Good evening everyone. I’m busy getting ready for Gowanus Open Studios, which is happening this weekend! This year for Open Studios I’m doing something a little different — delving into the archives and pulling out some works from previous years to put on display in the studio.
The feature archive treasure for this year is a painting I did in early 2010 (amazing that it was that long ago): I will plant companionship thick as trees (Calamus I) inspired by the a poem by Walt Whitman, “Calamus 5”:
“I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the /rivers of America, and along the shores of the great /lakes, and all over the prairies, /I will make inseparable cities, with their arms about each other’s necks.”
-Walt Whitman, Calamus 5, 1860.
I’ve been thinking of this series of Calamus paintings I did in 2010 a lot lately. It’s in these paintings that I first started exploring the motif that is a key part of my big mural on Nevins and DeGraw Streets, completed this past summer.
It’s nice to take this painting out of storage and give it a chance to breathe. It looks just as fresh as ever.
Be sure to visit me at Gowanus Open Studios this weekend. I’ll be a Trestle Art Space, 62 18th Street, on the first floor. I hope to see you there!
You must be logged in to post a comment.