Saturday, April 29, 2017
The Pale Blue Dot - Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey
Important Thoughts on Our Place In the World. Carl Sagan's famous 'The Pale Blue Dot' speech. Featured in the 2014 show 'Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey' Remember there is No Planet B! #ClimateMarch
Friday, April 28, 2017
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Sunday, April 09, 2017
Gregg Chadwick: Revenant by Jeffrey Carlson - July 2014
Gregg Chadwick's "Revenant"
Jeffrey Carlson Reporting Editor, Fine Art Today
Specters from a distant past ‐‐ or perhaps another level of existence ‐‐ people the nostalgic and visionary works of Gregg Chadwick.
Widely recognized for his figure paintings and cityscapes, Gregg Chadwick presents his latest work in an exhibition titled "Revenant," soon to be unveiled at San Francisco's Sandra Lee Gallery. The exhibition opens July 1, and the opening reception will be held July 10, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m.
In viewing Chadwick's paintings, it feels as though we are viewing these people and places through a screen of nostalgic vision. In passages the works are blurred and vague, suggesting forms more than representing them. This lack of definition suggests the uncertainty and vagueness of a lost memory or a fleeting dream; we can picture its shape but are often left grasping at its details.
Chadwick's process, too, encourages reflection on the simultaneously fleeting and lasting nature of life's experiences. In each painting Chadwick creates a kind of palimpsest, layering transparent pigments and painting over the earlier image. In this way the past is built into the paintings themselves.
"Revenant" will remain on display at Sandra Lee Gallery through July 31, where a concurrent exhibition at Sandra Lee Gallery presents paintings by Evri Kwong. To learn more, visit Sandra Lee Gallery online.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e‐newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine.
Jeffrey Carlson Reporting Editor, Fine Art Today
Specters from a distant past ‐‐ or perhaps another level of existence ‐‐ people the nostalgic and visionary works of Gregg Chadwick.
Widely recognized for his figure paintings and cityscapes, Gregg Chadwick presents his latest work in an exhibition titled "Revenant," soon to be unveiled at San Francisco's Sandra Lee Gallery. The exhibition opens July 1, and the opening reception will be held July 10, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m.
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Gregg Chadwick, "Salish Sea," 2014, oil on linen, 30 x 24 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
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Gregg Chadwick, "Calle," 2014, oil on linen, 24 x 18 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
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Gregg Chadwick, "Revenant," 2014, oil on linen, 24 x 18 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
Chadwick's process, too, encourages reflection on the simultaneously fleeting and lasting nature of life's experiences. In each painting Chadwick creates a kind of palimpsest, layering transparent pigments and painting over the earlier image. In this way the past is built into the paintings themselves.
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Gregg Chadwick, "The Station Agent," 2014, oil on linen, 40 x 40 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
Gregg Chadwick, "Deerhead Diner," 2014, oil on linen, 24 x 36 in.
Sandra Lee Gallery
Sandra Lee Gallery
"Revenant" will remain on display at Sandra Lee Gallery through July 31, where a concurrent exhibition at Sandra Lee Gallery presents paintings by Evri Kwong. To learn more, visit Sandra Lee Gallery online.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e‐newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine.
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Gregg Chadwick, "Mulholland Blue," 2014, oil on linen, 24 x 30 in. Sandra Lee Gallery |
Gregg Chadwick and Painting Time by Jeffrey Carlson - March 2013
Gregg Chadwick and Painting Time
Jeffrey Carlson Reporting Contributing Editor, Fine Art Today
March 2013
In a new solo exhibition, California artist Gregg Chadwick ambitiously explores the boundaries of time and of representational painting.
The Time Between, a show of recent paintings by Gregg Chadwick, is now on view at Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco.
In these paintings Chadwick works lightly and suggestively, as if in the haze of a fragmented vision. Some figures are located in recognizable time and space, like three young women who stroll an open road, one texting and another snooping. In other works the subject is far more enigmatic, the spaces indeterminate, and the figures distorted or mirrored.
The conceptual foundation for Chadwick’s recent work comes from a study of time as perceived by the ancient Greeks, who categorized it in two distinct ways. Chronos denoted sequential time, measurable in units, whereas kairos conveyed the significance of a moment and was qualitative in nature. A kairos was indeterminate in length and potentially great in importance, as in “an appointed time.”
