Upcoming Exhibitions

The Album Project will open at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown on June 9, 2013. The reception is from 1 -3 PM on that day. Would love to see both the art and autism community there. The Butler is a wonderful institution and I am very happy that we have the opportunity to tell this story.

Next up are two showings of Every I Have Ever Lived - the foreclosure crisis in twelve neighborhoods.  The first is at the Campbell Gallery at the Levin College of Urban Affairs of Cleveland State University opening on September 3, 2013. Next it will be shown at the gallery at Wilmington College in Wilmington OH opening on January 23, 2014.

I also have pieces from my current project, Lustron Stories  in some current group juried exhibitions.Clementine, the original owner is now hanging in the Minneapolis Photo Center's Home exhibition and is included in the Butler Institute of American Art's Mid-Year Show. Also in Home is Richard the Collector. Lustron Homes are all steel prefabricated homes manufactured in Columbus OH between 1947 and 1950. In 1950, everyone's story was the same. Now the people and the stories are a cross-sectioon of what has become to Great American Dream. Another piece from the series, Kansas City Community College is currently hanging in the Artist's Archive of the Western Reserve annual member's exhibiton.  Another print of this same piece photographer's:network 2013 opening on June 28, 2013. Thomas Kellner, the organizer of this very generous undertaking, has said this is last of these exhibits organized this way. 

There is more (Precious Objects in Las Vegas in January) but we'll cut this off for now. Rule #6 - enough is enough (thank you Calvin Trillin.)

N. C. Wyeth and Naazir

Self Portrait with Palette (1909)in conjunction with the exhibition of Precious Objects at the Zanesville (OH) Museum of Art, the director, Susan Talbot-Stanaway, presented a lecture on February 2 entitled "What Does a Portrait Say?"  We had had a bunch of people at the house the night before (a dinner for Emmet Gowin if you force me to name drop.) Nevertheless I drove through a snowstorm that morning to attend the lecture. Susan compared Wyeth's Self Portrait with Palette to the top half of the portrait of Naazir which is in the exhibit. Made the trip worth it. The similarities between the two works are amazing. The point of view, the lighting, the way the objects are embraced and even the expression on the faces are nearly mirror images.  Naazir was one of my subjects at the African-American Museum in Hempstead New York. My friend who had arranged the shoot, the fine photographer Laura Glabman, and I arrived 40 minutes before the scheduled start to set up the seamless, studio lights and my 4x5 wooden camera. Unfortunately, the museum was locked until the actual start time. By then we had a line of people waiting to participate - a situation that continued until the session was over.  Naazir's image is not a portrait in the usual sense. It was pretty much "Stand over there, hold your object close to you and don't move your feet once I have focussed." In many ways, it was as much a self-portrait as Wyeth's.  The other tie between to the two is that when describing Precious Objects and selecting pieces for exhibit or the book, I have frequently told people to consider the photographs as illustrations to the written statements. Wyeth, of course, was known as an illustrator (and the father of Andrew Wyeth.) Of course, when the subject shows through his image as strongly as Naazir did, the result is special.

You can see the Wyeth at the Brandywine River Museum where it is on loan from Mrs. Andrew Wyeth. As for Naazir, his image is the graphical inspiration for a new project I am starting this week whose subject is the love of music.

On Being 65

Those of you who know me have had to listen to me go on endlessly about how good my work has been to me this year. Most of that has been Precious Objects but the week at FotoFest in Houston and the installation of Every Place I Have Ever Lived at the Argus Museum in Ann Arbor all had their "Bright Moments". A handful of juried shows and even the occasional surprise pursuing new work and wrapping up one long term project (Costumes my collaboration with Cleveland Public Theater) also contributed. Ray Mc - The right image is the last in the project and the last of transparency film before switching to negatives What made the year so different was a maturing of my view of the place of these things. Was asked the other day whether I was going to do a sequel to Precious Objects. This is not a new question and my initial reaction is "been there, done that."  Part of being 65 is when someone hands you a question like that, you do not blurt out your initial reaction but are bit more respectful. Initially his follow up was about what he would pick which is what I like to call the "beginners" understanding of Precious Objects. The surprise came next as he went on to talk about the tragedy in Newtown, CT and what a great book I could make as a tribute to those kids.  This is no longer a "beginner". We are now talking about objects, photographs, exhibitions, books and art as political instruments. That is interesting to me. The fact that he now was able to see Precious Objects in that way was my reward for the day. More rewarding than anything I ever expected from my photography. That is pretty sweet.  Even better, he bought a book. 

