Speed of Life

"And history will soon forget about you, but the heavens they will reward you." -Nick Cave, "Faraway, So Close" Cassiel and Gorbachev in Wim Wenders' film - "Faraway, So Close" "Faraway, So Close" marked Mikhail Gorbachev's feature film debut. The guardian angel, Cassiel, looks over his shoulder while Gorbachev meditates that "a secure world can't be built on blood; only on harmony." On March 10, 1985 after the death of Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev was appointed leader of the Soviet Union. In 1988, Gorbachev began withdrawing Soviet forces from Afghanistan. More than 15,000 Soviet troops died during the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989). Also during 1988, Gorbachev announced the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine, which had kept Eastern bloc nations under Soviet domination. The Soviet Union's Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov jokingly described the decision as the Sinatra Doctrine, bec...

"We're making a mystery here, so make it mysterious." -Hayao Miyazaki    Update: Arrietty the Borrower: Next Studio Ghibli Project to be Released in Japan on July 17 th 2010   Hayao Miyazaki "Howl's Moving Castle" Hayao Miyazaki's most recent film ,"Howl's Moving Castle", is being released today on DVD in the US. The images in this film are spectacular. It is a visual feast: a panoply of color, movement, motion, spirit and imagination. Miyazaki makes films with children in mind. But his films are never childish. At a press conference in Paris upon the release of "Spirited Away"*, Miyazaki said,"In fact, I am a pessimist. But when I'm making a film, I don't want to transfer my pessimism onto children. I keep it at bay. I don't believe that adults should impose their vision of the world on children, children are very much capable of forming their own visions. There's no need to force our own visions ont...

Still From Ang Lee's "The Hulk" Photo by Gregg Chadwick At the Academy Awards tonight, Ang Lee was named Best Director for his film "Brokeback Mountain". Mr Lee is a true talent - willing to take risks and at times fail. "The Hulk" (picture above) was arguably not a very good film. But his fims are always worth watching and the range of subject matter in his films is remarkable. Ang Lee on the set of Brokeback Mountain

On December 24th, 1914 the entrenched forces arrayed against each other near Ypres put down their arms on Christmas Eve. With an exchange of songs and camaraderie, French, German, and Scottish soldiers searched for a way to overcome - for one brief night - the conflict that raged between them. As morning dawned the physical and cultural No Man's Land that divided them reappeared ... The Academy Award nominated film Joyeux Noel, which opens today in New York and Los Angeles, explores these events and the human cost of war. The film is up for Best Foreign Language Film at Sunday's Oscars. Oscar Page on Joyeux Noel Joyeux Noel Trailer During World War I, many artists painted significant works: Pierre Bonnard French "Un Village en Ruines Près du Ham" 63 x 85 cm oil on canvas 1917 Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine, Paris Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) was in a group of painters assigned in 1916 to go and paint the war. All that remains from his attempt to visually describ...

Carol Es "1-SELF" Carol Es, who shows with the George Billis Gallery and who writes Esart, now has work included in the Getty Collection. The Getty recently purchased a volume of Carol's "1-SELF", a thirty-six page handmade catalog in an edition of fifty. Carol has explained that "the title suggests both intimate self-expression and the artist’s pattern making background in the Los Angeles garment industry, as patterns were often marked "1-self" for manufacturing." Caro Es has been busy with interviews and with preparations for her upcoming show at Gallery 825 in April. Go to Esart and read all about it. Congrats Carol.

April 25th marks the release of Bruce Springsteen's , "We Shall Overcome, The Seeger Sessions," which features Springsteen's personal interpretations of thirteen songs associated with folk musician Pete Seeger. Pete Seeger According to Jon Landau, the album "has a lightness and ease to it, a sheer joyfulness, that makes it very special from top to bottom. Bruce has taken a core group of classic American songs and transformed them into a high energy, modern and very personal statement." Of the new album Springsteen said, "So much of my writing, particularly when I write acoustically, comes straight out of the folk tradition. Making this album was creatively liberating because I have a love of all those different roots sounds... they can conjure up a world with just a few notes and a few words." Springsteen recorded the album with a large ensemble. The musicians on the record are Springsteen (guitar, harmonica, B3 organ and percussion), Sam Bardfeld...