Chadwick’s stated intention with his works on time is to “break down the illusions of linear time passing and expose the coexistence of past, present and future.”
The artist’s conceptual vision neatly dovetails with the goals of the broader contemporary realist art movement. Chadwick paints scenes that are representational yet imaginative; they are, at one and the same time, rooted in tangible existence and removed from it. His figures are real and unreal. Engaged in everyday activities or detached from their surroundings, we see them as women and men of the world and as specters of superhuman existence.
Based in Santa Monica, where he paints in an old airplane hangar, Chadwick has shown at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. He earned his BFA from UCLA and his MFA from NYU. Chadwick has held notable solo exhibitions at the Manifesta Maastricht Gallery (Maastricht, Netherlands), AD Space 2000 (Tokyo, Japan), and the Lisa Coscino Gallery (Pacific Grove, California), and he has participated in group shows at the Sandra Lee Gallery, Arena 1 Gallery (Santa Monica, California), and the Arts Club of Washington (Washington, D.C.).
Chadwick writes a blog, Speed of Life, in which he examines art’s intersection with society. He also frequently posts recently completed work to his Flickr account, which can be viewed here.
The Time Between will be on view through March 30, 2013.
An opening reception will be held the evening of March 7, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m. Sandra Lee Gallery is located at 251 Post Street, Suite 310, in San Francisco.
For more information, visit www.greggchadwick.com and http://sandraleegallery.com.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a new weekly e‐newsletter from Fine Art
Connoisseur magazine.
Filed Under :
Locations : California, Milano, Monica, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Tokyo, Washington, D.c. People : Gregg Chadwick, Painting Time
Jeffrey Carlson Reporting Contributing Editor, Fine Art Today
March 2013
In a new solo exhibition, California artist Gregg Chadwick ambitiously explores the boundaries of time and of representational painting.
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Gregg Chadwick, "Grand Central," oil on canvas, 36 x 48 in. |
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Gregg Chadwick, “Il Poeta di Milano,” oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in. |
The Time Between, a show of recent paintings by Gregg Chadwick, is now on view at Sandra Lee Gallery in San Francisco.
In these paintings Chadwick works lightly and suggestively, as if in the haze of a fragmented vision. Some figures are located in recognizable time and space, like three young women who stroll an open road, one texting and another snooping. In other works the subject is far more enigmatic, the spaces indeterminate, and the figures distorted or mirrored.
The conceptual foundation for Chadwick’s recent work comes from a study of time as perceived by the ancient Greeks, who categorized it in two distinct ways. Chronos denoted sequential time, measurable in units, whereas kairos conveyed the significance of a moment and was qualitative in nature. A kairos was indeterminate in length and potentially great in importance, as in “an appointed time.”
Chadwick’s stated intention with his works on time is to “break down the illusions of linear time passing and expose the coexistence of past, present and future.”
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Gregg Chadwick, “I Canti (The Cantos),” oil on linen, 80 x 60 in. |
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Gregg Chadwick, “The Time Between,” oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in. |
The artist’s conceptual vision neatly dovetails with the goals of the broader contemporary realist art movement. Chadwick paints scenes that are representational yet imaginative; they are, at one and the same time, rooted in tangible existence and removed from it. His figures are real and unreal. Engaged in everyday activities or detached from their surroundings, we see them as women and men of the world and as specters of superhuman existence.
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Gregg Chadwick, “Three Secrets,” oil on canvas, 30 x 24 in. |
Based in Santa Monica, where he paints in an old airplane hangar, Chadwick has shown at galleries and museums nationally and internationally. He earned his BFA from UCLA and his MFA from NYU. Chadwick has held notable solo exhibitions at the Manifesta Maastricht Gallery (Maastricht, Netherlands), AD Space 2000 (Tokyo, Japan), and the Lisa Coscino Gallery (Pacific Grove, California), and he has participated in group shows at the Sandra Lee Gallery, Arena 1 Gallery (Santa Monica, California), and the Arts Club of Washington (Washington, D.C.).
