Dennis Hollingsworth

Admin/MailCall/Chris Ashley

Chris Ashley rubs it in:

;-)

Dennis,

I was just reading Chrisophter Knight's review of the
Dave Hickey curated "Step Into Liquid" that closed
Jan. 28 at Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College (James
Hayward, Jane Callister, Pia Fries, Michael Reafsnyder
and David Reed), and it seems to me that your work
would've been a perfect addition to that show
(http://www.calendarlive.com/galleriesandmuseums/knight/cl-et-liquidity14jan14,0,3727913.story?coll=cl-art-knight).
Did you see the show?

Quick technical question- I'm beginning some new work
on clear acrylic-primed linen, and your post from
yesterday caught my eye when you mention, "matt
medium. Three coats..." Just curious- what brand?
mixed with water? applyied with anything besides a
brush?

Thanks and cheers,

Chris

Thanks for asking, Chris. (A Jack Benny roll of the eyes.)

(beat, one... two... three...)

I didn't see the show, but I blogged it.

(rim shot)

(adjust the dinner tuxedo tie to studio audience applause)

Or... I blogged Christopher Knight's review of it that is.

I had self flagellated then... if I may say... exquisitely... in that post. Light whips of the instrument. Enough to raise welts in my honor, but not enough for blood to flow -in true proportion to the infraction.

Dropping a few kilos of the protective ironic humor, let me bring on a little blood:

***

I do feel bad to have missed the show. No excuse will do. I dropped the ball. I haven't data mined the LA art scene as I art-professionally should.

Michael Reaffsnyder is a friend and we have traded paintings together. Dave Hickey is fantastic. I think he's brilliant and I enjoy his writing a great deal. I remember his apparent swan song for fiction: "Prior Convictions" and and I think about it often. I feel a kinship with him and his wife Libby Lumpkin, especially that they are Las Vegans. (Las Vegas is functionally, my home town, having gone there for high school.) Jimmy Hayward is a great guy and great painter. A bit loco, he's a fantastic story-teller out of the Church of Bukowski (since reformed). I feel a kinship with his paintings, especially with the tendril physicality of his brush work. It was proper and well overdue that Knight had recognised his work in that review. Pia Fries is a friend and she has been to my studio several years ago. I knew long ago that we are working in similar territory in painting, I vividly remember seeing her work at the Cologne art fair for the first time several years ago. I look eagerly for what she does next. David Reed, I've met once briefly in ChinaTown. He seemed very genial, open and positive. One of my fruits plucked in grad school was a referential familiarity with his paintings. That leaves Jane Callister. I would have welcomed the chance to meet her and see her work in the flesh.

They all deserve better than my forgetfullness.

I'll to strive to be better.

(session over)

Oh yea. And should have I been included? I see what you mean. But every list has a limit, one of the important defining aspects of art. There's a sea of actors and the spotlight is so small.* However, that's the way the ball bounced and if that's the way the ball bounces (meaning: whether one is ultimately included in the list or not)... well, that's got to be alright too. I wish I could refer you to an old Hickey essay that is surfacing in my head: his argument about the anxiety of inclusion in a social scene was that one sould be more preoccupied with having one's own "cool" party than wishing one were invited to another "cool" party elsewhere. So, it's best to keep on truckin'.

(This anxiety of inclusion thing deserves a blogpost of it's own.)

Tech Answer: I use Golden's or Roark Brand acryllic clear matt medium. Expensive stuff. I don't mix with water to keep the molecules fat and strong. The last blogpost notes the hazardous change from brush to roller and I'm all nervous about it. I'll probably roll an additional coat to guard against seepage.

Thanks for asking, Chris!

ps: Regarding your feb. 3 blogpostt, I liked Christopher Alexander's Pattern Language very much as an undergrad. Powerful stuff.

*The saving grace is that the spotlight moves and the marquee ultimately has to change.