First, I’ll admit to a slight bias: I’ve been an unabashed fan of the work of J. Don Cook for three decades, first as a news photographer, then as an art photographer and more recently as a writer, sculptor, painter. I even like the guy himself, despite the fact that he cut my favorite tie off me at the Red Cup one fine day.
That aside, his new work he debuted at Nova Friday knocked me out. I really loved it. Such happy, vibrant colors and a mysterious technique. In the black and silver techno look of Nova, it just was brilliantly displayed and I could just gush with admiration.
As an art weekend, it was the first I saw and the most vivid, but it only set the stage for a wonderful weekend of artistic pursuits.
That same night was Paseo Gallery Walk with a wonderful retrospective at JRB and — believe it or not — an even stronger show at PAA gallery on the other end of the street. Suzart oversaw a show of several artists and for there only being about 20 pieces showing, I saw at least 5 that I lusted after. I want to mention my friend Lynn Barnett Sparks especially since I just adored a small piece she did of a woman’s tatooed bum topped by a masked head.
From there, it would have been easy to feel a letdown, but the furniture and design show at IAO held up well against such good competition. Loved loved loved several of the pieces, including Kyle Golding’s and someone I don’t think I know named Fitzsimmons (?). The Bewleys had wonderful glass and she had a black and red legged accent piece that made my mouth water with avarice.
That should have been enough for one weekend, but never sated, I also did the studio tour in the area just west of Classen above 39th. Martha Green never disappoints with her predominately red and silk fabric pieces and she snuck me into a back room to see a George Oswalt I’d never before seen that she owns.
One might have been forgiven for not noticing art at Ernesto and Lynne’s gorgeous house and garden, but there was plenty of Sanchez “cellular”/organic/bubbles work to catch your eye and some environmental art under a tent by another artist and did you know that Ron Ferrell the sculptor knows the best places to sit and enjoy a beverage at every studio in town?
Susan Mears house and studio was a cornicopia of bright colored glass and piece after piece of yes-I-want-that-in-my-house work.
We finished up Saturday’s art tour at Paul Medina’s studio, where he was showing some work from the 1990s that had not been seen for all those years, but shared the vivid colors I’d started with on Friday afternoon at J.Don’s show. The lovely Emily as bartender was just one more piece of art since she’s featured in several of the works more recent by Paul. Paul’s multimedia work of the past couple of years never fails to engage me on all levels, they are all altars to art and his power and authority as an artist.
sunday, I hid from the world and my cell phone in a dark theatre and watched Departed. Go. I’m not even going to say anymore than just go and see it. It’s worth it and you’ll like it. It’s a work of art, too, and everyone will be talking about it, so go and form your own commentary.
A final thank you to all of you who went to Dallas and let me into the best bars and restaurants and helped me find the good parking places in your absence. I enjoyed the better service.
Which brings me to bad service. Twice now, the service at Bossa Nova Bar above Cafe do Brazil on a Friday night has been absolutely horrid. If it weren’t for the full moon and skyline available from their rooftop deck, I would have been lividly denouncing the joint to Anna’s face and be grateful to be 86’d. Between the bad service upstairs and the bad music set too loud downstairs … grrrrrrrrr!!! I like the place, the food and Anna. I really really WANT that place to succeed. I gotta think twice about whether I’ll go again on Friday night.
In the same way other guys pour over baseball statistics or football scores, I’ve been obsessed with polling and other political insider crap and I’ve spent a hell of a lot of time pouring over minutia. The problem of predicting political outcomes is the same as with a college football game or a baseball World Series. This political year is especially frustrating because it’s a low turnout cycle since the presidency isn’t on the line. This means a very small change among those who actually go and vote (as opposed the everyone who has a political opinion and may sometimes vote) can make a big difference in the outcomes. This year’s primaries had record low turnouts. Randy Graf in Arizona is the GOP nominee and a Republican nomineewould ordinarily be a good bet in the Tucson area that has been represented for several terms by a retiring well-liked incumbent. But, a small number of very conservatives voters beat the national GOP choice of a more moderate and less strident conservative. Now, Graf is getting pummelled by a Democrat in the polls, but he was also being pummelled in the polls when he won his primary. Same for the Democrats in Conn., where a minority position held fervently by those who actually voted ousted Sen. Lieberman, a former party vice presidential nominee and, for all appearances earlier this year, a shoo-in. There’s also the consideration of the institutional advantages the Republicans have built into the system. From language and framing the issues to gerrymandering and maybe even vote fraud where absolutely necessary, and certainly their get-out-the-vote superiority, the GOP outperforms the polls and can really make polls look foolish in low turnout cases. The media I’m reading — even the insider commentary — has its own biases to weigh and the polls themselves are not equal — some are more persuasive (like Gallup) to me than others (like Zogby) and that’s a REAL insider thing about methodology, statistics and interpretation. Anyway, it comes down to reading tea leaves and chicken entrails.
Bedtime. Big week. Things to do, people to sue, lives to ruin.