A Master Amongst Us…
[UPDATE: The links to Mick's picasa gallery have been fixed. I always check links to make sure they work, so it is not clear whether they worked but then got broken or maybe I had a senior moment, a brain phart. Nevertheless, the links work now. Thanks and sincere apologies to Mick Brady.]
As our entwining and overlapping circles of blogs evolve, we develop some sense of what other writers are made of, what they do beyond blogging, maybe a glimpse of their personal and or work lives. Sometimes our perceptions are correct, sometimes they miss by a country mile. On this one, I hit the bullseye.
For as long as I have been reading Mick Brady’s Dancing in Tongues, I have sensed there was artistic genius at work behind that stern, sun-shaded face we see on his blog. From time to time Mick has teased us with flashes of his art. Now he has a number of pieces displayed in a picassa gallery. As soon as I laid eyes on the piece titled kabuki (for richard), it owned me. Usage requested. Granted. Voila. That’s a slice of Mick’s original up in my header. The colors, the texture, the openness, the complexity, the simplicity, the diversity, the overall feel of kabuki complements my site perfectly. I can only hope that what I do here never in any way taints Mick or his wonderful art.
Mick describes his work thusly: All of the digital art I create is made out of found objects; in fact, there may be a Buick fender or bumper floating around in there somewhere (digitally photographed, manipulated on the computer, layered, etc., but much of it goes back to (Richard Stankievicz). Studied with him directly for several years in undergrad school…
He continues that this particular piece is named after a sculpture by one of my primary teachers and mentors, Richard Stankievicz, who was one of the founding fathers, along with David Smith and others, of found object sculpture. He was a huge influence on me, and I have carried his thinking with me for many years.
My hearty thanks to Mick for allowing me to share his art in this way! I sincerely hope that the other activities and displays here never detract from or blemish Mick’s work.
[Since my header graphic changes from time to time, if my crop of Mick's work is not in the header at the time you read this, please view the image here.]
4 Comments so far
I got lost in the gallery. Great images all around, but you chose my favorite, Winston. Now if only I could steal it — it would be perfect in my foyer.
Winston, many thanks; especially for choosing the homage to my good friend Richard Stankievicz, who died in 1983. He was the kind of teacher who, as my mentor in sculpture, was actually thrilled when I told him, after a year of struggle, that I felt I was better suited for painting. He just smiled as though he already knew it and was glad that I had finally figured it out. He then agreed to continue to work with me. Most artists would have been insulted and immediately referred me to someone else in the department.
Somehow his ideas, which were almost exclusively applied to three dimensions in his own work, had a profound influence in my own, two-dimensional work. The best explanation is that he was simply a great teacher, a great artist, and a good friend. They don’t come around very often.
Again, thanks for the kind words.
Beautiful work, Messrs. Brady and Rand.
Oh, and Winston, in case you didn’t know, you’ve been tagged.
That was a great link to some very interesting work. Thanks