Tuesday, February 01, 2022

Welcome to the Year of the Tiger

 Happy Lunar New Year!

새해 복 많이 받으세요!
虎年快乐
幸せな寅年





In an auspicious kick off to the lunar new year, @Singulart has included Year of the Tiger (Sumatran Tiger — CJ) in their new Year of the Tiger collection.
This oil on linen painting is the first in a series of artworks depicting the characters in the Chinese Zodiac using animals in the Los Angeles Zoo as models and inspiration. The model for Year of the Tiger is the Sumatran Tiger named CJ. Sumatran Tigers are severely endangered in the wild and need our help so they do not become extinct.

I first became aware of the fragile nature of our planet as an elementary school student. For Christmas one year, I asked my parents for the book “Wildlife in Danger” published by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) They are still an important organization providing information, plans, and hope for our endangered earth. Worried about the environment as a kid, I drew pictures of animals constantly. Now, I am creating paintings that shed light on climate change, the beauty of the natural world, and our place with other species.
Year of the Tiger was first exhibited at The Other Art Fair in Los Angeles at Barker Hangar in September 2021 and continues to uphold the spirit of those born under the tiger’s sign as we move into 2022.

Pictured:
Gregg Chadwick
Year of the Tiger (Sumatran Tiger — CJ)
40" x 40 oil on linen 2021


#lunarnewyear #happynewyear2022 #yearofthetiger #Tiger #lazoo #sumatra @singulartofficial @lazoo @18thstreetarts


Sunday, January 30, 2022

Art for Someone You Love

 


Gregg Chadwick
Promenade
7"x5" oil on panel 2021
Private Collection, Austin, Texas

Honored that my painting, Promenade, is included in the new Art for Someone You Love collection on Saatchi Art curated by Erin Remington (Assistant Curator at Saatchi Art). Erin writes,"Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight––art history is full of extraordinary and remarkable love stories. Discover a new work in this collection of artworks inspired by passion, love, and all things romance."



Collectors With Their New Painting at The Other Art Fair, Barker Hangar 2018
Gregg Chadwick 
Love In a Blue Time
7"x5" oil on panel
Private Collection, Los Angeles, California

I enjoy painting couples. I continue to create a series of artworks depicting partners caught in moments of intimacy.



Gregg Chadwick
The Runners
5"x5" oil on panel 2018
Private Collection, Los Angeles

With Valentine's Day coming up I would like to remind you that commissions are available for me to paint you and your loved one. Please contact me at greggchadwick@icloud.com for details. I like to make my small 7"x5"oil on wood panel paintings easily available so they are affordably priced. 


Gregg Chadwick
Timeless
7"x5" oil on panel 2019
Private Collection, Virginia


Friday, January 28, 2022

Walter Martin - The Bear (Official Lyric Video)




I am spending this January afternoon looking back at my art and travels while listening to Walter Martin's new song The Bear. Walter grew up in Washington DC and formed his first band at 11 with future Jonathan Fire*Eater lead vocalist Stewart Lupton who died in 2018. (More on Stewart Lupton in a Speed of Life post from 2004 here.) In 1993 Jonathan Fire*Eater was formed in New York City where Stewart Lupton and Walter Martin and friends had moved for college. When Stewart left the band in 1998, Walter Martin put together the Walkmen with other remaining members.  Stereogum reports today - "Ever since the Walkmen embarked on their hiatus, several of the band’s members have had prolific solo careers. But none of them have churned out music at quite the pace of Walter Martin. Today, Martin’s announced his sixth solo album in under a decade, The Bear. It’s out at the end of March." I've had the title track on repeat for the last hour. Haunting and inspiring.










