Wednesday, December 10, 2014

This Weekend at Esalen: The Courage to Create


WEEKEND OF DECEMBER 12-14, 2014

The Painter (il miglior fabbro)
Gregg Chadwick
The Painter (il miglior fabbro)
24"x30" oil on linen 2013

What role does creativity play in our lives? Is it an inner imperative that helps us forge the well-lived life? This workshop at Esalen, situated along California's rugged Big Sur coastline, engages with the notion that creativity is a “battle with the gods” in light of its Latin origins in the word creare, the natural urge “to grow or make order of chaos."

Our point of departure is that creativity is an archetypal journey with recognizable stages, which are especially helpful when we are stuck or lost in our work. For the last thirty years, Phil Cousineau has used his three-stage model — Inspiration, Perspiration, and Realization — as a guide to help writers, artists, and filmmakers to deepen and complete their work. The artist Gregg Chadwick uses his own artwork and anecdotes from his lifelong study of painters to provide an inside look at practices that will help us find a balance between inspiration and the marketplace, traditional notions of beauty with daring acts of innovation, and personal discipline with the importance of building community. Together, they will alternate lecture, discussion, movie clips, slide shows, readings, and exercises that encourage cross-fertilization between the visual arts and the written word.
This workshop is designed for creative souls in every field who hope to rekindle their imagination and passion, and renew their sense of joy.

Recommended reading: Cousineau, Stoking the Creative Fires and The Art of Pilgrimage; Cousineau and Chadwick, The Painted Word.
Die Kathedrale Der Bücher (The Cathedral of Books)
Gregg Chadwick
Die Kathedrale Der Bücher (The Cathedral of Books)              
36"x48" oil on linen 2013


Phil Cousineau

Phil Cousineau
Phil Cousineau is a freelance writer, filmmaker, teacher, and youth baseball coach. He has published more than 30 books, including the bestselling The Hero's Journey: The Life and Work of Joseph Campbell. He has written award-winning documentary films, and is the host of "Global Spirit," a nationally broadcast series on LINK TV and PBS.

Gregg Chadwick


Gregg Chadwick creates his artwork in an old airplane hangar in Santa Monica, California. The recurring sound of airplane take-offs and landings from the active airport runway outside his studio reminds him of his own history of travel. Chadwick has exhibited his artworks in galleries and museums both nationally and internationally. He earned a Bachelor's Degree at UCLA and a Master’s Degree at NYU, both in Fine Art. He has had notable solo exhibitions at the Manifesta Maastricht Gallery (Maastricht, The Netherlands), Space AD 2000 (Tokyo, Japan), the Sandra Lee Gallery (San Francisco), and the Lisa Coscino Gallery (Pacific Grove) among others. He has participated in nearly one hundred group exhibitions including at the di Rosa Preserve's Off the Preserve (Sonoma), the San Francisco Art Institute, the Sonoma Museum of Visual Art, the Monterey Art Museum, the LOOK Gallery (Los Angeles), the Arena 1 Gallery (Santa Monica), and the Arts Club of Washington (Washington DC). Chadwick’s art is notably included in the collections of the Adobe Corporation, the Gilpin Museum, the Graciela Hotel in Burbank, the Harbor Court Hotel in San Francisco; the Kimpton Group’s headquarters in San Francisco, the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Nordstrom Company Headquarters, the W Hotel Hollywood, and Winona State University.

Chadwick is frequently invited to lecture on the arts; in 2011-14 he spoke at UCLA, Monterey Peninsula College, the Esalen Institute, at Demand Media during NewCo LA, and at the World Views forum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands as well as at Categorically Not, a monthly forum that considers the arts and science, in May 2013 and December 2014.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Message from Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh at UCLA
photo by Gregg Chadwick  


A worthy repost from four years ago:

“We like the idea of being thankful to the cosmos, to everything that offers itself to us as food. That is why in Plum Village we organize a Thanksgiving Day, and we address our thanks to four objects: first of all to our father and our mother, who gave us life; to our teacher who gave us spiritual life and helped us know how to live in the here and now; we thank our friends who support us, especially in difficult moments, and we thank every being in the animal, vegetable and mineral world for our support and maintenance.
So the Buddhists also celebrate Thanksgiving, with that kind of insight. And while we celebrate Thanksgiving, we relate to everyone who is there, and this is a very good practice so that we don’t cut ourselves off from reality. The feeling of gratitude can help us to remember and to cultivate the element of compassion and loving kindness in us.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Plum Village, 27th July, 1998

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Compassion at Categorically Not on December 7, 2014


Gregg Chadwick, KC Cole, and Amy Parish on the radio promoting the reboot of Categorically Not

I had the wonderful opportunity last Friday to be on the radio with the esteemed Bonobo expert Amy Parish, and the marvelous science writer KC Cole  as we discussed Compassion and what it means in art, biology and physics. 
The three of us will be giving presentations at the reboot of Categorically Not  at the Santa Monica Art Studios on December 7th 2014 at 6 pm. 
Should be a fantastic evening.

RSVP and other information below. Feel free to share with friends.

Compassion
What could be more important these days than understanding compassion: How it works and when it fails, how to persuade people that being tuned to the needs of others is actually in everyone’s personal self-interest? Despite the reputation compassion has for seeming “softhearted,” its benefits are based on well-studied mathematics and neuroscience, as well as evolutionary biology. Society can’t survive without a sense of fairness. And a sense of empathy informs all great art.

For our December 7th program, Categorically Not! founder KC Cole will explain how math proves the golden rule, simple ways to think about sharing and fairness, what neuroscientists have to tell us about empathy—and how the ability to feel compassion may actually atrophy in powerful people who have no real need for it. She’ll explain the physics behind one of Frank Oppenheimer’s favorite sayings: “The worst thing a son-of-a-bitch can do is turn you into a son-of-a-bitch,” and show how sometimes hidden symmetries are the keys to mysteries of physics as well as matters of the heart.

Can apes apologize? Can monkeys mourn their dead? Darwinian feminist and biological anthropologist Amy Parish, a world expert on our closest living relatives—bonobos—will take us into the lives of (other) primates and explore how empathy and fairness work in monkeys and apes. She’ll show some striking examples, including the classic case of when a cucumber is enough—until someone else gets a grape. She’ll navigate the nature/nurture divide, addressing contentious topics like morality, shame, ethics—the roots of our capacity to show compassion. We may even get a chance to watch monkeys act as midwives.

Finally, we are delighted to have back Santa Monica Art Studios own Gregg Chadwick, whose paintings explore the hum of humanity with deep compassion for life across the globe. Gregg has exhibited his artworks in galleries and museums both nationally and internationally and he lectures on the arts worldwide—from Amsterdam to Esalen and UCLA. His blog, Speed of Life, was recently honored by Carnegie Hall as one of the Top 16 Art Blogs in the country: Gregg paints in an old airplane hangar—the home of Categorically Not!
RSVP to 310-397-7449 or evelina@santamonicaartstudios.com
We ask for a minimum $5 donation to cover expenses.



Thursday, November 20, 2014

"We Were Strangers Once, Too": President Obama Lays a New Path on Immigration (Full Transcript)


"Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger -- we were strangers once, too. My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too."
-- President Obama, November 20, 2014
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Address to the Nation on Immigration
The White House
November 20, 2014
As Prepared for Delivery
My fellow Americans, tonight, I’d like to talk with you about immigration.
For more than 200 years, our tradition of welcoming immigrants from around the world has given us a tremendous advantage over other nations. It’s kept us youthful, dynamic, and entrepreneurial. It has shaped our character as a people with limitless possibilities – people not trapped by our past, but able to remake ourselves as we choose.
But today, our immigration system is broken, and everybody knows it.
Families who enter our country the right way and play by the rules watch others flout the rules. Business owners who offer their workers good wages and benefits see the competition exploit undocumented immigrants by paying them far less. All of us take offense to anyone who reaps the rewards of living in America without taking on the responsibilities of living in America. And undocumented immigrants who desperately want to embrace those responsibilities see little option but to remain in the shadows, or risk their families being torn apart.
It’s been this way for decades. And for decades, we haven’t done much about it.
When I took office, I committed to fixing this broken immigration system. And I began by doing what I could to secure our borders. Today, we have more agents and technology deployed to secure our southern border than at any time in our history. And over the past six years, illegal border crossings have been cut by more than half. Although, this summer there was a brief spike in unaccompanied children being apprehended at our border, the number of such children is now actually lower than it’s been in nearly two years. Overall, the number of people trying to cross our border illegally is at its lowest level since the 1970s. Those are the facts.
Meanwhile, I worked with Congress on a comprehensive fix, and last year, 68 Democrats, Republicans, and Independents came together to pass a bipartisan bill in the Senate. It wasn’t perfect. It was a compromise, but it reflected common sense. It would have doubled the number of border patrol agents, while giving undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship if they paid a fine, started paying their taxes, and went to the back of the line. And independent experts said that it would help grow our economy and shrink our deficits.
Had the House of Representatives allowed that kind of a bill a simple yes-or-no vote, it would have passed with support from both parties, and today it would be the law. But for a year and a half now, Republican leaders in the House have refused to allow that simple vote.
Now, I continue to believe that the best way to solve this problem is by working together to pass that kind of common sense law. But until that happens, there are actions I have the legal authority to take as President – the same kinds of actions taken by Democratic and Republican Presidents before me – that will help make our immigration system more fair and more just.
Tonight, I am announcing those actions.
First, we’ll build on our progress at the border with additional resources for our law enforcement personnel so that they can stem the flow of illegal crossings, and speed the return of those who do cross over.
Second, I will make it easier and faster for high-skilled immigrants, graduates, and entrepreneurs to stay and contribute to our economy, as so many business leaders have proposed.
Third, we’ll take steps to deal responsibly with the millions of undocumented immigrants who already live in our country.
I want to say more about this third issue, because it generates the most passion and controversy. Even as we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. Undocumented workers broke our immigration laws, and I believe that they must be held accountable – especially those who may be dangerous. That’s why, over the past six years, deportations of criminals are up 80 percent. And that’s why we’re going to keep focusing enforcement resources on actual threats to our security. Felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mother who’s working hard to provide for her kids. We’ll prioritize, just like law enforcement does every day.
But even as we focus on deporting criminals, the fact is, millions of immigrants – in every state, of every race and nationality – will still live here illegally. And let’s be honest – tracking down, rounding up, and deporting millions of people isn’t realistic. Anyone who suggests otherwise isn’t being straight with you. It’s also not who we are as Americans. After all, most of these immigrants have been here a long time. They work hard, often in tough, low-paying jobs. They support their families. They worship at our churches. Many of their kids are American-born or spent most of their lives here, and their hopes, dreams, and patriotism are just like ours.
As my predecessor, President Bush, once put it: “They are a part of American life.”
Now here’s the thing: we expect people who live in this country to play by the rules. We expect that those who cut the line will not be unfairly rewarded. So we’re going to offer the following deal: If you’ve been in America for more than five years; if you have children who are American citizens or legal residents; if you register, pass a criminal background check, and you’re willing to pay your fair share of taxes – you’ll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily, without fear of deportation. You can come out of the shadows and get right with the law.
That’s what this deal is. Now let’s be clear about what it isn’t. This deal does not apply to anyone who has come to this country recently. It does not apply to anyone who might come to America illegally in the future. It does not grant citizenship, or the right to stay here permanently, or offer the same benefits that citizens receive – only Congress can do that. All we’re saying is we’re not going to deport you.
I know some of the critics of this action call it amnesty. Well, it’s not. Amnesty is the immigration system we have today – millions of people who live here without paying their taxes or playing by the rules, while politicians use the issue to scare people and whip up votes at election time.
That’s the real amnesty – leaving this broken system the way it is. Mass amnesty would be unfair. Mass deportation would be both impossible and contrary to our character. What I’m describing is accountability – a commonsense, middle ground approach: If you meet the criteria, you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. If you’re a criminal, you’ll be deported. If you plan to enter the U.S. illegally, your chances of getting caught and sent back just went up.