Chadwick writes a blog, Speed of Life, in which he examines art’s intersection with society. He also frequently posts recently completed work to his Flickr account, which can be viewed here.
The Time Between will be on view through March 30, 2013.
An opening reception will be held the evening of March 7, from 5:30‐7:30 p.m. Sandra Lee Gallery is located at 251 Post Street, Suite 310, in San Francisco.
For more information, visit www.greggchadwick.com and http://sandraleegallery.com.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a new weekly e‐newsletter from Fine Art
Connoisseur magazine.
Filed Under :
Locations : California, Milano, Monica, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Tokyo, Washington, D.c. People : Gregg Chadwick, Painting Time
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Gregg Chadwick, “Proserpina,” oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in. |
Saturday, April 01, 2017
Gilbert Baker's Rainbow Flag at MOMA
.@MuseumModernArt @curiousoctopus installing the flag designed by #GilbertBaker, which is part of MoMA's collection thanks to @michellemfisher's efforts. pic.twitter.com/IIxNh2lWrB— Gretchen Scott (@gretchen_scott) April 1, 2017
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Gilbert Baker, heading the Stockholm Pride Parade in 2003, pieced together the first rainbow flags in 1978. He described himself as the “gay Betsy Ross.”
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Thursday, March 30, 2017
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Saturday, March 18, 2017
TODAY: Gregg Chadwick: A Retrospective Look at the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk
by Gregg Chadwick
* Today - a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.
Many of my paintings are inspired by poetry, history, and literature. When I lived in San Francisco and often on return visits, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's bookstore City Lights beckoned. A few years ago with my great friend Phil Cousineau on a book tour for our joint effort The Painted Word, we were able to stand together in a packed upper room at City Lights and express our deep admiration for Ferlinghetti's inspiration. My painting The City Drifts (San Francisco) seems to carry the feelings we all felt in the bookstore that night. Ferlinghetti's poem The Changing Light (see below) embodies that wistful moment.
The Changing Light
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The changing light
at San Francisco
is none of your East Coast light
none of your
pearly light of Paris
The light of San Francisco
is a sea light
an island light
And the light of fog
blanketing the hills
drifting in at night
through the Golden Gate
to lie on the city at dawn
And then the halcyon late mornings
after the fog burns off
and the sun paints white houses
with the sea light of Greece
with sharp clean shadows
making the town look like
it had just been painted
But the wind comes up at four o'clock
sweeping the hills
And then the veil of light of early evening
And then another scrim
when the new night fog
floats in
And in that vale of light
the city drifts
anchorless upon the ocean
"The Changing Light" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from How to Paint Sunlight. © New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2001.
* Today - a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.
Featuring A Balance of Shadows from my 2004 solo exhibition in San Francisco and an overview of my artwork from 1999-2017, my studio will be a time capsule for one day.
Many of the artworks on view have been loaned from private collections and are rarely on public view. In addition, a choice selection of paintings and monotypes will be available for purchase.
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Gregg Chadwick The City Drifts (San Francisco) 18"x14" oil on linen 1999 from San Francisco solo exhibition - A History of Light 1999 |
The Changing Light
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The changing light
at San Francisco
is none of your East Coast light
none of your
pearly light of Paris
The light of San Francisco
is a sea light
an island light
And the light of fog
blanketing the hills
drifting in at night
through the Golden Gate
to lie on the city at dawn
And then the halcyon late mornings
after the fog burns off
and the sun paints white houses
with the sea light of Greece
with sharp clean shadows
making the town look like
it had just been painted
But the wind comes up at four o'clock
sweeping the hills
And then the veil of light of early evening
And then another scrim
when the new night fog
floats in
And in that vale of light
the city drifts
anchorless upon the ocean
"The Changing Light" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from How to Paint Sunlight. © New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2001.
Copies of my brother Kent Chadwick’s wonderfully detailed book on my art will also be available for purchase.
A Balance of Shadows: Gregg Chadwick's Paintings
Hardcover – February 6, 2016
E-book Version
Also, I am happy to announce that I have designed a line of clothing and accessories based around my paintings for VIDA fashion.
Apparel and Accessories Available Online at VIDA
Hope to see you there!
