tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56250966016089018152024-03-19T02:26:07.005-07:00 DavidVanGoughdavidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.comBlogger539125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-90743681409635463712020-09-27T17:43:00.000-07:002020-09-27T17:43:45.612-07:00Patreon Saints <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oATegeCOa_A" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong><a href="https://www.patreon.com/davidvangough">https://www.patreon.com/davidvangough</a></strong></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After years of tooth pulling, badgering, and puppy herding, I’ve
finally relented to the litany of encouraging voices from peers, friends
and the misses, and boarded the Patreon train.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And you know what, I’m actually full steaming head and beside myself with excitement at the prospect of it.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For some time now, I’ve sensed that the blog format was becoming the
web equivalent of the old Jalopy coasting into town on fumes, and that
posting art on social media- beset as it is now by an obstacle course of
assaulting algorithms raging through troll farms in flame throwing
battle zones- was becoming lost in pay to play visibility and the daily
dreadline news blanket.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Something had to give…and something finally has.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So I’m offering up my working process, and bringing it directly to an
engaging, attentive audience. And depending on the subscription, for
patrons it means a grab bag of goodies, from inception to finished
canvas, documented as concepts happen, through initial sketches to
timelapses, along with narrated documentary style video. For myself, it
broadens the potential artists have now in this post Covid world, of
reaching their target followers, and providing an assemblage of
compelling media content to become curators of their own creative
process.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What does that mean for this blog then? Well, after over a decade of
posting, the cold, hard reality in terms of actual feedback, hit
counters and residual sales, is that there was never a huge readership.
That’s been compounded further as the internet has gravitated away from
the literate broadsheet to mindlessly scrolling clickbait and the
tweeted soundbyte.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Try as I might to justify it’s continuity by providing testimony for
some possible interested legacy, feels even less germane given the
tastes of those arbitrating the future now.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course, I’ll still continue to occasionally post to make general
announcements here from time to time, and maybe at some juncture-like
vinyl, the blog will enjoy a resurgence, but for now, if you liked
everything that has gone before, and want to see it’s next evolution and
continue to follow my thoughts, my process and my art updates, you can
click the link, above or below.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Look forward to seeing you on the other side.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong><a href="https://www.patreon.com/davidvangough">https://www.patreon.com/davidvangough</a></strong></span></span></p>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-32059170243115698502020-08-28T17:18:00.002-07:002020-08-28T17:27:27.162-07:00Death Mask<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIP5SqgE1ZtQqwBjI583HI0EvrnOfnzSbKow94dwkc-BQSKPQx7z8S0gvO4mOohdN5jeHsZuaDmX6HOUs1qZOcBUPY6EwqkKVu7n2SLJyMgXkJMcpJc8UahOHhtQdNFVCSOo6xYKdek-5m/s1092/lanimask.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1092" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIP5SqgE1ZtQqwBjI583HI0EvrnOfnzSbKow94dwkc-BQSKPQx7z8S0gvO4mOohdN5jeHsZuaDmX6HOUs1qZOcBUPY6EwqkKVu7n2SLJyMgXkJMcpJc8UahOHhtQdNFVCSOo6xYKdek-5m/s640/lanimask.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"> One could say I'm little late to the game,given that we are almost nine months on since Covid 19 first swung it's scythe from East to West, before settling permanently like some festering Quatermass, washed up by a dark tide on US shores. In a year so defined by it's casualties, there strikes me that no better image encapsulates it's pall than "Triumvirate"-a piece from my Theothanatos series from a decade ago.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqzQxGLTCPIW4qLscBBIpbg0UXTRxI2HN2eXpw5XYheISKMMX06mJzSMh9GunBD2_p2oQV3UdfX7ly4IKMPmKVSJ6D8MYJVzlPP6K6ttk8SO_zH_7rcyFDMathofbK74qdfVyj_AJMvx3/s850/David_Van_Gough_Triumvirate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqzQxGLTCPIW4qLscBBIpbg0UXTRxI2HN2eXpw5XYheISKMMX06mJzSMh9GunBD2_p2oQV3UdfX7ly4IKMPmKVSJ6D8MYJVzlPP6K6ttk8SO_zH_7rcyFDMathofbK74qdfVyj_AJMvx3/s640/David_Van_Gough_Triumvirate.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Resurrected from my own archival boneyard, the biomorphic trinity of bile tinted skulls, grins wider than Conrad Viet , like some grim, gloating totem of tautology.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Doom wear, </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">sported on this occasion by my lovely wife-Lani, and </span></span>emblazoned with a symbolic reminder of why wearing masks are so necessary in the first place.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">They're available for $20 a piece from my store along with signed prints of the original.</span></span></p><p><b><a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/product/triumvirate-mask/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">Triumvirate Face Masks</span></span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/product/triumvirate-print/">Triumvirate Signed Prints</a></b><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br /></p>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-56872284650934939712020-07-27T14:47:00.003-07:002020-08-22T19:11:14.528-07:00Crimes of our Times<span style="font-size: small;"><span face="" style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span face="" style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkLS9L7olNDpVnkZoXid8bw892Bzj7Jz6QJdad1KlMV9FJw0NRmk2J8Uu2g2Ow8x4viNMPVzA4cjLJ2k3jx9qPncV5pZT22FwvyGirQcaAsb1BR0Csa9K5Zu_okWYuCFVQUREeGr04qx1/s1600/snapshot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="960" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkLS9L7olNDpVnkZoXid8bw892Bzj7Jz6QJdad1KlMV9FJw0NRmk2J8Uu2g2Ow8x4viNMPVzA4cjLJ2k3jx9qPncV5pZT22FwvyGirQcaAsb1BR0Csa9K5Zu_okWYuCFVQUREeGr04qx1/w400-h215/snapshot.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span face="" style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span face="" style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">Pl</span></span>enty of criminal activity happening these days of course, not least America's hellbent descent into full bananas republican, but this is from a recent webcast, in which I talk to John Borowski,who featured me in his Serial Killer Culture documentary, about my former Man/son series, modern
day conspiracy, growing up in Liverpool as well as giving a peek into
my next series-Infernal. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span face="" style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">Watch it below.</span></span><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sr1gMzv3ENo" width="560"></iframe>
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<span face="" style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">Filmmaker/author John Borowski: <a href="http://johnborowski.com/">http://johnborowski.com</a></span><br />
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<span face="" style="font-family: "arial", "helvetica", sans-serif;">Serial Killer Culture is on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Serial-Killer-Culture-Joe-Coleman/dp/B00IMQOYJW/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=serial+killer+culture&qid=1595886398&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon Prime</a></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-91325579337557146662020-06-30T23:16:00.001-07:002020-07-05T12:10:59.778-07:00Battling Demons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82SRBemmfBfAHw0AQ80aeGmRk9qrLTf6qlYLwfNwz8tf83SofAY5yQedzF_bGxftg25bOhns-ZPwv7EA81moxVTycVLt7za0tKcllK6yda_JTEjf58N1KKNNfhdfCvRpW2ybyWVgLVlY_/s1600/me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82SRBemmfBfAHw0AQ80aeGmRk9qrLTf6qlYLwfNwz8tf83SofAY5yQedzF_bGxftg25bOhns-ZPwv7EA81moxVTycVLt7za0tKcllK6yda_JTEjf58N1KKNNfhdfCvRpW2ybyWVgLVlY_/s400/me.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"And when the barrator had disappeared, he turned his talons upon his companion and grappled with him right above the moat. But sooth the other was a doughty sparhawk. To clapperclaw him well and both of them fell in the middle of the boiling pond"</span></i></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Dante-Divine comedy-Inferno: Canto XXII </b></span></i></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dante
had been expelled from his native Florence by the time he wrote his
magnum opus. Battle worn from the conflict with the Ghibelline’s in
Campaldino, betrayed and exiled following his rift with the Papacy, and
heart sick following the death of his unrequited beloved-Beatrice, the
long descent through the circles of Hell must have seemed like a
refreshing morning stroll by comparison.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No
such reprieve from the hell and damnation that has been this year
unfortunately. Pandemic still hanging like a biblical pall, while the
straitjacket of institutional racism becomes torn at the fabric of
Americas seams. Hardly surprising and frankly-long overdue, given the
four hundred millennia that includes a legacy of human chattel,
lynchings,segregation and injustice. Add the imperfect storm of endless
black by blue murders, and four rancorous years of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ear bleeding dog whistles, and we find the median that was Junes gloom, drowning in it’s inevitable, turbulent, flood. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> So
there’s a lot of that informing this latest piece, the Inferno’s
battling demons-Calcabrina and Alchin-talons drawn and teeth barred as
they fall into the seething black pitch-a ready made conflict that
conjured for me at least, not only the fractured divide between the
white Guelph’s and black Guelph’s that vexed Dante’s era, but the racial
one that has spanned from the Mauritanians in Visigoth’s Europa, the riots in my native Toxteth back in 82, through to
present day America.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Along
with it, my own redress to not fall on the sword of only ‘paint what
you know”, because broadening ones palette should always extend
literally, if we are to confront the white demons of our own.</span><br />
