Speed of Life

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 : ...

by Gregg Chadwick If this was the way the world ended on 12 21 12, those of us gathered at UCLA's Royce Hall for the second night of Rufus and Martha Wainwright's Christmas 101   were being ushered into eternity with heavenly voices.  Rufus and Martha Wainwright, the son and daughter of   Loudon Wainwright III and  Kate McGarrigle - who passed away in 2010 from a rare sarcoma cancer, both possess extraordinary voices and mesmerizing stage presence. Their combined talents bolstered by musical kin and comrades, including Emmylou Harris, folk singer Maria Muldaur's daughter Jenni Muldaur, the legendary Van Dyke Parks, former Eels drummer Butch Norton, Sloan Wainwright, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Carrie Fisher, Rufus' husband Jorn Weisbrodt, and more , brought holiday cheer and at times poignant retrospection to last night's concert. Christmas 101 continues   a concert tradition begun in 2005 by Kate McGarrigle and her sister Anna. As well as be...

The Luminist GreggChadwick      My condolences and thoughts to jazz player Jimmy Greene and his wife Nelba as they bear the senseless loss of their beautiful little girl Ana Grace who was a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Connecticut. Jimmy Greene, the American saxophonist who recently taught at the University of Manitoba, has written a brief message following the death of his daughter.  Greene wrote: "Thank you for all of your prayers and kind words of support. As we work through this nightmare, we’re reminded how much we’re loved and supported on this earth and by our Father in heaven. As much as she’s needed here and missed by her mother, brother and me, Ana beat us all to paradise. I love you sweetie girl.  "

by Gregg Chadwick   GreggChadwick As I write this, an impromptu vigil is forming in front of the White House in Washington DC to mourn the victims of another senseless mass shooting and to call for much needed gun regulation. Today, a quiet school in Newtown, Connecticut was violated by a gun wielding murderer packing semi-automatic weapons with a back up assault rifle in his car. The shooting was horrific and preventable.  This is a national tragedy that needs a national response. Our glorification of weapons and our embrace of the use of violent force to resolve conflicts has led us to a crisis point. Do we continue to let our children be slaughtered in schools and theaters? Will we continue to allow almost unfettered access to military grade high powered weapons? Will we continue to cut funding for preventive mental health care? Today, we make a decision as a nation. Twenty children and six adults were killed today at a Newtown, Connecticut school. I refus...

The Azure Hour , GreggChadwick   40" x 30" oil on linen 2012 I'm excited to announce that my work has been featured in today's Saatchi newsletter. Here is a link to share with all: http://eepurl.com/sJ8y9 What a perfect time of the day...."The Azure Hour." Painting by Saatchi Online artist Gregg Chadwick (LA). Learn more about this wonderful piece and view Gregg's portfolio here: http://saatol.us/UHezq1 Happy Holidays !

Study for The City Dreams ,  GreggChadwick   12"x12" oil on linen 2012 Will be exhibited at the Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco, California during the upcoming Holiday Group Show which runs from December 4th through the 29th. Opening Reception: Saturday, Dec 8, 2012 from 4pm to 6pm at the Sandra Lee Gallery  251 Post Street, Suite 310 San Francisco, CA 94108  415.291.8000 art@sandraleegallery.com

Spring Buddha   GreggChadwick   40"x28" oil on linen 2012

                 Gangnam for Freedom - Anish Kapoor and Friends  The British sculptor Anish Kapoor and a group of his human rights oriented friends have released a new video in partnership with Amnesty International and PEN International to bring attention to the ongoing persecution of artists and writers across the globe from China to Russia who have been harassed and imprisoned because of their work. Taking up where Ai Wei Wei's recent Gangnam Style video left off, Kapoor's own Gangnam Style romp combines symbols of imprisonment and torture with the names of many who have been persecuted in their artistic strivings for freedom. Please watch, visit the links, and find out what you can do to help shed light on this growing problem of censorship and oppression. As an emigré from India to the United Kingdom, Anish Kapoor has often been concerned with the ideas of freedom and dislocation in his artwork. I have posted a few exam...