show time

julie and i both had shows up this week, i was part of the daily painters of new mexcico show, a group that does small daily works. i helped install the show friday at our art space, address 1228 parkway, a combination loft gallery down in the industrial part of town. we bought a warehouse and revamped it, polished the concrete floors, installed walls, a kitchen, courtyard and overhead lighting and made ourselves a little jewel to host our own shows and shows for other artists. anyway, i worked all day hanging the show and that night there was an opening and a small crowd but some very interesting people as usual poppped up out of the woodworks. specifically one artist who said she painted horses just like i did only she did them in the eighties and that makes her before me because back then i was doing graffiti like street paintings, but we had a really fine talk about how our images worked themselves out of our subconscious and onto our canvas. i think she was astonished that we both worked in this way, letting the image announce itself instead of ordaining it. the more painters i talk to, the more common this idea becomes. you have to work with what shows up, i know i do. that and i have to keep the image fresh, and not try to over work it. Gaugin advised a friend, Don't polish too much, the subsequent hunting out of endless refinements only impairs the first draft; that is to let the incandescent lava grow old, to petrify your foaming blood. very poetic. saturday night we hung julie's colorful abstract works in Starbucks downtown on san francsico street, which may seem like an odd place for an art show but they have this beautiful 80 foot brick wall which shows julie's work off beautifully and the amount of people passing through there daily is much greater than any gallery in town. we're headed down there this week to celebrate her opening. jgk