Monthly Archives: February 2024

Are You Going to Savory Fare? Parsley, Turmeric, Tofu and Lime

Posted on February 26, 2024 by JMN

Remember me to one who waits there,She once was a server of mine. Love to Michelle and Phyllis in their respective states; to Raúl in Barcelona at the university bar; to the vendor near the Plaza de Cataluña who put … Continue reading →

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‘Poetry Doesn’t Need Music’

Posted on February 22, 2024 by JMN

Poetry doesn’t need music. All of its music is contained in print on the page.(PJ Harvey) People try to tell me I’m a poet and I say, No, I have music and rhythm to help me get my point across … Continue reading →

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‘Heartfelt, Slapdash, But Unredeemed by Art’

Posted on February 18, 2024 by JMN

Art is something scrappy and strange; it may hiss rather than purr. How it redeems, presumably, is at the heart of the critic’s project, but also the lay consumer’s. That’s me. In doodling my readings of <clears throat> lineated discourse, … Continue reading →

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His First Word Was ‘Pencil’

Posted on February 16, 2024 by JMN

“What I’ve come to realize after 30 years of research is that the pictorial output of Picasso basically consists of drawings rendered in paint. His entire oeuvre is conceived, anticipated and elaborated through drawing.” (Anne Baldassari) Give my my pencil, … Continue reading →

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Muscle of the Cheek

Posted on February 14, 2024 by JMN

… The buccinator assists the muscles of mastication. It aids whistling and smiling, and in neonates it is used to suckle. (Wikipedia) It’s also useful for reciting poetry. I met buccinator (BUCKS-i-nater), an ancient horn tooter, in the poem “Sissy … Continue reading →

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Frans Hals ‘Bet Everything on Portraiture’

Posted on February 11, 2024 by JMN

Hals bet everything on portraiture… It was a profession, not a calling. His job was to disappear into the paint. (Zachary Fine) For me Vermeer is glassy and distant where Hals is rudely… reachable. The tossed-off affect of his paintings’ … Continue reading →

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‘Have a Nice Day’ in Plain Language

Posted on February 10, 2024 by JMN

Javier Sánchez knows how to open up a can of tough love and share it with his reader. What he wrote the other day in Las palabras de Javier follows, along with my English translation (kindly authorized by Javier). Can … Continue reading →

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‘A Spume of Green or a Blood-Red Fog’

Posted on February 6, 2024 by JMN

[Rothko] modeled a commitment to abstraction that charged at the hardest questions of life and art through refusal of the easy path… [He] never thought of [his paintings] as peaceable. “Behind the color lies the cataclysm,” he said in 1959 … Continue reading →

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Gospel of the Undies

Posted on February 2, 2024 by JMN

“Lord, help us to realize that our nation is at a tipping point, that people on the left literally hate you. They hate your word. They, many times, hate our country.” (From opening “prayer” at a primary rally) Phrases registered … Continue reading →

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