Meditations on a Theme by Hokusai

This is a strange piece. I've posted a couple of more serious political commentary pieces lately, and thought this could use some levity. So without any further ado...

 There is a lot going on in this piece....

I am a big fan of the Japanese artist Hokusai - you may recognize some of his work, such as this piece from "36 Views of Mt. Fuji", a woodblock print, and also his quintessential classic, "The Great Wave off Kanagawa".




I have always loved these woodblock images.

I wanted to do something fun with that.

There was an electronic keyboard laying around that had some broken keys, which meant that we had to take it apart and play with the electronic components and make them sound like a weird theremin. Of course.

But the little rubber nubs that go under the keys and are put together in strips were especially intriguing to me, and looked like nothing in the world so much as octopus tentacles.

And who has tentacles? Cthulu, of course. 

And I wanted to do a sea scene, so there it is. 

When you've created a hot pink anime pop art style octopus out of broken keyboard parts, it seems natural to keep going with that theme.

I incorporated elements of the Wave, and also of Fuji from the woodblocks I mentioned above....

I wanted to continue with the pop art aesthetic, using thick black lines of acrylic to delineate the figures in the piece...

The radiating sun is reminiscent of the rising sun flag of Edo-era Japan. It's later co-option by the Meiji government has led to some controversy over the image, but my use here is a reference to the feudal era from 1603-mid-1800s, which is contemporaneous with Hokusai, whose work originated predominantly during the later years of this period. 

The frame is custom made by John Rouse and echoes the neon colors used in the piece. The other elements are acrylics and mod-podge to hold down the mixed media elements.

It's a weird piece. I love it, and I hope you do too. 

Meditations on a Theme by Hokusai is for sale. Please contact us at Dada.Collective.Gallery@gmail.com for more details. 

Thank you to Jason Welch with Jason Welch photography for capturing the dimension of this piece.

Portrait of Chairman Mao

This is a piece inspired by Warhol's portrait series. In it, appears Chairman Mao, done in pop art style, surrounded by joss paper and the quote from Orwell's '1984', "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength."

This piece is reminiscent of the portraiture of Mao that exists today throughout China. The nationalistic portraiture style is predominant in art from the revolutionary era. 

Mao is positioned in a way and his face is portrayed in such a way that is deliberately reminiscent of the iconic photo Alberto Korda portrait of Che Guevara "Guerrillero Heroico", with which we are all familiar.

 

The irony here is meant to showcase a conflicting consensus emotion that prevails in the West - revolutionaries that don't succeed become romantic folklore. Revolutionaries who do succeed become cultural monoliths, and some might even say, despots and demagogues. 

I would like to reference the following article by Kyle Fonay,  On Guerrilla Warfare: Two Takes, Mao vs. Guevara on this matter, an excellent synopsis of the comparison and contrast of the two men. But the point of THIS article and this work is not that there are strong parallels between Guevara's Marxist thinking and between Mao's platform of Leninism-Marxism, but that Mao was considered a romantic and noble figure at the beginning of the Chinese revolution, and in fact, by many, for years afterwards. Over time, views of Mao in China changed, as can be seen through the many works of Chinese fiction on the topic; I can recommend a particularly excellent work by Yan Lienke, Lenin's Kisses, which explores deeply and unflinchingly the impact of the Cultural Revolution on, especially, rural China. I can also recommend Mo Yan's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Garlic Ballads, as well as Red Sorghum,  both of which powerfully encapsulate the struggle of the revolution and the toll it took upon the people. Mo Yan's works were originally banned in China, where such works of dissenting literary courage are officially frowned upon. The volume of his Chinese readership, however, belies the party line. Artists such as Ai Wei Wei  continue this brave dissent, which further champions the cause of the people, as well as their freedom to dissent. 

Part of the danger of the Cultural Revolution was the approach taken to class struggle. As well as economic disparity, the Red Guard sought to eradicate intellectualism as another source of class enmity. The idea that intellectual equality could be conflated with class equality is reminiscent of Orwell's forboding "Ignorance is Strength."

Another important element in creating revolution is struggle and a cause against which to rally. If there is no struggle, there is no motivation for endurance of privation, nationalism, and other such emotions necessary to support such forward momentum. It is reminiscent of Orwell's Oceania and Eurasia; an interchangeable enemy that can promote the idea that "War is Peace", in that a country united against a common foe is less likely to turn upon itself. Which is ironic in a post-revolutionary setting to say the least. Once the revolution won, against whom shall we revolt? 

