Monday, May 09, 2016

Full Remarks by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Civil Rights Division Leader Vanita Gupta on North Carolina's Anti-LGBT HB 2



Loretta Lynch to transgender community: 
"We see you, we stand with you and we will do everything we can to protect you." 


Full Remarks by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch:

Good afternoon and thank you all for being here.  Today, I’m joined by Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.  We are here to announce a significant law enforcement action regarding North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also known as House Bill 2. 

The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 2 in special session on March 23 of this year.  The bill sought to strike down an anti-discrimination provision in a recently-passed Charlotte, North Carolina, ordinance, as well as to require transgender people in public agencies to use the bathrooms consistent with their sex as noted at birth, rather than the bathrooms that fit their gender identity.  The bill was signed into law that same day.  In so doing, the legislature and the governor placed North Carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity.  More to the point, they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals, who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security – a right taken for granted by most of us.  





Last week, our Civil Rights Division notified state officials that House Bill 2 violates federal civil rights laws.  We asked that they certify by the end of the day today that they would not comply with or implement House Bill 2’s restriction on restroom access.  An extension was requested by North Carolina and was under active consideration.  But instead of replying to our offer or providing a certification, this morning, the state of North Carolina and its governor chose to respond by suing the Department of Justice.  As a result of their decisions, we are now moving forward. 

Today, we are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina.  We are seeking a court order declaring House Bill 2’s restroom restriction impermissibly discriminatory, as well as a statewide bar on its enforcement.  While the lawsuit currently seeks declaratory relief, I want to note that we retain the option of curtailing federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina as this case proceeds.

This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms.  This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them – indeed, to protect all of us.  And it’s about the founding ideals that have led this country – haltingly but inexorably – in the direction of fairness, inclusion and equality for all Americans. 

This is not the first time that we have seen discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress for our nation.  We saw it in the Jim Crow laws that followed the Emancipation Proclamation.  We saw it in fierce and widespread resistance to Brown v. Board of Education.  And we saw it in the proliferation of state bans on same-sex unions intended to stifle any hope that gay and lesbian Americans might one day be afforded the right to marry.  That right, of course, is now recognized as a guarantee embedded in our Constitution, and in the wake of that historic triumph, we have seen bill after bill in state after state taking aim at the LGBT community.  Some of these responses reflect a recognizably human fear of the unknown, and a discomfort with the uncertainty of change.  But this is not a time to act out of fear.  This is a time to summon our national virtues of inclusivity, diversity, compassion and open-mindedness.  What we must not do – what we must never do – is turn on our neighbors, our family members, our fellow Americans, for something they cannot control, and deny what makes them human.  This is why none of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something they are not, or invents a problem that doesn’t exist as a pretext for discrimination and harassment.




Let me speak now to the people of the great state, the beautiful state, my state of North Carolina.  You’ve been told that this law protects vulnerable populations from harm – but that just is not the case.  Instead, what this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share.  This law provides no benefit to society – all it does is harm innocent Americans.  

Instead of turning away from our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, let us instead learn from our history and avoid repeating the mistakes of our past.  Let us reflect on the obvious but often neglected lesson that state-sanctioned discrimination never looks good in hindsight.  It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based upon a distinction without a difference.  We have moved beyond those dark days, but not without pain and suffering and an ongoing fight to keep moving forward.  Let us write a different story this time.  Let us not act out of fear and misunderstanding, but out of the values of inclusion, diversity and regard for all that make our country great. 

Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself.  Some of you have lived freely for decades.  Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead.  But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that  we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward.  Please know that history is on your side.  This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time.  It may not be easy – but we’ll get there together.  

I want to thank my colleagues in the Civil Rights Division who have devoted many hours to this case so far, and who will devote many more to seeing it through.  At this time, I’d like to turn things over to Vanita Gupta, whose determined leadership on this and so many other issues has been essential to the Justice Department’s work.