The actions I’m taking are not only lawful, they’re the kinds of actions taken by every single Republican President and every single Democratic President for the past half century. And to those Members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill. I want to work with both parties to pass a more permanent legislative solution. And the day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary. Meanwhile, don’t let a disagreement over a single issue be a dealbreaker on every issue. That’s not how our democracy works, and Congress certainly shouldn’t shut down our government again just because we disagree on this. Americans are tired of gridlock. What our country needs from us right now is a common purpose – a higher purpose.
Most Americans support the types of reforms I’ve talked about tonight. But I understand the disagreements held by many of you at home. Millions of us, myself included, go back generations in this country, with ancestors who put in the painstaking work to become citizens. So we don’t like the notion that anyone might get a free pass to American citizenship. I know that some worry immigration will change the very fabric of who we are, or take our jobs, or stick it to middle-class families at a time when they already feel like they’ve gotten the raw end of the deal for over a decade. I hear these concerns. But that’s not what these steps would do. Our history and the facts show that immigrants are a net plus for our economy and our society. And I believe it’s important that all of us have this debate without impugning each other’s character.
Because for all the back-and-forth of Washington, we have to remember that this debate is about something bigger. It’s about who we are as a country, and who we want to be for future generations.
Are we a nation that tolerates the hypocrisy of a system where workers who pick our fruit and make our beds never have a chance to get right with the law? Or are we a nation that gives them a chance to make amends, take responsibility, and give their kids a better future?
Are we a nation that accepts the cruelty of ripping children from their parents’ arms? Or are we a nation that values families, and works to keep them together?
Are we a nation that educates the world’s best and brightest in our universities, only to send them home to create businesses in countries that compete against us? Or are we a nation that encourages them to stay and create jobs, businesses, and industries right here in America?
That’s what this debate is all about. We need more than politics as usual when it comes to immigration; we need reasoned, thoughtful, compassionate debate that focuses on our hopes, not our fears.
I know the politics of this issue are tough. But let me tell you why I have come to feel so strongly about it. Over the past few years, I have seen the determination of immigrant fathers who worked two or three jobs, without taking a dime from the government, and at risk at any moment of losing it all, just to build a better life for their kids. I’ve seen the heartbreak and anxiety of children whose mothers might be taken away from them just because they didn’t have the right papers. I’ve seen the courage of students who, except for the circumstances of their birth, are as American as Malia or Sasha; students who bravely come out as undocumented in hopes they could make a difference in a country they love. These people – our neighbors, our classmates, our friends – they did not come here in search of a free ride or an easy life. They came to work, and study, and serve in our military, and above all, contribute to America’s success.

Tomorrow, I’ll travel to Las Vegas and meet with some of these students, including a young woman named Astrid Silva. Astrid was brought to America when she was four years old. Her only possessions were a cross, her doll, and the frilly dress she had on. When she started school, she didn’t speak any English. She caught up to the other kids by reading newspapers and watching PBS, and became a good student. Her father worked in landscaping. Her mother cleaned other people’s homes. They wouldn’t let Astrid apply to a technology magnet school for fear the paperwork would out her as an undocumented immigrant – so she applied behind their back and got in. Still, she mostly lived in the shadows – until her grandmother, who visited every year from Mexico, passed away, and she couldn’t travel to the funeral without risk of being found out and deported. It was around that time she decided to begin advocating for herself and others like her, and today, Astrid Silva is a college student working on her third degree.
Are we a nation that kicks out a striving, hopeful immigrant like Astrid – or are we a nation that finds a way to welcome her in?



Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger – we were strangers once, too.
My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too. And whether our forebears were strangers who crossed the Atlantic, or the Pacific, or the Rio Grande, we are here only because this country welcomed them in, and taught them that to be an American is about something more than what we look like, or what our last names are, or how we worship. What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal – that all of us are created equal, and all of us have the chance to make of our lives what we will.
That’s the country our parents and grandparents and generations before them built for us. That’s the tradition we must uphold. That’s the legacy we must leave for those who are yet to come.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless this country we love.


