Stages

Next month is bittersweet, in a way- I’m going over work from the last fifteen years or so, and seeing how many different styles and approaches I’ve tried, loved, and then changed. Sometimes I explored a theme, like Vanished Kingdoms- or raw canvas are architectonic lines-or a period when nothing gave me more pleasure than a mid-century vibe with comic book colors and controlled geometry.

One of my core beliefs was that I would not be a painter who sticks with one thing thats popular. In my case I went from subject to medium to style, and have not only enjoyed the journey but found so many friends and supporters who responded to the changes over the years. In the artworld today you’re encouraged to have a brand and stick with it; but that’s not really new.

When I was producing the Light in Winter Festival, I had the opportunity to meet Mark Rothko’s son Chris. thanks to the composer Bruce Adolph who helped conceive a program we did on music and art. Chris Rothko lives in a lovely Upper West Side apartment, and when I entered I saw the walls covered, sometimes floor to ceiling, with small lovely watercolors that looks like Chagalls. But they werent, of course; they were Rothkos. He, like many painters, went through different stages before coming to his super large, three-striped ombre oil paintings. At that point his representatives took every previous painting off the market, so as not to “confuse” the artworld as to who Rothko was.

I’m not in that league and don’t have those constraints- so i’m very happy to feature many large pieces that may appeal to all kinds of people, and cut the normal prices in half. I’d rather see them happily ensconced elsewhere than hidden away!