Dear readers, what a pleasant Saturday I had this 09/11 anniversary. As it happens, I didn't do much in remembrance of that awful day three years back. I think it's really a private affair for those who were directly affected. Well, yes, one could say that all of America was affected and to some respects that's true but Americans are all about moving on. I haven't, nor will ever be able to, put it completely out of my mind. The day will always be known as 09/11.
Alas, I spent the first part of the day, if one can call from noon onward the first part, visiting some of my fave art galleries in the River North area. I began my visits at Printworks, which is showing Nicholas Sustler. It's an amazing showing of gouache on paper minutely detailed and very colorfully rendered pieces. Each one is probably no larger than 3x5" and Sustler has this amazing ability to show room spaces at odd angles and from unusual perspectives with a photo realist quality. Also, each piece carries within its subject something of the risque element. The title of the entire show is "Hot & Bothered" and the artist himself had flames pasted all along the walls of the exhibit to add to the overall impression. Worth a look.
Next I ventured over to Ann Nathan, which lately has regularly excited me with their collection choices. Today I saw the work of Nola Romano which was playful and disturbing and blazing with color. Her medium is acrylics on canvas and most are rather large, probably around 3x5 feet and many are made up of multiple canvases. Her subject matter seems to deal with feminist issues and she uses herself as a focal point character in all of her pieces. In other words, self portraits but there are many versions of herself so it's like seeing twins or clones. These characters, or representations of herself or women, are often involved in some type of experimental activity or seem to be questioning some aspect of their existence. I'm sure I'm not quite capturing her essence but more can be learned from the website.
Lastly, I stopped over at Carl Hammer where I had the delight of seeing a Henry Darger retrospective. Now here's an interesting case study. Darger was one of those reclusive artist whose work never saw the light of day during his life and was only discovered a short time ago. He spent his life creating an alternate reality through his drawings and writing. The pieces are of mammoth porportions and depict characters and events in the lives of his alternate universe. It would be much too hard to try to explain them, they simply must be seen. However, I am noticing a curious comparison between his work and the work of Heather Accurso. I'll explore this more later in a separate post but both of these artist work in the area of creating alternate realities that feature female-like beings.
In the second part of my day, I went to a fabulous party at Miss Charlotte's where the focus of the evening was a viewing of the cult classic film Repo Man starring Emilio Estevez. As is often the case at Miss Charlotte's soirees, there was an interesting assortment of people gathered, however, last evening's group represented a new element in party going that I had not experienced before. You see, dear reader, everyone, save our hostess and myself, drank either water or virgin daiquiries. This stood out for me, because there I was happily putting back glass after glass of red wine, along with Miss Charlotte, while everyone else sipped (sipped!) sparkling water and slurpies. Although, I wonder if Miss Charlotte was only drinking to be a good hostess? Probably not. There were a few times during the evening when I waited for her to offer more wine before partaking of it myself. I think at one point I referred to myself as a lush in a self-deprecating manner to both admit my own folly and to add a little humor to the situation. It's interesting that I was not bothered in the least about being the only male in attendance amongst 7-8 females. I think we all had a pleasant time and enjoyed one another's company. Although, I can't help wonder what the assemblage thought of me, per se. I never got around to telling them I am a poet but, perhaps, that could have explained all my other foibles away? I can just hear the conversation now:
"What did you think of that eccentric young man at the party?"
"He can sure put it away!"
"He's certainly comfortable around the opposite sex."
"Well,he's gay."
"Well, that explains the drinking."
"And his wit."
"Not to mention his good looks. Why is it that men who like men always look so good?"
"I don't know about that, ladies, but I do know something else about him."
An attentive silence ensues.
"He's a poet."
"A poet! Well, that explains everything."
"Oh, a poet. How exciting!"
"I'd be wary of poets, ladies, if I were you. You never know what they're going to say."