Remarks by Civil Rights Division Leader Vanita Gupta:

Thank you, Attorney General Lynch, for those powerful words.  Throughout the arc of our country’s history – from tragedies of injustice to marches for equality – there have been pivotal moments when America’s leaders chose to stand up and speak out to safeguard the ideal of equal justice under law.  And history will record your inspiring words and our forceful action today as one of these moments.  

I also want to take a moment to thank the entire team throughout the Civil Rights Division and the Department of Justice, who have worked tirelessly over the last several weeks to ensure that everyone in North Carolina has the full protections of our laws.

Today, we filed a federal civil rights complaint in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina.  Before I discuss the details of our legal argument, I want to make one thing clear.  Calling H.B. 2 a “bathroom bill” trivializes what this is really about.  H.B. 2 translates into discrimination in the real world.  The complaint we filed today speaks to public employees who feel afraid and stigmatized on the job.  It speaks to students who feel like their campus treats them differently because of who they are.  It speaks to sports fans who feel forced to choose between their gender identity and their identity as a Tar Heel.  And it speaks to all of us who have ever been made to feel inferior – like somehow we just don’t belong in our community, like somehow we just don’t fit in.  Let me reassure every transgender individual, right here in America, that you belong just as you are.  You are supported.  And you are protected.

Our complaint brings legal claims under three different civil rights statutes.  Two of these statutes are long-standing protections against discrimination in the employment and education contexts: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.  It is fitting that these statutes – which emerged from our nation’s long struggle to banish a legacy of legal discrimination – are now being used to defend, to uphold and to reaffirm the progress that resulted from that struggle; progress that represents America at its best, at its brightest and at its strongest.

Title IX and Title VII prohibit discrimination based on sex.  The Department of Justice has for some time now made clear that sex discrimination includes discrimination against transgender people – that is, discrimination based on gender identity.  That is consistent not only with the language of the statutes, but also with the legal interpretations adopted by federal courts – including the appellate court with jurisdiction over the state of North Carolina.  There is nothing radical or even particularly unusual about the notion that the word “sex” includes the concept of “gender.”  Transgender people are discriminated against because their gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth.  H.B. 2 denies transgender people something that all non-transgender people enjoy and take for granted: access to restrooms consistent with their gender identity.  That’s sex discrimination, plain and simple.  This view is only confirmed when proponents of measures like H.B. 2 misinterpret or make up facts about gender identity.  Here are the facts.  Transgender men are men – they live, work and study as men.  Transgender women are women – they live, work and study as women.

Our Title VII claim is brought against the state and governor of North Carolina, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina because of sex discrimination in employment.  Our Title IX claim is brought against the University of North Carolina because of sex discrimination in its education programs.

We also bring a claim under the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, a more recent statute specifically designed to prevent discrimination against transgender people by entities that accept certain federal funds.  As with Title IX, entities that accepted federal funds under VAWA – including UNC and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety – pledged that they would not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity.  Our complaint seeks to enforce that pledge and hold those entities accountable for the discrimination required by H.B. 2.

Even as we seek that compliance, we remain committed to working with any agency receiving federal funding to develop a plan to ensure their compliance with federal law.

For the reasons I just highlighted, H.B. 2 violates the law.  But H.B. 2 also threatens the values that define us as a people.  These values are timeless.  These values say to all people that you can be who you are, and you deserve to live with dignity.

The complaint filed today seeks to enforce these laws and protect these values.  At this time, the Attorney General and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

City of Angels Benefits Venice Family Clinic



Gregg Chadwick
City of Angels
17”x17” oil on linen 2014

My painting, City of Angels, will be available at the 2016 Benefit Auction for the Venice Family Clinic on Sunday, May 22, 2016. The annual event, now in its 37th year, will again be held at Google Los Angeles in the Frank Gehry designed Binoculars Building. City of Angels will be featured for pre-bidding on the auction site Paddle 8 with a select group of donated artworks. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of my painting help fund the Venice Family Clinic’s comprehensive health care program for the low-income and uninsured.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Bruce Springsteen opens Brooklyn show with Purple Rain





Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Open Brooklyn Show with a tribute to Prince - Purple Rain

Friday, April 15, 2016

Powerful Film - THE BIRTH OF A NATION





Set against the antebellum South, THE BIRTH OF A NATION follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities - against himself and his fellow slaves - Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

A Message from Delaware Gov. Jack Markell

Must watch video from Delaware Governor Jack Markell - In response to a wave of anti-transgender legislation in several states around the country, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell stands up for transgender equality and combats the misinformation and scare tactics being utilized by proponents of these discriminatory bills. Gov. Markell is the only sitting governor to have signed both sexual orientation and gender identity protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations.





