I’ve been a big fan of Tara Donovan for several years, and I am very excited to see her new show at the ICA in Boston this week. I bought the catalog for the show in anticipation, and it is excellent–authored by Nicholas Baume, Jen Mergel and Lawrence Weschler (LW is a particular personal favorite.) […]
- Architecture
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Renzo Piano’s Latest Hit: California Academy of Sciences
Renzo Piano’s California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco has all the makings of a destination building. Think of this as the Bilbao of the science museum world. Legends about its remarkable genesis are already circulating: One we heard was that when Piano visited the existing structure in Golden Gate Park (a building I remember […]
Birds Circling
Clouds Gathering It seemed the kind of life we wanted. Wild strawberries and cream in the morning. Sunlight in every room. The two of us walking by the sea naked. Some evenings, however, we found ourselves Unsure of what comes next. Like tragic actors in a theater on fire, With birds circling over our heads, […]
Being Danced
I Wish I Could Speak Like Music I wish I could speak like music. I wish I could put the swaying splendor Of the fields into words So that you could hold Truth Against your body And dance. I am trying the best I can With this crude brush, the tongue, To cover you with […]
Beyond Words
One of the few smiling Buddha images, Shey monastery in Ladakh Trying to speak about the ultimate reality is like sending a kiss through a messenger. Rumi An appropriate thought to meditate upon when the urge towards speechlessness is strong…
- Architecture
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Hope, and More
We’ve all gone to San Francisco for a few days, and for a good cause: My life long friend Kevin Simmers–our history began when we were 11 years old–is getting married to his partner of 22 years, Ed Carrigan. The photograph above was taken through one of the new De Young Museum’s many perforated screens. […]
The Curator’s Touch
Curator extraordinaire Kate Fleming with my daughter Kellin at a previous show at the Gallery at 38 Cameron A curator who knows her stuff is a great gift to an artist. Thank you to powerhouse Kate Fleming for pulling my work together in such an exemplary way for my show at 38 Cameron. She created […]
- Art Making
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Bellying Up
Do not quit. You see, the most constant state of an artist is uncertainty. You must face confusion, self-questioning, dilemma. Only amateurs are confident . . . be prepared to live with the fear of failure all your life. –William Ormond Mitchell The toughest patch of uncertainty in this artist’s life is usually those few […]
Blind Grinding of Gears Against our Bodies and Lives
Venus Rising by Jean Léon Gérôme It Is the Rising I Love As long as I struggle to float above the ground and fail, there is reason for this poetry. On the stone back of Ludovici’s throne, Venus is rising from the water. Her face and arms are raised, and the two women trained in […]
Deep Season
A Charm I have a twin who bears my name; Bears it about with him in shame; Who goes a way I would not go; Has knowledge of things I would not know; When I was brave he was afraid; He told the truth, I lied; What’s sweet to me tastes bitter to him; My […]