Speed of Life

photo by Gregg Chadwick "There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean – a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them." - President Barack Obama, April 15, 2010 President Obama issued a directive to the Department of Health and Human Services to work to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation. On April 15, 2010 President Obama directed Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius to "initiate rulemaking to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. The President further advised that the rule should ensure that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges based on factors including sexual orientation or gender identity." Today, January 19...

Photo by Greg Bryan Christina Green’s parents, Roxanna and John, and her brother, Dallas, at her funeral service. Dear parents, Like so many Americans all across the country, Barack and I were shocked and heartbroken by the horrific act of violence committed in Arizona this past weekend. Yesterday, we had the chance to attend a memorial service and meet with some of the families of those who lost their lives, and both of us were deeply moved by their strength and resilience in the face of such unspeakable tragedy. As parents, an event like this hits home especially hard. It makes our hearts ache for those who lost loved ones. It makes us want to hug our own families a little tighter. And it makes us think about what an event like this says about the world we live in – and the world in which our children will grow up. In the days and weeks ahead, as we struggle with these issues ourselves, many of us will find that our children are struggling with them as well. The questions my daughter...

Gregg Chadwick Las Piedras del Cielo 16"x20" oil on linen 2010 "I call on Americans to observe a moment of silence to honor the innocent victims of the senseless tragedy in Tucson, Ariz., including those still fighting for their lives. It will be a time for us to come together as a nation in prayer or reflection, keeping the victims and their families closely at heart." - President Barack Obama Sometimes a still wind is more powerful than a gale. Sometimes silence is more powerful than taunts. Sometimes peace is more powerful than battle. I present this simple image of a figure at the Canyon's edge in Arizona as my moment of silence today as I mourn the victims of Saturday's violence in Arizona. For those who perished I stop in silence. I give thanks for the lives they led and the people they touched. - U.S. District Judge John Roll, 63. - Gabe Zimmerman, 30, Giffords' director of community outreach. - Dorwin Stoddard, 76, a pastor at Mountain Ave. Churc...

President Obama speaks from the White House on the shootings in Arizona and on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Full transcript below: THE PRESIDENT: As many of you are aware, earlier today a number of people were shot in Tucson, Arizona, including several who were meeting at a supermarket with their congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords. We are still assembling all the facts, but we know that Representative Giffords was one of the victims. She is currently at a hospital in the area, and she is battling for her life. We also know that at least five people lost their lives in this tragedy. Among them were a federal judge, John Roll, who has served America’s legal system for almost 40 years; and a young girl who was barely nine years old. I’ve spoken to Arizona governor Jan Brewer and offered the full resources of the federal government. A suspect is currently in custody, but we don’t yet know what provoked this unspeakable act. A comprehensive investigation is currently underway, an...

A new exhibit of Sol LeWitt's artwork is currently being installed at the L.A. Louver Gallery in Venice, California. The opening reception is on January 20, 2010. For those interested in artistic process the gallery is streaming a live video of four L.A. artists, working with Gabriel Hurier from the Sol LeWitt estate, as they create the work onsite. Streaming Webcast of Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings installation in progress

by Gregg Chadwick Celluloid Dreams at the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, Japan I woke up from a dream this morning that seemed to have been pulled from a Hayao Miyazaki film. In my dream a tender sapling reached towards the light as it sprouted from my wrist. Above, russet clouds moved in a cerulean sky. I look to my dreams as openings rather than fortunes. Yet, since I recently returned from Tokyo, I should remember that in Japan the first dreams of the New Year, hatsu-yume 初夢, traditionally provide markers for the dreamer's upcoming year. Hayao Miyazaki Sketch for Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) pencil and watercolor on paper 2001 (Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, Japan) The vision and mystery of Hayao Miyazaki's work will surely provide inspiration for me throughout 2011. In December, I was fortunate to visit the Ghibli Museum which was created to feature the art and films of Hayao Miyazaki and also the breadth of animation done by Studio Ghibli since its founding in 1985 by fil...

Liu Xiaobo's Portrait at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway Credit: Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images "Today, the values of democracy, open society, respect for human rights, and equality are becoming recognized all over the world as universal values. To my mind there is an intimate connection between democratic values, such as transparency, the rule of law and freedom of information, and the fundamental values of human goodness." - The Dalai Lama (from his Facebook page December 10, 2010) Liu Xiaobo, poet and literary critic, today received in absentia the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. Chinese authorities forbade Liu from traveling to the award ceremony and harshly criticized the selection of Liu Xiaobo. Liu is currently incarcerated as a political prisoner in China where he is serving an 11-year prison term for "inciting subversion of state power" because he was involved in the creation of a manifesto known as Charter 08 calling ...

Gregg Chadwick 76cm x 61cm oil on linen 2010 Currently on exhibit at Manifesta Maastricht, the Netherlands A Bowl of Roses by Rainer Maria Rilke You saw angry ones flare, saw two boys clump themselves together into a something that was pure hate, thrashing in the dirt like an animal set upon by bees; actors, piled up exaggerators, careening horses crashed to the ground, their gaze thrown away, baring their teeth as if the skull peeled itself out through the mouth. But now you know how these things are forgotten: for here before you stands a bowl full of roses, which is unforgettable and filled up with ultimate instances of being and bowing down, of offering themselves, of being unable to give, of standing there almost as part of us: ultimates for us too. Noiseless life, opening without end, filling space without taking any away from the space the other things in it diminish, almost without an outline, like something omitted, and pure inwardness, with so much curious softness, shining i...