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davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-26432239489861929722020-05-26T15:19:00.000-07:002020-05-26T15:55:57.727-07:00Look What The Cat Dragged In.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08xzXoX-I2QoqoZ2KV82RDaejt-RugyIgi56_wz6W0KlH3xqrCtLLjOloOQZ1VIwRJwvpS3brQubwFLmRjxS1-EtjnVWKB7rHvsgRZ4TVEbAYp5LLPJshG59eSKOdgmONCGA50AahFaiZ/s1600/handwing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="786" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08xzXoX-I2QoqoZ2KV82RDaejt-RugyIgi56_wz6W0KlH3xqrCtLLjOloOQZ1VIwRJwvpS3brQubwFLmRjxS1-EtjnVWKB7rHvsgRZ4TVEbAYp5LLPJshG59eSKOdgmONCGA50AahFaiZ/s640/handwing.jpg" width="508" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 8"x11"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oil on wood panel</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since I've been all consumed by the new series, I hadn't really planned to be in anymore shows until unveiling Infernal next year. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That was until I was asked by my friend-fellow artist Stephanie Inagaki, to contribute something for an upcoming fundraiser for <a href="https://savekittensla.org/">Luxe Paws</a>, an initiative to help the homeless cat situation in LA. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also, my moggie Ronin-the Prince of Purrsia, would never have forgiven me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpDgNvc0r_i-1DqT-8oSb5Sn8XBqeOJY1FQpm2r7PERnJCknfHFeba2SK7706OY4XovjHtTZ0BLE8nPCBm65Ip1EnBfLh4_LPvyYF6JEhceFWUsE-0Xd_jUb8YQfNg9sTtpRgBFYsiN49/s1600/ronin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1080" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpDgNvc0r_i-1DqT-8oSb5Sn8XBqeOJY1FQpm2r7PERnJCknfHFeba2SK7706OY4XovjHtTZ0BLE8nPCBm65Ip1EnBfLh4_LPvyYF6JEhceFWUsE-0Xd_jUb8YQfNg9sTtpRgBFYsiN49/s400/ronin.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ronin pleading to enter the studio </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As DaVinci once noted, “the smallest feline is a masterpiece”, and having already featured my cat in the piece –<a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/product/darkness-ltd-ed-print/">“This Thing of Darkness, I Acknowledge Mine” </a>I
opted instead to paint this – salvaged from an old ink sketch, which up
until now I’d adopted occasionally as a sort of working logo.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I suppose it could be emblematic of the artists dark flightiness, or
at least his sky fall which I’m calling “Look What the Cat Dragged In”. Make of the title what you will.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’ll be showcased virtually at Copro Gallery on June 6th anyway,
with a portion of the proceeds in aid of LA’s forsaken felines. More
details as I have them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As no small aside, I had the distinct honor of including Stephanie’s work when I curated my <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/2018/09/10/tales-from-the-darkside/">Tales from the Darkside show</a> in 2018, so go check out her extraordinarily beautiful, and ethereal work for yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.stephanieinagaki.com/" target="_blank">Stephanie Inagaki</a></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEzcAo-EIEyneQ5yXwavp1YwLMrHYlJHdYyJFkMYks48cJBEiur4A7wzIlsuyfihXPXqM25VCZ1SMfnXkuCgwvG4RVmc_gWVsKwIULw8W45x62JwAGOCJG-RMWT4u-Rra3Jherd-15NJK/s1600/stephanieinagaki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="655" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEzcAo-EIEyneQ5yXwavp1YwLMrHYlJHdYyJFkMYks48cJBEiur4A7wzIlsuyfihXPXqM25VCZ1SMfnXkuCgwvG4RVmc_gWVsKwIULw8W45x62JwAGOCJG-RMWT4u-Rra3Jherd-15NJK/s640/stephanieinagaki.jpg" width="468" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephanie Inagaki “Anamnesis” (2018) drawing 6.5” x 8.5”</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-8680029063786862502020-05-17T19:30:00.000-07:002020-05-17T20:08:23.010-07:00Leper Messiah<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-FWErQV6Prfq8-6I41sQ3caWUn1ehgucbyFz1yXUNCMd_naEEXyQnS6AyzndowPwZFcp5NmPjE93jTfdSFiDaKaL41r_IvOS0OM3OKnX7V0s4twyNHP-M1ORKIyHl-WLaOADQUnJXMdhM/s1600/elephantmanprogress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1441" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-FWErQV6Prfq8-6I41sQ3caWUn1ehgucbyFz1yXUNCMd_naEEXyQnS6AyzndowPwZFcp5NmPjE93jTfdSFiDaKaL41r_IvOS0OM3OKnX7V0s4twyNHP-M1ORKIyHl-WLaOADQUnJXMdhM/s320/elephantmanprogress.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"Illness brings ugliness in it's train"</i></span></span><br />
<b><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Umberto Eco-On Ugliness</i></span></span></b><img alt="" class="wp-more-tag mce-wp-more" data-mce-placeholder="1" data-mce-resize="false" data-wp-more-text="" data-wp-more="more" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" title="Read more..." /> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
<pre><span data-mce-style="color: #444444;" style="color: #444444;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"He was an elemental being, so primitive that he might have
spent the twenty-three years of his life immured in a cave." </i></span></span></pre>
<b><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> The Elephant Man and other Reminiscences-Frederick Treeves</i></span></span></b><br />
<br /></blockquote>
<span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Joseph Carey Merrick then -the so called Elephant man- the king of "freaks."<br /></span></span><br />
<span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When
we think of him, we envision a shadowed, leprous phantom-like a
lurching masked and cloaked sack of hidden pestilence, wandering the
hazy cobbled alleyways, or the crowded platforms of the Victorian age. <br /></span></span><br />
<span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A
sad and noble figure, where the body outside, betrayed the internal
virtues of the soul, deceived as he was by the rancorous tumors and
putrescent flesh that ravaged his flesh, like some gruesome Ganesh
figure. <br /></span></span><br />
<span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here of course I have him unadorned and entirely naked, reveling in the perversion of his decay, a </span></span><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">spectacle of deliverance, for a </span></span>defiled deity. <br /></span></span><br />
<span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reading through Treeve's manuscript again, speaking of Merrick as a man whose existence had been so beleaguered, and yet </span></span><span data-mce-style="color: #444444;" style="color: #444444;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;">had "passed through the fire" and</span></span></span><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> emerged "ennobled...</span><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">free
from any trace of cynicism,resentment,or grievance" feels like no less
than a savage indictment when compared to the daily morning dreadlines,
that catalogue <a data-mce-href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/30/michigan-protests-coronavirus-lockdown-armed-capitol" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/30/michigan-protests-coronavirus-lockdown-armed-capitol">whining privileged and entitlement from those who would claim to hold the edge on piety</a>.</span></span><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <br /></span></span><br />
<span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'arial', 'helvetica', sans-serif;" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In
an era of malediction and malady, where the ugliness stems from
within,it is the internal body then, that betrays the external one.</span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-911409267648394092020-04-17T15:25:00.000-07:002020-05-14T15:26:45.306-07:00Dear Dreary<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wSgWyWFfv4xSBidaFSufOZ9r_VNW0xctU3yqKGYqWh1p2aK_zg-qq9OXzH0uKXeJXPvMbjJ7qMj6u6IBx7aW0h67YFj60XTgpOQj5pvUBjCvYg99IEmuE_kvJQ-0xA4eGKDkeNZA1F7e/s1600/Drearyscreencap.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="934" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wSgWyWFfv4xSBidaFSufOZ9r_VNW0xctU3yqKGYqWh1p2aK_zg-qq9OXzH0uKXeJXPvMbjJ7qMj6u6IBx7aW0h67YFj60XTgpOQj5pvUBjCvYg99IEmuE_kvJQ-0xA4eGKDkeNZA1F7e/s400/Drearyscreencap.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s me speaking from my latest interview with Dahlia Jane for her newly relaunched Upon a Midnight Dreary site.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She’s a dear friend, and we go back donkeys years, or at least not
too far back to the days when I couldn’t get arrested, let alone any
interest in a show. Thankfully, she didn’t let that stop her, and in
fact this <a href="http://www.cartwheelart.com/2014/09/03/interview-david-van-gough-purgatorium-bash-sf-sept-6th/">excellent article</a> she penned, was the only notable exception to the complete indifference for my <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/purgatorium/">Purgatorium</a> show back in 2014.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She’s been radio silent for a few years, plotting her next move, but
in her absence, the blogosphere has filled up the void with dark art
podcasts and the like, but I maintain she was the first, so they are all
really just riding her coattails.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At any rate, she’s bringing her original blog back, as a chronicle
for how artists busy themselves in such times as we live in, and I’m
honored to be among the first to be included.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here it is, in which I chat about daubing during Covidolation, my
next series “Infernal”, Fred and Rose West, toilet paper and more.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Give it a gander and spread it about, but please stay home while doing it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://uponamidnightdreary.com/interviews/necrosurrealist-david-gough-paints-hell-on-earth-against-the-backdrop-of-a-pandemic/">Necrosurrealist David Gough paints ‘Hell on Earth’ against the backdrop of a pandemic</a></span></h4>
davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-75524094276182113792020-04-03T11:56:00.003-07:002020-04-03T19:13:52.435-07:00Mother’s Superiority Complex<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjSCXyaXQx_-5Z5c6CkZcefcsO2Wl0aL1-QDyGGMn8u5vgGRM76MVrkU-c_HQzGdSWeEtHsPvb6EEkt5tuOMhOC__18ACUHr3uXkctC7PGu8KCasxJmUQpvCbJ-xYGUGx4RjM15e532Jx/s1600/nun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjSCXyaXQx_-5Z5c6CkZcefcsO2Wl0aL1-QDyGGMn8u5vgGRM76MVrkU-c_HQzGdSWeEtHsPvb6EEkt5tuOMhOC__18ACUHr3uXkctC7PGu8KCasxJmUQpvCbJ-xYGUGx4RjM15e532Jx/s640/nun.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">” Those midwives to history, put on their bloody robes"</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><b>― <span class="authorOrTitle"> </span></b>David Bowie-Teenage Wildlife.</b></span></span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>
</i><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been
bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle.
