Speed of Life

 by Gregg Chadwick Gregg Chadwick Berlin Diary 30”x22” ink on paper 2018 Painted as an homage to Christopher Isherwood, "Berlin Diary" depicts a fleeting moment in a city of dreams. As I created this artwork, I listened to the haunting soundtrack from the film "A Single Man" based on an Isherwood novel set in Los Angeles. Painted in ink and gouache over a monotype substrate, "Berlin Diary" combines vibrant color and movement to create a scene of mystery and possibility. Isherwood's life in Berlin from 1929 to 1933 inspired his "The Berlin Stories" which was adapted into a play, a film, and the musical  Cabaret . In 1939 he moved to the United States as war loomed in Europe and settled in Los Angeles. Isherwood's life and work helped spur on the gay rights movement. Isherwood's books include the novel "A Single Man" and his autobiography, "Christopher and His Kind." Isherwood died of cancer on January 4, 1986. Isher...

by Gregg Chadwick Bruno Ganz as the angel Damiel in Wim Wender's Classic Film  Wings of Desire Bruno Ganz  has died at 77 leaving us with a rich legacy.  The Swiss film actor played numerous iconic roles over the years from an angel longing for human love in Wings of Desire to Hitler facing imminent defeat in Downfall .  The New York Times reports that Bruno died at his home in Zurich.  Bruno Ganz  left his mark on Berlin in Wender's  Wings of Desire .  Painters, writers, and filmmakers from Max Beckmann to Christopher Isherwood to Wim Wenders have created visions of Berlin that still guide us across the city's potent memoryscape.   Gregg Chadwick The Angel of History 29"x73" oil and sumi on Japanese screen In honor of Bruno, I am posting my oil and ink on screen painting The Angel of History   inspired by the writings of Walter Benjamin.  Benjamin wrote: "This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face i...

by  Gregg Chadwick I wrote this when I heard of Lou Reed's death in 2013. Three years on the thoughts still stand. Reposted as an elegy to an inspirational figure for so many.  " Lou Reed gave us the street and the landscape - and we peopled it."  - David Bowie in the documentary " Rock 'n' Roll Heart - Lou Reed " Well hey, man, that's just a lie It's a lie she tells her friends 'Cause the real song, the real song Where she won't even admit to herself The  beatin ' in her heart It's a song lots of people know It's a painful song A little sad truth But life's full of sad songs Penny for a wish But  wishin ' won't make you a soldier. With a pretty kiss for a pretty face Can't have  it's  way Y'know tramps like us, we were born to pay  -  From the beginning of the " Slipaway " section of Lou Reed's song  Street Hassle .      Uncredited   spoken vocals by Bruce Springsteen...

by Gregg Chadwick " Lou Reed gave us the street and the landscape - and we peopled it."  - David Bowie in the documentary "Rock 'n' Roll Heart - Lou Reed" Well hey, man, that's just a lie It's a lie she tells her friends 'Cause the real song, the real song Where she won't even admit to herself The beatin ' in her heart It's a song lots of people know It's a painful song A little sad truth But life's full of sad songs Penny for a wish But wishin ' won't make you a soldier. With a pretty kiss for a pretty face Can't have it's way Y'know tramps like us, we were born to pay  -  From the beginning of the "Slipaway" section of Lou Reed's song Street Hassle .     Uncredited   spoken vocals by Bruce Springsteen. Annie Leibovitz Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson  Coney Island, New York, 1995 Silver Print When I found out about Lou Reed's death yesterday morning from Roll...

Early this morning David Bowie celebrated his 66th Birthday with the release of his first single in a decade.  This song  Where Are We Now?,  taken from Bowie's forthcoming album  The Next Day,  is accompanied by an artful video directed by the contemporary artist Tony Oursler . Set in a black and white Berlin of memory and dream, Oursler's video combines with Bowie's voice and lyrics to  question the themes of human bondage, release, freedom,  doubt, ageing, and death.   The video opens with a shot of a crystal skull on a table. Reminiscent of Gerhard Richter's evocative paintings of human skulls, this  visual entrance to Bowie's musical memento  mori ,    reminds us that in Berlin we  wrestle with the dead as we walk through a haunted and enchanted city. After the fall of the wall,  Berlin has come to embody the future while at the same time carrying the scars of the past.  Bowie sings : ...