Steinbeck Sky

Gregg Chadwick
Steinbeck Sky
18" x 24" oil on linen 2014

Writer John Steinbeck was born on this day in 1902 in Salinas, California. My parents moved to the Monterey Bay when I was a college student at UCLA and over the years I have made innumerable trips to the area from Southern California or San Francisco depending on where I was living at the time. When the sun sets on a road trip in California, the sky seems to erupt into a momentary monument to time itself. While driving through Steinbeck's hometown of Salinas, California; I am often struck by the immense color of the evening sky and know I have to get my impressions down on canvas. "Steinbeck Sky" is an homage to these moments.

In the summer after my first year at UCLA, I steeped myself in John Steinbeck novels and the paintings of Edward Hopper. My soundtrack was Bruce Springsteen's fourth album Darkness on the Edge of Town, which to me sounded like a distillation of Steinbeck, Hopper and Woody Guthrie.
The pace of life was so much slower than Los Angeles or Washington DC and I found time for study and reflection in the hours after my temp job finished. I would go for a run through Point Lobos after work to clear my head and then would sit with East of Eden or The Grapes of Wrath until the sun went down. I would paint late into the night trying to get these new inspirations onto canvas. I had a lot to learn but I was dogged and I let my failures lead me onto new paths.

#art #contemporaryart #Steinbeck #Salinas #Monterey

One Year In - Ukraine Holds Strong

 

Gregg Chadwick

Home Guard (112th Territorial Defense Brigade - Kyiv, Ukraine)
20"x16" oil on linen 2022

One year ago on Feb 24, 2022 - Russia launched its full scale genocide in Ukraine and 9 years ago this week Russia began its operation to illegally annex Crimea.

My painting "Home Guard (112th Territorial Defense Brigade - Kyiv, Ukraine)" is an homage to the brave Ukrainians fighting against an immoral and illegal invasion by Putin's Russia. I remember as a young boy when my father left for war as a US Marine. I can see in the faces of the kids and partners in Ukraine the same mix of fear and pride I felt as my dad told me that he was leaving home to fight for freedom. Ukrainians live in a democratic society that values diversity and opportunity for all. Many couples have decided to fight together against Putin's invasion. Putin wants to crush Ukraine. But he will never prevail against these brave heroes protecting their homeland.

In 2015 at the Venice Biennale, MarySue and I took part in an art performance called "On Vacation" protesting Russia's invasion of Crimea. See - Images 2 and 3.

Half of my proceeds for this painting will be donated to World Central Kitchen's efforts in Ukraine to provide food and sustenance to those fighting for their freedom. As Chef Jose Andres says,"Wherever there is a fight so that hungry people may eat, we will be there." 

#ChefsForTheWorld #Ukraine #SlavaUkraini #art #contemporaryart #NoSurrender @ukraine.ua #OnVacation @stevievanzandt

In 2015 at the Venice Biennale, MarySue and I took part in an art performance called "On Vacation" protesting Russia's invasion of Crimea. 

.@MalcolmNance: "Russian combat power--really offensive power--is finished." #TheReidOut pic.twitter.com/jQkmOhw542

— The ReidOut (@thereidout) February 25, 2023

Purple Rain in Santa Monica

 

Gregg Chadwick
Purple Rain (Prince Rogers Nelson)
24"x18" oil on linen 2016
Sold During Frieze Week, February 2023

Thank you to my collectors, fans, followers, and friends who visited my studio at the Santa Monica Airport during @friezeofficial. Honored that my homage to the sublime Prince has found its home with one of my treasured collectors. I am inspired by the art that I saw at Frieze with my new friend @ara.oshagan and percolating with ideas that will soon hit the canvas. As you know if you stepped in my studio - my brushes are clean, my paints are ready, and the colors will soon flow. If you heard Purple Rain playing across the Santa Monica Airport on Sunday Eve at the closing of Frieze that was @18thstreetarts amazing Kevin and me pouring one out musically for Prince!

#art #contemporaryart #Prince #Frieze #LAart #SantaMonica

You Will Never Know

Poolside

Gregg Chadwick

Poolside

20"x16"oil on linen 2022

    Private Collection, Oxford, Connecticut

Pleased that my painting "Poolside" has been sold by @saatchiart and successfully delivered to its new home near New Haven, Connecticut. It arrived in the midst of a record cold spell and hopefully brought warm memories of Spring and Summer along.
Legs dangling in an aquamarine pool, drink in hand, and a book open to the right page. What is she reading? Perhaps because he was born on this day in 1946, French Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard's book "Happiness: "A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill" which explores how to develop happiness as a skill that includes acceptance of pain and struggle through a process of understanding, meditation, and breath.

Or perhaps her book is a collection of Emily Dickinson's poetry?
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me."

Note - if you are in town for the @friezeofficial Art Fair at the Santa Monica Airport, I will have my studio open @18thstreetarts at the Airport during fair hours. Please stop by and say Hello.

#art #SantaMonica #Frieze #Books #Hope #Beauty #ContemporaryArt #greggchadwick

Bruce Springsteen - "If I Was the Priest" for Valentine's Day in Houston

‘If I Was the Priest,’ not played in concert by Springsteen since ’72, makes it into Houston setlist https://t.co/pA7Rf7qd8H

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) February 15, 2023

Review: Bruce Springsteen at Houston’s Toyota Center offers reflective songs alongside old favorites https://t.co/pY8EDyDKLE

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) February 15, 2023

President Biden's State of the Union Address - Feb 7, 2023

Wow that was a huge moment — Biden uses the Republican boos and jeers to go off script and strong-arm them into taking Medicare/Social Security cuts off the table

— Kate Riga (@Kate_Riga24) February 8, 2023

What a brilliant, refreshing speech that revives true American populism—progressive democratic populism, not right-wing authoritarian fake-populism. Biden sounds Rooseveltian and is taking American politics by storm.

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) February 8, 2023

Tonight, I fulfilled my constitutional duty to report on the state of the nation.

And here is my report.

Because of the Soul of this nation –
Because of the backbone of this nation –
Because of the people of this nation –

The State of the Union is strong.

— President Biden (@POTUS) February 8, 2023

U2's Bono with Mr. Pelosi In the House Chamber at the State of the Union. I love this picture.❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/uXHfFfjU3v

— SusieTX (@SusanTXBlue) February 8, 2023

Love Biden’s Energy! https://t.co/C6ZWQJVrSk

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) February 8, 2023

Nikole Hannah-Jones on her new Hulu docuseries, "The 1619 Project"

Gregg Chadwick
Nikole Hannah-Jones (The Idea of America)
36”x36” oil on linen 2021