We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has
captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves,
that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you
almost never get it back.”</span></span></i><br />
<i>
</i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>― <span class="authorOrTitle"> Carl Sagan, </span> </b></i><span id="quote_book_link_17349"><i><b> The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark</b></i> </span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="more-4168"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A fellow artist recently noted , how prescient my <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/paradisos-fall/">prior series</a> must seem, given the times we find ourselves in. Another friend charitably referred to me as a conduit.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Believe me, it gives me little comfort to see the turmoil of my inner
landscape, reflected on any real one. And following that train for a
moment, I should perhaps be more than a little unnerved, given that the
new series is subtitled “the denouement”.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Except, as someone who see’s themselves as possibly more of an
anthropologist than an artist, I’m no more unique than anyone who views
history as just writing on the wall.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For instance, here’s a particularly unpleasant character whose been
seeding her way through my sketches for quite a few years now. With her
withering stink eye, I suppose she’s come to represent a certain, old,
righteous indignation. A glowering factotum, judging disapprovingly at
the viewers prying gaze from beneath her cowl, whilst yielding fealty to
the most reprehensible of deeds.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There’s a lot of that about lately, given that a whole segment of society clings to the boast that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/trump-says-keeping-us-covid-19-deaths-to-100000-would-be-a-very-good-job">100,000 deaths would be the results of someone performing a very good job</a>, whilst another sits blissfully deluded by the notion that C-19 is all just a conspiratorial hoax.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We should all be so lucky.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At any rate, I’ve no doubt that heat they feel, isn’t just from feet
being held to the fire, but the dial turning all the way up to total
hell unleashed on earth.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So whilst we wait for the full toll, I entreat everyone to stay safe, stay home and make a sanctuary of yourself.</span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-86929209873904516342020-03-14T18:08:00.001-07:002020-04-03T11:59:12.270-07:00Mining Tour<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXQD_-3bmzC7MFBPqgS9OIrcPLor29swvUZRHwosuXwuwltgiwqNq3tjDM9zoqJ2fA0af-39Ab-uO6qLYygTRDuVOnfmBLA831dBsduQKd_OmX4MrUuJhxzoCNpHMUCr1-2zKCKSY8V_T/s1600/painting+a+minotaur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="758" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXQD_-3bmzC7MFBPqgS9OIrcPLor29swvUZRHwosuXwuwltgiwqNq3tjDM9zoqJ2fA0af-39Ab-uO6qLYygTRDuVOnfmBLA831dBsduQKd_OmX4MrUuJhxzoCNpHMUCr1-2zKCKSY8V_T/s400/painting+a+minotaur.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Are people crazy? People waited all their lives. They
waited to live, they waited to die. They waited in line to buy toilet
paper.”</span></span></i><br />
<i>
</i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Charles Bukowski.</i></b></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first proper work from the new studio then, and I’ve taken the literal bull by the horns, or at least the Minotaur.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m following a tradition of course that spans from the Chauvet
caves, the Canaanite God Moloch, to the Labyrinth, through the gates of
the Seventh circle of the Dantes Inferno, all the way to Picasso easel
and beyond, but the beastly half man/half bull progeny of Pasiphae,
threads it’s way through the culture of our collective subconscious,
like a primal avatar.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are moments when I relate to the Bovine headed creature of
Crete, locked away in a dark subterranean maze of my own making,
especially in the face of such days as these.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not until I leave the studio on occasion and venture down the
mountain to the local town that the outside-like Theseus wielding his
club-gets in, as it did today, standing in line at the grocery store.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shelves ransacked of produce and toiletries, lines out the door, as
peoples carts brimmed over with canned goods, water jugs, frozen food,
pasta-a surreal precursor to some Steven King inspired nightmare.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s the lemming fever of hysteria of course, a literal viral panic
about a pandemic that has people, literally shitting themselves in their
quest to hoard enough soft ply, to wipe every arse from here to Wuhan.
When Plato imagined the end of the Republic, I daresay he didn’t
foresee the hoarding of toilet roll as a harbinger to a populace
prepping to watch it from their enamel thrones.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, it’s a frigid poke in the collective small of ones back, one
that reminds us that society is ever fragile, and a single crisis away
from teetering into bedlam and chaos. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A sobering reminder that all it
will take, is a spark of righteous entitlement, to ignite the kindling
that has been the unraveling landscape of these past four years.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because bulls fare better in labyrinths than in grocers shops.</span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-17557060217075586162020-02-11T17:34:00.000-08:002020-02-11T17:34:19.925-08:00Silo<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHR3VC25FbkEnpgChTsHoS_M1UfMFMmbunv1cP5KbGE0akZ3jPKBodji2nQvThTfecGnOAZZ7P3uXAXTqQIXn6l-wFz84zMEZAgc8U5rTvsYyywg4WjX6Or67lcWUOHDLQpZn9Uzc53c9/s1600/silo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHR3VC25FbkEnpgChTsHoS_M1UfMFMmbunv1cP5KbGE0akZ3jPKBodji2nQvThTfecGnOAZZ7P3uXAXTqQIXn6l-wFz84zMEZAgc8U5rTvsYyywg4WjX6Or67lcWUOHDLQpZn9Uzc53c9/s400/silo.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So the year that was January has come and gone then, and whilst the US moved one goosestep closer to what Orwell portended as a <a href="https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/george_orwell_159438">vision of the future</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">here on planet Mercury, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we were making a fresh start. Laying down roots. Buying the farm or at least a two up two down.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Folly perhaps, given a time</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> when one should seriously be considering migrating to a cave on Easter island. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">this is me, knuckling down in the new studio space, which I've taken to nicknaming the "Silo", since it's comprised of a couple of old shipping containers, just a stones throw away from where I sleep. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The mornings are bone cold, and I daresay come the summer months, I shall feel like a boiled frog, so whilst there's future plans to refurbish, in it's raw state, it's fitting domain for a series set in Hell.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bon Vayage.</span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-67887944640149758142019-12-31T12:18:00.000-08:002020-01-01T14:05:33.438-08:00Art Decade 2009-2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsouqyRvmN_-thRFPrpsYHB1oShR2VjLZdElwAr8tIkj7bVYENsCodugmzMTNztWkpxQzCGhgxz57uj4ETuhk6qvX7UrjkrsjCZw7-coYCpA_KHkQZ0u2hOk-HEtTdJ7lwgUgcF_9i6hZ/s1600/1-David_Van_Gough_Legend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="850" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsouqyRvmN_-thRFPrpsYHB1oShR2VjLZdElwAr8tIkj7bVYENsCodugmzMTNztWkpxQzCGhgxz57uj4ETuhk6qvX7UrjkrsjCZw7-coYCpA_KHkQZ0u2hOk-HEtTdJ7lwgUgcF_9i6hZ/s640/1-David_Van_Gough_Legend.jpg" width="484" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>“I wish I could spend my days, lost in the pursuit of paint, all in the name of a greater journey-THAT greater journey.”</i></span></span><br />
<a href="http://davidgoughart.blogspot.com/2009/11/notes-from-easel-48.html"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Me-November 18th 2009</b></span></span></a></blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="more-4110"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Top) <span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">“Legend” (2009)-oil on canvas | 30″ x 40″</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A decade closing then. Time to take personal stock. Tally the gains
against the losses. Measure the clock, along with the lines on your
face, and the marks on the canvas.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ve been doing my own introspection of the whole retrospection
lately, diving through decades old blog posts, and for all the highs,
lows, occasional navel gazing, pretentious waffle and daubed missteps,
the one constant ally has been the work. The eradicable drive to
continue on the painted qu<span class="text_exposed_show">est against
sometimes insurmountable odds. At times it’s felt hopeless, like total
folly, at others a sanctuary of illumination, but always a restless,
fathomless pursuit for meaning in this mad, bad thing called life.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I imagine all this means that for myself, the muse and the rest of
you still willing to enjoy what I do, we are stuck with one another