Thursday, March 24, 2016

Fresh Faces: New Portraits by Los Angeles Artists



Tonight in Santa Monica: 
Fresh Faces: New Portraits by Los Angeles Artists presented by Saatchi Art
My portrait of Anna May Wong is part of this upcoming exhibition in Santa Monica. Anna May Wong was the first Chinese American film star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition.
Her acting career went from silent films to talkies, to stage, to radio, and to television.
Born in Los Angeles, a few blocks from Chinatown, Anna May Wong's career has been an inspiration for many. My painting was created as an homage to Anna, sourced from numerous photo stills and film clips from the era.
Please join Saatchi Art in celebrating the opening of
FRESH FACES
New Portraits by Los Angeles Artists
THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016
7-9PM
Saatchi Art at Demand Media
1655 26th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
For complimentary valet parking, enter lot via 26th Street.
Please RSVP by March 17th at the link below.
Fresh Faces, curated by Saatchi Art curators Katherine Henning and Jessica McQueen, continues Saatchi Art's series of exhibitions around the world featuring today's most exciting emerging artists.
The exhibition will feature recent works by 14 Los Angeles-based artists, including Kevin Bradley, Gregg Chadwick, Karen Clark, Fabio Coruzzi, Steven Engelmann, Maria Folger, Minas Halaj, Mark Hobley, Tahnee Lonsdale, Mallory Morrison, Christopher Mudgett, Brian Oldham, Stephanie Vovas and Adrian Kay Wong.
The exhibition will be on view from March 24 through May 13, 2016. Gallery hours: Monday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday by appointment. Gallery contact: curator@saatchiart.com.
All works are for sale at the exhibition in Santa Monica and online at Saatchi Art. To view, please visit saatchiart.com/show/freshfaces.
‪#‎FreshFaces‬

Monday, March 21, 2016

Loving Vincent

by Gregg Chadwick


Currently under production by the Oscar winning companies Breakthru Films and Trademark Films, the animated film Loving Vincent delves into the life and art of Vincent Van Gogh. Each frame of the film is an oil painting on canvas that will lend a sense of immediacy and painterly touch to Vincent's story. 

Loving Vincent is sourced from over one hundred and twenty of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings and from the 800 letters written by Van Gogh during his lifetime.

The trailers below give hints of the animated feature to come.
Enjoy!





Sunday, March 06, 2016

Mystery Train at 10th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk


Fresh from my solo exhibition at the Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco and the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, a number of paintings from my current series of train inspired artworks will be on view at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 12, 2016 from 12-5 pm as part of the 10th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.  

Gregg Chadwick’s Mystery Train and Open Studio

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2016
12-5 PM
Studio #15
Santa Monica Art Studios
3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Free parking outside the hangar.

More on Mystery Train at www.greggchadwick.com
#mysterytrain




Sunday, February 21, 2016

Gregg Chadwick Artist Talk on Feb 27th 2016 - Last Week for Mystery Train at Sandra Lee Gallery and More Studio Notes from Gregg Chadwick - Winter 2016

  I reorganized my paints yesterday after fervent months in the studio painting the work for Mystery Train. Tubes of oil paint squeezed into empty twisted shells and stray caps marked only by a tell tale ring of color  were discarded. Brushes, newly cleaned, stand at attention ready for new work. A clean glass palette now sits on top of a used stack of brightly daubed surfaces. Painting trains seems to bring daily reminders of change, of process, of journeys. When a train or plane turns around for its trip back home, there is little time for introspection. Vehicles are cleaned, engines refueled, often a new crew is added - new passengers and new travels await. As Mystery Train prepares to depart San Francisco, I ask you to celebrate with me at a closing party and artist talk on February 27th at the Sandra Lee Gallery (details below) if you are in the Bay Area. I have listed below a series of events, exhibitions, press, and more that give a glimpse into the excitement around Mystery Train and my art. Thanks for taking the time to look at and ponder my paintings!
Hope to see you soon. - Gregg Chadwick




