997 the day became known as A Day With(out) Art to reflect the force art can bring to the cause. Today, A Day With(out) Art has grown into a international collaborative project in wh...