One maxim remains; "Freedom is Slavery". The idea that the burden of decision creates suffering; that we are happier not being tasked with the power to determine the events that concern us; that we are better trusting in the government, our 'Big Brother', who is watching out for us, rather than to vex ourselves with its machinations..... I'll never forget a friend who empathized with Americans HAVING to vote, and that it must be stressful. But that's interesting, isn't it? Considering how infrequently and sporadically we DO vote. City and state elections have abysmally low voter turnout rate, and our last presidential exercise garnered a scant-of-60%. Most people would give the excuse that their vote doesn't matter, or that it was stressful or inconvenient to do so. The idea that civil liberties are our hotbutton issue on many contentious points of domestic policy, and that the constriction of society is viewed as a boon should also be alarming. Homogenity, comfort and subsistence complacency seem to be enough of an opiate for the masses they are intended to protect and preserve, but on the other side of that preservation lie the casualties of such policy, and the collateral detritus of a system that views class warfare as a social control tool. 

And the Warhol influence? One could posit it forward as a commentary on the consumer culture and commodification culture that has spread like wildfire through the post revolutionary economic boom that came with globalization. Or one could say that I simply just really like Warhol. You pick. 

The joss paper is an interesting visual effect, as well as a subtext; joss paper (or "ghost" paper) is burned as an offering for ancestors in the afterlife. It is viewed as a prayer to communicate with past generations. 

This is a reference to those who died fighting for and against these ideals, in a hope that we may learn something from it. 

Portrait of Chairman Mao is framed in reclaimed boxcar wood, and is for sale. Please contact us at Dada.Collective.Gallery@gmail.com.

And Liberty And Justice for All

This piece is another one that took a lot of thought before and during execution. This is a commentary on the Paramilitary Contractor laws and budgets that have developed over the last few decades. 

Although the U.N. defines paramilitary contractors as mercenaries and prohibits their use (U.N. Mercenary Convention rules, ratified by 35 countries), the U.K., the U.S., China and Russia have rejected this definition and continue to employ paramilitary contractors. 

The U.N. Mercenary Convention describes a mercenary as such:

1. A mercenary is any person who:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;

(b) Is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and functions in the armed forces of that party;

(c) Is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict;

(d) Is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict; and

(e) Has not been sent by a State which is not a party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

2. A mercenary is also any person who, in any other situation:

(a) Is specially recruited locally or abroad for the purpose of participating in a concerted act of violence aimed at:

(i) Overthrowing a Government or otherwise undermining the constitutional order of a State; or

(ii) Undermining the territorial integrity of a State;

(b) Is motivated to take part therein essentially by the desire for significant private gain and is prompted by the promise or payment of material compensation;

(c) Is neither a national nor a resident of the State against which such an act is directed;

(d) Has not been sent by a State on official duty; and

(e) Is not a member of the armed forces of the State on whose territory the act is undertaken.

— UN Mercenary Convention

In 2012, Time Magazine reported,

"According to the most recent quarterly contractor census report issued by the U.S. Central Command, which includes both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as 18 other countries stretching from Egypt to Kazakhstan, there were approximately 137,000 contractors working for the Pentagon in its region. There were 113,376 in Afghanistan and 7,336 in Iraq. Of that total, 40,110 were U.S. citizens, 50,560 were local hires, and 46,231 were from neither the U.S. not the country in which they were working."   http://nation.time.com/2012/10/09/contractors-in-war-zones-not-exactly-contracting/

Paramilitary contracts are paid with defense budget funds, which are then allocated to private companies rather than to the U.S. Military. Rather than increasing funding for the defense budget, would we not be better served by reducing our defense budget, eliminating paramilitary contractors, and redirecting that money towards funding our military? Or creating military sources of those same services? One wonders. Perhaps because many PMCs have significant influence and connections with policy makers, and thus, are able to lobby for the continuation of these practices.

In the piece below, the 'stars' on the flag are the top grossing PMCs for 2013, complete with their revenue for that year. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/10/10-companies-profiting-most-from-war/1970997/http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/10/10-companies-profiting-most-from-war/1970997/

The central figure in this piece is meant to be Lady Liberty dressed as Blind Justice. This represents the idea that we hold altruistically that these two concepts, Liberty and Justice, are combined in our society and upheld by our constitution. In one hand, she holds the Constitution, aflame. In the other hand, she holds the Roman Fasces, the symbol of authority in ancient Rome. Mussolini's Fascist party adopted the Latin to create their name, and an enduring message of the dangers of unrestricted authoritarianism.

On the stripes of the flags are styles of Supreme Court cases governing the behavior of PMCs, namely, situations in which they are not liable for prosecution (due to corporate status), exemption due to military status, or impunity due to lack of *direct* government involvement. I would encourage you to look them up online and educate yourself about what has been allowed to slowly develop. This is a roadmap to how we got to the situation where we are. I am working on a companion essay to this piece, where I will discuss this. Some of the cases refer to human trafficking, war crimes, and genocide. Others refer to human rights abuses and financial fraud.

