Sculptor Jerry Harris

January 1, 2012 Issue coming up

Today In Art-2

Artist Adrian Piper

No Definition

(Andrian Piper)

Today In Art-1

Eugene Martin

Midnight Golfer, 1998 by Eugene J. Martin

Real artists are never forgotten. Picasso said, "I am the same person that everyone knew me in the beginning. " He also said that fame was the castration of God on the artist. Many artists, such as Eugene J. Martin were not into the fame game. He was just an artist who created.

(The nervious reindeer, 2001, Eugene Martin)

Mr. Martin started out with very poor beginnings. He was an orphan and ran away from that horror story. He began his creative life selling his works of art on the streets of Washington, D.C. Is not lfe so beautiful in tne stars?

He had some formal training at the Corcoran College of Art, but this was only his beginning. His production was astounding, leaving the world at the age of 66. He left us with over 5,000 paintings and works of art. He is now in many national and international collections.. Read more about this great artist on wikipedia and his website: eugenemartinart.com. 

AAA

How American Artists Are Bought And Sold

Not long ago, there was no such thing as an art market. The boom came about in the 50's. The New York City art dealers started their rise to power. They created what is now known as a "stable," artists that they would promote, make big money, and create a ruling power. They made super stars out of Picasso, De Kooning, Andy Warhol, and Sol Lewitt. They let in many others, culminating with Jeff Koons--a business man artist. They created MOMA, The  Museum of Modern Art, New York City, and their grand kids, SFMOMA, and hundreds more.

Jeff Koons Bullshit Art

Of course this all doesn't mean zip to the average American. Art is not for the people; it is for the rich. Most artists don't start out to make money. They just want to create. Many do and suffer for it. Like the power brokers in government, media, and commerce, only a few are let in the game. And like many games in America, if you don't know how to play, you will not stay. Geed is good even in the art world.

They have let a few African Americans in the game too. Richard Hunt, Martin Puryear, and that new comer Kara Walker who plays right in the hands of rich benefactors with her exigous sayings, "Black people love to be slaves."

Kara Walker silhouette

Yes my dear, there is money in art, especially if it has nothing to say.  I am not saying that artists like Martin Puryear, an African American sometimes, are not good at what they do, and he is good, but they are only satisfied with fame and fortune.

Martin Puryear "Old Mole."

To get back to basics, art has always been a guiding light to the excesses of a society. An artist is somebody who throws a brick through a window, and a great artist is a person who paints a picture on that window, goes back and throws another one at it. The purpose of art is to give life a shape.

Jerry Harris, AAA

Writers and Writing

Kurt Vonnegut  A new biography

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

Kurt was a real boozer, like myself, and many other creative people. There is nothing new here. As a young man in San Francisco I was so into one of his famous "novels" 'Slaughter House Five.' It open my mind to what one could do with words and dark comedy.

It was very griping. He was what I was looking for--a comic writer who could show me the horrors of what men are capable of doing to their brothers and sisters. Now a new biography by Charles J. Shields, brings some light and a lot of darkness about the author. What can we say? His mother committed suicide on Mother's Day. Oh well, there is that old saying, "Writers should be read and not seen." Tom Wolf was running around at this time in his white suits too, but we know today that he became a sell out--a rich New Yorker. Welcome " Mr. Rosewater." You have finally found your peace. AAA

Music, Film, and Multimedia

Pops

Louis Armstrong

The tapes

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971).

People believe that we know a person-- reality tells us something quite different. Even an autobiography  never reveals the star of the story. Facts be damn.

In Louis Armstrong's case, one can hear the tapes that he left behind, that he was not a one-dimensional caricature whom many whites and blacks believed.

Although Miles Davis loved "Pops" as he was affectionately  called in Harlem, Davis abhorred his smiling face. Young militant blacks dismissed him as an Uncle Tom.

Now with the release of the 650 reels of tapes entrusted to the archives of New York's Queens College, we have a new picture. Like any black man worth his salt and pepper, Louis did have anger about race thinking in America.

At one point he blew up at a white stagehand for calling him "Satchmo," because instead of the more appropriate Mr. Armstrong, which is how the stagehand addressed white actors. Only a few of these tapes have been released.

Some are so mind blowing , that there is a time lock for them to be heard by the public. Whatever way one wants to deal with them, Louis, Louie, Satchmo, and Pops is a great man. AAA