until we all fall down, or are blown to smithereens.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nevertheless, my gratitude is as boundless as the event horizon, for those who’ve stuck with and supported me this far.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here then, is a piece from each year-souvenirs that mark my greater journey.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/theothanatos/">Theothanatos</a> | <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/ghost/">Ghosts</a> | <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/manson-and-the-haunting-of-the-american-madonna/">Man/son</a> | <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/purgatorium/">Purgatorium</a> | <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/the-la-bodega-years/">La Bodega</a> | <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/paradisos-fall/">Paradiso’s Fall</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaGJ0cg-rMeivFSjDYHWvFRgfySl7sDH3Hwb50kiYMahEoVh8uTHkUCvR0yjXhO3uC6kRy2XMOFegAeRfLys17b-THsH_qsNVIJIhOQ-YQSkM9uzzL_9zsEd_nvIbItRJaJp8BzpdEzKN/s1600/David_Van_Gough_Legacy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="823" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaGJ0cg-rMeivFSjDYHWvFRgfySl7sDH3Hwb50kiYMahEoVh8uTHkUCvR0yjXhO3uC6kRy2XMOFegAeRfLys17b-THsH_qsNVIJIhOQ-YQSkM9uzzL_9zsEd_nvIbItRJaJp8BzpdEzKN/s640/David_Van_Gough_Legacy1.jpg" width="328" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Legacy-an Artists General Truth-(2011)–Oil on Canvas | 48″x24″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiliXzIbKCshyphenhyphened3JoGOin1aiH7s53jPJ-KHENpCUoWTUQZuAsmIL7KfMIlwWGD18ivOiqiYd6X3i3BUaF6Hv4-uOr7Tjwdz5x-uEBDy-ajkEqvbpd34bMy0-1QhldV7JEeebVM_IkkbCga/s1600/3-david_van_gough_osmosis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1288" data-original-width="850" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiliXzIbKCshyphenhyphened3JoGOin1aiH7s53jPJ-KHENpCUoWTUQZuAsmIL7KfMIlwWGD18ivOiqiYd6X3i3BUaF6Hv4-uOr7Tjwdz5x-uEBDy-ajkEqvbpd34bMy0-1QhldV7JEeebVM_IkkbCga/s640/3-david_van_gough_osmosis.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“Osmosis” (2011)-oil on canvas | 36″ x 24″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCYvDDZv-Rfmo0JhOYbWEQ3TmCxVop2Ve8NB8iFy6x4chpADnH6sGfmvpHFcCEjx-XAC4udSlxAfH1qblA_tYv0F_qFOK0HbyFJC5-9Lgnu76wuFYA7s3eIgWVSshj91APtshhYDXAZpaE/s1600/4-DAVID_VAN_GOUGH_RISE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="850" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCYvDDZv-Rfmo0JhOYbWEQ3TmCxVop2Ve8NB8iFy6x4chpADnH6sGfmvpHFcCEjx-XAC4udSlxAfH1qblA_tYv0F_qFOK0HbyFJC5-9Lgnu76wuFYA7s3eIgWVSshj91APtshhYDXAZpaE/s640/4-DAVID_VAN_GOUGH_RISE.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“Rise” (2012)-oil on canvas | 30″ x 40″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGWkMPxYFhFVLnnULTivAOIZOIfpN0eTjDSO5IHwiqkQmeVc0LyfnYkALCPsEcxIaSqrwV8oYdcONG_zmCS-1_rSb8yZJRXvjoZhikuimaYi_2N-2otukxk5E4YFp2fQxYEEGO5wcL8wr/s1600/5_WHATS_PAST_IS_PROLOGUE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="850" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGWkMPxYFhFVLnnULTivAOIZOIfpN0eTjDSO5IHwiqkQmeVc0LyfnYkALCPsEcxIaSqrwV8oYdcONG_zmCS-1_rSb8yZJRXvjoZhikuimaYi_2N-2otukxk5E4YFp2fQxYEEGO5wcL8wr/s640/5_WHATS_PAST_IS_PROLOGUE.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“What’s Past is Prologue” (2013)-oil on canvas | 36″ x 48″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfAGnnPLlPdzHoQty5UlY0cmbu7ulOURaxTGSBdOb3lsti22no6EoQs9ELToA-a1gSFd5dC4arg2OkXF7cl5Z9yV6V9Z2TdQKo9RtAAgly5VHOOsSIO_MEfzVr2iGaVPdcvHnsGXItKCD/s1600/6-THIS_THING_OF_DARKNESS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="851" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfAGnnPLlPdzHoQty5UlY0cmbu7ulOURaxTGSBdOb3lsti22no6EoQs9ELToA-a1gSFd5dC4arg2OkXF7cl5Z9yV6V9Z2TdQKo9RtAAgly5VHOOsSIO_MEfzVr2iGaVPdcvHnsGXItKCD/s640/6-THIS_THING_OF_DARKNESS.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“This Thing of Darkness, I Acknowledge Mine” (2014)-oil on canvas | 36″ x 48″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwzO1CQptWCGiiHwc8miI2zVOoE1nz7de4_ppJwADwARU9QWhj0Cew0dIUUotecOpuPEN0pA8r1m4PWZK01aT6fkfa6msFxCTuVkIF8w25aWkIcqI6SC94p6oDtpsWZp3SrDNOoVy0L_W/s1600/7-devilretouched.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1093" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwzO1CQptWCGiiHwc8miI2zVOoE1nz7de4_ppJwADwARU9QWhj0Cew0dIUUotecOpuPEN0pA8r1m4PWZK01aT6fkfa6msFxCTuVkIF8w25aWkIcqI6SC94p6oDtpsWZp3SrDNOoVy0L_W/s640/7-devilretouched.jpg" width="436" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“The Devil” (2015)-oil on canvas |36″ x 48″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4T2_Cgg1Ag61FIqyL1xdMCFyUbQbrqqpqhN0tbrnVcle02Cr7RjANNb6o4RgOka_DjPEAfAFgpLzga348xjwSeZy3_v_uE1LCOMgp2BCyhnbdKbW5GuB2kViGvunEk0zhkjCFS3OAIoLb/s1600/8-leviathan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="866" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4T2_Cgg1Ag61FIqyL1xdMCFyUbQbrqqpqhN0tbrnVcle02Cr7RjANNb6o4RgOka_DjPEAfAFgpLzga348xjwSeZy3_v_uE1LCOMgp2BCyhnbdKbW5GuB2kViGvunEk0zhkjCFS3OAIoLb/s640/8-leviathan.jpg" width="346" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“Leviathan” (2016)-oil on canvas | 42″ x 80″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9A6Nt29tMfXBk5kFXa1SiCbb1UjPoOZJWB7wjjIvleH7J46Cns9Zl0g6GOihJIRIGuSlRPe8toS0gfHHYmxw40RQ42K0aO_aKrpLgqiDXsCNppiw2V16XPP_rIF_U6FUgW3t8gtJo2VfB/s1600/9-wrathforweb3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1106" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9A6Nt29tMfXBk5kFXa1SiCbb1UjPoOZJWB7wjjIvleH7J46Cns9Zl0g6GOihJIRIGuSlRPe8toS0gfHHYmxw40RQ42K0aO_aKrpLgqiDXsCNppiw2V16XPP_rIF_U6FUgW3t8gtJo2VfB/s640/9-wrathforweb3.jpg" width="460" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“Wrath” (2017)-oil on canvas | 36″ x 48″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjPAmCIXrKf0zKoT62vbStUF3z3Skl6RtirArsws6-xb48NjG-b-eBWWW4Q_BujcvcdBTlIgOVgDS-_vcP4X8RqvAh7AJ4NpNKNCmdoPEOhkL1M4j17K3mw8MWTj_769FAeB9oycP8xk9/s1600/10-The_Voyage_Of_Elan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1190" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjPAmCIXrKf0zKoT62vbStUF3z3Skl6RtirArsws6-xb48NjG-b-eBWWW4Q_BujcvcdBTlIgOVgDS-_vcP4X8RqvAh7AJ4NpNKNCmdoPEOhkL1M4j17K3mw8MWTj_769FAeB9oycP8xk9/s640/10-The_Voyage_Of_Elan.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“The Voyage of Elen” (2018)-oil on canvas | 36″ x 48″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Hcru8FTKkb3hiA6TMh-waeRb33KxzarK30RWi_Zv6dSptHvZrukt_bc35W6BoIv1yknXJUID2KZXNvxfKHp7zdqXlfQw3WJbPUj_CVNKHR-pCV80qxct3DxjMspWw7T8OiV0A_QmrGXw/s1600/11-Origins_of_a_Black_Hole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1190" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Hcru8FTKkb3hiA6TMh-waeRb33KxzarK30RWi_Zv6dSptHvZrukt_bc35W6BoIv1yknXJUID2KZXNvxfKHp7zdqXlfQw3WJbPUj_CVNKHR-pCV80qxct3DxjMspWw7T8OiV0A_QmrGXw/s640/11-Origins_of_a_Black_Hole.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“Origins of a Black Hole” (2019)-oil on canvas | 36″ x 48″</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-38837645311998960202019-12-29T20:33:00.001-08:002019-12-29T20:40:32.553-08:00View from Abridge<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbrUizgEUDKADpXDCSbq1yhY4OTt4et7vWB09jYJVBFmq5iJgqMA28qtl0iJIcIXFdYZv9XAjxJ5F29j28lYOSsEeYCIMYzJ2Bi1IZsxQ_djZfQrZi8EzOAu1U5bNRwGuY0nyV8pYg0u5/s1600/2019grid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="972" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbrUizgEUDKADpXDCSbq1yhY4OTt4et7vWB09jYJVBFmq5iJgqMA28qtl0iJIcIXFdYZv9XAjxJ5F29j28lYOSsEeYCIMYzJ2Bi1IZsxQ_djZfQrZi8EzOAu1U5bNRwGuY0nyV8pYg0u5/s400/2019grid.jpg" width="397" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“People were already beginning to forget, what horrible
suffering the war had brought them. I did not want to cause fear and
panic, but to let them know how dreadful war is, and to stimulate
peoples powers of resistance”</span></span></span></i><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Otto Dix.</b></span></span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="quoteDetails">
<div class="quoteText">
<i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“What’s the bravest thing you ever did?<br />
He spat in the road a bloody phlegm. Getting up this morning, he said.”</span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="quoteText">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Cormac McCarthy, The Road</b></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="more-4090"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So details for my part, 2019, the stillborn Paradiso’s fall an abridged version.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Resembles a Lynchian comic strip, or the trimester of something unspeakable.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A fairly accurate summary of the year then, peering as we are, back
into the black abyss of a decade, that began with such promise, but as
Chuck Palahnuik once mooted, switched to being a threat.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For myself, that means the future holds no better prospect than the
paint that will continue to flow in tandem with the <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/china-russia-iran-hold-joint-212430976.html">inevitable deluge</a> of
blood and tears the coming era will define.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />See you all on the other side of the easel then.</span></span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-70040718093619136932019-12-28T12:07:00.000-08:002019-12-29T20:30:38.428-08:00Retrofit<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRAP5kDNpom0DMa2VIB0-AzgeDzVkT_cxa-wOCBQJz_dkS7K432aes6kRyRMc270PC1YHKdcqhFe0nD3TwHN0bd4FyOs06vKefiY2sWo9cnh3m4926XYT2MjJCXCXbjnXZZ1HFfq2pNhY/s1600/ruminate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRAP5kDNpom0DMa2VIB0-AzgeDzVkT_cxa-wOCBQJz_dkS7K432aes6kRyRMc270PC1YHKdcqhFe0nD3TwHN0bd4FyOs06vKefiY2sWo9cnh3m4926XYT2MjJCXCXbjnXZZ1HFfq2pNhY/s400/ruminate.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>“…he wondered if Mozart had any intuition that the future
did not exist, that he had already used up his little time. Maybe I
have too, Rick thought as he watched the rehearsal move along. This
rehearsal will end, the performance will end, the singers will die,
eventually the last score of the music will be destroyed in one way or
another; finally the name “Mozart” will vanish, the dust will have won.” </i></span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Philip K Dick-Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</b></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="more-4065"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here we are then at the cusp of years end, my latest work for some future event, peering over my shoulder.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Caught a rerun of Bladerunner at a little art house cinema recently,
which I guess was showing, because the future November 2019 it takes
place in, had finally caught up with us.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">Watching it now, 37 years on, feels more like opening a time capsule of early 80s milieu.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">One retrofitted like it’s Bradbury building, with a heady array of that eras cultural zeitgeist.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">Hypnagogic film
noir, decaying Rococo decadence, grainy Philip Marlow silhouettes and
Erte flourishes, against a sprawling cityscape that looks like Fritz
Lang’s Metropolis meets Limehouse, populated by the peacock exotica of
the Blitz nightclub. All whilst a small guerrilla band of lethal new
wave androids, fronted by the Bowie like Übermensch-Roy Batty, follow a promethium
quest to meet their maker.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">At the end when
Batty recited the
beautiful tears in rain monologue that I’ve heard so many times , I
could repeat it from memory, I couldn’t help but feel the sting of my
own tears. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">Not because I
remembered that Rutger Haur had died this year-as sad and untimely
unjust as that seems, given the crass grotesque that still sucks air and light from everything.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">Nor was it
because I felt as stirred again by the message and it’s messenger,
despite the words feeling ever more prevalent as they do with aging. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">But that it
represented moments lost in time from my nascent years that have long gone, ones that
envisaged an monolithic vision of sophisticated cultural and
technological culmination, imbued by a literary assemblage of references
from Dante to Burroughs, Shelley to the Sex Pistols. A metaphorical
aesthetic that was a hallucinatory collage of a future as past, from a