Thank you to Jason Welch at Jason Welch Photography for capturing the details in this piece.

And Liberty and Justice for All is for sale. Please contact us at Dada.Collective.Gallery@gmail.com

American Dreams in dystopian cubism

This is a piece I had to think of for a long time. Many times, I will ferment on an artistic idea for months before I actually do anything about it, mostly because I am intimidated about the execution of what I see in my mind. This piece seemed like it would be a stretch for me artistically, so I was hesitant to try it. I jotted down the idea and kept adding to my notes in the hopes that inspiration or bravery would strike.

One evening a while back, I finally decided to try.

This piece is a direct reference to Picasso's "Guernica", wherein Picasso attempts to encapsulate the horrors of the Spanish Civil War and as a response to the bombing of Guernica, a Basque county village in northern Spain by Nazi German and Fascist Italian forces at the behest of Spanish Nationalists. 



Guernica portrays the horror of not only man's inhumanity to man, but man's inhumanity to his own countrymen out of a misguided sense of populism and blind nationalism. Guernica was used as a touring exhibition to raise money for Spanish Civil War relief efforts. Because of Picasso's fame and talent, his art was used successfully to raise awareness globally about the Spanish Civil War and draw attention to the plight of the country.

In my rendition of this piece, I have studied the original composition relatively faithfully, as well as the limited color palette, with some exceptions. Whilst the figures in Picasso's piece are the townspeople of Guernica, innocent civilian bystanders crushed under the wheels of war, the pieces in my representation represent the movements behind which they stand, and the ideals which they stand for, as compromised in our current zeitgeist.

From left to right, the figures are: Harriet Tubman, Sitting Bull, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Lady Liberty. Understanding what these figures, both historical and metaphorical, represent to American culture, civilization and evolution is central to understanding why they appear here in such a fashion. They represent everything that is at stake during our march into a brave new future.

Because the future that we march towards will be a reflection of our collective American Dreams. Whether it is a dream like Dr. King envisioned, or a consumerist dystopia fraught with war and suffering is up to us.

Thank you to Jason Welch at Jason Welch Photography for capturing the color gradient in this piece. 

American Dreams is for sale. Please contact us at Dada.Collective.Gallery@gmail.com

Bamboo Grove - Organic v. Mechanical

This piece is a contrast in organic versus mechanical aesthetics; it was carved on a table saw first, then painted with watercolors and then finally acrylics. 

John did the table saw carving at work, creating the shape and movement of the piece, as well as dimension and depth. 

Oil pastels provided the stippled background and gradients to the mountain scene. 

I looked at this and was reminded of the bamboo grove in WangJiangLou park in Chengdu. When the light in the afternoon is right, the dappled effect through the bamboo leaves is truly magical.



The vertical lines of the bamboo reminded me of the lazy way they sway in a summer afternoon. The colors of the palette are evocative of late afternoon sun in the early autumn.

Custom teak frame by John Rouse. 

Thank you to Jason Welch at Jason Welch photography for capturing the light in this piece. 

Bamboo Grove is for sale. Contact us for more details at Dada.Collective.Gallery@gmail.com

PORTFOLIO EDITION: Stained Glass

I remember watching John paint this one evening in the summer. He'd created the spray paint design earlier at the industrial design furniture shop where he works, and had brought it home excited about what to do with it.

The underlying design is made with craft glue before tempera was dripped into the spaces in between the lines and spread to fill them. Also present are watercolors and acrylic inks.

Horses on the Steppe in Mongolia, or, outside summertime art

I have always loved Chinese painting. I love the brushstrokes and minimalism, the way that a simple black line can evoke energy and movement... It's a very powerful and dynamic way of painting, requiring a restrained and deliberate approach.

When  I lived in Chengdu, there was an art store on my way home from work, and I'd stop in frequently to see what was new. I remember this piece (or one very like it) sticking out profoundly to me, because of the energy and movement.



The power of the horses, their movement, and the wild joy they feel made this my favorite piece to see every day on my way home.

I wanted to try to create that feeling. To get that motion and that passion. I used traditional Chinese calligraphy ink, Chinese horsehair and bamboo brushes, and nailed my canvas to the side of the house because there was no where big enough to do it inside. This is a BIG piece, four feet by six feet.

In Oklahoma in the summer, we have a warm bright morning, a sweltering afternoon, and a sultry evening surrounded with the sounds of cicada.

I remember one day I painted this. All day.

I started with my morning coffee, painted through iced tea and on into evening wine using a floodlight.

I think I came close. I used the neon to show the movement and power. I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to be a wild Mongolian horse running across the plains.