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2017
12-5 PM
Studio #15
Santa Monica Art Studios
3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Free parking outside the hangar.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
You Are Invited: Gregg Chadwick- A Retrospective Look - Sat, March 18, 2017
by Gregg Chadwick
I am excited to invite you to a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.
Featuring A Balance of Shadows from my 2004 solo exhibition in San Francisco and an overview of my artwork from 1999-2017, my studio will be a time capsule for one day.
Many of the artworks on view have been loaned from private collections and are rarely on public view. In addition, a choice selection of paintings and monotypes will be available for purchase.
Copies of my brother Kent Chadwick’s wonderfully detailed book on my art will also be available for purchase.
A Balance of Shadows: Gregg Chadwick's Paintings
Hardcover – February 6, 2016
E-book Version
Also, I am happy to announce that I have designed a line of clothing and accessories based around my paintings for VIDA fashion.
Apparel and Accessories Available Online at VIDA
Hope to see you there!
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2017
12-5 PM
Studio #15
Santa Monica Art Studios
3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Free parking outside the hangar.
More on Gregg Chadwick at www.greggchadwick.com
Thursday, March 02, 2017
Sunday, February 26, 2017
New York Times: Oscars Ad
The New York Times Just Released This EPIC Anti-Trump Ad To Air At The Oscars pic.twitter.com/OTm1r9FtUr— RogelioGarcia Lawyer (@LawyerRogelio) February 26, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
From Standing Rock to Salish Sea: Protect the Water
by Gregg Chadwick
Today as the trump administration and its henchmen are about to overrun the water protectors at Standing Rock, I am moved to repost this post from July. My thoughts are with the Standing Rock protesters today. They've defended land and water bravely. Today at 2pm they will be overrun. Last night many of their tents and structures were burned in defiance. We must continue to resist. Thank you🙏🏽 to all those who protect the water and thus our nation. #NoDAPL
Two years ago on a technicolor blue day, I stood on the deck of the Wenatchee ferry cutting through the choppy sea from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. The vessel was named for the Wenatchi people who originally lived in the shadow of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Eastern Washington State. We are riding on a ship of memory.
In the Yakama language, wenatchi means "river flowing from canyon." The Wenatchee River was home to a vibrant salmon run prior to the damming of the Columbia River which impeded the salmon's journey. Like the fish, the Wenatchi tribe was also blocked from its ancestral waterways as the US government rounded up the Native Americans in Washington State and collected them in reservations far from their native lands.
I often think about the rivers, lakes, towns and cities we have named after the original Americans. The absence of most of their culture in our increasingly mini-malled landscape points to the brutal erasure of Indian tribes across the United States. The dominant culture in America seems to continually romanticize, while at the same time ostracize, the rich history of Native Americans. The writer Sherman Alexie will have none of that, thank you. Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington before graduating from Washington State University. Alexie is a major player in contemporary writing. His well-received novels, Reservation Blues and Indian Killer helped pave the way for his foray into film with Smoke Signals and The Business of Fancydancing. Alexie writes with courage about his experiences as an Indian in a white culture. Alexie also writes, as Andrea Vogt in Washington State Magazine reported, with "brutal honesty-some might even say disdain-about ignorance, alcoholism, and other problems on the rez."
For Alexie and other Native American activists ignoring the problems exacerbated by systemic racism in the US is out of the question. With that in mind, for over 20 years an annual inter-tribal Canoe Journey has been held on the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea is a 6,500 square mile ecosystem consisting of the Puget Sound Basin (US) and the Georgia Basin (Canada).
Canoe Journey 2016, Paddle to Nisqually, continues the inter-tribal celebration and annual gathering of Northwest indigenous nations. The website for Paddle to Nisqually goes into great detail about the history and significance of the event:
The theme for this years Canoe Journey is "Don't Forget the Water" in honor of the Nisqually Tribe's Mountain story.
The Nisqually Tribe finds hope in the annual canoe journey and its focus on community building:
In my painting Salish Sea, who is the rider on the bow of this ship of memory?
Gregg Chadwick's Salish Sea was on exhibit at Saatchi Art through September 29, 2016 in the group exhibition Cross Currents.