Jacopo Bassano "Christ Driving the Money Changers From the Temple" 17 3/16" x 21 3/8" black and colored chalks on blue paper circa 1570 Getty Collection Jacopo Bassano's "Christ Driving the Money Changers From the Temple" is a remarkable drawing. Rich, swirling masses of colored chalks are rubbed and shaded onto a colored sheet of paper defining a light filled atmosphere as much as a biblical scene. The freedom of execution in this preliminary study seems to speak directly to the Venetian love for complex coloristic effects. Jacopo Bassano learned much from Titian . Titian's oil paintings are richly layered with unique pigments from around the world that were readily available because of the Venetian Republic's long maritime reach. With access to these powders, which would be ground with linseed oil to form paint, Venetian artists such as Titian and Giorgione were able to lay out singular colored atmospheres. In essence Titian at his finest...

A brazen armed robbery of paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Monet and Dali marked the opening of the Carnival in Brazil on Friday. Gunmen burst into the Chácara do Céu museum in Rio de Janeiro and made off with their most valuable paintings and a book by Picasso. Sources in Brazil say that the stolen paintings were Pablo Picasso's "The Dance", Claude Monet's "Marine", Henri Matisse's "Garden of Luxembourg" and Salvador Dali's "Two Balconies". Museum director Vera de Alencar told reporters that at least four men brandishing firearms had been involved in the heist - including one holding a hand grenade. Art lovers inside the museum were also relieved of their wallets, cameras and cellphones during the robbery. The assailants rushed out of the museum into the cobblestone streets of the Santa Teresa district and disappeared into a crowd following a Samba parade. With its steep, almost precariously tilted streets, cable car line, and bo...

Gregg Chadwick City of Desires (Cidade dos Desejos) 72" x 96" oil on linen 2005 Opening tonight at the Santa Monica Art Studios from 6 to 8pm is the exhibition: LEAVING AZTLAN (redux) February 25 – April 9, 2006 Opening Reception Saturday, February 25, 6-8pm ARENA 1 A project of Santa Monica Art Studios 3026 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA. 90405 Directors: Sherry Frumkin and Yossi Govrin My studio will also be open.

Sergio Arau and Yareli Arizmendi This Tuesday, February 21st at Cal State University, Monterey Bay, Sergio Arau and Yareli Arizmendi will be leading a lecture and discussion on "Images of Latinas/os in Film and Media". The husband-and-wife team will lead the free event at 7 p.m. in the University Center ballroom. Together they wrote the screenplay for the film "A Day Without A Mexican." Arau also directed the movie; Arizmendi is the star. In today's Monterey Herald , Marc Cabrera reports that "were it not for the couple's shared vision, the surprising indie hit "A Day Without A Mexican" would have just been a funny idea that Arizmendi had shared with her husband, who was also the film's director." "There is some competition when it regards whose idea was that," said Arizmendi over the phone from a Los Angeles studio, where she and her husband are working on individual projects. "I was the one who said the line, ...

Cover by Helen Frankenthaler "Her placement of words was like the placement of paint on a canvas," said her daughter, Hadley Guest. Modernist poet and art writer, Barbara Guest died on February 15, 2006 in Berkeley, California. During the 1950s, she created collages that later became covers for her books, and along with her poet colleagues in the New York School wrote for Art News magazine. In her recent collection of art writings, "Dürer in the Window" , gathered from a lifetime of looking, thinking and creating, Barbara Guest describes her experiences as a poet among painters and sculptors in a time when there was no "recognized separation between the arts." Her poems are crisp and visual with a taste for color and painterly image. "The Blue Stairs" inspired by a stairway in the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art in Amsterdam is a good introduction to her work: "The Blue Stairs" by Barbara Guest (audiofile) There is no fear in taking the...