period in time when it didn’t seem any future was promised us.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">It still isn’t.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1">Of all the
things that 2019 failed to live up to-and I’m thinking of my beloved
England’s recent sepukku -I can’t help but feel that one of it’s
greatest disappointments, was in no longer realizing the aspirations we
held back then. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMF9GrDLuUEDbf6blRS8E4vpq2zkwldFqz-8OymnDrIIJiOz9IlOPWBXK948bTxRMTPCKnoRZ4pIdXPQNJbdY-RhTNg-1U6eh8pD5AZZ9_llE0qxJ9w1J6XjWnKni7g-hHYGML5rdEpaii/s1600/batty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="500" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMF9GrDLuUEDbf6blRS8E4vpq2zkwldFqz-8OymnDrIIJiOz9IlOPWBXK948bTxRMTPCKnoRZ4pIdXPQNJbdY-RhTNg-1U6eh8pD5AZZ9_llE0qxJ9w1J6XjWnKni7g-hHYGML5rdEpaii/s400/batty.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv5054500082p1">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="yiv5054500082s1"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-31156788842224120062019-11-10T13:32:00.000-08:002019-11-11T13:33:01.514-08:00Nowhere Towns<div class="quoteDetails">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzPIwk6RoAziKFG7JLpdY9PaW4PAF0IQ-FVjJfMosNqstP2Hk9LK-dQEPT3LW7RVJUDw_A8FEUg3qaJiVWXIzoz721rgOy1yPFyidJ-oRlW46He9kGTllGo5y9CWBqlf_ODsGHzqlz4-v/s1600/trash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzPIwk6RoAziKFG7JLpdY9PaW4PAF0IQ-FVjJfMosNqstP2Hk9LK-dQEPT3LW7RVJUDw_A8FEUg3qaJiVWXIzoz721rgOy1yPFyidJ-oRlW46He9kGTllGo5y9CWBqlf_ODsGHzqlz4-v/s400/trash.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quoteText">
<div class="quoteText">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“It was as though they consciously cast themselves as outsiders. An
undermining confederacy within this outwardly god-fearing and
respectable house. A commitment to the sadness of being white trash”</i></span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="quoteText">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>-Gordon Burn, Happy Like Murderers</strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="more-4010"></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“The human race is unimportant. It is the self that must not be betrayed.”</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>
</i></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“I suppose one could say that Hitler didn’t betray his self.”</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>
</i></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“You are right. He did not. But millions of Germans did betray their
selves. That was the tragedy. Not that one man had the courage to be
evil. But that millions had not the courage to be good.”</i></span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="quoteText">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>― <span class="authorOrTitle"> John Fowles, </span> </strong><span id="quote_book_link_16286"><strong> The Magus</strong> </span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a detail from the new piece, a pyre of strewn garbage for the
emperor of trash I’m painting, and it could be anywhere, from a no place
in a nowhere town.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yet I suppose I’ve been thinking more specifically of the
Liverpool of my childhood as I paint it. “Ollers’ we’d call them back
then, little stretches of land where grand old tenements had once stood,
now earmarked as a dumping ground for all manner of human detritus. A
mountain of piss stained mattresses, and rotting putrid meat in
Styrofoam cartons. A graveyard for a human staining footprint, but
nonetheless our playgrounds as kids.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was long before trash became a trope of contemporary art, like
the time when I went to the MOMA in LA, and saw a binbag mounted on a
wall. There’s a telling chasm right there-the distinction between the
perception of the wealthy elites and the indentured poor, like finding
the slops of ones childhood broth, re marketed as a menu special in a
Michelin star restaurant.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here of course, in my artistic playground, everything from a
discarded Embassy #6 ciggy packet, to a Robinsons Jam box, to a rotten
apple has a resonance beyond merely being a glib ornament.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been reading <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Like-Murderers-Gordon-Burn-ebook/dp/B005MIYU6U/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=happy+like+murderers&qid=1573425528&sr=8-1">Happy Like Murders</a>,
a book about 25 Cromwell Street, and the horror home of Fred and Rose
West, turning each page with stomach churning dread. The picture it
paints is of a degenerative world on the edge of Dean Forest in
Gloucester ( Dennis Potters former literary stomping ground). It’s an
almost Hogarthian world on the fag end of the 60’s and early 70’s, a
hopeless parade of toothless yobs, bully boys, headcases, duggies,
kiddie fiddlers, hoodlums, slags, chancers and tealeeves. Working class
zeroes-all seemingly salt of the Earth types,pub licked by a life of
grime from the bowels of the craggy pitts, or having done a stretch at
her majesty’s pleasure.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a sad sack world I’m very much familiar with, one where from the
cradle to the grave-tomorrow never comes, because it never belonged to
you to begin with. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I’m familiar when I see it here in the US also,
dust clad nowhere towns, with the chewed up forgotten sputum of human
chattel, clinging to the ‘olde world’ for succor, stewing in
yesteryear’s garbage, embracing what Flaubert once referred to as the
‘true immorality’-wilful ignorance and stupidity.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because a society starved of morality, becomes a hell breeding
monsters, like the slick oil of an eel, sliding through the hollow of an
asses skull.</span></span><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-8535645429916448732019-10-20T13:29:00.000-07:002019-11-11T13:30:03.271-08:00Fallout<div class="quoteDetails">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXN9ZF91qGiK-lOfdGZ0E-4QL8eJm7Fj8FUs7rXSZOV3YnL7AlxJRXocRpm7jQobcj7jeFefFHVr13-aqI4xl-WKV-6G4m-5uNn9Nz5OIZxV8qEQOK8UtlT3ZIs8etOEbjQB6thmhQdo25/s1600/INFERNALINPROGRESS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXN9ZF91qGiK-lOfdGZ0E-4QL8eJm7Fj8FUs7rXSZOV3YnL7AlxJRXocRpm7jQobcj7jeFefFHVr13-aqI4xl-WKV-6G4m-5uNn9Nz5OIZxV8qEQOK8UtlT3ZIs8etOEbjQB6thmhQdo25/s640/INFERNALINPROGRESS.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="quoteText">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span id="quote_book_link_6288">“How can I save my little boy<br />
From Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?<br />
There is no monopoly of common sense<br />
On either side of the political fence”</span></i> </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="quoteText">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Russians- Sting</b></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="more-3972"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s that time of year again, the feast of samhain, the witching hour
resurrection of spirits and classic horror video nasties on DVD.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’m reminded of the time back in the early 80’s, when a psychological
horror of a different kind consumed the metaphysical airwaves.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Back then, between ads for chocolate digestives and Danger Mouse, you
could look forward to public information broadcasts informing you what
to do in the event of a nuclear blast.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the same guy who did voice overs for Barrett homes no less.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<center>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m6U9T3R3EQg" width="560"></iframe></span></span></center>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While the transmission of Threads in ’84, dismissed any hope that
sanctuary could be sought in a cupboard under the stairs, it did instill
the kind of paralyzing terror that would come to dwarf all the cheap
thrills of late night Halloween horror.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vgT4Y30DkaA" width="560"></iframe></center>
</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have youthful levity to thank for lessening the full gravity of days
when bombing drills, meant my classmates and I would have to hide under
our desks.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But there was no escape, because it permeated culturally, everything
steadfastly preparing us for annihilation, because even the our record
collections echoed sirens songs for the end times. Everyone from
Prince’s infectious carrion call to Party like its 1999 as a defiant
final act of hedonism, through Frankie Goes to Hollywood-Two Tribes
which adopted the air raid siren from public information broadcast as
it’s opening salvo.*</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_3985" style="width: 310px;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the time warnings about the radioactive clouds from Chernobyl’s
liquefying core, had settled over European pastures, nothing could
mollify the terrible forebodings of the ultimate zero sum game.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There’s some of that sense of dread in this latest work I feel,
reanimated in an era assailed by the toxic unraveling of a deranged
mind,trigger finger poised over the final reset button, and venerated by
a host of pious followers, rapture ravenous for the vindication that
might be wrought from total annihilation.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I said in a <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/2017/08/23/old-haunts/">post back in 2017</a>-we are living “the consequence of longing for a period when things were purportedly ‘great’.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because along with the desire to relive all the illusory days of
maga-nificence ,with it’s bargain basement but equally dementia addled
Reagan, come all that era’s terrible distemper’s. The past is littered
with as much gore as it is glory, and like the my favorite horror
story-Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein-reanimating the dead, can only ever
bring with it the bitter stench of the grave.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*In writing this post, I was both nostalgic and a little alarmed
recalling the chart fare I listened to of the period. The list could be
compiled to make an End of the world party collection.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Prince-Party Like it’s 1999<br />
OMD-Enola Gay<br />
Alphaville-Forever Young<br />
Ultravox-Dancing with tears in my eyes<br />
Nena-99 Luftballons<br />
Heaven 17-Lets all Make a Bomb<br />
Billy Bragg-Between the Wars<br />
Frankie Goes to Hollywood-Two Tribes<br />
Kate Bush-Breathing</span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="coldwarSong">Sisters of Mercy-Dominion/Mother Russia</span><br />
Morrissey-Everyday is like Sunday<br />
Scorpions-Winds of Change<br />
The Clash-London Calling<br />
David Bowie-When the Wind Blows<br />
Sting-Russians<br />
