I attended Ilana Simons opening at GirlsClub last night (actually, Thursday night 9/27/07) briefly and enjoyed looking at her work; here’s the video.

By the way, I didn’t know Ilana Simons teaches Philosophy, and Plato in particular..thought I had to mention that.

I noticed the large variety of paintings Ilana had showing (you can see them in the video) and it occurred to me (and I mentioned it to her) to exploit the shape of the plates, particularly the smooth plates, with the protruding depth, much as Monet used the oval shape of the room in Paris where his Waterlily paintings are housed near the Louvre.

As a visual artist (that is, when I get around to painting) I’m very aware of the language of form and color; what makes painting interesting, as opposed to literature or other art forms, is the exploitation (if that’s the right word for it) of two dimensional design, texture, subtle properties of color, contour, drawing, etc.  

Succeeding as a visual artist, to me, is finding a way to take your motif and translate into the language of form and color.  Often, working sincerely, as Ilana does, I can feel the love that goes into the portraits - and sometimes, the color hues work for me more in some than others.  But I would say that when you teach philosophy, write and paint, you have a trinity (at least that) and it’s intersting to see someone that does all three in a consistent way.   All the paintings have consistency, the writing has consistency and I bet, the philosophy classes are pretty good too.

Van Gogh’s paintings and, as much so, his drawings, are compelling (according to the Vincent van Gogh Gallery “..As a post impressionist painter and one of the most famous artists of all time, Vincent van Gogh has become an icon“). 

Meanwhile, a WikiPedia post on Van Gogh points out that “…Vincent and his friend Emile Bernard, who lived with parents in Asnières, adopted elements of the “pointillé” (pointillism) style, where many small dots are applied to the canvas, resulting in an optical blend of hues, when seen from a distance. The theory behind this also stresses the value of complementary colours^[53] (for example, blue and orange), which form vibrant contrasts and enhance each other, when juxtaposed.^[54]“.

 

I meant to go over to see Van Gogh letters to Émile Bernard at the Morgan Library & Museum tonight but didn’t make it (and I bet it would have been closed after 6 PM on a Friday night anyway); the New York Times has a pretty good article and slide show on the Van Gogh show.

“…You will encounter Bernard, too, though far less directly. A minor French painter, prolific writer, tireless networker and van Gogh advocate, he’s present in a few early paintings and prints and a book, but primarily in van Gogh’s salutation, which opens nearly all the letters: “My dear old Bernard.”

The two men met in studio classes in Paris. Van Gogh, a 30-something Dutch ex-art dealer and ex-preacher, was trying to figure out a place for himself in contemporary art. Bernard, a precocious Paris teenager, was trying to do the same. Despite their age difference, they became friends.”

Should be interesting to see Van Gogh’s writings along with his drawings; I’ve read his letters, translated into English several  years ago and they’re inspiring. 

Will make it a point to visit this show before it closes next January.

Reminds me of something I was thinking about today (several hours after starting this post) - the value of an artist is in how meaningful their work is to people who did not know them.  

When I behold this sketch/painting of Van Gogh, done with love and given in a letter to his friend, Émile Bernard, I’m reminded of how good, how true and powerful Van Gogh’s painting is.  Yet this is the same Van Gogh that my favorite painter, Paul Cezanne, didn’t like - for that matter, most artists that Van Gogh hung out with felt he was too radical, too crazy for them….as I recall by reading and seeing material about his life.

Does it matter?  No.   Whatever your contemporaries think of you, even the great artists it matters not - because the relationship of the artist is with the viewer, across time and space ..and that is the covenant one wants to keep - not other people’s opinions, even if, they, in themselves, are great artists.

The validity of work… is the work itself outside the reality of it was created in.

I went to the CRATER NEW YORK: a lunar drawing contest last night and took some footage.  Had a good time; I guess my own artwork, which I did about 10 days ago, didn’t make the final batch that was voted on for a plot on the Moon’s Lunar Surface.

That’s OK, it was all done in fun, but those plots on the Moon are supposedly real … meaning if you get to the Moon, you might be able to claim your land and build on it…but then again, you might make it to the Moon, but your probably not coming back if you get that far….