William Blake "Death of the Strong Wicked Man" watercolor on paper 1805 William Blake "The Grave Personified" watercolor on paper 1805 The recently rediscovered William Blake watercolors to be sold at Sotheby's in the spring should be bought by the Getty and the Tate jointly so both institutions can make the works available for scholars and the public. In Carol Vogel's piece on the rediscovered Blakes in the New York Times, Martin Butlin, a Blake scholar, expresses that breaking up the collection and selling them one by one at Sotheby's is "absolutely philistine. The seller has no regard for the integrity of works of art, only for money. As a group they tell a story." The nineteen artworks are from a series of 20 watercolors that Blake originally created as illustrations for the poem, "The Grave," by the Scotsman Robert Blair. With luck the William Blake watercolors could be showcased in an exhibition that moves between Los Angeles...

Gregg Chadwick The Stillness Between 48"x48" oil on canvas 2006 INTELLIGENTLY DESIGNED: Supreme Art by gallery artists: Johnny Apodaca, Aleah Koury, Anita Hilton, Bud Gordon, Kevin Flynn, Dianna Cohen, Gregg Chadwick, Brian Behnke and Richard Newman 18 February - March 2006 Reception: SATURDAY, 18 February 4-6pm - (note different time!) Hope to see you there. LISA COSCINO GALLERY / 216 Grand Avenue / Pacific Grove / CA / 93950 / 831.646.1939

Monk & Rembrandt at the Getty * In response to a few questions sent my way, I would like to clarify my thoughts on the Getty's future. I hardily agree that the Getty should think big but I consider Kimmelman's idea of a merger with MOCA to be in the category of "loony" ideas that Christopher Knight suggests will occur during an open period of brainstorming. I do think that the Getty has shown it can collect and exhibit contemporary photography very well and that an expansion on their own into contemporary painting and sculpture could be quite interesting.

At the Castro Theatre, San Francisco, Before A Screening of "Wings of Desire"

The Getty Collection Tyler Green at Modern Art Notes and Christopher Knight at the Los Angeles Times have been following the events at the Getty closely and it is my opinion that their combined efforts were a major factor in Barry Munitz's decision to step down. Who says that the press is irrelevant? Now Michael Kimmelman in the New York Times joins in and poses the question ,"Why doesn't the Getty think big?" Kimmelman's ideas are welcome as the Getty deals with the aftermath of its curatorial carcrash (Marion True) and presidential trainwreck (Barry Munitz). Kimmelman advises the Getty to focus on the art and to "broaden the collection. Los Angeles doesn't have Byzantine art to speak of. It also doesn't have a place with enough room and firepower to import landmark exhibitions like the Met's Byzantine extravaganzas. The Getty could provide both." Sunbrella at the Getty Kimmelman concludes his piece by suggesting "an all-out merger w...

by Gregg Chadwick On February 8, 2006 in Los Angeles at the Grammy Awards, Bruce Springsteen roused the audience with his solo acoustic performance of the title track to his 2005 album, "Devils & Dust." Springsteen's haunting rendition was the most intense performance of the evening and offered the only political commentary during the show. Springsteen added a coda to his song, about a soldier in Iraq, by declaring, "Bring 'em home." "Springsteen makes me keep faith in America." -Billy Bragg Bruce Springsteen is a man who takes risks with his music and his politics. On May 3, 2005 in Hollywood at the Pantages Theater it seemed that Springsteen let everything ride musically in a last chance to save America's soul. In two numbers culled from his Reagan era album "Nebraska" - "Reason to Believe" and "Johnny 99" - like numerous blues artists and Bob Dylan before him - Springsteen howled the lyrics throug...

