Speed of Life

Shahzia Sikander (detail from dissonance to detour, mixed media on paper) Shahzia Sikander, who has traveled from Pakistan, to Rhode Island, to New York is now in Los Angeles for a short time, as a guest artist at the Otis College of Art and Design. Her recent work is on view until November 12 at Otis' Ben Maltz Gallery. Shahzia Sikander's exhibition "Dissonance to Detour", curated by Meg Linton, features new paintings on paper, a digital video animation, and a large wall painting. There is a rich fluidity to this work, especially in the details which play with the idea of 17th century Mughal miniatures. There is an expectation of narrative and resolution within the paintings. But upon closer examination, the works slip into a vivid flux of color and line. By shifting the viewer's expectations from narrative to paint, Sikander refuses to create the works that might be expected. Instead Shahzia Sikander's exhibition evokes an imaginative response. While viewin...

by Gregg Chadwick Gregg Chadwick A Walk With Ganesh 72"x84" oil on linen 2005 Recently during an extended visit in Thailand, I toured the elephant parks in the mountains north of Chiang Mai. Each day the elephants are brought down to the river and bathed. As I watched these daily baths, I knew that I needed to paint these moments- the elephants, the mahouts, the river, the water, the light, the color, the heat and the air. Ganesh- (in the Hindu pantheon, known as a remover of obstacles) provided an apt title. Hokusai "Blind Men and Elephant" from the Hokusai manga series ("Random Sketches"),  volume VIII, Pages 13,14 1818 After viewing "A Walk With Ganesh", Julie Weiss brought in a treasured book on the Japanese artist Hokusai opened to Hokusai's manga -"Blind Men and Elephant". This image wonderfully illustrates Buddha's parable: Once, a group of blind men, who generally got about by holding ...

Dear Friends and Colleagues: The devastation in New Orleans and the gulf cities is almost incomprehensible. New Orleans is one of the richest cultural centers in the country. It is home to hundreds of musicians, visual artists and theatre professionals. Yet New Orleans also has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. Like many of us, these artists live gig to gig, check to check. And these artists are now dispersed throughout the country. I’ve been in touch with several colleagues from New Orleans and while they may be physically okay, they are trying to figure out the day-to-day reality of their displacement. This day-to-day may well turn into months if not years. The national arts community is mobilizing to help with this crisis. If you would like to help, the recommendation is to give to the Red Cross relief fund and then give a little more to the artists affected by Katrina. The Southern Arts Federation has established an artists’ and arts organization fund, which wil...

Gregg Chadwick Belle Ville 11"x11" oil on linen 2005 NBC's Dateline producers movingly combined scenes of the destruction and the suffering of the victims of Hurricane Katrina with Bruce Springsteen's song "My City of Ruins" at the close of their look last night (Thursday, 9/1) on the hurricane devastation in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. It is a brillant, sad, and stirring song, which Springsteen originally wrote for the economically-gutted hometown of his imagination: Asbury Park, N.J. It changed meanings when he included it in his performances after the World Trade Center's destruction on 9/11/01 and on his album exploring the pain of that day, "The Rising." On screen last night his words and somber chords honored yet another group of sufferers who have seen their city ruined. And its our city too, our belle ville, our most European and artistically fecund city that has been drowned. It is our neighbors who have died or had their live...

Gregg Chadwick "La Palabra en el Tiempo" (The word in time) 48"x48" oil on linen 2005

Have a nice day !

A ray of light that stabbed like an arrow Drawing and text / Rikuo Fukamachi August 6, 1945 Approx. 2,200m from the hypocenter Ushita-machi (now, Ushita-minami 1-chome) "A tremendous flash of light stabbed like an arrow yet filled every space. I was in the entrance hall, just about to leave the house. The blast blew me, the house, the walls, and all our furniture away. I lost consciousness and lay buried under the rubble until I heard my mother's voice calling me." Child's skeleton in the rubble Drawings and text / Tomiko Ikeshoji (Kubo) August 7, 1945 Approx. 1,500m from the hypocenter Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital Senda-machi 1-chome "In the ruins of a private home outside the hospital grounds, I found the skeleton of a child. At that instant, mysteriously I saw on those bones the cute face of a child. It was a face without injury, without suffering, the face of a first or second grader. I was overwhelmed. Why was such a child here? Yet I never even shed any tea...