Today as the trump administration and its henchmen are about to overrun the water protectors at Standing Rock, I am moved to repost this post from July. My thoughts are with the Standing Rock protesters today. They've defended land and water bravely. Today at 2pm they will be overrun. Last night many of their tents and structures were burned in defiance. We must continue to resist. Thank you🙏🏽 to all those who protect the water and thus our nation. #NoDAPL
I often think about the rivers, lakes, towns and cities we have named after the original Americans. The absence of most of their culture in our increasingly mini-malled landscape points to the brutal erasure of Indian tribes across the United States. The dominant culture in America seems to continually romanticize, while at the same time ostracize, the rich history of Native Americans.
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Gregg Chadwick Salish Sea 30"x24" oil on linen 2014 |
Two years ago on a technicolor blue day, I stood on the deck of the Wenatchee ferry cutting through the choppy sea from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. The vessel was named for the Wenatchi people who originally lived in the shadow of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Eastern Washington State. We are riding on a ship of memory.
In the Yakama language, wenatchi means "river flowing from canyon." The Wenatchee River was home to a vibrant salmon run prior to the damming of the Columbia River which impeded the salmon's journey. Like the fish, the Wenatchi tribe was also blocked from its ancestral waterways as the US government rounded up the Native Americans in Washington State and collected them in reservations far from their native lands.
I often think about the rivers, lakes, towns and cities we have named after the original Americans. The absence of most of their culture in our increasingly mini-malled landscape points to the brutal erasure of Indian tribes across the United States. The dominant culture in America seems to continually romanticize, while at the same time ostracize, the rich history of Native Americans. The writer Sherman Alexie will have none of that, thank you. Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington before graduating from Washington State University. Alexie is a major player in contemporary writing. His well-received novels, Reservation Blues and Indian Killer helped pave the way for his foray into film with Smoke Signals and The Business of Fancydancing. Alexie writes with courage about his experiences as an Indian in a white culture. Alexie also writes, as Andrea Vogt in Washington State Magazine reported, with "brutal honesty-some might even say disdain-about ignorance, alcoholism, and other problems on the rez."
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| The Business of Fancydancing leads Gene Tagaban (Aristotle Joseph), Michelle St. John (Agnes Roth), and Evan Adams (Seymour Polatkin), with writer/director Sherman Alexie.photo by Lance Muresan Courtesy Washington State Magazine |
Canoe Journey 2016, Paddle to Nisqually, continues the inter-tribal celebration and annual gathering of Northwest indigenous nations. The website for Paddle to Nisqually goes into great detail about the history and significance of the event:
"Canoe Journey gatherings are rich in meaning and cultural significance. Canoe families travel great distances as their ancestors did and participating in the journey requires physical and spiritual discipline. At each stop, canoe families follow certain protocols, they ask for permission to come ashore, often in their native languages. At night in longhouses there is gifting, honoring and the sharing of traditional prayers, drumming, songs and dances. Meals, including evening dinners of traditional foods, are provided by the host nations.When Europeans began exploring the region, the tribes were used to meeting and welcoming strangers who arrived by boat. Sadly, the Europeans did not understand the hospitality culture of the coastal tribes as the tribes were displaced over the next two centuries. The canoe culture, as practiced by the Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest, had all but disappeared until the Canoe Journey events began to grow in the 90’s. Techniques of canoe making and use had largely vanished and fewer and fewer tribal people knew how to pull a traditional canoe. Now...a new tradition is well into the making and a cultural resurgence is underway."
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The Salish Sea is a 6,500 square mile ecosystem consisting of the Puget Sound Basin (US) and the Georgia Basin (Canada).
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The Nisqually Tribe finds hope in the annual canoe journey and its focus on community building:
"The Nisqually River Council’s Nisqually Watershed Stewardship Plan (NWSP) recognizes that community wellness is a key component of creating a sustainable watershed. We embrace the people who live in the Nisqually watershed, their sense of identity and responsibility that has existed for generations. Strong communities require, among other things, access to the arts and high community health indicators. Paddle to Nisqually represents a unique opportunity to highlight the many efforts the Nisqually Tribe makes to promote community wellness, including a culture free of drugs and alcohol, access to traditional and healthy foods, and close ties to Nisqually heritage."Looking back now on that day on the ferry, I see things through the veil of my painting and the complicated history of the region. There is an accumulation of memories gathered in this Salish Sea as the Wenatchee ferry carries its passengers towards their destination. How many canoes over the centuries have traversed this same path?