Peter Gabriel-Games without Frontiers<br />
Duran Duran-Planet Earth<br />
Mike and the Mechanics-Silent Running<br />
The Fixx-Stand or Fall<br />
Men at Work-Overkill</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For your listening/watching pleasure, I’ve compiled the full list on YouTube:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rblt2EtFfC4" width="560"></iframe></center>
</span></span><br />
<br />davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-41719993747657502082019-10-08T13:22:00.000-07:002019-11-11T13:23:08.548-08:00Stillborne<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6-IaGypoBtBTqzp-QlYIkMzVtejpg_v18u18yh12Jb3vwEKwks9z7gp7D00XGMFpmQtI94WCUNHttOn07XvUIhgg0aO29TujyEWWk8yVG4LHA0VYqpDpNlhueqHjuPikHekX5oYisfZs/s1600/David_Van_Gough_Stillborne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1491" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6-IaGypoBtBTqzp-QlYIkMzVtejpg_v18u18yh12Jb3vwEKwks9z7gp7D00XGMFpmQtI94WCUNHttOn07XvUIhgg0aO29TujyEWWk8yVG4LHA0VYqpDpNlhueqHjuPikHekX5oYisfZs/s640/David_Van_Gough_Stillborne.jpg" width="427" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<i>“Dragging their Jesus hair.<br />
Did I escape, I wonder?<br />
My mind winds to you<br />
Old barnacled umbilicus, Atlantic cable,<br />
Keeping itself, it seems, in a state of miraculous repair.”</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<strong>Medusa-Sylvia Plath</strong></blockquote>
<span id="more-3959"></span><br />
24′ x 36″<br />
Oil on canvas<br />
<br />
I’ve painted Medusa before, or at least her <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/ghost/#prettyPhoto[gallery_single]/1/">ghost</a>, which was if memory serves, prompted by reading some Jack London.<br />
<br />
This one-partially inspired by Plath’s gorgeous poem about her
mother-also supposes what might have happened had the Gorgon queen
avoided being dispatched by Perseus’s sword, and gone on to conceive
Poseidon’s progeny.<br />
<br />
Yes I know, she has a head of eels instead of snakes, but it felt
rather more in keeping with Athena’s wrathful spite mocking the mariner
God, as well as a nice chance to continue a symbolic trope I started
with <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/paradisos-fall/#prettyPhoto[gallery_single]/5/">Origins of a Black Hole</a>.<br />
<br />
I’ll be showing the piece at Copro gallery, for Chet Zar’s first Dark Art Society Group Show this Saturday through October.davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-36039203745966852562019-09-26T13:19:00.000-07:002019-11-11T13:20:24.908-08:00Mood swings.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iul-lfCHKkNfJHXCjMLyTfwSgtD5SeCFIMhJkY4Ppg3TgNlMJAxbP-ZIld9lemGT8Cy_l1v4xICu8H3WW53AUQxONOuuRdv1z-qpJdHHZAA19v5Hgf4lkTAootDs8juRvPL0cY0KzfMq/s1600/moodboard2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iul-lfCHKkNfJHXCjMLyTfwSgtD5SeCFIMhJkY4Ppg3TgNlMJAxbP-ZIld9lemGT8Cy_l1v4xICu8H3WW53AUQxONOuuRdv1z-qpJdHHZAA19v5Hgf4lkTAootDs8juRvPL0cY0KzfMq/s400/moodboard2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“All art is exorcism”</span></i><br />
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Otto Dix</strong></span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="more-3948"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe it’s the algorithmic nature of using the word-“mood”-but the last time <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/2018/12/18/mood-board/">I posted one of these</a>, my inbox was cluster bombed with spam from Russia, hawking potency inducing pharmaceuticals.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t know that much of the art pinned to my little cork board
hails from the Slav republic, but it does raise my spirits as well as my
aspirations daily, and is a sort of aural exemplar for me to draw on,
going into the new series.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Left to right then:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show">“Newborn baby on hands”-Otto Dix<br />
Liverpool tenements 1980s-Dave Sinclair<br />
“The Suicide of Judas”-John Canavesio<br />
“Parable of the blind”-Pieter Bruegel<br />
“Two Witches”-Hans Balding<br />
“The Lamp of the Devil”-Francisco Goya<br />
“House of Succubus”-Nona Limmen<br />
“Uneven Couple”-Otto Dix<br />
Liverpool playground 1980s-Dave Sinclair<br />
“The Nightmare”-Pasquale Liotta Cristaldi<br />
“Man of Sorrows Christ”-Hans Memling<br />
“Sacrifice of Isaac”-Carravagio<br />
“Abandoned Playground”-Erhan Yilmaz<br />
“Seven Deadly Sins”-Otto Dix<br />
Liverpool wasteland 1980s-Dave Sinclair<br />
“Fight with Cudgels”-Francisco Goya<br />
“Three Women”-Otto Dix<br />
“Trench Warfare”-Otto Dix<br />
Liverpool wasteland 1980s-Dave Sinclair<br />
“Iron rods in a field”-sketch 1989- David Van Gough<br />
Liverpool wasteland 1980s-Dave Sinclair<br />
“Woman pissing”-Picasso</span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-85713787638890011072019-09-22T13:17:00.000-07:002019-11-11T13:18:20.555-08:00Snake eyes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdS8WdxRrB4QoCZTpqceICBPoGTtHiZzwYrBuXTA017hl9zq-9x2tEs4vtlBgCB-a5oXyaOQ2ETjmAUVgugWg2hO0gK-z01OO4EfEDUH9JFEHulVGxn53YmnfuXHJdMY1VJI8eq5MayAs1/s1600/medusawip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="702" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdS8WdxRrB4QoCZTpqceICBPoGTtHiZzwYrBuXTA017hl9zq-9x2tEs4vtlBgCB-a5oXyaOQ2ETjmAUVgugWg2hO0gK-z01OO4EfEDUH9JFEHulVGxn53YmnfuXHJdMY1VJI8eq5MayAs1/s640/medusawip.jpg" width="467" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m working on a little diversion here- a side vent from the lava’s bubbling under current of Infernal.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="more-3931"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course it’s for a show….yes, yes-I know I was no longer going to
participate in group shows for the foreseeable future-but when the
Dumbledore of Dark Art-Chet Zar invites you to the first ever Dark Art
Society show at Copro, you don’t hesitate.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What’s with the Gorgon then? Ah well…all will be revealed soon, but I
tell you my mind has felt like a nest of snakes (or in this case, eels)
lately. Restless, tangled, fermenting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s been like painting my physiognomy manifest.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The show will be opening just in time for the feast of Samhain month,
and I’ll post full details along with the completed painting soon.</span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-26326335581858995092019-08-26T12:48:00.000-07:002019-11-11T12:48:33.403-08:00Paintheism<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYO4YlMizPcS8pYwaMG2Sn46N5rdB5JKOqxpcrSV5Xn8DcF3-PJm-AGM2jtHL0lKGANO5Ex8S2wO5DMSFpc97QtzqDg6hjGCBTJH1QhRKV7dQZrnhg1dsonjawyf7mP6vBThYgHuZFCxP/s1600/past.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYO4YlMizPcS8pYwaMG2Sn46N5rdB5JKOqxpcrSV5Xn8DcF3-PJm-AGM2jtHL0lKGANO5Ex8S2wO5DMSFpc97QtzqDg6hjGCBTJH1QhRKV7dQZrnhg1dsonjawyf7mP6vBThYgHuZFCxP/s400/past.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain<br />
And all the children are insane<br />
All the children are insane<br />
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah”</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The End-The Doors</strong></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><blockquote>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“if art can’t tell us, about the world we live in, then I don’t believe there’s much point in having it.”</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Robert Hughes-The Mona Lisa Curse</strong></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="more-3911"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I refer to my next series as “the Denouement”, I don’t just
merely mean as an end to a trinity that began over five years ago. I
mean it integrally. Entering this series, has felt like a final act, as
if I am just some artistic documentarian on the end times.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it’s been no stretch, I can tell you-I mean, everything feels
like it is entering some sort of HBO grand finale now-even more
underwhelming than Game of Thrones, because as apocalypses go, it all
seems like business as usual.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An end of social norms, of known truths. Of civility. Of morality. Of
intellectualism. Of culture. Of America. Of a future. Meanwhile, the
worlds lungs are an inferno, Ice shelves the size of cities cleave into
the ocean, wakes are held for glaciers, and Russian reactors erupt,
spewing isotopes into the ether, while the bloviator in chief,
postulates the possibility of nuking hurricanes. All this as the
surface is scratched on a remote islands insidious underbelly, where an
almost Schnitzler like cabalistic rite of passage, caters to the most
vile of tastes and predilections for the rich and the affluent, as
another head count for the NRA’s coffers and coffins, beleaguers the
morning dreadlines.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s all too much to comprehend, particularly at 3am in the small
clutch of fevered hours,when it can seem like the doors and windows are
off their hinges and the tempests of chaos seem to rage through every
vestibule of your mind.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does an artist navigate these times then, is what we are doing
enough or is it ultimately futile? Is the vantage point of being an
observer, as desultory as being a passive abstainer? Are we to be like
tinkers, commodifying the detritus of a socio political landfill, or
alchemists forging the degrado into Instagram gold? Is art’s objective,
to be just anthropological, a remnant from our own teetering Roman
empire, for some future generation to point fingers and disseminate as
some cautionary tale?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And round and around we go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_4002" style="width: 310px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><div class="wp-caption-text">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCAvs4fzbNjELgAy09-JDiRzz1P5VNRu2-DitvOstJbtYfaRMBGFPGHQRlIws2mOhAescTfx_nW7gPomyRPzq33VgQUhayH_PZYhay_bgPIOk5o5X3OL5aQtGIgGee3r5zB88oso6bgm_H/s1600/picasso-380x572.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="380" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCAvs4fzbNjELgAy09-JDiRzz1P5VNRu2-DitvOstJbtYfaRMBGFPGHQRlIws2mOhAescTfx_nW7gPomyRPzq33VgQUhayH_PZYhay_bgPIOk5o5X3OL5aQtGIgGee3r5zB88oso6bgm_H/s320/picasso-380x572.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I read an article by Chris Hedges, <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-artist-as-prophet-2/">The Artist as Prophet</a>-in
which he says “The artist makes the invisible visible. He or she
shatters the clichés and narratives used to mask reality.” That’s some
lofty burden of ambition right there, and he cites quotes from novelists
like <a href="https://www.rt.com/shows/on-contact/389096-us-russell-banks-humanity/">Russell Banks, </a>and the painter <a href="http://martinezcelaya.com/biography.html%20">Enrique Martinez Celaya</a>, but perhaps more of what he has in mind carries with it the weight of art like Goya’s third of May, or Picasso’s Guernica.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except, how can art change the paradigm if it is purely post script?
