Nous Sommes Françoise Gilot

We have all known what an unrepentant chauvinist prick Picasso was for his entire life, but only recently did I come around to reading Françoise Gilot's Life with Picasso and the full force of his asshatted fuckheadery struck my full attented awareness. 

In each episode that revealed his insecure man-baby character, I became acutely aware of the parallel with our current situation with the man-baby currently occupying the White House. In a way we now, on a near global scale, are positioned in the role of Françoise Gilot. 

In his Red Hand File #313 Nick Cave reflects on the question of separating the consideration of an artist with clearly objectionable and offensive characteristics from their art, with a focus on his fondness for the work of Kanye West. Cave considers the notion that such a separation can exist is absurd. It may well the the very asshole-ness of an artist that made them capable of creating the work that you find so moving. 

Françoise Gilot's youthful indiscretion will, for me, be forever known at Prickasshole. And though, he was able to create many groundbreaking and moving works, he was fundamentally trapped, perhaps by the most objectionable qualities of his personality under a ceiling clouded by the inventiveness of his youth. It may well be his behavior was rooted in the same source that prevented him from going beyond 70 years of solipsistic pastiche. It's very much an individual place to decide whether is possible to love the work but hate the maker. I may fall on either side of the equation depending on the situation. Did Carl Andre kill Ana Mendieta? Should he have faced punishment for that? Yes, I think he did, and he should have. Do I reject his work because its relationship to him? I don't. Have I stopped appreciating the work of Frank Stella who paid Andre's bail, or any of the other artists who likely used their power to circle the wagons to protect one of their own and denigrate the female victim and her supporters? No. I can object to them personally, and particularly their roles in shaping a world that secured their place while excluding worthy outsiders who were "other."

I think work can exist and have relevance even when the maker is rightfully rejected. I also think that the needed work of correcting the record and re-balance the field to give due to the worthy other that was excluded is happening - but not without intention and vigilance. 

The great news for us is that Françoise Gilot did kick her gremlin to the curve and had a whole other life beyond that one, reputation making, as it was, bump in the road. And so can we. 

Tamarind Institute 2024 Collector's Club Print Revealed

 I got a little bit of a kid's xmas thrill yesterday when I received an email that revealed the image of the print Jordan Ann Craig created for Tamarind Institute's Collector's Club for 2024.

Last Summer, I shelled over my money when the artist was announced. I didn't know her at the time, but since then, I've been seeing it pop up. The work she has created is titled Sharp Tongue, Soft Skies" and is a five colored lithograph in an edition of 50 and measures 21" x 21" 

This is an exciting program that I learned about when I first arrived in Abq in 2019 and immediately jumped on it, and wished I had been aware of it far sooner (even though the likelihood of being able to afford such a splurge was not a given.) 

At that time, both the artist and the image was a mystery, which I thought was exciting. The unknowing appealed to me greatly. A little taste of taste of danger, with no danger, aside from feeling I received something I in no way would have wanted to spend $700 on. 

Shortly thereafter, on a visit to Tamarind, I told the gallery director I enjoyed the unknowingness inherent in the set up. She said that most people don't like that uncertainty and they would likely be changing the format to accommodate that aversion. I found that a shame, since the purpose is really to give support to a really excellent institution - and an institution with a certain track record that one who is looking to give support, should trust in.  

In any case, starting in 2020 they've announced the name of the artist who would be creating the work. - Although that was interrupted during the Pandemic, at which point, club members would be able to choose a print from a selection of the back catalog. 2024 marked the return of the nascent prior model. 

So, ok, that's ok too. I certainly still thrilled at a bit of the unknown with this most recent iteration, and now, I'm really anticipating being able to see the work in person....!

A Shining Gem

This small untitled Kelly James Marshall piece from 2017 outshone much of what was on display at the Broad when I visited LA in October. 

Mine is an unfortunate photo of the painting, but it must serve to hold this piece in memory. In that memory, I believe the piece is in the 20" x 16" range.