Essays and stories by or about ARTists
1.
GIRARD? GIRARD WHO?2. The Riddle of the Sphinx and Fowl Play in the Graphic Art of Leonard Baskin
Bill (William) Girard (Jr.) 1940 - 2011, was a professor of art at the Center for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI, known now as the College for Creative Studies.
"The burglar who broke into our house paid no attention at all to our collection of Girard paintings and sculpture. It was very depressing.
My naturopath subsequently instructed me to treat this and all life issues with the balm of gratitude. She would undoubtedly be pleased to know that the burglary has taught me to be grateful for boors.
THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX AND FOWL PLAY
IN THE GRAPHIC ART OF LEONARD BASKIN
In 1969, Baskin was just the third artist, after Ben Shahn and George Grosz, to be awarded a Gold Medal by both the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to the New York Times, Baskin was also the first American artist given the
honor of an exhibition by the Albertina (collection) in Vienna, Austria.
The essay begins...
“That ain't art,” said the kid, “it’s a raw shark.”
Raw shark? Sushi?
You mean the image exudes the ruthless power and danger of a shark? (TYRANNVS does appear “in the raw.”)
"No."
Turns out, the reprobate meant “Rorschach,” not “raw shark.”
Selected Poems by David Chorlton of Phoenix, Arizona
David Chorlton is to vision as pigment is to paint. His appearance reminds me of a candlewick: scorched, desiccate, yet unconsumed. He speaks of his contemporaries with the thunderous affection of John the Baptist inveighing against Herodias. Yet, this discomfiting personality possesses the lyric vision of an Isaiah. They are as manna for the hungry, but they will not feed the weak.