There are a lot of issues with a project like that. First, as an artist, you have to be very aware of your role as an exploiter of tragedy. That is something you cannot escape. On fact, almost every photograph exploits at some level.  Newtown, because of its high profile also makes you vulnerable to others that might be exploiting the situation. It could get messy fast. In the end, the main reason I am not interested is that I am 65.  Certainly I care about kids being murdered in a school and have strong opinions about about violence and guns. As a hint, I do not think we should eliminate foreign aid to finance a machine gun nest in every middle school. That being said, it is not a core issue for me. At 65, my work has to be about things I really, really care about - community and neighborhood, the Great American Dream, music, people like my son who are different and a short list beyond that.

Being 65 means you don't have time to be cool any more. It also means you have been around long enough to understand that your sense of urgency may not be shared by those around you. Sucks to be them. Pretty sweet to be me right now.

Separation

Motivated to finally write something by an email from my friend Jacques in Paris.  He and wife Celeste (arguably my best friend) noticed on a TV show what appeared to be a clue to the burial location of her dad's great grand-parents in Berlin. This caused the ever-resourceful Jacques to do a massive Internet attack, finding images and maps.  This morning, watching old people's TV, during the movie reviews, they opined that holiday films (with Bing Crosby singing "Tura, Lura, Lura" on screen) are frequently about separation.  Which brings me (finally) to the point - separation.
I have wanted to say something about the recent passing of my friend, Randall Tiedman.  Copyright Randall TiedmanRandall was an extraordinary painter.  He had a remarkable talent for showing how it feels to live in the city in a loving, but unvarnished, way.  People would describe it as dystopic.  He would disagree.  If you looked ,
you could often see the same little islands of color that we find in a real city.  Most of my artist friends here are open and giving.  They have a little bit of Randall in them.  I still look for Randall at every show opening.  They are all diminished by his absence.
Randall participated in Precious Objects.  He did not like his portrait because it was done at a time when he was not doing well physically.  That did not stop him from coming over and telling his story.  Out of respect, I have cut his object out even though I thought he looks fine. As an good friend should.
Many, many of the stories in Precious Objects are about separation.  Some are about death, but equally as many are about those times when our paths diverge from friends and family.  Letters (I fear I am showing my age my mentioning letters) are all about separation. In a way, we are not adults until we separate from our parents.  Years later, like Robbii, we always regret that we did not talk enough to our parents when we could.  In closing, just want to note that Celeste and her dad, Martin, both participated in Precious Objects. Martin is now 92 and the envy of this "youngster".

The Great American Dream

Lustron home at Kansas City Kansas Community College from my current Lustron Stories project. Fabricated in 1948 in Columbus OH.While working on Every Place (I Have Ever Lived) - The Foreclosure Crisis in Twelve Neighborhoods, it was easy to see the problem as an attack on the "The Great American Dream."  We employ the term loosely, particularly during a political season.   It is useful to ask what that means. Some things certainly arguable.  Nevertheless, I would suggest that somewhere at its core is the idea of home ownership. It is impossible to overstate the damage that the foreclosure crisis has done to our belief that we all can, and should, aspire to owning our own home. It certainly shattered it for those that have lost their homes.  For those lucky enough to hold on, their homes worth perhaps 30% less than they were a few years ago, maybe less, may or may not have the equity they were counting on to cushion their retirement.  For those starting out, they no longer believe that it is safe to stretch your resources to buy that first home.  While we here a lot about the recession being driven by lack of housing starts, the actual damage is more spiritual than economic.  This will take a long time to fix. The good news might be the message in Precious Objects - that everything in life is cyclical and no matter how good or bad things appear, you are only a single event away from a very different path.
Speaking of Precious Objects, when the Maltz Museum picked their preliminary choices for the exhibit (that ended a week ago) tone was John K. John was a colleague from my first career. His piece talks about his career.  It represents work as more than a way to make money but a, rewarding, fulfilling aspect of a full life. Having that kind of work and career was another part of The Dream. Sadly, we put a stake in the heart of that idea many, many years ago.  John did spend his career at that company (I was gone after 25 years - they and I had had enough) and realized The Dream. His success is both a testament his talent, integrity and hard work and toThe Dream's value and truth. At least at the time. I felt John's portrait and statement did not make that clear and was pleasantly surprised when the people at the Museum chose it. When they later dropped the piece from their choices, I had them include it - the idea behind it is just too compelling to lose.