Monday, February 25, 2013

New Work


Well, sorta new, newly photographed anyway by Steven Bates of Art Documentation who does his usual fine job with my work.

Click on each image for a larger picture.


The Mountain Pass, 2011, oil on canvas, 22" x 35"

The painting is based on memories of trips to Colorado when I was very young, together with recollections of Balthus' The Mountain.




The Mountain Pass, detail

These figures are based entirely on memory and imagination.  The photos we took during these trips across mountain passes in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado in the early 1970s are all gone.  I took a few liberties.  We never hiked.  We always drove a four-wheel drive across.  I exaggerated the scenery a little, but not much.




The Mountain Pass, detail

An imaginary self portrait of the teen-aged me drawing in the high mountains, something I never did.  The wind was too strong at that height.




The Mountain Pass, detail





***



Mary Magdalene Meets the Risen Christ, 2012, oil on canvas, 24" x 24"

I made this painting for the Church of Saint Luke in the Fields, New York.


Mary Magdalene and Christ, detail




Mary Magdalene and Christ, detail




***

I'm making another series of paintings about the artist and writer David Wojnarowicz.  I made the first series of paintings about 12 years ago.  That first series of paintings had a kind of liturgical structure to it.  I've tossed that out and concentrated on Wojnarowicz less as a martyr and more as a kind of creative hero.   The series is ongoing and I'm not quite sure how many paintings I will end up with, or how it will end.




Painting David, oil on canvas, 2011, 20" x 30"






The Green Pterodactyl, 2011, oil on canvas, 20" x 30"

This painting is loosely based on the many paintings David Wojnarowicz made on the walls of the abandoned west side docks, in the old warehouses and counting houses.  He was one of many artists who worked there, famous and not.





Krazy Kat Landscape, 2012, oil on canvas, 20" x 30"

This painting is based on 2 things; David's love for the old cartoon Krazy Kat drawn by George Herriman in the early 20th century, and his love for driving through the deserts and mountains of the West.  David often compared the landscapes of the desert southwest to those in Herriman's cartoons (Herriman lived in Arizona).





What Is This Little Guy's Job in the World? 2012, oil on canvas, 20" x 30"

This painting is based on a passage by Wojnarowicz:

What is this little guy's job in the world.  If this little guy dies does the world know?   Does the world feel this?  Does something get displaced?  If this little guy dies does the world get a little lighter?  Does the planet rotate a little faster?  If this little guy dies, without his body to shift the currents of air, does the air flow perceptibly faster?  What shifts if this little guy dies?  Do people speak language a little bit differently?  If this little guy dies does some little kid somewhere wake up with a bad dream?  Does an almost imperceptible link in the chain snap?  Will civilization stumble?




What Is This Little Guy's Job?, detail




What Is This Little Guy's Job?, detail





What Is This Little Guy's Job?  detail






What Is This Little Guy's Job?, detail







The Backseat, 2013, oil on canvas, 20" x 30"

David Wojnarowicz had a lot of adventures on his travels, including sexual ones.  There was always a large element of risk involved in these encounters, usually from intruders or the police.  They frequently took place in the backseats of cars in remote places, in motel rooms, or in farm houses.  Sometimes David's partners were deeply closeted and isolated.  Usually they were other men who enjoyed casual sex as much as he did.




The Backseat, detail






The Backseat, detail






The Backseat, detail





The Backseat, detail




UPDATE:

The old series I did about 12 years ago about David Wojnarowicz has been donated by its owner Jeff Goodman to the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art.

5 comments:

JCF said...

Tell us (me) more about Risen Christ and Magdalene? (there's a lot going on in it)

In "The Backseat", is that Wojnarowicz's lap, or is Wojnarowicz on the lap? (they look similar---if they were two lesbians, the joke would be "Dyke-a-like"!)

Thanks so much, Doug. You're an inspiration!

Mark Harris said...

Your work is extraordinary. The paintings are stories within stories within stories.

Does Christ ever turn out in your paintings to be a dumpy little guy with scraggly beard, slightly bemused?

Even if not like me when I was young, and more I suspect like you, I do like your Jesus images.

Thanks again for wonderful talent.

Mark Harris said...

Your work is extraordinary. The paintings are stories within stories within stories.

Does Christ ever turn out in your paintings to be a dumpy little guy with scraggly beard, slightly bemused?

Even if not like me when I was young, and more I suspect like you, I do like your Jesus images.

Thanks again for wonderful talent.

Counterlight said...

Thanks Father Harris.

Thanks JCF.

Kittredge Cherry said...

I’ve enjoyed seeing these on your Facebook page before, but it’s a delight to see them here bigger and with some explanation from you about their content. Thanks to you, I am thinking of writing a tribute to Wojnarowicz for the anniversary of his untimely death.

We have a childhood photo of Audrey sketching on a mountaintop while on a family vacation. Scanning it is on our to-do list. I’ll send you a copy. Thanks for sharing your visions.