Walter Martin
photo by Melissa Martin

Inspiration Can Be Found Anywhere


Thanks to Montana Avenue for sharing my painting Wings of Desire: Inspiration can be found anywhere, thank you Gregg Chadwick for sharing this stunning painting and your thoughts behind it 🎥
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'As 2021 shifts to 2022, I think of years passing like film titles shifting on theater marquees. With that thought, on the day we lost Betty White at 99, I am posting my painting "Wings of Desire". In the spirit of writers Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Salman Rushdie, a bit of magical realism often finds its way into my paintings. In memory of Bruno Ganz and in homage to one of my favorite films by Wim Wenders, my oil on linen painting "Wings of Desire" depicts one of my favorite angels hovering by the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.'
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You can find more of his work greggchadwick.com 🎨

 



 

Thursday, January 27, 2022

MAUS by Art Spiegelman (Read for Free)



I am posting an online readable copy of Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus in response to the ridiculous decision by the McMinn County Board of Education in Tennessee who voted 10-0 to remove the book from the eighth-grade English language arts curriculum saying without realizing the horrible irony that the graphic novel should be replaced, if possible, with another book without content deemed objectionable. The Holocaust is arguably the most objectionable violence ever taken against fellow humans by a despotic regime. 

Maus recounts the horrifying experiences of Art Spiegelman's father during the Holocaust, in which he depicts Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats. Spiegelman shakes us awake as he depicts the unspeakable through the language of cartoons and graphic novels. Maus is a story of survival and a study of the legacy of trauma.

Maus is presented here for readers of all ages. Welcome. 






Holocaust Memorial Day

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Year One of the Biden-Harris Administration


It's never been a good idea to bet against America. And, there's nothing we can't do if we do it together. We are stronger today than we were a year ago. Watch our new video on the first year of the Biden-Harris Administration.









Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Gregg Chadwick at Van Der Plas Gallery

 


Excited to begin 2022 with my oil on panel painting "Tax the Rich" in a new group exhibition in New York's East Village at @vanderplasnyc. The exhibition opens January 20, 2022 6-8pm and runs until January 30, 2022 at the Van Der Plas Gallery, 156 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002
Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez created headlines around the globe with her Tax the Rich Dress worn at the 2021 Met Gala.
The socially provocative dress was designed by Aurora James who said in the New York Times: "Listen, it would be a lot easier to go to the Met Gala and just wear a really beautiful dress and look really beautiful and have a good time. But that was not her intention, right? Her intention was to take a conversation that’s largely existing in working-class communities and bring it into rooms where that conversation might be a little bit more uncomfortable. It’s not easy to show up in a room like that, with a statement like that.
There’s a lot of people who gain access to rooms like that and are too afraid to rock the boat."

Monday, January 17, 2022

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

 

Art with a Message

"Art has the power to change the world—it can give viewers a new perspective or make a political statement. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, celebrate artists that are using their artwork to present and encourage a hopeful, more equitable future." 
Associate Curator at Saatchi Art


On this auspicious day, I am honored to have a painting included in Aurora Garrison's curated collection Art With a Message on Saatchi Art. My painting The Future Is Woke celebrates those who march, organize, and create change in the spirit of Martin Luther King. 

Aurora Garrison
67 Artworks curated by Aurora Garrison
Associate Curator at Saatchi Art









40X30"oil on linen 2017
Painting by Gregg Chadwick



24"X36"oil on linen 2009-2022
Painting by Gregg Chadwick

Today we honor the civil rights leader whose courage inspired millions - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

His words were true then. They are true now. #MLKDay

Listen to the entire speech MLK gave on campus below:





Friday, January 14, 2022

Sea of Words

 


Gregg Chadwick
ink, and gouache on a monotype substrate on paper
30"x22".  2018

I have always loved books. My studio is full of monographs on artists that I admire and scientific discoveries that I find fascinating. But the library is where I first learned to cherish the written word. As a kid I would spend hours in the shelves looking for just the right books. I would venture home with a stack of volumes on art, art making, and animals. "Sea of Words" - my ink and gouache painting over a monotype substrate is an homage to my memories of neighborhood libraries and the joy of learning.
The library depicted in my artwork is the Montana Avenue Library in Santa Monica, California. Designed by architect Weldon Fulton, the Montana Branch opened to great acclaim on March 1, 1960.