ARTIST FOCUS GROUPS for the MINETA SAN JOSE AIRPORT PUBLIC ART ACTIVATION Three meeting dates/times/locations to choose from: Tuesday, August 9, 2005 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. San José Museum of Art, 110 South Market Street, San José Saturday, August 13, 2005 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. New Langton Arts, 1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco Monday, August 15, 2005 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Works/San José Gallery, 30 North 3rd Street, San José The Mineta San José International Airport Public Art Master Plan creates a framework for a unified program of Art & Technology that will identify San José as a diverse global center for innovation and change. Gorbet+Banerjee, a multi-disciplinary artist team was selected as the Arts Activation Team to identify sites and design appropriate infrastructure (platforms) to accommodate the Airport Public Art Program. The initial phase of their design process is to meet with the regional arts community in a series of meetings to inform the design of ...

Thanks to Zeke , an Art Bloggers Conference will be included in Artivistic , an international art conference set for September in Montreal. From the Artivistic Website: "Artivistic :an international transdisciplinary event on the interplay between art, information and activism that will take place September 22 to 24, 2005, in Montreal QC (Canada). Integrating performances, exhibitions, interventions, workshops and panels by diverse practitioners and theorists in a multilingual setting, Artivistic is part of an evolving landscape of inclusive events which celebrate the power of engaged art as a catalyst for positive change. The event aims to promote open transdisciplinary + intercultural dialogue and research on activist art, to create and facilitate a human network of diverse peoples, and to inspire, proliferate, activate."

"Rue Mosnier with Flags" Édouard Manet 25 3/4 x 31 3/4 in. oil on canvas 1878 On a day of national celebration in France, the Getty Museum's collection of French paintings provides a link to Paris. The AP reports today that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the guest of honor, joined French President Jacques Chirac on the official reviewing stand at the Place de la Concorde to view the Bastille Day Parade. Brazilian President Silva was invited to the observances as part of "the year of Brazil in France," which aims to promote economic and cultural ties between the two countries. After the parade finished, Chirac and Silva stood at attention outside the presidential Elysee Palace as sirens sounded across Paris to observe two minutes of silence in solidarity with London. Manet's "Rue Mosnier" was painted two years before July 14th was declared the French national holiday in 1880. The holiday is known as the Fête Nationale in France and ...

Anna Conti has captured the world of art blogs in a tight grid. Links to each. Click away.

“Unity is a universal message.” Rachid Taha Backstage at a Clash concert in the early '80's, the young French-Algerian singer Rachid Taha pressed a demo tape of his own mix of punk, rock and middle eastern music into Joe Strummer's hands. Rachid Taha didn't hear back from the Clash. But shortly after their backstage meeting, the Clash's "Rock the Casbah" made it onto vinyl. The song could have been written by Taha. “I like Joe Strummer. We have the same obsession - freedom,” says Rachid. When he heard of Strummer's recent death, Taha recorded his own version of the Clash song: "Rock el Casbah " as a tribute. Watching video clips during the first Iraq War, Taha heard the Clash song blared by US troops during the short engagement with Iraqi forces. – “I wanted to show that this is not a war song, but much more a peaceful song.” Rachid Taha’s "Rock El Casbah", sung in Arabic, is a sly cover of the Clash classic and provides ...

RIMI YANG — TRANSITION JULY 6 — 31, 2005 *Photos from Opening Reception: Rimi Yang at Artamo Gallery Rimi Yang "sublimely unemphatic" 72"x48" oil and encaustic on canvas 2005 From the Artamo Gallery : "Rimi Yang’s first solo exhibition presents her newest work, which shows the artist’s progression from classic drawing and figurative painting to total abstraction and reflects the transition in her life from a culture driven by tradition into a new world of non-compromised expression. Rimi Yang’s compositions are borne from a method of automatic painting in which she allows her feelings to take hold of her in the course of execution. In avoiding conscious renderings of a preconceived idea, Rimi responds to the emotions of the given moment, reaching within her soul for guided inspiration as she gives form to her thoughts with the use of tangible materials." 11 W. Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, California 93101 Phone 805-568-1400 Email...

