Work for me like FLESH: Lucian Freud

In the spring of 2010, I flew to Paris for a short leg of two weeks.  I prioritized a visit to good ole' Beaubourg in order to see an exhibition of, in my view, one of the masters of contemporary painting; Lucian Freud. He is enormous. His paintings had to be seen in real life to absorb their colossal nature.

Reflection. Lucian Freud, 1993.

I was taken by the virile forces at work behind his heavy brush stroke.  I sat on a low bench and wrote the following:

"Work for me like FLESH"

Exercises in musing off paintings begin with Lucian Freud- his realization of human flesh, pores, skin, blue veins, pink veins, red veins, translucence, the protruding nipple, the perturbed glutton, disproportion of fat and muscle, even hair, even wood grain like flesh, flesh like wood grain, holy wonder of the leaf, light between the garden, splurging dance amongst the faucets too thin to touch, sumo wrestlers too thick to grant the wishes of space-deny contact-or escape, the made bed stark wrinkled, wrinkle of the every limb or edge, limp dog curling, curling like a rug or toe, the contortion of bodies you will never see upright save through catastrophe or collision with death, boots with open mouths.

We are surrounded by imperfection and fascinated by its departure from beauty.

March 25, 2010

Paris, France

The Entropy of Found Objects, as Art

Last nite I went to a local bar to see a humble exhibit of found slides that had been water damaged, resulting in a natural deterioration of the images.  The exhibitor had the slides blown up and presented upon constructed light boxes emulating a large scale slide.   The images belonged to his parents, presumably on mid-century travels around the globe.  The eroded slides were beautiful and made interesting by their decomposition.  The slides that caught my eye were the ones that mimicked impressionist paintings, lost in diaphanous smears of color.  I could not stop thinking about erosion.

What is the role of natural erosion in found Art? 

 Initially, when an artist chooses to exhibit a found object, he or she is essentially the scientist placing the object beneath the magnifying glass.  There is an inherent talent in spotting an object and seeing its potential as a thought and sense provoking thing.  Further yet, artists throughout history have experimented with different ways of deconstructing  objects.  Artists have strived to simulate the chaos that exists in nature within their works of art. 

There is entropy in nature. It is the natural reversal of ordered things, thus, the order of life.

When an artist chooses to present to the public a collection of found objects which have been manipulated naturally, the outcome is not contingent upon his or her will.  There is a lack of responsibility at hand.  Natural deterioration takes the blame, if there be a fault.  It is fascinating, even mind blowing, to look closely at an eroded object.  Then, to associate that feeling with the artist behind the exhibit is perplexing and certainly raises some questions.