Artwork of the month: "The Doryphoros"

This month I want to write about one of my favorite sculptures at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Doryphoros.

This sculpture is a Roman copy of Greek bronze sculpture.  Wealthy Romans had marble copies of Greek sculptures as a status trend.  This copy of the Doryphoros is one of five left in the world, and this one is almost completely intact.

The proportions of the Doryphoros are in perfect balance between tension and relaxation.  

Take a good look at the pose he stands in, it looks familiar doesn't it.
We all stand this way, we rest while we stand.  

The man is not simply standing, he is in motion as the sculpture shows us the balance of his gait.

Roman 

The Doryphoros

120-50 B.C.E.

Marble.

I have spent 11 years admiring this sculpture...

I have yet to tire of its visage.  

Improvisation 33: "Loring Park Sky"

These photos were created over the span of five days.  

This painting, Improvisation 33:  "Loring Park Sky" (80x60), was one of my major works during my Improvisation series.  It took me several days of constant work to complete this painting.  I barely slept or ate.  Being too into the moment of this work (and not wanting any of the paint to start to dry so I could continuously change it as needed), I just drank coffee and smoked cigarettes for four or five days until I completed the painting.

I used to just squeeze the paint out onto the canvas, then spread it around like frosting.

Philip Hoffman was painting with me durring a few of those days.  As his apprentice, he guided my decision at times toward a good composition.  Albeit, he always allowed me to make my own compositional choices.

That must have been exciting.

Almost complete.

The painting is finished.  I love working on a large surface as it is truly liberating.  

Here it is completed.

Series of Paintings: "Improvisations"

Let's start off this blog with a look at my past in the arts. 

This series of paintings was created from 1997-1998, (I am really unsure as to the actual dates.)  These works were my first real attempt to study abstraction.  

In 1997 I was working at Starbucks on 50th and France Avenue.  I would paint some landscapes or still-lifes and bring them to work and show them off to all the costumers, who might I add were older wealthy house wives who love impressionistic works of art (of course they do, Van Gogh works of art are on coffee cups everywhere).  I actually loved that job, my coworkers were cool, fun to be with and honest, and its coffee man, seriously do I need to explain that?  So one day I just up and quit.  A costumer came in and asked for some cardboard boxes to move with.  I checked, but we didn't have any, and wow was she mad.  She threw her latte on the floor, screamed at me about how she called the day before and asked us to hold the old boxes for her... bla bla bla; what an entitled little cunt.  I wasn't mad, I just wanted something different so I handed the store keys to my GM and left. 

I went home that day and stared at my paintings I was working on at the time.  I was using acrylic paint then, and I was almost out.  I did have a box of old oil paints that my grandmother, Virginia, gave me years before, but no solvent and no brushes.  I did have a few palette knives I could work with. 

So after looking at the oil colors, three large blank canvases, and the palette knives, I just simply started putting oil paint on the canvas.  I worked for several days straight, until I had finished all of the paintings.  I worked on this series for the next year+ straight, completing 60+ canvases.  I only have records of 50 of them.

There is really no artist statement here.

Improvisation 1 "Minneapolis" 

oil on canvas

80" x 50"

Improvisation 2 "Beach" 

oil on canvas

50" x 80"

Improvisation 3 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

70" x 30"

Improvisation 4 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

12" x 12"

Improvisation 5 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Improvisation 7 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

12" x 12"

Improvisation 8 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas 

12" x 12"

Improvisation 9 "Orange Stripes" 

oil on canvas

12" x 12"

Improvisation 10 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

12" x 12"

Improvisation 11 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

12" x 12"

Improvisation 12 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

12" x 22"

Improvisation 13 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

12" x 12"

Improvisation 14 "White Stripes" 

oil on canvas

12" x 40"

Improvisation 15 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Improvisation 16 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Improvisation 17 "Gold Stripes" 

oil on canvas

22" x 18"

Improvisation 18 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

12"x 24"

Improvisation 20 "Wine Label" 

oil on canvas

60" x 36"

Improvisation 21 "with Scratches" 

oil on canvas

50" x 50"

Improvisation 22 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

48" x 60"

Improvisation 23 "At the Opera" 

oil on canvas

50"x 50"

Improvisation 24 "Studio" 

oil on canvas

50" x 50"

Improvisation 25 "Squid City" 

oil on canvas

36" x 36"

Improvisation 26 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Improvisation 27 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Improvisation 28 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

48" x 24"

Improvisation 29 "Honkey Tonk" 

oil on canvas

40" x 70"

Improvisation 30 "Lighthouse a" 

oil on canvas

24" x 30"

Improvisation 31 "Lighthouse b" 

oil on canvas

24" x 48"

Improvisation 32 "Lighthouse c" 

oil on canvas

30" x 70"

Improvisation 33 "Loring park sky" 

oil on canvas

80" x 60"

Improvisation 34 "Northern Lights" 

oil on canvas

80" x 50"

Improvisation 35 "On the Other side of the Hill" 

oil on canvas

48" x 60"

Improvisation 36 "Lightning" 

oil on canvas

36" x 24"

Improvisation 37 "7 Sailboats" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Improvisation 38 "Hut study" 

oil on canvas

22" x 18"

Improvisation 39 "Tree study a" 

oil on canvas

22" x 18"

Improvisation 40 "Tree study b" 

oil on canvas

12" x 12"

Improvisation 41 "Tree study c" 

oil on canvas

22" x 18"

Improvisation 42 "Tree study d" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Improvisation 43 "The Tree in the park where the hore sleeps sometimes" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Improvisation 44 "Beach at Night" 

oil on canvas

50" x 80"

Improvisation 45 "Thomas Cromwell and the King" 

oil on canvas

48" x 24"

Improvisation 46 "Saint George and the Dragon" 

oil on canvas

36" x 40"

Improvisation 47 "Waterspout" 

oil on canvas

20" x 60"

Improvisation 48 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

48" x 24"

Improvisation 49 "Untitled" 

oil on canvas

18" x 22"

Thanks for checking out my blog...

...keep checking in, more to come soon.