265

265.H, a photo by scott_waterman on Flickr.

I painting I did in 2008 at the framer and ready to be sent to the client.

Ink, watercolor and gouache on paper

Cave of the Unknown

Grotesque panel design (18th c. silver?)

Studio view.

I carry two definitions in my head for grotesque, what I know most people think and what I think to be the real definition. Both are right and both are incomplete but basically mine's better. 

Voila! A sort of cave of the unknown.

Gross! Is that what you think? The amalgam of plant, animal, and artificial in a sinuous decorative form, that's what I think. But I just looked it up in my Dictionary of Ornament, (Lewis & Darley, © 1986, Cameron Books), and it doesn't exactly say that or even what I thought it would. 

Take an object.

I thought it all started with the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum but it actually dates from the discovery of buried ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea in 1488 and Pompeii wasn't unearthed until the late 18th century. Anyway, in both cases the discovery revealed essentially the same thing (see mine definition). As a working definition mine is good and succinct but the mystery remains: where and how did this idea really start?

Do something to it.

Do something else to it.

Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it. Do something else to it. (Jasper Johns) That's kind of what I've done with one particular grotesque panel design. I can't reveal it's original because I don't know it.

Toy Robot, NYC circa 1980 

I think it may have been a design etched in a piece of 18th c. silver. I'm pretty sure the image came from the Magazine Antiques. So what I've done with the motif is to tear it apart and paint the parts on top of collaged panels. The reason I bring this up now is because many of my collages works which were begun 10 or more years ago are currently on view in two venues.  Linda Chase's shop, New Vignette has a couple of ovals and Katrien van der Schueren, aka Madame Voila! has a number of my works hanging in her gallery, Voila!

collage "J"

collage "A"

Now, it's up to you to explore the cave of the unknown. Go.

Cut it Out!

Cut it out!

My San Francisco flat, 20th century.

My Los Angeles studio, 21st century.

It has come to my attention that I like cut-outs; a fact so obvious I was sure I'd already created a blogpost on this subject. The joke is totally on me because in the past I have tried to locate my post on cut-outs to show someone or another and have been so frustrated in not being able to find it. So here we go. I'm posting about cut-outs now!

My Oakland studio, 2001: a space odyssey.

For me the act of creating a cut-out is born of two things, collages and stencils. I've been making collages longer than I can remember and I really got into stencils when I worked on the restoration of The Ponce. My "chests" post dealt with stencils on another scale. Now, in this paragraph I've referenced three different blog posts that touch on the subject. But let's move on to new business shall we?

A little Japanese cut-out and my big cut-out behind it.

While researching this subject, delving into my picture files, I came across a painting I did in 2001 that represents a curious intersection of collage, cut-out, and trompe l'oeil. A cut-out is my model for the painting and what it showed was the negative space left over from a tiny figure used in a collage.I took this little cut-out  and inflated its importance by enlarging to life size for the painting. I found a photograph of the painting taken in my wonderful Oakland studio. Another shot I came across taken in Oakland shows a marvelous Japanese cut-out against one of my own. Both of those cut-outs became paintings as well.

Big cut-outs.

Another big cut-out

Medium size cut-out.

Small cut-outs.

Back in my little San Francisco flat in the early 90s I filled my floor to ceiling windows with cut-outs. It was quick, easy, and a cheap way to postpone shelling out for curtains. And this presents a third manifestation of the cut-out after collages and stencils. This is folded paper cut-out as one would do in kindergarten to make a snowflake.  Remarkably I still have all those cutouts made in San Francisco. Around that same time I made what is, I suppose, my most important cut-out. It too became a painting. Actually I can remember specifically creating that particular painting. My flat was going to be photographed for some shelter magazine or perhaps a book and I thought I should have something on my wall that would read well on the printed page. Turns out it did help make a good photograph.

Big painting made from a small cut-out.

Triptych version.

My Triptych at the Four Season Resort.

My work adapted as a logo.

Years later two different designers, Orlando Diaz Azcuy and Pamela Babey, came calling wanting that painting. The first designer bought the painting and another one, very similar. The second designer called too late. So I recreated it. Actually it worked out for the best because I recreated it as a triptych. It was made for a resort near Buenos Aires. The resort was built by a private developer who was so enamored of the piece he wanted it to play a big part in his project. And so my image was adapted as a graphic design appearing on stationery, chef's hats, guest slippers, and more. The resort, Madison, soon after its completion became part of the Four Seasons chain so their logo took over.

What follows are some establishing shots of the Four Season Resort at Carmelo. I'm establishing that my work is there, it's a beautiful place, and wouldn't we all like to stay there?  Be seeing you!

Four Seasons Resort Carmelo. Can you spot my work?

Four Seasons Resort Carmelo

Four Seasons Resort Carmelo

Four Seasons Resort Carmelo

Four Seasons Resort Carmelo

Studio April 2012

Studio April 2012, a photo by scott_waterman on Flickr.

I'm thinking of another post. Please stay tuned.

Mirror Mirror

Recently uploaded my mirror paintings available at Voila!  See here.

Voilà plus

Here's more...

I went back to voilà! today, added one more picture, and took a few more photos for you. Now listen: this is virtually the first time you, my faithful readers, can go just where I've been because voilà! has an excellent online presence. Yes, now you can buy a tiny piece of me for your very own. Just click on the links, that is all the words: voilà!

 Now here for you are more images from that cabinet of curiosities on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, California, USA. voila:

Be seeing you.

Voila, Je suis voilà!

Here, I am HERE!

Yes, yes the disclaimer in my profile telling you I'm not a blogger leaves me out of the running for daily/weekly/monthly updates but I'm here to say I am at voila! ART FOR THE MODERN EYE. They're still fine turning the arrangement, adjusting the lighting, and breaking for espressos occasionally but I wanted to give you a sneak peek at some of my work there. They've got my collage series and my mirrors too. Both dating from the time of the Villa Feltrinelli project.  What was that the year? 1999?  Can't recall exactly.

I should be following this post soon with more shots of the voila! installation but there's more too. I've just hung five large works and six smaller pieces at the Thomas Lavin showroom in the PDC. Do you want to see those too? 

Soon.