As part of the City Streets exhibition at the STUDIO Gallery, painter and art blogger Anna Conti will present an artist talk: "Another Way to Look at the City" Sunday, July 10th, 3 - 4 pm From the STUDIO Gallery: "Anna is one of the gallery's most popular painters, and we're delighted to have a number of her pieces in the City Streets show. Whether she's painting realistic cityscapes, her popular Doggie Diner series, or her collaborative "bean paintings" of toys from the Musee Mechanique, Anna's work always captures the mood of the City. We hope you'll join us for Anna's talk, see the show and of course have some refreshments." STUDIO Gallery 1718A Polk Street San Francisco 415-931-3130 http://STUDIOGallerySF.com

"Stainless Light" 38"x38" oil on linen 2005 London's "Guardian" reports on today's bombings: "It was about three minutes after we left King's Cross, when there was a massive bang and there was smoke and glass everywhere. I was standing near a window, and I've still got some in my hair." "The lights went out, and, with the smoke, we couldn't breathe, and we sort of cushioned each other during the impact because the compartment was so full." "It felt like a dream, it was surreal." - Fiona Trueman, 26, who was on a train a few minutes south of King's Cross when it exploded. London Tube Attack -photo by Adam Stacey Continual updates on the "Guardian's" blog: guardian blog Photo coverage on flickr: London pool

On this Independence Day, I think of the Americans who were forced from their homes and businesses on the west coast to internment camps spread across the US interior by President Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. During the 1940's, the town of Topaz was one of the largest cities in Utah. Like most towns, there were houses, gardens and elementary schools. Unlike most towns, there were barbed-wire fences and guard towers marking the city line. George Matsusaburo Hibi Guard Tower - Topaz Camp 22" x 18" oil on canvas 1944 On June 11th 2005, in the Utah desert , a group of ageing Japanese Americans boarded buses for a dusty trip back to the Topaz Internment Camp to remember the 60th anniversary of their release from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. Hisako Hibi "Western Sky" oil on canvas July 1, 1945 Topaz internment camp opened on September 11, 1942. Situated 140 miles south of Salt Lake City, the...

In this exchange between Shahzia Sikander and Art:21 on the nature of art practice, the conversation touches on the place of spirituality in contemporary art. Art:21 defines spirituality as follows: Spirituality A questioning of humanity's place in the universe, marked by an interest in self-reflection, mortality and meditation. Spirituality is often associated with things that are mysterious, felt before they are understood, and beyond the scope of human thought, time and history. Distinct from religion, spirituality is an attitude and not an organized set of rituals or beliefs. Conversation between Shahzia Sikander and Art:21: ART:21: Do you see any links between praying and fasting - practicing your religion - and the process of making art? SIKANDER: I think the hard part is when you're out of practice. ART:21: The hard part of what? SIKANDER: Oh, the hard part of the lack of discipline is when I feel less productive. Like, if I am painting regularly and ...

by Gregg Chadwick It's all things Tut in L.A. this week. I happened to be in the bowels of LACMA yesterday and the energy was high. Security was tighter than usual and media types were everywhere. Look forward to long lines, expensive merchandise and fluff pieces appearing in news outlets across the country. My major problem with the exhibition is the way that our museum has been hijacked to serve corporate interests: "I hate to say this, but it's very similar to how we would go market another entertainment event, like a major awards show or sporting event," says Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, the sports and entertainment presenter that developed Staples Center, among other venues, and is financing the exhibition." Royal diadem found on the head of Tutankhamun  when the British archaeologist Howard Carter opened his coffin. The objects in the exhibition are magical. They bring us to another time. And they help illumine the artistic legacy...

Opening June 17 at the SJICA : Monotype Marathon XI Exhibition: June 17 - July 9, 2005 Closing Reception and Auction: July 9, 5:30 -8 An exhibition of over 125 prints produced in a marathon weekend of Bay Area print workshops. Gregg Chadwick "Whispers of Siam" 33"x20" monotype 2005 Notes on the Monotype Process: Spontaneity characterizes the monotype. A monotype is made by brushing printer's ink or oil paint onto a smooth surface such as glass or a metal plate. The image is then transferred to paper before it dries, using a printing press or other means of pressure. Because most of the image is transferred in the printing process, only one strong impression can be taken, hence the term monotype (one print). Additional impressions of the residual image are sometimes printed (ghosts). They are significantly fainter than the first pull, yet at times these lighter open images are more successful as works of art. The personal nature of the monotyp...