1. Artist Talk and Closing Party for Mystery Train on Saturday, February 27, 2016 2-4pm 

      Santa Monica-based artist Gregg Chadwick  has been painting for three decades. His current studio is an old airplane hangar where the flurry of takeoffs and landings on the runway outside seems to creep into Chadwick’s paintings as he explores movement and travel within his light-filled paintings.  His current series of paintings is entitled ‘Mystery Train’ and evokes the railways of America that Chadwick says run in his blood. His grandfather worked as a fireman, stoking coal in steam engines before advancing to train engineer on the Jersey Central Line. Chadwick often says that family gatherings brought the rhythms of the rails home. The sounds of railroad workers echoed in the music that Chadwick’s relatives played in the shadows of the train lines outside. For Chadwick and many others such as writer Greil Marcus, filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, and musicians Junior Parker and Elvis Presley, the enduring mythos of America and its legacy is wrapped in the blues notes of the song ‘Mystery Train’. Chadwick will speak about these influences and how they shaped his current paintings.

       Sandra Lee Gallery 
      251 Post Street, Suite 310
San Francisco, CA 94108
415.291.8000
art@sandraleegallery.com



2. Gregg Chadwick's 'Mystery Train' Celebrates the Rhythms of the Rails! by Kathy Leonardo
Read more about Mystery Train in the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-leonardo-/gregg-chadwicks-mystery-t_b_9203570.html?utm_hp_ref=arts&ir=Art



3. Much thanks to Alan Bamberger for his photos and comments on the "Mystery Train" opening at Sandra Lee Gallery on Feb 4 -
Sandra Lee Gallery: Mystery Train - Gregg Chadwick.
Comment by AB: "Dreamy dynamic portrayals recall the heyday of rail travel and the nostalgia it evokes."
More from Alan at: http://artbusiness.com/1open/020416.html



4. Mystery Train: Influences and Inspiration (Videos and More) http://www.greggchadwick.com/Gregg_Chadwick/Mystery_Train__Influences_and_Inspiration_%28Videos_and_More%29/Mystery_Train__Influences_and_Inspiration_%28Videos_and_More%29.html



5. A selection of Gregg Chadwick’s paintings from the Mystery Train series was exhibited at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair from February 11-14 in the Sandra Lee Gallery booth. 
(Photo by Eric Minh Swenson) Gregg spoke at the booth on February 12, 2016. Jersey Rain (Across the Tracks) was illustrated in the catalog and Gregg’s talk was featured as well.
http://www.palmspringsfineartfair.com/gregg-chadwick/






6. A solo exhibition of Gregg Chadwick’s paintings entitled Cities in Time, hangs through March 2016 at Vedder Price in Century City, California.



7. Gregg Chadwick’s painting Pigalle is featured on the cover of the latest issue of
    Black Fox Literary Magazine.
http://www.blackfoxlitmag.com/

8. A Balance of Shadows: Gregg Chadwick's Paintings 
    Authored by Kent Chadwick
    Hardcover – February 6, 2016
     Available Online at Amazon

Friday, February 19, 2016

More Mystery Train Inspiration -Gary Clark Jr. - When My Train Pulls In



Gary Clark Jr.’s vocals and guitar carry the themes of my show “Mystery Train” directly into our present. Haunting and at times wild with a searing beauty. Almost every night as my hands grew tired from painting, Gary Clark Jr. propelled me to go on just a bit further.



Thursday, February 18, 2016

More Mystery Train Events



  1.          Artist Talk and Closing Party for Mystery Train on Feb 27, 2016 2-4pm 

  1.   Read more about Mystery Train in the Huffington Post:


  1.     A selection of Gregg Chadwick’s paintings from the Mystery Train series was exhibited at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair from February 11-14 in the Sandra Lee Gallery booth. (Photo by Eric Minh Swenson) Gregg spoke at the booth on February 12, 2016. Jersey Rain (Across the Tracks) was illustrated in the catalog and Gregg’s talk was featured as well.

Thursday, February 04, 2016

New Exhibition - Mystery Train Opens Tonight in San Francisco

Mystery Train

February 2 - 29, 2016 at Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco
A Solo Exhibition of New Paintings  

Opening Reception - February 4, 2016  5:30 - 7:30 pm
Sandra Lee Gallery
251 Post Street, Suite 310
San Francisco, CA 94108

Read More on Mystery Train in the Wall Street International. 

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Happy Holidays!


Gregg Chadwick
Rio Grande
30"x40" oil on linen 2015

Happy Holidays! Hope to see all my Bay Area friends at the Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco on Dec 12, 2015 from 4-6 pm for the Annual Holiday Group Exhibition. My new painting Rio Grande will be exhibited for the first time! Rio Grande will be on view until the New Year.

Saturday, December 05, 2015

Great Read: Portraits: John Berger on Artists

Really enjoying John Berger's new book which collects many of his perceptive pieces on art and artists.
Embedded image permalink

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Music for Paris

"This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before" Leonard Bernstein

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Tonight! Art & Home: An Evening with LA Family Housing - October 21, 2015 7-9pm


Gregg Chadwick 
Buddha of Roseburg
8"x6" oil on panel 2015
Tonight!
Art & Home: An Evening with LA Family Housing to benefit LA Family Housing.
October 21, 2015 7-9pm
Room & Board, Helm's Bakery Building, 8707 Washington Boulevard, Culver City CA 90232

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

You Are Cordially Invited to Gregg Chadwick's Events and Exhibitions!





Please Join Me This Upcoming Weekend for the 11th Anniversary of the Santa Monica Art Studios. 

My studio #15 will be open with a display of new paintings in process.

Saturday, October 17 from 6-9pm 
Sunday, October 18 from 1-5pm

3026 Airport Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405




Gregg Chadwick will be speaking at The Representational Art Conference
on November 2, 2015 in Ventura, California 

From Tehran to Ferguson:
Social Justice in Contemporary Representational Art



(For more info please click here: http://trac2015.org/gregg-chadwick/)


Gregg Chadwick 
Kids Who Die: From Ferguson to Baltimore
24"x48" oil on linen 2015

(Inspired by Langston Hughes & the #BlackLivesMatter Movement)




Gregg Chadwick's Solo Exhibition Cinema of Time
Continues at Upper West through October 24, 2015


Upper West, 3221 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405

Artist Gregg Chadwick Engages Hollywood in New Exhibition: "Cinema of Time"
Huffington Post Article published July 7, 2015 By Kathy Leonardo
"Paintings have always been a backdrop in Gregg Chadwick's life. Much like a cinematographer shapes a film with beautiful images, Chadwick creates his own stories via his art with iconic themes and striking figures with subtle subtext." 
                        
Read the Complete Article at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-leonardo-/artist-gregg-chadwick-eng_b_7740254.html



"Buddha of Roseburg" will be available at
Art & Home: An Evening with LA Family Housing to benefit LA Family Housing.


October 21, 2015 7-9pm
    
Room & Board, Helm's Bakery Building, 8707 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232



Gregg Chadwick 
Buddha of Roseburg
8"x6" oil on panel 2015

More at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1023426074375780/
 https://www.facebook.com/lafhonline






And a not so distant memory...


Actress and Art Collector Yareli Arizmendi
Seems to Merge with Gregg Chadwick's Ethereal Painting at LA ART Show 2015  #LAArtShow 

My artwork was featured at the LA Art Show 2015 at the LA Convention Center by the Sandra Lee Gallery and The Station Agent was illustrated in the catalog. January 14-18, 2015



Hope to see you at one or more of these events!

Thanks for your interest in my art.

Gregg

www.greggchadwick.com