Ever since it was first published in 1998, Uncontrollable Beauty: Toward a New Aesthetics, edited by Bill Beckley with David Shapiro has been my primary text. This collection of essays brings together the thinking of artists and critics on the greatly misunderstood (and much maligned) topic of beauty. Uncontrollable Beauty embodies many of the reasons […]
Being Seen
Installation shot, east gallery at Gallery at the Geary Curator Kevin Simmers I’m back from a week in the Bay Area. The main event was the opening of my exhibit at the Gallery at the Geary on Saturday night. The work was carefully curated (thank you Kevin Simmers), and the opening and reception that followed […]
Road Trip: San Francisco
I’ll be away for a week. I’m heading to my old ‘hood, the San Francisco Bay Area, for a solo exhibition at the Gallery at the Geary. My last show there was in 2005, so I am excited to be presenting a whole new body of work. Choosing the show: Curator Kevin Simmers in my […]
Willed Stillness
Sometimes the life force tank empties out. It’s a kind of ennui, an emotional exhaustion that often sets in about now, when the winter is still running its weather patterns even though the soul is ready for spring. I’m also feeling overwhelmed by the complex intensity of this political season and of course, football (do […]
Preservation Update
Satellite view of the Spiral Jetty For those following the effort to preserve the Spiral Jetty, here is the latest from Tyler Green’s blog, Modern Art Notes: The National Trust for Historic Preservation is out with a statement on the Spiral Jetty situation. From NTHP prez Richard Moe: “The National Trust for Historic Preservation believes […]
From the Center of My Life Came a Great Fountain
The Wild Iris At the end of my suffering there was a door. Hear me out: that which you call death I remember. Overhead, noises, branches of the pine shifting. Then nothing. The weak sun flickered over the dry surface. It is terrible to survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth. Then it was […]
Spiral Jetty Site at Risk
The Spiral Jetty is in need of your help. Here’s what’s happening by way of Tyler Green’s excellent blog, Modern Art Notes: Nancy Holt, Robert Smithson’s widow, recently sent an email out detailing specific threats to Smithson’s masterpiece, Spiral Jetty. Yesterday I received an urgent email from Lynn DeFreitas, Director of Friends of the Great […]
Slow Goes Global (Slowly)
The lead article in today’s New York Times, House & Home section, above the fold: The Slow Life Picks up Speed, by Penelope Green. Of course I love reading that the concept of Slow is viral and infectious in the best sense, extending beyond just food, cities and design into other areas of our lives. […]
- In Memoriam
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In Praise of Excess, and Prayer in Its Supreme Form
Alfred Kazin (Arnold Newman/Getty Images) I’ve only read a few essays by the heralded critic Alfred Kazin, but what I have read I found brilliant. A new biography of Alfred Kazin (by Richard M. Cook) was reviewed by Brian Morton in the Sunday New York Times. Some memorable gems are worth highlighting: A representative essay […]
Living in the Layers
The Layers I have walked through many lives, some of them my own, and I am not who I was, though some principle of being abides, from which I struggle not to stray. When I look behind, as I am compelled to look before I can gather strength to proceed on my journey, I see […]