Introduction

I was a Painting Major,

at the Art Academy of Cincinnati,

back in the early 70s.

Back when choosing to be a painter as a career option,

was somewhat socially acceptable.

The Vietnam War was coming to an end, and everybody was something of a hippie.

There were only a handful of painting majors in the school, but all of us were going to move to NYC and make a living as an artist.

It’s what all painting students everywhere wanted to do back then.

There was just so much idealism and romance in the air.

We lived like anything was possible.

It wasn’t long after graduating,

that I made the move.

There was a 7 year interlay of time spent in preparation,

mostly in New Mexico,

but once I got back to NYC,

I pretty much hit the ground running.

My timing was perfect.

One thing would always lead to the next:

I started out staging rather elaborate shows on the street,

caught the East Village Art Scene from beginning to end,

which led to Allan Stone and the Upper East Side,

followed by MB Modern on 57th Street where I became the bonafied Art Star.

I then dropped out of the gallery scene.

There were two reasons why:

The first was that galleries do not care at all about the artist’s thought, especially if it is controversial in any way, as that complicates sales.

Galleries are businesses, and they basically want product.

The director of MB Modern, who sold everything I gave him, didn’t even like my titles.

He said they made the client think too much.

The second reason that I dropped out of Gallery World is because nobody spends any time in a gallery looking at paintings.

They just walk around in them and leave.

Great painting doesn’t give up hardly anything at a glance.

You have to live with it.

See it at different times of the day,

different moods,

different weather.

My idea from now is to show local,

placing paintings in public locations for long periods of time.

You don’t have to go to school to understand great painting.

It’s more like understanding good cooking.

All it takes is exposure.

The Verona Public Library has generously offered me 3 months,

to hang what will be a very substantial show,

by someone who was born with a gift,

and spent his lifetime pushing it.

Have that, do that with anything, and you will master it.

These paintings have a lot to say.

A big part of my motivation is to use my foundation to create a local template that young artists everywhere can look up to and hopefully find their own way wherever they might live,

as the NYC model has become unrelatable for most,

including this guy.

See you in September.

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