the white frames

8. 26. 25

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For my show at The Verona Public Library, I have framed both the Margaret’s Crosswalks series and The Universe Series in lattice, painted white, with oil paint.

This is the first time that I have done so.

A brief history of my frames:

When I first started painting in NYC, rather than frame the piece, I would paint an outer black frame, with an inner white line, on the actual painting.

It just felt right.

When the director asked me why I did that, I told him that this is the way we see things. It’s as if we are standing at the mouth of a cave, our eye sockets forming the walls.

As if we live in darkness, always being informed, illuminated, by what we see and/or experience, outside of ourselves, which in this case, would be my painting.

Eventually, as my paintings slowed down, became more precise, I started framing with an inner white lattice, surrounded by black lattice. I liked the more defined, sharp edge of the line.

My explanation evolved to be that the black and white represented the two extremes, with everything else in between.

I wanted the person to view my work, with the context being “everything”.

For my Inside & Outside, Ideal & Reality show, the black lattice was covered with tangled and twisted black rope and string.

The white line remain untouched.

My message here was that the ideal is always pure and simple when first conceived; but once applied, reality can be twisted and ugly.

You can see examples of all three of these framing techniques in my gallery link (above).

Eventually, I decided to exhibit my paintings nude: no frame.

It’s like, any frame of any kind is saying something about the painting.

The frame sets-up the viewer to see the painting this way or that.

What I wanted to say, was that I didn’t want to say anything.

I didn’t want to do any of the thinking for the viewer.

Let them decide everything for themselves.

If you take all those fancy gold ornate frames off of the Monet paintings at the Met, I bet they would all look really different.

I wanted the viewer to see the painting without the wrapper, as the artist viewed it, when he was making the decisions within.

Maybe, perhaps, I was striving for greater honesty between the viewer and I.

Greater intimacy.

I went with “no frame” for a long time, until now, the unveiling of my white frames.

I experience them as light boxes.

Like these paintings have been waiting, living in the shadows, until the time was right.

Something has changed.

The switch has been flipped.

Fresh start.

New Beginning.

It’s time we do this thing.