Author Archives: JMN
Wrestling With Darkness
I wish the article quoted here had reproduced the De Chirico painting it mentions. I like to see evidence of how painting and music can interact for an artist. I’m only now becoming acquainted with Monder’s music. His recurring dream … Continue reading
“The End of Satire”
I have a taste for good satire. I also revere an ability to change one’s mind in a considered, informed way. The article quoted here moves me for what it shows of this process, which can be painful, as well … Continue reading
A Black Hole Sings in B Flat
There is great buzz today around black holes in celebration of the latest observations. The sense of awe these phenomena induce has intersected just now with my private boning up on fundamentals of music theory, leaving me astounded on many … Continue reading
“I don’t paint what I see but what I saw”
There’s much that’s discoverable for me about Munch. These excerpts stood out. Artists I admire are similarly self-critical and leery of pretty pictures. Munch’s house and studio were on a remote hillside above Oslo, where he fled after his 1908 … Continue reading
Side Hustle
How old are “old Chinese sayings” and how many are actually Chinese? Fewer than all of them, I surmise. However, one I encountered said that wisdom consists in getting things by their right names. It appealed to me because it … Continue reading
“Perverse Obliqueness”
Brexit defies me as much as my native political scene defies me. Anomalies aside, I find here a stretch of forceful writing to savor for language’s sake. I came to attention from “carapace” forward. What follows illumines for me something … Continue reading
Paint-by-Numbers
For art critics, painting-by-numbers was, and is, a byword for robotic repetition and unoriginality… (Jonathan Jones, “From Warhol to minimalism: how painting by numbers revolutionised art,” The Guardian, 4-5-19) At some point in my pre-teen years I was given a … Continue reading →