Sketchy Subject
A new series of artwork on the subject of homelessness is up, now, on my Saatchi Art listing page. A standard description for each item in the series is worded thus:
"The acrylic sketch for a painting is on 3 mil acetate. It is delivered mounted using archival spray adhesive on a 3/16 inch foam board. It is ready to be framed, or the acetate separated from the foam board for alternate display, as, for example prints and drawings, under glass. It is signed by the artist in the lower corner with the artist's mark, a painted letter H. Homeless men, such as the one in the painting, and other street people who fall under that general definition, are the subject of my work. I discuss the subject, and my art, at my blog page: derelictiondomain.blogspot.com."
This is a physical description of the item offered for view, and for purchase and delivery, according to the listing provider's terms (Saatchi Art). The small window of text provided by the web site for the artist's use as description is not enough to tell as much as I wish to say. This blog was, accordingly, developed for that purpose. Back-links direct anyone interested in my work from listings to blog, and back again.
While the paintings are each and all original, the idea behind my subject is not. The idea, frankly, was handed to me at one of the moonlighting jobs I worked in the past. I was working as a salesman in a commercial art gallery, in New York, at the Seaport Mall, a few blocks from Wall Street. The job paid the rent, and I enjoyed talking to buyers about taste in art. Amid all the standard commercial items displayed in the store, there was one item which stood out from the rest. It was in one of flip stands of assorted prints and drawings, a lithograph, an image of a vagrant picking garbage, an scene which, I was certain, no art collector would possibly want. Was I surprised when it was bought by a charming English couple visiting New York City! I felt privileged to handle the transaction, as if it were meant for me. It suggested a world of possibilities. Destitute lost soils were everywhere and, for a painter with realist inclination (like me), amounted to a discovery. It made me think for a long time about what was really important in art, having tried--and rejected--many different subjects since then.
One-of-a-kind works of art can be viewed at: https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/1840403