Late Night Ridiculousness on the Day that Springsteen Releases " The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story" Enjoy! And my personal favorite: Because the Night w/ Stevie, Roy, Bruce and the Roots Jimmy Fallon and Bruce Springsteen on Late Night - Full Show

Gregg Chadwick Jordaan Window 25cmx25cm oil on wood 2010 Coming up on December 3-5, 2010, I am honored to lead a workshop on creativity with writer Phil Cousineau entitled Stoking the Creative Fires: Nine Ways to Rekindle Passion and Imagination Phil Cousineau's book "Stoking the Creative Fires" is an impassioned volume on creativity that combines myth, story and personal pilgrimages in a primer on the creative life. My painting "Fire Dream" graces the cover. We will use this book as a stepping off point for the upcoming workshop on creativity. It will be a rich journey through myth and art at Esalen. Sign up here: Reserve this workshop We hope to see you there! The Esalen Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 1962 by Stanford alums Michael Murphy and Richard Price as an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of what Aldous Huxley called the "human potential." This world of unrealized human capacities that lies beyond t...

photo courtesy European Pressphoto Agency Aung San Suu Kyi greets supporters after being freed today Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been freed from house arrest today in Burma. Much more to follow. Details at: Burmese Dissident Is Freed After Long Detention Gregg Chadwick The Road to Mandalay 40"x30" oil on linen 2007 Currently at Julie Nester Gallery

Gorecki Symphony No. 3 "Sorrowful Songs" - Lento e Largo (Soprano: Isabel Bayrakdaraian, Sinfonietta Cracovia, conducted by John Axelrod. Taken from "HOLOCAUST - A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz". For one of the first times since liberation, permission was granted for music to be heard in Auschwitz.) "I think that people are moved by the simplicity — which does not mean simple-mindedness — and the prayerful intensity of the music. Quite extraordinary. The Symphony No. 3 touched people in a way that few pieces do, now or ever." - Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author, former dj on WNYC in New York who played an early, Polish recording of the symphony for American audiences. "I will be extremely happy if some people 100 years from now would listen to some of my music. It's not a question of being famous and popular. It's a question of what you did and how you did it." Henryck Gorecki on NPR in 1995 I painted today, as I oft...

By Gregg Chadwick Winslow Homer The Veteran in a New Field 24 1/8" x 38 1/8" oil on canvas 1865 Metropolitan Museum of Art Veterans Day is more than just a day off. Instead it is a time to reflect on duty, honor, service, and life. Winslow Homer's The Veteran in a New Field portrays a Union veteran of the American Civil War back at work on the farm. But the painting is not instantly celebratory. There are no angels and there is no parade. Instead a psychic weight seems to be guiding the veteran's scythe as it cuts the stand of grain, much like the volleys of shot and shell mowed down troops, on both sides of that brutal war. There is hope though in the warm, life giving color of the wheat, a Northern crop, and the cerulean sky. All wars must eventually come to an end. Uniforms are cast off. Homer paints the ex-soldier's jacket and canteen tossed onto the newly cut field. Life does go on. The soldier will inevitably struggle to find his place in the mundane world ...

Dieric Bouts Weeping Madonna (detail) 15 1/4" x 11 7/8" c. 1480-1500 The Art Institute of Chicago James Elkins is now writing for the Huffington Post on art, especially the process of looking at art. His latest post entitled "How Long Does it Take To Look at a Painting?" is a must read. We are bombarded by visual images each day to the point where we are numb to their effect. How can we regain the ability to interact with great paintings and sculptures? James Elkins suggests that a simple solution is at hand: slow down, stop and gaze into a work of art. Don't have the time? Wander over to the nearest gallery or museum on your lunch hour. James Elkins writes beautifully about Dieric Bouts Weeping Madonna from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The video artist Bill Viola was also moved by the Dieric Bouts painting when his father was dying: "For the first time in my life I realised I was using a piece of art rather than just appreciating it....

By Gregg Chadwick "The university was controlled by and had to fight for intellectual purity against the Church, then it had to fight against the crown, and now it's against the corporation." Gordon Davies, Director of Virginia's Council of Higher Education 2002 Since the University of California System was founded in 1868, generations of Californians have built the UC System into the world renowned institution that it is today through their taxes, gifts, and hard work. The UCLA Anderson School of Management proposes to take a program, buildings, and facilities built with public tax dollars and student tuition and without public, student or governmental oversight turn public property into a private entity. This move would abandon the University of California Charter, give away the equity of generations of Californians, load students with ever increasing tuition bills, effectively deny the Californian middle class access to a school built by Californians for the Cali...

From the vaults - Circa 1978 - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform The Promise . The video was sparely shot in black and white. Bruce's voice is hoarse and guttural. A definitive statement on broken promises and lost dreams. Gregg Chadwick Pegasus Night 38 cm in diameter oil on wood 2010 Currently on view at Manifesta Maastricht, the Netherlands Hat Tip to Pitchfork.

Gregg Chadwick The Sheltering Sky 218cm x 163cm oil on linen 2010 Currently on exhibit at the Manifesta Maaastricht Gallery in Maastricht, the Netherlands Rene Boitelle,views The Sheltering Sky at Manifesta Maastricht I was honored to have Rene Boitelle, a restorer at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, speak about my work at the opening on October 25, 2010.

I am back after more than a month on the road. Fall in Santa Monica is crisp and reminds be of all the autumn days that have past in my life. Michael McDermott's new song "Carry Your Cross" seems to sonically embody my thoughts and dreams. Take a listen to a beautiful and haunting song. More of Michael's poignant music at: The Music of Michael McDermott