In my painting Salish Sea, who is the rider on the bow of this ship of memory?
Gregg Chadwick's Salish Sea was on exhibit at Saatchi Art through September 29, 2016 in the group exhibition Cross Currents.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Thanks for a great opening at Saatchi Art!
Thank you to everyone at Saatchi Art for a marvelous opening on Thursday night and for everyone who braved the oncoming storm to get out and visit the show.
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Gregg Chadwick's painting Trento Night at the Mark-Making Opening at Saatchi Art in Santa Monica, February 16, 2017 |
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Trento Night
by Gregg Chadwick
Far from the haze of Milan, stars glimmer in the clear night sky over Trento. The city hums on this sultry night. Trento at night is like a Fellini film: an otherworldly beauty tinged with memory. An elegant woman in a black slip of a dress slides by silently. Only the sound of the water flowing from Neptune's fountain can be heard. The actress Francesca Neri was born in Trento. Perhaps she is the siren gliding by us?
Much of Italy often feels like a movie set. Intimate squares and piazzas backed by stage lit cathedrals and frescoed corridors. As if in a film cut, the darkened piazza is now lit by a swarm of electronic fireflies. A group of university students just left a nearby ice cream shop and their cellphone's blue glow creates a path across the square. Soon the quiet is broken as phones ring and calls are answered. I think of the innumerable conversations that have filled this spot. It is as if time has stopped. Almost perceptible shadows linger in a haze of half remembered experiences.
A distant train whistle echoes off the Cathedral looming over the piazza. We are close to the Brenner line that runs from Verona along the Adige River up through the Dolomites and into Austria. The train quickly reaches the city. The rumble of its linked wheels seems to bounce off the pavement beneath our feet. Then, as if it was never there at all, the train hurtles forward into the future. And we are left in this city of memories.
In the Trento Cathedral during the Counter-Reformation, the Council of Trent convened from 1545 -1563. First proposed as an ecumenical council that was open to hearing the concerns of Protestant leaders, by its end the Council condemned dissenting Protestant views with the phrase "anathema sit" ("let him be anathema"). The 25th decree of the Council of Trent censored artists:
Superstition, beauty, exciting to lust, unusual images - sounds like the almost naked statue of the pagan god Neptune sculpted two hundred years after the council of Trent and placed on top of the fountain in the center of the cathedral square. From my vantage point it seems that the fountain designed by Francesco Lavarone topped with the sculpture of Neptune by Stefano Salterio pokes fun at the conservative decrees from the council of Trent. Time moves on. Art is a long game. And art in Trento often has a sense of humor. In the Castello Buonconsiglio, not far from the Piazza del Duomo, a witty fresco of a 15th century snowball fight emphasizes that joy in living is not just a modern concept. In fact, fun and laughter are part of what it means to be human. Art can often provide a ray of light in a dark time.
Back in the square, looking out towards the Brenta Dolomites that circle Trento in a stony embrace, scattered patches of snow can be seen high up on the mountain peaks. The heat of summer will soon cool in fall and the snows of winter will move down the mountainsides and perhaps alight on this piazza. Trento seems to hold ancient stories hidden in the stones around me.
"Trento Night" is part of a series of artworks inspired by and created in and around a recent art residency in Northern Italy. The historic city of Trento is named for Neptune's trident. In my painting, a glowing representation of Neptune's fountain graces the center of the scene.
Trento Night is on view at Saatchi Art in Santa Monica in the exhibition:
Far from the haze of Milan, stars glimmer in the clear night sky over Trento. The city hums on this sultry night. Trento at night is like a Fellini film: an otherworldly beauty tinged with memory. An elegant woman in a black slip of a dress slides by silently. Only the sound of the water flowing from Neptune's fountain can be heard. The actress Francesca Neri was born in Trento. Perhaps she is the siren gliding by us?