Our immigration system has been broken for decades. That's why President Obama announced new steps tonight to address as much of the problem as he can using his executive authority, and why he'll continue to work with Congress to pass comprehensive reform.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Springsteen at The Concert for Valor

by Gregg Chadwick

Bruce Springsteen's performance last night at The Concert for Valor was passionate, a bit gritty, and dialed in to the characters in his songs. The words of Promised Land, Born In the USA, and surprisingly for me Dancing In the Dark cut like a knife through the hushed crowd. Springsteen seemed to embody the underlying pain of the returning warrior and the scourge of PTSD.  Springsteen stood bare on the stage with just a guitar for a compelling reason. Like a soldier returning from war and moving on without a platoon and moving on without a weapon always at hand, Springsteen courageously stood alone. Through his lyrics, Springsteen gave truth to the fears that many carry home from war. Yes, you are alone now. Yes, your uniform is packed away and your weapons stowed. But, there is hope. I watched friends and family come home from Vietnam as changed men. I watched many stay in the military for years and then watched them put on their uniforms for the last time. And I watched them struggle to find meaning in life. Springsteen's songs on the Mall in DC last night, echoed that existential dread. And somehow as always, Springsteen helps us find hope in the darkness.






Monday, November 10, 2014

Lust, Lecherousness, and Love

by Gregg Chadwick




Peter Clothier's scurrilously witty new novel "The Pilgrim's Staff" explores lust, lecherousness, and love through the voices of two men from two disparate centuries. David Soames, a contemporary figurative painter living as an ex-pat in Los Angeles, receives a curious package in the mail from an English cousin. Wrapped in layers of tape and memory is the two hundred year-old journal of an English gentleman, who begins his tale with the words,"I am no Rake!" "Rake" is a wonderfully antiquated word that refers to a man caught in the snares of immorality, particularly concerning the charms of the opposite sex. 



William Hogarth
A Rakes's Progress:3
The Rake at the Rose Tavern
62.5x75.2 cm oil on canvas 1734
Collection Sir John Soane's Museum, London


Writing this on the 10th of November, in a coincidence worthy of Clothier's novel, I am reminded that the 18th century English painter William Hogarth was born on this day in 1697.  Hogarth's pre-cinematic series entitled "A Rake's Progress" immediately comes to mind.  Reflecting his own deep history in the arts as both writer and arts administrator, Clothier deftly weaves artistic concerns into "The Pilgrim's Staff." In Clothier's novel both men richly voice their own sexual histories with honesty and quite a bit of humor that echoes the satirical artworks of fellow Englishmen Hogarth, Thomas Rowlandson, and George Cruikshank. 

Clothier's "The Pilgrim's Staff" is not a mere romp. The novel also explores the destructive potential of family legacy and the clouded history of power, abuse, and sexual slavery in 18th century Imperial England as well as in our contemporary world. "The Pilgrim's Staff" is a book about sexual pleasure and also a cautionary tale that reminds us not to lose the love as we lust. Highly recommended!



Notes on Peter Clothier and "The Pilgrim's Staff"

Peter Clothier learned about masculinity the British way: boarding school and Cambridge--and spent twenty years in recovery in men's group work. 

Previous books include two novels, a monograph on David Hockney, and a memoir, While I am Not Afraid: Secrets of a Man's Heart. His recent book, Persist, was acclaimed as the "ultimate survival guide for any creative artist." 

Find out more at: http://www.thepilgrimsstaff.com


Shout Out to Peter! I am honored that my painting, The Embrace, and my studio are featured on your cover. Bravo on your new book!

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Gregg Chadwick's News and Events for October 2014

1. Gregg Chadwick 's painting  "To Catch A Thief" has been selected by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason, the husband-and-wife team behind the lifestyle brand AphroChic, to hang in the special Helms Bakery Pop-up Home October 10 – 12, 2014 in Culver City. 

Details at: http://aphrochic.com/2014/08/29/save-the-date-the-aphrochic-pop-up-house-at-helms-bakery/




Gregg Chadwick
"To Catch A Thief' 
10"x10" oil on panel 2014

2. Gregg Chadwick will have artwork in the Art Unified booth at Worldwide Art Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Convention Center from October16-19, 2014. More at: https://worldwideartla.com 


Gregg Chadwick
"Oracle of Milan" 
40"x30" oil on linen 2014 


3. Make sure to save the date for the most exciting art event of the year in Santa Monica! The 10th Anniversary Open Studios at Santa Monica Art Studios

Please join us for the 10th Anniversary Open Studios Celebration at Santa Monica Art Studios.
Thirty-nine painters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors and mixed media artists will open their studios for the event.
Would love to see you in my studio - #15!

