I don't read as much as I should. Still, every so often, I'm asked to share my favorite "art books". Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut...that's it, hands down. My good friend Ty recommended it to me years ago and it's been a favorite ever since. If a person lived by Ty's advice, they'd probably be the better for it. Ty also turned me on to Wilco, Pavement, and sushi...I'm forever indebted. Trust me, trust Ty...if your cup is half empty and you like art, you'd probably enjoy Bluebeard.
Here's an art book for you. Today, I found an Amazon box at my door. Enclosed was the brand-new picture book featuring 50 Rothko "Color Field" paintings. There are a few words by Rothko's son and curator Janet Bishop, but the bulk of the book is filled with full-page color reproductions of the well-known and often polarizing abstract works he became most recognized for. If you don't like Rothko, or abstract work in general, I get that you don't get it...some people don't listen to Bob Dylan because of his voice, some people don't like roundabouts because they've never been stuck in traffic, and some people don't believe in global warming because it still gets cold in the winter...whatever. The reproductions don't hold a candle to standing two feet from the real deal, but it'll do for the coffee table.
I've been admiring the full gamut of Rothko's color fields as I work on some new abstract-ish paintings. I know I'm doing the same thing that countless representational painters with a loose and colorful style have done before me, but it feels awfully exciting anyway. What I mean is, Rothko's big, floating shapes of color have fully immersed themselves into my paintings via the chaos of Turner's later depictions of steam and sea spray (check out Painting Set Free if you're into the real "painter of light"). They're pretty violent looking, if I had to say so. It's funny, I've spent years trying to draw and paint things in a way to convince the average person of some type of optical illusion...all to realize I just want to create big pictures of "nothing". I guess Jackson Pollock had to spend years painting with a brush and an easel before he learned how to make something "a toddler could do". And Neil Young had to shred on "Down by the River" before playing the solo on "Cinnamon Girl". The new paintings are fun. I'm not sure if they're any good, but I'm fairly certain they're some of the best things I've painted. Or maybe I'm a moron.
I'm thinking about buying a new pair of high-tops...