Much of Italy often feels like a movie set. Intimate squares and piazzas backed by stage lit cathedrals and frescoed corridors. As if in a film cut, the darkened piazza is now lit by a swarm of electronic fireflies. A group of university students just left a nearby ice cream shop and their cellphone's blue glow creates a path across the square. Soon the quiet is broken as phones ring and calls are answered. I think of the innumerable conversations that have filled this spot. It is as if time has stopped. Almost perceptible shadows linger in a haze of half remembered experiences.
A distant train whistle echoes off the Cathedral looming over the piazza. We are close to the Brenner line that runs from Verona along the Adige River up through the Dolomites and into Austria. The train quickly reaches the city. The rumble of its linked wheels seems to bounce off the pavement beneath our feet. Then, as if it was never there at all, the train hurtles forward into the future. And we are left in this city of memories.
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| Gregg Chadwick Trento Night 24"x18" oil on linen 2016 |
In the Trento Cathedral during the Counter-Reformation, the Council of Trent convened from 1545 -1563. First proposed as an ecumenical council that was open to hearing the concerns of Protestant leaders, by its end the Council condemned dissenting Protestant views with the phrase "anathema sit" ("let him be anathema"). The 25th decree of the Council of Trent censored artists:
'every superstition shall be removed ... all lasciviousness be avoided; in such wise that figures shall not be painted or adorned with a beauty exciting to lust... there be nothing seen that is disorderly, or that is unbecomingly or confusedly arranged, nothing that is profane, nothing indecorous, seeing that holiness becometh the house of God. And that these things may be the more faithfully observed, the holy Synod ordains, that no one be allowed to place, or cause to be placed, any unusual image, in any place, or church, howsoever exempted, except that image have been approved of by the bishop'
Superstition, beauty, exciting to lust, unusual images - sounds like the almost naked statue of the pagan god Neptune sculpted two hundred years after the council of Trent and placed on top of the fountain in the center of the cathedral square. From my vantage point it seems that the fountain designed by Francesco Lavarone topped with the sculpture of Neptune by Stefano Salterio pokes fun at the conservative decrees from the council of Trent. Time moves on. Art is a long game. And art in Trento often has a sense of humor. In the Castello Buonconsiglio, not far from the Piazza del Duomo, a witty fresco of a 15th century snowball fight emphasizes that joy in living is not just a modern concept. In fact, fun and laughter are part of what it means to be human. Art can often provide a ray of light in a dark time.
 |
January Snowball Fight fresco c. 1405-1410 Castello Buonconsiglio, Trento, Italy, |
"Trento Night" is part of a series of artworks inspired by and created in and around a recent art residency in Northern Italy. The historic city of Trento is named for Neptune's trident. In my painting, a glowing representation of Neptune's fountain graces the center of the scene.
Trento Night is on view at Saatchi Art in Santa Monica in the exhibition:
MARK-MAKING
Recent Works by LA-Based Artists
with Special Guest
Danielle Krysa aka The Jealous Curator
Opening Thursday, February 16, 2017
5-6pm Meet & Greet with The Jealous Curator
5-9pm Opening Reception
MARK-MAKING is a new exhibition on view in Santa Monica and online at Saatchi Art. Curated by Saatchi Art curators Katherine Henning and Jessica McQueen, the exhibition continues our series of shows around the world.
The exhibition highlights the work of 25 emerging artists represented by Saatchi Art, the world’s leading online gallery: Jess Black, Gregg Chadwick, Jonas Fisch, Maria Folger, Carlson Hatton, Jessus Hernandez ,Melissa Herrington, Lucie Hinden, Bryan Ida, Campbell Laird, Chase Langford, Robert Lee, Jesús Leguizamo, Tahnee Lonsdale, Michael Microulis, Pete Oswald, Relja Penezic, Aaron Stansberry, Annie Terrazzo, Laura Viapiano, Robert von Bangert, Wayne Chang, Donna Weathers, Adrian Kay Wong, and Vahe Yeremyan.
The exhibition is on view from February 16 to June 1 at Saatchi Art, located at 1655 26th Street, Santa Monica, CA. Gallery hours: Monday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday by appointment. Please email to schedule a visit during gallery hours. Gallery contact: curator@saatchiart.com.
All works will be on sale at the exhibition and online at Saatchi Art.
1655 26th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404
#MarkMaking #TrentoNight #GreggChadwick
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