Saturday, October 18th from 6-9pm & Sunday, October 19th from 1-5pm 


4. The noted writer Peter Clothier asked Gregg Chadwick to create artwork for the cover of Clothier's latest novel, "The Pilgrim's Staff".  

Clothier writes: 
"Gregg Chadwick was generous enough to create an image for the front.  Having read the book, he delved into the art of the 18th century, particularly the erotic prints and drawing of artists like Thomas Rowlandson and George Cruickshank and came up with an image that captured the spirit of both the period and the story that I've written."

More at: The Buddha Diaries: BUSY


Gregg Chadwick,
"The Embrace" 
30"x24" oil on linen 2014


5. Gregg Chadwick, inspired by his recent trip to Istanbul and the wondrous books of Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, will have his painting "The Museum of Innocence" in Room & Board, Art & Home- an art show benefitting LA Family Housing 

Room & Board, Art & Home - an art show benefitting LA Family Housing
 8707 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. Tel: (310) 736-9100. 
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 23rd, 7-9 PM  (My Birthday:)



Gregg Chadwick
"The Museum of Innocence"
 8"x10" oil on panel 2014


Wednesday, August 06, 2014

A Memory Museum

by Gregg Chadwick

Holland  Cotter has a wonderful new piece in the New York Times entitled A Memory Museum

Cotter writes," I’m also a curator of my memory, which carries traces of art encounters from over the years. A few of those encounters — with certain objects, books, buildings — have altered the atmosphere, changed how I see and joined a permanent collection that I regularly revisit."

He then challenges us to describe experiences with art that has changed our lives and to post them in the comment section in his article. I find this to be an enlightening question:
Which works of art have changed the way you look at the world? 

I answered Mr. Cotter with the following:

The place of memory in the arts is so revealing. One of my first experiences with an artwork happened in Amsterdam when I was a six year old and the experience changed me forever. My father had finished his tour in Vietnam as a USMC JAG and we reunited as a family in Europe. During that trip we visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. There I found myself slack jawed in front of Rembrandt’s iconic group portrait "The Sampling Officials of the Amsterdam Drapers Guild."  I recognized it as the same image on the Dutch Masters’ cigar box, my father’s go-to brand. The connection was phenomenal; I was hooked and I knew that someday I would become an artist. 





Thursday, July 24, 2014

Please Join Gregg Chadwick for an Artist Talk on Revenant at the Sandra Lee Gallery on July 26, 2014

Please join me this Saturday, July 26, 2014 at the Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco as I gather with a small group to discuss my new series "Revenant" - each painting holds a mysterious story where past and present meet. The event runs from 3:30 to 6:00 pm. Also, if you haven't seen it yet, please check out the review by Jeffrey Carlson in Fine Art Connoisseur: "Gregg Chadwick's Revenant" (link here) before my talk.
More details below:


Thursday, June 05, 2014

Revenant: New Paintings by Gregg Chadwick




Revenant 

 New Paintings by Gregg Chadwick

  In folk mythology, a revenant is a being or force that returns from another level of existence to haunt the living. The paintings in my new series, Revenant, carry the ghosts of their former selves. Each work goes through an open-ended series of painting sessions. Surfaces are scraped down, over painted, and layered with transparent pigments.  Opaque swaths of color are brushed into the wet surface, leaving remnants of past figures and locations, while memories and future visions surge to the surface and overwrite the image. 
  
  Current science is discovering that our earliest memories of childhood may be pushed out or overwritten like computer code by the growth of neurons during our early years, which could help explain the mysterious memory lapses, what Freud called “infantile amnesia”, in our childhood memories. Often, for me, bits of these ghostly, fragmented memories pop up with the hint of a remembered song, color, or aroma.