Michael Govan The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's new director Michael Govan called the museum "a sleeping giant" in the Los Angeles Times. After a period of intense recruitment, which included a phone call from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa , Michael Govan signed on last week. In LACMA's official press release Michael Govan expressed: “I am so honored to lead LACMA at this great time of transformation. Tremendous opportunities exist to build upon the successes of the past four decades." "Already, LACMA plays an important role in the region’s unique and vibrant communities. Many extraordinary artists are based here. They are both members of the larger community and great resources for it. I champion their deeper involvement with the museum. Working with them, and others, we’ll make it possible for our visitors—from the region or from around the world—to experience art in fantastic new ways.” LACMA Underground Christopher Knight in today's Lo...

Between Moment and Memory at the Julie Nester Gallery Almost back in Los Angeles after a stint in the mountains of Utah. Traveled without a laptop. No email. Spotty cell phone connections. Snow falling, almost covering our steps as we walked. Kelly Colbert Baynham and "The Chinese Sky" Of course the Sundance Film Festival was raging nearby - in Park City. And that too was rich in moments and inspiration. New paintings are forming in my mind. New images emerging as if from a dream. Back to the studio this evening. More soon.

Wim Wenders, his latest film "Don't Come Knocking" is screening at Sundance, has a nice history of the Sundance Film Festival on his site: Wim Wenders Newsreel Lian Lunson's film, "Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man" is also screening at Sundance. Lian is blogging the festival for the Sundance Channel: Lian Lunson at Sundance Jesse Garcia and Emily Rios in Quinceanera One of the screenings I am looking forward to most is Brian Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland's "Quinceanera". The Sundance Institute has 50 short films you can watch online from this year's Festival. Each day a few premiere online so keep checking to see what else is new. Watch them here - Sundance Shorts Much more on Sundance when I return.

"Between Moment and Memory" at the Julie Nester Gallery From the Salt Lake Weekly : Artist GREGG CHADWICK believes that great attention must be given to each moment. One instant, he believes, holds a complete host of meanings as the world rushes by. Maybe that’s why his paintings in the exhibit BETWEEN MOMENT & MEMORY resemble fast-paced, dreamlike blurred images. See his work before it, too, rushes by at the end of the month. From the Daily Utah : Good Idea 1) Taking a third-grade class on a field trip to the aquarium 2) Planned Parenthood 6) Gleefully living your life in the ether Between Moment & Memory, by Gregg Chadwick at Julie Nester Gallery

Gary Rhine and Phil Cousineau Book Passage, Corte Madera November 11, 2005 Filmmaker Gary Rhine died this week while doing something he loved - flying a small plane. The plane crashed in Lancaster, California, on January 9th at 1:40 p.m. In the past decade, Gary Rhine completed a series of documentary films with the writer Phil Cousineau in defense of the religious traditions of Native Americans. The actor Peter Coyote was appreciative of Gary's work and described how, "Native Americans are recognized the world over as keepers of a vital piece of the Creator's original orders, and yet regarded as little more than squatters at home." Peter Coyote goes on to describe that through his " fine footage and impressive interviews, (Gary Rhine), gives a voice to the voiceless". "A Seat at the Table" Directed by Gary Rhine Written by Phil Cousineau "Religions represent insights and experiences rather than masses of followers and while many religious t...

The Eighth Annual San Francisco International Art Exposition originally planned for January 13 - 16, 2006 has been canceled. Thomas Blackman Associates (TBA), which has organized the San Francisco fair, explains in a press release: "Many factors led to this decision: despite steady sales and strong attendance, the show has diminished in size in recent years by about 30%. Support for the show from local art galleries has also weakened over the past two years, which contributed to the organizer’s concern for the success of the visiting galleries from outside San Francisco. " Thomas Blackman, President of TBA explains that, “It is with great reluctance that I have taken this step; it has been a very difficult decision to make and announce. Many of our exhibitors developed lasting relationships with clients in California, and I sincerely hope they will have the opportunity to re-connect at SFIAE again at some point in the near future.” Currently there are no plans to stage anoth...