Is art only simulacrum and how can it affect us and impart change?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I read with interest some years ago that the color pink, was being
used in certain Swiss prisons following a study by psychologist Daniela
Späth, as a sort of sedative. “A certain shade of pink calms the
nerves” she had posited, and in fact the statistical results bore out
that the inmates were less aggressive, once their cells were tinted
flaming flamingo.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For myself, I think I’d last five minutes before screaming blue
murder, but my point is that if art, with it’s collision of color and of
hue, form and concept is similarly a subjectively unconscious, sublime
experience, then any of its revelations must be transcendentally
existential -like codified transcripts that effect us on a psychological
level beyond our surface understanding. A kind of passive
aggression-or transgression if you will.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so I believe that these times that we live in-as imprisoned and
terrorized as we feel, and so focused as the wardens seem on imminent
destruction-cry out for the retaliation of creation and the creative
impulse, more than ever.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For artists, it can be our greatest act of defiance and our most integral role.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-63787887598385872112019-08-09T12:42:00.000-07:002019-11-11T12:44:29.470-08:00Conspiracy Weary<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZ8ES-X8X6Sg9bMnRB5v-INNV0uLf4AVU7BLUoUzZTbd5NggqTaJ3BEUxczO0X3X5LVC86XuPnioqeVWxzEUuo5Vmooy9VaQZy4V0sFolWXtlCqWkLQCwzL0IYhcskJ3aAf70erEqUaz4/s1600/DAVID_VAN_GOUGH_HEALTER_SKELTER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1263" data-original-width="850" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZ8ES-X8X6Sg9bMnRB5v-INNV0uLf4AVU7BLUoUzZTbd5NggqTaJ3BEUxczO0X3X5LVC86XuPnioqeVWxzEUuo5Vmooy9VaQZy4V0sFolWXtlCqWkLQCwzL0IYhcskJ3aAf70erEqUaz4/s640/DAVID_VAN_GOUGH_HEALTER_SKELTER.jpg" width="430" /></a></strong></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">“Healter Skelter”-24″ x 36″ – Oil on canvas (2012)</span></span></strong></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="more-3895"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I saw Elvis in a potato chip once.”</span></i></span><br />
<h6>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fox Mulder, the X-Files</span></span></span></h6>
</blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today marks fifty years since the strata was jolted by news of the
Manson killings, and other than the brouhaha around Tarantino’s latest
desultory offing, it’s barely warranted a footnote in the press.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unsurprising really, and frankly warranted, given the eclipsing daily
horror show in this country right now. Although, given that both eras
represent discriminate murders, initiated by cult members and galvanized
by the rantings of a deranged egomaniac, it could be argued that recent
headlines could give those of half a century ago a run for their money.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, I note the anniversary because of the <a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/gallery-view/manson-and-the-haunting-of-the-american-madonna/">Man/son and the haunting of the American Madonna</a>
showcase, that consumed me through much of 2012. Back then, bolstered
by a literary diet that comprised things like the hefty volumes of Peter
Levedna’s Sinister Forces, Adam Gorightly’s The Shadow over Santa
Susana, and every dank rabbit hole on the dark web-I crafted myself a
tinfoil hat so tight, I almost microwaved grey matter.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s not to undermine the revelations I made during that particular
artistic odyssey-I stand by what I said at the time, ” the connections
around the Manson case are unfathomable and have far reaching
implications not just on our lives, but on a level that defies
understanding”.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It does however give me a micro speck of insight, into the malaise of
modern conspiracy theorists; basement dwellers, pulling on threads so
to weave a magical carpet, and comfortably seat their confirmation
biases on.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For what began with conspiracies about the Kennedy assassination,
Roswell, the moon landing, Manson -has mutated and become the
provenience of alt right agitators from 4chan cesspits, promulgating
batshit schemes about Pizza parlors and the Earth being flat.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or mass shootings as false flag events where the victims are crisis actors.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When ultimately, it’s all just another spiritual quest for understanding, a way to mollify the shared human guilt of barbarism.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
In making Gods of our fears, and seeking sense of existence as a wasted
byproduct for some omniscient grand plan…one discovers there isn’t any
to be measured.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Killing is the ultimate zero sum, self destructive act where man is nihilist,and nothing divine.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can read my musings from the series, in my book Rise-Man/son and
the Haunting of the American Madonna, available from the following link
or purchase a signed art print:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/product/rise-manson-signed-art-book/"><strong>Man/son Art book</strong></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="http://davidgoughart.com/sta%E2%80%A6/product/healter-skelter-print/">Healter Skelter Art Print</a></strong></span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtd5LQPTXMtcK6cFcGScSgY0-0hNEh3dRBrxQVoWpD3wOjlVMUL5gdM5ZciaeoC3Jx3rvcopbBpudYj5GnCGoOfVBPNxTy5zGrCEBaTeL6R0vPuQSU905CO9o6_X5PG3ZV-xgCPkdusgKk/s1600/mansonbook-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="716" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtd5LQPTXMtcK6cFcGScSgY0-0hNEh3dRBrxQVoWpD3wOjlVMUL5gdM5ZciaeoC3Jx3rvcopbBpudYj5GnCGoOfVBPNxTy5zGrCEBaTeL6R0vPuQSU905CO9o6_X5PG3ZV-xgCPkdusgKk/s400/mansonbook-1.jpg" width="362" /></a></div>
<br />
davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-78369155862617948852019-08-07T12:34:00.000-07:002019-11-11T12:34:50.632-08:00Manly P Hall<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dci-MyGyFHrVf6atfapZCkC5X39jo-8-2IAp1qf_zBPdAflpv91aXKEQe9CZXlmyXRJgK01foKvfMu0nMQsed-w7WUXLryaKQvkbztwZonG0yZ1A5GU04Nmqc5VweR2CbAQZcvI5MHlP/s1600/manlyphall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1001" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dci-MyGyFHrVf6atfapZCkC5X39jo-8-2IAp1qf_zBPdAflpv91aXKEQe9CZXlmyXRJgK01foKvfMu0nMQsed-w7WUXLryaKQvkbztwZonG0yZ1A5GU04Nmqc5VweR2CbAQZcvI5MHlP/s640/manlyphall.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Ignorance fears all things, falling, terror-stricken
before the passing wind. Superstition stands as the monument to
ignorance, and before it kneel all who realize their own weakness who
see in all things the strength they do not possess”</i></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>― <span class="authorOrTitle"> Manly P Hall, </span> </strong><span id="quote_book_link_22243907"><strong> The Lost Keys of Freemasonry: Or the Secret of Hiram Abiff</strong> </span></span></span><br />
</blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="more-3883"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Ala Prima| Oil on canvas | 9”x12”</strong></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manly Palmer Hall then, peering from furrowed brow, as if he was
trying to cut glass with his eyes and looking for all the world like a
matinee idol from the Golden age. A sort of mystic Valentino for the
ages, or at least their Secret Teachings. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He’s another one of those forgotten esoteric figures on the fringe,
who along with Mathers and Blavatsky, are curios lost to the dusty back
rooms of new age bookshops, that no doubt used to line Melrose avenue. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And until a few years back, his magnum opus-<a data-amzn-asin="1585422509" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585422509/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1585422509&linkCode=as2&tag=manlyphall-20&linkId=340695a4e6afcaa7b0ab3141662d370d" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Secret Teachings of All Ages</a>:
An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and
Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy, would knock you back a few thousand
bucks.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someone who described himself as a “last resort for troubled people”
his considerable acuity and palliative voice, lives on at least in
lectures on YouTube, which have been accompanying my painting marathons
for a while now. His Icosahedron based on the Golden ratio, even found
it’s way into my last series for my painting “The Origins of Death”.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In an era that feels like a “monument to ignorance”, the voluminous spiritual wisdom of MPH are like an antidote.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Painted Ala Prima in one sitting, it’s available for purchase from my store from the following link</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/product/manly-p-hall/"><strong>MPH Portrait</strong></a></span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-41832234074134391592019-07-26T12:36:00.000-07:002019-11-11T12:37:31.612-08:00Fait Accomplais<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3D5FOMy8ynx4nUMWGgIsGe5047IgCTqJQZ-gKsJRgbJmKJ_c0Z1sBZjaBdXIZZFyzwciQpFBiS8rnPbuJrh4I7WkjmPx83yNEOMvlGuI6n0GyvRRa0dDbDqBnwVAJtOHix_digc-m33F/s1600/infernalwip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3D5FOMy8ynx4nUMWGgIsGe5047IgCTqJQZ-gKsJRgbJmKJ_c0Z1sBZjaBdXIZZFyzwciQpFBiS8rnPbuJrh4I7WkjmPx83yNEOMvlGuI6n0GyvRRa0dDbDqBnwVAJtOHix_digc-m33F/s400/infernalwip.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Christianity is a myth that has been literalised.”</span></span></i><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Timothy Freke</strong></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="more-3834"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here I am at the opening act for what will be the grand guignol, for my very own book of Revelations.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first of the last,the meanest story ever had then. Infernal, the Denouement.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For any end, there has to be an origin story, and with that in mind, I
suppose it was inevitable that my work would arrive back at the
beginning. I’m thinking of course of Theothantos, my artistic
fumbling’s through the quagmire of dogma and mortality. Dealing with
those questions back then, carried a lot of heft. With the burden of
weighing up the ultimate existential odyssey, I found it easier to
reduce the work to the abstract crevices of a skull.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Henry Miller once pronounced when talking about Tropic of
Capricorn, he should have waited until the end of his career to do what
he’d tried at the beginning.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps a decade on, none the wiser, over fifty and certainly more world weary, I feel more able to put flesh on those bones.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And alongside Eliots The Wasteland- I’ve been drawing on some old
stalwarts for spiritual encouragement. Goya’s black paintings, Picasso’s
later years, Otto Dix’s war etchings, Grunewalds Corpus Christi,
Liverpool urban decay from the 70’s. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps it’s some sort of fait
accomplais, but I want the series to feel like it’s been produced from
