Speed of Life

Wanted to thank: Hans Heiner Buhr in Georgia (not the state- the country) for his comments on Silk Road. hans heiner buhr Marja-Leena Rathje from Finland (now resident in Canada) for her comments on Lalla Essaydi. marja-leena rathje Linden Langdon for her work in Tasmania. linden langdon Vvoi in Portugal for his thoughts on contemporary art. vvoi And Laila Carlsen from Norway (now in SF) for her friendship, inspiration and amazing work. Laila Carlsen "Dance" 60" x 45" oil on canvas 2005 Laila - when can we expect your blog?

Update: May 2008 - Painter and Model: Lucian Freud's Benefits Supervisor Sleeping Sells for $33.64 Million Both Franklin and Todd pay homage to the Lucian Freud article in the London Times . Lucian Freud "The Painter Surprised by a Naked Admirer" 54"x42" oil on canvas 2005 This painting will be the most recent work in a a retrospective exhibition , curated by William Feaver, on show this summer at Venice's Museo Correr (12 June-30 October 2005). The exhibition is organised by the Venetian Civic Museums on the occasion of the 2005 Venice Biennale.

by Gregg Chadwick While glancing at the schedule for this week’s National Critics Conference (May 25-28, 2005) at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles, I came across the description for Elizabeth Zimmer's "Kamikaze Writing Workshop." Obviously the word "kamikaze" has shifted in tone and meaning since it first entered the American vocabulary during the last years of WWII. I doubt that Zimmer’s criticism class will make a fiery plunge into the conference hall as a final project. But I was reminded of the important work being done in the fields of aesthetics and history by Emiko Ohnuki – Tierney at the University of Wisconsin. Cherry blossom send off. Kamikaze means "divine wind" in Japanese, and originally referred to a miraculous typhoon that saved Japan from a Mongolian invasion force in the 13th century. The Japanese Navy used this term to describe their suicide attack planes. In America, the word "kamikaze" describes actions that are...

Painting in the studio today... Gregg Chadwick Silk Road 48"x38" 2005 Private Collection

by Gregg Chadwick Modern Kicks reports today on the 2005 DeCordova Museum's Annual Exhibition. The report from Modern Kicks: " those of you who haven't already been hearing a lot about Lalla Essaydi, expect to do so." Encouraged by Modern Kicks prompting I add my thoughts about Lalla Essaydi: The Boston based photographer Lalla Essaydi grew up in Morocco. Her childhood experiences in a remote family residence inspired a return visit two decades later in which Lalla began a series of images that she recently described to T. Trent Gegax in Newsweek's International Edition as her reinterpretation of "the Arab female. We're always seen as the woman who's oppressed, when we're actually negotiating every day." Essaydi creates and then photographs henna scripted tableaux of women in draped interiors. Essaydi's henna calligraphy runs across figures, skin, floors and walls. The arabic words comprise, as reported by Gegax, "Essaydi...

by Gregg Chadwick A new mayor has been elected in Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa - the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since the city's pioneer days. L.A.'s last Latino mayor, Cristobal Aguilar, left office in 1872, when Los Angeles was a frontier town of barely 6,000 people. Villaraigosa's win exemplifies the growing clout of Latinos in California, after decades of population growth that failed to lead to a rise in political power. This is a positive step that bodes well for the future of the city and the state of California. But there is still much to be done. As Bruce Springsteen said at his latest concert in L.A. - "The American government's border policy is a disgrace." Across the Border in Ensenada, Mexico photo by Gregg Chadwick On her blog today, Megan McMillan thinks of Wim Wenders' film, "The End of Violence", after overhearing the gardener's working at her apartment complex. Megan McMillan's description of t...

by Gregg Chadwick In response to Tyler Green's response to the Guardian: Diego Velazquez' "Juan de Pareja" is my favorite painting in America. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez Juan de Pareja oil on canvas 1650 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York photo by Gregg Chadwick This is one the paintings that made me want to become a painter. Richard Diebenkorn's "Ocean Park #54" is my favorite painting by an American. Richard Diebenkorn "Ocean Park 54" 100" x 81" oil on canvas 1972 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art See: Diebenkorn and Kitaj Off Ocean Park R.B. Kitaj's "If Not, Not" is my favorite painting by a living American artist. R.B. Kitaj "If Not, Not" 60" x 60" oil on canvas 1975-76 Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh