 "Uphill the Hero" (2022 No.4, state 9), oil on canvas, 60x58 inches  "Uphill the Hero" (2022 No.4, state 8), oil on canvas, 60x56⅝ inches  "The Beginnings of Caution" (2022 No.4, state 3), oil on canvas, 47¼x47 inches There is an article in today's New York Times about the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat (quoted below). I worry about my propensity to make complex compositions. In this blog I have often written about my compositional worries. I am struggling to be free of the complex. I want to engage viewers quickly, easily; Basquiat models this well, Basquiat’s compositions are inherently simple; he was a master of compositional simplicity, which allowed complexity in everything else. Basquiat did not always have a complex message, but he always produced simple compositions. Yesterday I moved in that direction. Both of my recent paintings became simpler in composition. At last, I am giving in, I am learning to communicate more deeply by relying on simplicity of composition. CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK, New York Times, April 29, 2022  Drawing 03·01·2022, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches It is remarkable; I am having great difficulty paring down to essentials. Yesterday's drawing is a good example. Because of its success, it verifies the need for difficulty. Then again, my recent painting fails: "Silence, Exile, and Cunning", has an annoying, unsuccessful white form down its center. What was I thinking? That white streak will be removed. That will happen today.
 Drawing 01·18·2022 No.2, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches "Getting It" means simplifying the message to purity; so pure that it cannot be misunderstood.
 Drawing 12·16·2021 No.2, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches  Drawing 12·16·2021 No.1, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches I want my Art to simultaneously contain purity and emotive complexity. Are they mutually exclusive? I believe Mark Rothko, and Ellsworth Kelly, have proved otherwise. And... they are not the only ones.
Negative space is paramount as emotive structure. Positive forms share responsibility; forms must be profoundly, attentively complex, while positioned sparsely within negative space. Yesterday's drawings continue my research into this dilemma, purity versus emotive complexity.  "Gonna Speak to the Crowd" (2021 No.5, state 12), oil on canvas, 64x57⅜ inches, {"I'm gonna spare the defeated — I'm gonna speak to the crowd. I'm gonna spare the defeated, boys, I'm going to speak to the crowd. I am goin' to teach peace to the conquered. I'm gonna tame the proud." - Bob Dylan, "Lonesome Day Blues" (2001)} This painting, "Gonna Speak to the Crowd", hits hard. Its value contrast is large. It is spiritually simple. It is bright. I am surprised when my paintings go this way. I should pay deep attention to this simple and bright solution. This painting is, afterall, is a potent signpost.
 Drawing 09·22·2021, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches Too simple? Too complex? Too simple? Too Complex? Yes, but... I don't think either "too simple"or "too complex" is true if composition centers the answer. My goal is make my art impossible to look away. Thus, I go back and forth, simple, complex, simple, et cetera; testing and researching. Look at yesterday's post to see what I mean.
Today's drawing may have a touch of both simple and complex. It is definitely a limited affair compared to the drawing I posted yesterday.  "No Living Thing Can Exist Without It" (2021 No.3, state 10), oil on canvas, 58x56 inches, {"Art always serves beauty, and beauty is the joy of possessing form, and form is the key to organic life since no living thing can exist without it." - Boris Pasternak, "Doctor Zhivago" (1958)}  Drawing 04·23·2021, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches This work is self explanatory. To see my philosophical direction, and its effect on my imagery, shuttle back to yesterday's blog, then return here. Truth is simple; I am working toward simple truth.
 "No Living Thing Can Exist Without It" (2021 No.3, state 9), oil on canvas, 58x56 inches, {"Art always serves beauty, and beauty is the joy of possessing form, and form is the key to organic life since no living thing can exist without it." - Boris Pasternak, "Doctor Zhivago" (1958)}  Drawing 04·22·2021, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches Simplicity leads to my presence. Yesterday's dramatic move of the painting, "No Living Thing Can Exist Without It", is toward simplicity. Its current version (state 9) calls out clearly; in other words, it is more convincingly me, than it was before yesterday's alteration. Yesterday's drawing also shows I cam be complex and simple at the same time.
 "No Living Thing Can Exist Without It" (2021 No.3, state 4), oil on canvas, 56x56 inches, {"Art always serves beauty, and beauty is the joy of possessing form, and form is the key to organic life since no living thing can exist without it." - Boris Pasternak, "Doctor Zhivago" (1958)}  Drawing 04·07·2021, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches I am using a sketchbook again. You will not see it here because it is sketch notes to myself. It is teaching me basic needs. It is teaching me the simplicity of vision. I do need to change directions. I do need to go short and sweet. My work, too often, becomes complex. Too often I have solved problems by adding to complexity, rather than paring down to simple messaging. Yesterday's drawing exhibits my confusion. It has duplicity, and self awareness. Yesterday's drawing wants to go simple, but ends with a complexity of forms. Number and kinds of forms can distract. Going toward fewer forms is not necessarily going too little. There are all kind is of ways of making simplicity, sparsity of forms, into grand statements, ones filled with emotion and meaning. I am on the road to blunt and purposeful art. Keeping ideas alive, minute by insightful minute, will help. This is the reason for carrying a sketchbook, everywhere and always. I often awake with insights. My sketchbook was on my bedstead last night. This morning it was the first thing I picked up.
Working toward simplicity is necessary. That is happening in the painting, "No Living Thing Can Exist Without It".  Drawing 01·21·2021, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches There is a lot in a little, and vice versa. I must be careful. Muck can overwhelm. Muck can distract. Confusion reigns if the the simplest of truth telling is not sustained. Yesterday's drawing allows the viewer to engage with a simple rectangle within a rectangle. This engagement occurs despite it being built with a complex web. I believe yesterday's drawing tells a proper story.
|
To read my profile go to MEHRBACH.com.
At MEHRBACH.com you may view many of my paintings and drawings, past and present, and see details about my life and work. Archives
June 2022
|
RSS Feed