The vanity of earthly power 'gainst that of heaven soon is shown; For at the long appointed hour an angel came and moved the stone.
The Resurrection. 1994. oil, pencil, enamel, and ink on paper, mounted on 19th century bookplate. 5-7/8 x 4-1/4 in.
This is from a series of works that were done in preparation for Reinventing the Emblem: Contemporary Artist Recreate a Renaissance Idea exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery in 1995. This exhibition presented sixteenth- and seventeenth-century emblems (printed images with proverb-like texts) and contemporary works directly inspired by the tradition. The accompanying catalog essays examine the Renaissance form, which addressed love, politics, and religion in ways that capitalized on the newly invented printing press, and reviews the contemporary updates by such artists as Peter Halley, Lesley Dill, Joseph Kosuth, Mark Kostabi, and Lawrence Weiner. The image for this piece, which was included in the exhibition, was composed on the back of an old National Geographic map and then glued over top of an engraved illustration from an 1840's devotional book.
Taking all these viewfinder photos has got me thinking about color; or more specifically how I usually try to avoid thinking about color. So I've decided to set myself up with a project where color is the primary focus.I've begun with several sheets of paper to which I've glued blocks of tissue paper in a variety of colors, to which I have added swaths of colored gouache, gesso, colored pencil, and inks. The goal is to create a wide range of color variations.
The next step is to take the sheets and to cut them into 2- and 2-3/4 inch strips, then to cut the strips into random squares, occasionally adding more color with gouache and ink. Some of these remind me of swatches of madras fabric.
The final step is to use these colored squares as building blocks for collages, not unlike putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Here are some finished pieces - with some of these I've incorporated collage elements from other sources, such as text fragments from old comic books. I'm thinking I might use some of these as studies for larger pieces (these are approx. 4 x 4 in. square.) They remind me of color television test patterns:
Now this is a cool camera. The Anscoflex was designed by Raymond Loewy and manufactured in the USA by Ansco around 1953-1954. It has an oversize viewfinder that makes it ideal for taking digital viewfinder photos. I picked one up on ebay a few weeks ago and just got around to making a viewfinder adapter to hold my digital camera. Here's some shots it took on my lunch break yesterday - the first few were taken in the alley behind the library, and the rest were taken a few blocks south in Colonial Park Cemetery:
Large aloe plant next to the entrance to the cemetery. The photos below are closeups of initials carved into the leaves by tourists.
I recently picked up another camera on ebay, an Imperial Insta-Flash made by the Herbert George Co., of Chicago, Ill., probably in the late 1950's - early 1960's. The lens and camera body are made of plastic and the viewfinder on the top of the camera is frosted glass. There's also a mirror which reflects the image from the lens to the viewfinder - most of the original mirror was corroded so I replaced it with a new one.
After replacing the mirror and cleaning the frosted viewfinder glass I made an adapter for my digital camera and took some test shots through the viewfinder. Two things I noticed right away- 1) Like the Foto-Flex you get a bright spot in the center of the viewfinder. 2) Anything closer than 6 feet is out of focus.
Anyway, here's some shots:
Indoors, kitchen table and light fixture.
Topper in the kitchen.
Shrub in the front yard.
Top of same shrub in the front yard.
Spooky trees.
Another thing I've noticed with the frosted glass viewfinder images is that if you manipulate the contrast or color balance with Photoshop you end up with an image that looks like a bad color photocopy, so I haven't done much more than cropping to the images above.
"I took the pieces you threw away and put them together by night and day, washed by rain and dried by sun a million pieces all in one."
In December of 1987 my friend Ethan and I embarked on a two-week road trip to New Orleans. One of the places we visited along the way was Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens located in Summerville, Georgia. As most folks know, Howard Finster (1916-2001) was a retired Baptist minister who had a vision in 1976 to paint sacred art:
And one day I was workin' on a patch job on a bicycle, and I was rubbin' some white paint on that patch with this finger here, and I looked at the round tip o' my finger, and there was a human face on it... then a warm feelin' come over my body, and a voice spoke to me and said, 'Paint sacred art.'
Over the next 25 years Howard Finster created tens of thousands of works of art, each with the intended purpose of spreading the Gospel.In the early 1960's he began work the Plant Farm Museum on a 4-acre tract of swamp land that he had recently purchased. After draining the swamp he populated the property with various sculptural forms and buildings to house his artwork and objects donated by others. This environment came to be known as Paradise Garden. Ethan and I were able to spend several hours visiting Paradise Garden where I shot several rolls of black & white film. I also shot a roll of color slide film which I had forgotten about until I came across the slides a few days ago.
A sculpture made of concrete, doll parts, and an old television.
This is a detail of the Machine Gun Nest. It is made up of welded bicycle parts.
The Pump House, made of glass bottles and concrete.
Two of Rev. Finster's dogs, and rusting appliances. He'd faded a bit but I'm pretty sure that the dog on the right had a cameo in REM's video for Radio Free Europe (see below @ 1:33 min.).
His paintings were displayed throughout the Garden, both indoors and outside. As the paintings would deteriorate he would replace them with new ones.
R.E.M. filmed the video for "Radio Free Europe" at Paradise Gardens, and Howard collaborated with Michael Stipe for the front cover of "Reckoning". When Rev. Finster gave Ethan and me a tour of his studio he pointed out a drawing that Michael had done during an earlier visit to his studio. According to Howard, "The REMs are good boys."
Sadly, much of the Garden as Ethan and I saw it is now gone. Many of the larger concrete sculptures were acquired by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, where they are currently on display. Unfortunately it's just not the same to see these pieces in a sterile museum environment, although I understand the need to preserve them. Howard Finster's daughter, Beverly, recently donated and signed over Paradise Gardens to a non-profit organization whose goal is to preserve and restore the property.
The Resurrection. 1994.