Two ghosts, two memories, haunt me from my childhood. One is the sweet image of my grandfather, Arthur Desch, high up in the cab on his train on the Jersey Central Line. A second haunting image is a Pennsylvania tandem pulling Senator Robert Kennedy's casket from his memorial in Boston to Arlington Cemetery in 1968.




I relish these revenant moments and use them as access points into my current paintings. Ghost trains roll down long abandoned tracks. Lost buildings reappear.  Shadows of former selves are reflected in this mirrored world. The crackle of distant radio transmissions seems to blend with the staccato of binary code. Apparitions of friends, family, fellow artists, and passersby find their way, sometimes unbidden but welcomed, into the works. For me, these revenant figures and places bring possibility to life and lend an eerie comfort to our fleeting world. 

                        
  - Gregg Chadwick, Santa Monica, California
                              
      May 2014




Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Film Review - Generosity of Eye: Art Transformed into Education

by Gregg Chadwick

 
Generosity of Eye: Art Transformed into Education from brad hall (Full Film)


Generosity of Eye: Art Transformed into Education is a must watch documentary by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall that documents William Louis-Dreyfus, Julia's father,  as he explains why he decided to sell his bountiful art collection to benefit the Harlem Children's Zone - an educational program in New York, created by Geoffrey Canada to break the cycle of generational poverty for the thousands of children and their families in the Harlem community. 



Julia is often on screen with her father and their scenes together are rich with familial affection. As Julia interviews her father about the art that William has collected over the years and the artists who have created it, she is often overcome with emotion as she discovers the depth of her father's passion for art and for justice.


Geoffrey Canada, William Louis-Dreyfus, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus  


Julia says, "Dad doesn't just collect art, he collects the artists who create it." For her entire life, Julia's dad has collected paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. Currently, the collection has grown to over 3,000 pieces and includes artworks by Kandinsky, Dubuffet, Giacometti, George Grosz, Red Grooms, Robert Traylor, Catherine Murphy, Stone Roberts, Graham Nickson, Raymond Mason, Rackstraw Downes, Jean-Baptiste Sécheret, Nicola Hicks, Robert Birmelin, George Boorujy, Thornton Dial, and many others. 

In a telling scene in the film, William explains his thoughts on society's reaction to injustice:  "I think there are two types of people that make up our political outlook. One is a person who sees something happening and thinks that it might happen to him and therefore is worried about it. He notices it and thinks to himself,"That could happen to me." Therefore, he is against the injustice that is happening to a third party. And then there is another kind of person who looks at the injustice and says to himself,"Thank the Lord that is not happening to me." So the fact of it's happening to another person he is for. He is for it psychologically because by virtue of this happening to another person, it's not happening to him. The other guy is against it because when he sees it, he thinks it might happen to him. Therefore, he is against it." 

William's passions are inspiring: art, justice, and humanity.






Can we balance out the slate?

Rachel Carson's Powerful Legacy



Today's Google doodle honors the groundbreaking environmentalist Rachel Carson, whose book Silent Spring sounded one of the first alarms about the detrimental effect of pesticides on the eco-system. The natural world was my first love as a kid and reading Carson's work was instrumental in spurring me on to look deeply at and respect the complexities of our endangered environment.

Carson's interest in conservation began with her early work as a marine biologist, which led to her award winning book, The Sea Around Us. Subsequently, nature writing provided a powerful vehicle for Carson to bring mainstream attention to the chemicals being dumped daily into our streams and rivers. Her work inspired global bans of the pesticide DDT  and helped foster the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States.

I encourage you to honor Rachel Carson's legacy by spending some time today on the Audubon Society's website, the US National Park Service's site, or your local nature conservancies information boards. All of these sites provide important information on how you can get involved and help preserve our natural world for future generations.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Santa Barbara Elegy


Gregg Chadwick
Buddha of the Adriatic
24"x18" oil on linen 2014


My heart breaks for the families who have lost their daughters and sons during this weekend's senseless massacre in Santa Barbara. There is so much to discuss, to argue over, to ponder. But tonight, I will continue to mourn and ask that attention be focused on the six University of California, Santa Barbara students who were stolen from us.