JL at modern kicks wrote in with the original source for the contemporary art in Iran link in the article below. It was originally on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website under modern and contemporary art in Iran . JL was particularly pleased to see the work of Farah Ossouli discussed. Farah Ossouli (Iranian, born 1953) poster paint on heavy cardboard Both Farah Ossouli and the Pakistani artist Shahzia Sikander "appropriate the language of miniature painting, yet re-present it in a contemporary idiom." Nice clip of Shahzia excerpted from the PBS documentary series Art:21 — Art in the Twenty-First Century. JL also dreams of going to Iran one day. Any way that we can arrange an art blogger tour to Tehran?

Currently on view at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is the exhibition "Masterpieces of Persian Painting". In Saturday's International Herald Tribune , Souren Melikian reviewed the show, prompting Charles T. Downey's dreams of visiting Tehran one day. Tyler Green has also been caught in the exhibition's spell. Most importantly, even viewed on-line, the works are gorgeous. In lieu of a published catalog, a significant number of the works in the exhibition are accessible via the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art's website: "Masterpieces of Persian Painting" "The Flower and the Bird" Mohammad Yusof Indian Moraqqa’ First half of 17th century Golestan Palace While researching some of the artists in the exhibition I came across an article on contemporary art in Iran which provides a nice introduction to a culture that is sadly undervalued in the West. Mohammad Ehsai (Iranian, born 1939) The Echo of the Word ...

Jonathan Harr's new book "The Lost Painting" is being billed by Random House as the true story of a search for a lost Caravaggio. The book is scheduled to be released in November. "The Lost Painting" will be remembered as one of the last works pitched to the press by Jonathan Karp who resigned this week as the editor in chief at Random House. Dinitia Smith reported in the New York Times on this years BookExpo America at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan: "Jonathan Karp of Random House optimistically called Jonathan Harr's "The Lost Painting" "a page-turning work of suspense about the mysteries of a religious painting." "We showed lots of restraint," Mr. Karp said. "We didn't call it 'The Caravaggio Code.' "

by Gregg Chadwick The exhibition "Rembrandt's Late Religious Portraits" opens today at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Rembrandt "Hendrickje Stoffels, Possibly as the Sorrowing Virgin" 30 7/8" x 27 1/8" oil on canvas 1660 The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tyler Green's thoughts on the exhibit during its first stop in D.C. bring up an important question, "No one knows why, near the end of his life, Rembrandt painted so many religious figures who devoted their lives to spiritual goals and who were killed for it. Arthur Wheelock, the NGA curator who put together this show, brought these paintings together in an effort to spark some thought on the question." Tyler Green's superb piece concludes with an echo of Lawrence Weschler's "Vermeer in Bosnia" by providing a wartime context to Rembrandt's portraits of martyrs: "Just as now is a time of battle in the Middle East, so too was the Netherla...

by Gregg Chadwick As the evenings grow longer in late Spring and voices from the clubs down the hill from my studio drift in on the breeze, I feel a human quickening that the 17th Century Japanese poet Bashō would have understood. Art's ability to speak across the centuries never fails to inspire me and provide hope for the future. I am currently reading "Bashō's Haiku" , translated by David Landis Barnhill . Barnhill's translations from the original Japanese are crisp. Each word is chosen carefully and the original verse order is maintained. These translations have an almost clipped brevity - like a Zen master's clap to focus his students. Barnhill's deft word choice allow Bashō's images to suggest layers of meaning without overlaying a modern American voice onto the poems. Gregg Chadwick "The Porcelain Sea" 48"x38" oil on linen 2005 Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694) was born into the samurai class, but rejected that world a...

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

Video Art in Tom Bradley International Airport - CA Deadline: May 23, 2005. The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department seeks to establish a pre-qualified pool of up to twenty (20) Video artists/artist teams to be considered for the upcoming Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) projects at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Artists who have experience working with multiple screen projections and are capable of occupying an entire space on a grand scale are being sought. The artists should address the context of the airport and the City of Los Angeles and help create an impressive moving visual art environment. This is an exciting opportunity for Video Artists to collaborate with a team and generate work that will enhance a dynamic space and engage millions of visitors each year. The artwork will be exhibited on a video wall and/or a linear “film strip”. The video wall is comprised of 20 40”LCD screens and covers an area approximately 25 feet wide and 10 feet high. Th...