Tag Archives: art

Martha Diamond: ‘Looming Masses, Fleeting Vistas, Overwhelming Immersion’

Posted on September 9, 2024 by JMN

She completed an oil painting in one sitting, often mixing colors on the surface of the canvas. Martha Diamond’s approach to painting, and her execution, delight me. I dream of achieving something even approximating her studied generality in my own … Continue reading →

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Attack of the Cosmic Chuckle

Posted on September 6, 2024 by JMN

I heard that Iris Murdoch said (or wrote), “Everything that comforts is fake.” Then I read: According to the best theories available, matter — everything we can see and feel in the universe — should not exist. Every particle of … Continue reading →

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Claudette Johnson (1959 – Present), Artist of the British West Midlands ‘Blk Art Group’

Posted on September 5, 2024 by JMN

“I tend to just make a mess.” (Claudette Johnson) Artist-blogger OutsideAuthority’s mention of an exhibition of work by Claudette Johnson in Birmingham (England) caused me to discover an article about Johnson’s first solo show in New York last year. These … Continue reading →

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Terrific Image, Perfect Caption

Posted on September 3, 2024 by JMN
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A Carton of French Fries Walks Into a Bar

Posted on August 16, 2024 by JMN

This is the latest specimen in The New Yorker’s cartoon caption contest that has run for centuries. I’ve never come close to inventing a caption for an entry in this feature, but it fascinates me for what it often shows … Continue reading →

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‘Just About Everyone Needed Therapy’

Posted on August 11, 2024 by JMN

“Gathering, touching, connecting — these are Tosquelles’s methods.” This article highlights an exhibition at the American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan that will end on August 18, 2024:  Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut. The Catalan … Continue reading →

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Survival of the Fiercest

Posted on August 4, 2024 by JMN

Various scriptural matter I read has the theme of the “test” through adversity. Failing the test consigns a person to The Fire — agony until the end of time. Flood, drought, pestilence, persecution, war, Vance, all manner of affliction are … Continue reading →

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‘Plastic Is This Zombie Medium’

Posted on July 30, 2024 by JMN

Verse can have visual ramifications as well as verbal ones. Text commandeers white space on the page in one-off patterns reflecting a close collaboration between author and typographer. The ensemble is larger than the words which are its literal medium. … Continue reading →

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‘You Have to Work Through Bad Work to Get to Good Work’

Posted on July 27, 2024 by JMN

Artist Sarah Sze was interviewed in the New York Times’s feature titled “Artist’s Questionnaire.” This was my favorite question and answer. Which work of your own do you regret or would [you] do differently now? I guess I would say … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 2 Comments

patience

Posted on July 17, 2024 by JMN

FURTHER AWAY– Don’t care ! I’ve got plenty of time ! patience The pen and wit of Gilles Labruyère are a daily marvel. This one in particular connects me with a favorite topic: signs that point somewhere. The quintessential sign … Continue reading →

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