Solo Show at Madison Gallery
In the studio I've been focused on a solo show at the Madison Gallery in southern California. They've recently moved to a beautiful new space in Solana Beach, just north of La Jolla, with soaring ceilings and a 77 foot wall. I've dreamt of this wall and filling it was a painting. The show is titled "Narratives", as these works narrate, in a sense, the physicality, and experience of being human. The imagery is raw and initially unedited, accessing interior and exterior landscapes to begin, recorded with stick, brush, palms of hands, screwdrivers, pencil, crayon, spray paint, filled with an array of sensory and intellectual experiences. The first mark that emerges calls for the next mark, and on and on, and in that way, it's a dialogue, no different from lived experience, which begins and ends in a mystery for us all.
The show features this 15' long piece, titled Anthology:
Below, "Train Through Town", 7’ wide, will be included, and Highlands, 6’ wide:
During this time, I've been immersed in the ecstatic poetry of Kabir, a 15th century poet, and while my work is never a conceptual translation, it can become imbued with the impact from a literary journey. These seven pieces are titled from snippets of Kabir's poems, "The Rain Bird is Thirsty", "The River Gives Itself to the Ocean"...
Here's a series of smaller works, each 27" wide, whose titles were inspired by a Kabir poem "Inside This Clay Jug",
The Lyrics, 4.5'x3.5'
A POEM BY KABIR, TRANSLATION BY ROBERT BLY
Inside this clay jug
there are canyons and
pine mountains,
and the maker of canyons
and pine mountains!
All seven oceans are inside,
and hundreds of millions of stars.
The acid that tests gold is here,
and the one who judges jewels.
And the music
that comes from the strings
that no one touches,
and the source of all water.
If you want the truth, I will tell you the truth:
Friend, listen: the God whom I love is inside.