the vantage point of an artist, journaling the end of days.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wish I could say it feels like a stretch.</span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-83992744603868469032019-07-18T12:30:00.001-07:002020-09-23T21:02:50.530-07:00Caught a viral Gough<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3OQdn0538hJGKICOV9SGhXaDyYbUAu0x74VbGPxolx9Z__9DfkgfVPBFHJd_ixAvRa8dO14VEtB830Quv8tqkknjHx2Fe2txkpka4xl_N1JVr8bNhMhIfkb9qhloc8eLwGsHCNGp0GaV8/s1600/meme.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="706" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3OQdn0538hJGKICOV9SGhXaDyYbUAu0x74VbGPxolx9Z__9DfkgfVPBFHJd_ixAvRa8dO14VEtB830Quv8tqkknjHx2Fe2txkpka4xl_N1JVr8bNhMhIfkb9qhloc8eLwGsHCNGp0GaV8/s640/meme.jpg" width="520" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">‘ The idea, that the piece of work is not finished until
the audience come to it, and add their own interpretation, and what the
piece of art is about, is the grey space in the middle-that grey space
in the middle is what the 21st century is going to be about”</span></span></i><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>David Bowie talking about the internet (1999)</b></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span id="more-3822"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">2008’s “Incarceration” looks like it finally hit it’s mark, albeit as
a meme, but shared no less than over 50,000 times regardless. It’s the
kind of stadium level exposure, that being on the cover of Juxtapoz
couldn’t have afforded me. Regrettably, the swine who originated the
meme, not only neglected to credit my work, but also cropped out my
name. Damn!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">That would be some fuckery right there, except to say, I’m too old,
ugly and block worn to add it to the lifetimes list of personal
effrontery’s, back stabs and pass overs, to bend myself too much into a
pretzel about it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I mean, go tell it to Da Vinci.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And as the better David predicted when he invited participating
members to download art from his website to rework and deface, it’s an
inevitable consequence of the web, that all culture is to be reclaimed
and co-opted.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If Art is the last truly democratic roar, then it’s one which has no
currency or cachet beyond the one afforded by the viewer, and as a
friend of mine supposed, it’s something of “a back handed compliment”
that a long forgotten work, has resurfaced and made such a remarkable,
reaching impact.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In these days of columns bloated with divisive opinion, its a measure
that my art was able to transcend the boundaries and be relatable on a
fundamental human level.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Regardless of the delivery of the medium, it continues to be arts greatest function.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/product/incarceration-signed-print/">Signed Prints of Incarceration available HERE</a></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxC7_q2CcTdE6p5vqztyGC-Z9LT9cebQ2lKGjRLZWw1WX0Jc9X0QgxUZB8sF2hDwY7A4md-6QCJM_5eEgas9qfnfOjzMLE7VXg5_JXLI_X6KMy3WKpaqVT7N8FclspOYalgbgcdVDv1B3/s1600/David_Van_Gough_incarceration.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="851" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxC7_q2CcTdE6p5vqztyGC-Z9LT9cebQ2lKGjRLZWw1WX0Jc9X0QgxUZB8sF2hDwY7A4md-6QCJM_5eEgas9qfnfOjzMLE7VXg5_JXLI_X6KMy3WKpaqVT7N8FclspOYalgbgcdVDv1B3/s640/David_Van_Gough_incarceration.jpg" width="488" /></a></div>
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<br />davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-47207501007530923182019-07-12T12:26:00.000-07:002019-11-11T12:26:40.225-08:00Bjorn Again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbg3LuYXH3TPGon1wfVNs-LL6a3O2SjBSyO8adFEDNZCSmzygsjkXHA3LV4YwzG9NusTpS_VLSRXq3GO2Aq10GskK1RVoy2sKgpEyzf-NsGQqGL5JUNNzSsSp_miCrTh_yGbkDmTgRH4zd/s1600/artistatwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbg3LuYXH3TPGon1wfVNs-LL6a3O2SjBSyO8adFEDNZCSmzygsjkXHA3LV4YwzG9NusTpS_VLSRXq3GO2Aq10GskK1RVoy2sKgpEyzf-NsGQqGL5JUNNzSsSp_miCrTh_yGbkDmTgRH4zd/s640/artistatwork.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Horrible things happening to people is inextricably linked to people thinking horrible things might happen to them.”</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Ari Aster</strong></span></span><br />
</blockquote>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="more-3802"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here we go then, once more into the breach, or the beginning of the end if you will.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Series three-“Infernal, The Denouement”-Dark Art Emporium 2021. And I
know it seems a ways off, but when you measure your hours in drying
paint, months can suddenly collide into years.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can’t see yet, but this one is going to be about the plague-not
the black death you understand, but a disease equally as deadly. The
disease of what dear old Hitch described as something that ‘infects us
in our most basic integrity” and that is monotheistic, messianic
religion, or at least in its modern incarnation of white, right wing
evangelicalism.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDv44speD3wY0dET-Fy5w9Qj30T8y5iwf1pNvATNV42PkBLWMdTZ0RkbEjTLYVzB3rus7rmS0q_uJK2gm_dh8O0bsmzWEiVssR7AXqmB5zmeyJhEycF_mdTUHfcBA_PcVZmxU_U-f-ACNq/s1600/Midsommar-1-202x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDv44speD3wY0dET-Fy5w9Qj30T8y5iwf1pNvATNV42PkBLWMdTZ0RkbEjTLYVzB3rus7rmS0q_uJK2gm_dh8O0bsmzWEiVssR7AXqmB5zmeyJhEycF_mdTUHfcBA_PcVZmxU_U-f-ACNq/s1600/Midsommar-1-202x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someone who understands this contextually is Ari Aster. His film
‘Midsommar’ on current release is a revelation. Coming off like a kind
of bastard offspring that comprises Holy Mountain meets the Wicker Man,
Aster is being deceptive when he refers to it as a “break up movie”.. A
break up of what exactly? It’s no accident that the female protagonist
Dani’s surname is Ardor and her boyfriends name Christian.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A film redolent with
runic rituals and traditions of the Nordic Thule, Aster is clearly
aware of its unsavory Nazi antecedents, peppering one of the early
scenes with book titles that are a masterclass in Blavatskian thru
lines.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact it’s a movie lush not just with sumptuous imagery, but a
spectacle of clues and pictographs. Art peers down from every corner,
echoing, lampooning,or predicting scenes, in what are a myriad of
illusionary incantations.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it’s in the character of Ruben, the grotesquely deformed and
disabled child, who is the oracle, seen at the end sitting on a cotton
wool cloud, smearing paint abstractly on the pages of the communes
sacred book for the priesthood to decipher, where the true dark heart of
the story lies. It’s the mass delusion concocted from archaic ritual
madness. The assimilation of a community willing to participate in
terrible acts, following an insane edict, for the sake of prosperity and
genetic immaculacy.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span dir="ltr"><span class="_3l3x _1n4g">And Ruben is it’s Godhead,
avowed as pure and divine-but an an inbred progeny regardless- whose
inflated lips seem to caricature the unmistakable, pneumatic sphincter
like pout of a former reality tv host. It’s an eviscerating parody that
at its core references eugenics and white supremacy-and as such is one
of the most profound statements for the times we live in. </span></span>What
on the surface seems like a contemporary folk horror tale- is in fact
an indictment of the pernicious cult of racism and religion.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnOxIVtSdjgh1XuHg31vB8SBwnUeK0tCvLD1EzrKl6r4eK6AfOIxe9GXZP8LUcBu-AfddCD-H1hFZV1ozucj2NnYD-4Tg1d2poQEF6fWYv2FRaq3OwHSC9oZ54_LX2g0byD_TTvWWiisk/s1600/midsommar_Ruben-1024x500.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1024" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnOxIVtSdjgh1XuHg31vB8SBwnUeK0tCvLD1EzrKl6r4eK6AfOIxe9GXZP8LUcBu-AfddCD-H1hFZV1ozucj2NnYD-4Tg1d2poQEF6fWYv2FRaq3OwHSC9oZ54_LX2g0byD_TTvWWiisk/s400/midsommar_Ruben-1024x500.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having already seen it twice now, I can attest that it is a movie
that demands repeated viewings, if only because of how rich it is
symbolically, but it is also deeply affecting, beautiful, compelling
cinematic work.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It makes me spurred on by my own direction, having ploughed a similar furrow artistically with my piece “The Death Eaters”.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSQDWbph-hCJS_dEhECdVNANPeUltnqC68gHtjt4d5hOC034oZ28nrgTcCcHqsEW4XOmzlquAZnldaydMK9ZJ3zTHTiJ7hhp0hm3VTBHHeRNk0rQYqQvbk3mxeT1pn3tCh1Ah5T1k0auy/s1600/The_Death_Eaters-1024x744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1024" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSQDWbph-hCJS_dEhECdVNANPeUltnqC68gHtjt4d5hOC034oZ28nrgTcCcHqsEW4XOmzlquAZnldaydMK9ZJ3zTHTiJ7hhp0hm3VTBHHeRNk0rQYqQvbk3mxeT1pn3tCh1Ah5T1k0auy/s400/The_Death_Eaters-1024x744.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a welcome reminder that as dark and bleak as this era is, there are
still seeds of extraordinary artistic expression able to inspire and
flourish.</span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5625096601608901815.post-11152559977786077522019-06-20T12:19:00.000-07:002019-11-11T12:20:35.203-08:00Baby Boomer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNwJTpwij_KZ1es80g4kbIEfTZ5j0hE3CMXHHtgeCaVPd9H_FCg6cfs2pAgTHKqH28TvTGQgVmFrBeKXcQ-bZpJpNOILNPN4ZwgXkiOOonOofAhVyXFCy4A54fQFgqR3EjY7wDSlWp0SP/s1600/coverimage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1345" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWNwJTpwij_KZ1es80g4kbIEfTZ5j0hE3CMXHHtgeCaVPd9H_FCg6cfs2pAgTHKqH28TvTGQgVmFrBeKXcQ-bZpJpNOILNPN4ZwgXkiOOonOofAhVyXFCy4A54fQFgqR3EjY7wDSlWp0SP/s640/coverimage.jpg" width="474" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9″ x 12″-Oil on wood panel</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="more-3796"></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So whats up with that cover then ?</span></span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju55NC2fnJ2xGwvTUFB6J5X3DEqc63H-ytEpZKl-Lx6CAipx6uDyMj9VVHifPZl8RNBhYSOSHGAdOuG6y9boP-87V4VX1guz5CfCDzS1OPdYsjQVElQ1m6UmH8MjZJ77GpyycYcBbPdsoS/s1600/pmsampleframe-300x261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju55NC2fnJ2xGwvTUFB6J5X3DEqc63H-ytEpZKl-Lx6CAipx6uDyMj9VVHifPZl8RNBhYSOSHGAdOuG6y9boP-87V4VX1guz5CfCDzS1OPdYsjQVElQ1m6UmH8MjZJ77GpyycYcBbPdsoS/s1600/pmsampleframe-300x261.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s actually an update of the original cover painting I did back in
’94, which was taken from a sequence where our hero-Mortimer-references a
dream he’s had where all the babies have been born with a congenital
absence of eyelids. Its a really short passage, but at the time I think I
felt it was symbolic of this internal life, a sensory inflection where
the only point of reference is the womb.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>
</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was probably also thinking of that razor meets eyeball scene in Buñuel’s <b id="yui_3_10_0_1_1561062976453_380">Un Chien</b> <b>Andalou, </b>but here its a surgeons scalpel about to shock the little tot into what amounts to a kind of rebirth.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the time, Fantaco-the company that originally solicited the
series-were so concerned by the image, the editor called me to ask if I
could change it to something more “T & A” such were the times then. I
wouldn’t, they cancelled the series, and the rest is 25 years of
forgotten history.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s up and available in my store for purchase along with the 25th Anniversary edition.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://davidgoughart.com/staging/product/baby-blind/">BABY BLIND</a></b></span></span>davidgougharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351660116914135485noreply@blogger.com0