Geoff Hoyle in 'Geezer' at the Marsh

Anthony Holdsworth April 7, 2011

Last weekend I was considering writing a brief review of my friend Geoff Hoyle's remarkable performance of 'Geezer' at the Marsh, when I encountered Robert Hurwitt's highly favorable review. I recommend that you read it. ('Geezer review: Hoyle solo show laughs years away')

Hoyle, well known in the San Francisco Bay Area as a long time member of the Pickle Family Circus, a consummate mime and actor, is a serious man with an imagination that shirks neither angst nor discomfort. He dishes up bitter fare in Geezer but with such manic energy and humor that we willingly accompany him. These dark moments alternate in dizzying succession with touching reminiscences and brilliant metaphors.

One of my favorites is his variation on the 'venerable Bede's' image of a bird flying from the dark night into the lofty heights of a great hall and then on out into the dark as a metaphor for life. Hoyle, with his effortless metamorphosis into this bird, alights upon a high rafter to warm himself. As he glances apprehensively down at the multitudes below we are so entranced that, like children, we see a bird's eye view of that eighth century hall. This is the stuff of great performance.

Hoyle's power is due, in no small part, to his mastery of mime and commedia dell' arte, but I suspect that his early decision to perform on the street and in circus settings has honed his remarkable ability to reach across the stage and into the hearts and imaginations of us all.

ABOUT THESE PAINTINGS

A couple of years ago I began a collaborative series of portraits with Hoyle. We put the project on indefinite hold due to our divergent schedules. I offer this sneak preview in the hope that it will encourage you to see 'Geezer' at the 'Marsh' in San Francisco: http://www.themarsh.org/

Censorship, the environment and nuclear power : upcoming exhibitions

Anthony Holdsworth March 31, 2011

On June 7th, 2010 my exhibition of Global Warming paintings in our nation's first green Federal Building was abruptly canceled. A half hour before my reception, I was ordered by a GSA lawyer to take my work down. As I exited the building, I remember thinking ' If our government prefers censorship to actively dealing with ecological issues this building will some day be standing in sea water!' (A full account below at Censored!...)

The rejected paintings are neither predictions nor statements of fact. They are cautionary tales, a glimpse, through a glass darkly, of a road that should not to be taken.

Unfortunately, our Federal government, driven by corporate dinosaurs and cowed by the Mad Tea Partiers, seems hell-bent on ignoring the best advice of the world's leading scientists. Its principle 'green' solutions to climate change are 'clean coal' , an untested technology, and nuclear power which is neither 'clean' nor 'safe' as Japan tragically reminds us.

My father, Dennis Holdsworth, who ran research and development programs from the fifties to the seventies, began as a strong advocate of Nuclear Power. But before he died he declared “Nuclear power is an incredible technology which would be perfect if we could guarantee perfection in our technology and in our operators. We can't . We're human. We make mistakes. The price of for nuclear mistakes is too high”

There is no safe level of radioactivity.(See John Gofman) Nuclear plants constantly raise the level of radioactivity in our environment. Dr Ernest Sternglast, who led the movement to stop nuclear weapons testing, asserts that every reactor he's investigated in this country leaks significant amounts of radiation. There are high levels of strontium-90 in children's teeth downwind of these reactors as well as other toxic isotopes. ( More detailed information at radiation.org or youtube press conference) Our reactors here in California, which are no more prepared for a major quake than those in Japan, regularly vent radioactive wastes into our coastal waters.

Representatives of the nuclear industry speak of 'safe levels' and regularly downplay the dangers. They brazenly deny the real costs of Chernobyl - possibly a million casualties ( Environment News Service ) and continue to deny any deleterious effects from Three Mile Island despite evidence to the contrary (http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb97/wing.html). Our government officials, many of whom make careers of sweeping troublesome issues under the rug, depend on these questionable sources for their advice.

Environmental issues should not be swept under the rug. It is time we demanded complete disclosure and an end to censorship of 'controversial' points of view. We owe this to our children and our planet.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

I've decided that these censured paintings deserve further exposure in light of current events so I will be exhibiting them at ‘ The Schoolhouse’ , May 27- 30 ( Reception May 27, 7-9 PM) 1592 Market @ Franklin, San Francisco near Zuni Cafe

I will be following this brief reprise with the public unveiling of my new 'Climate Change Quartet' at the Caffe Museo at SFMOMA, June 2 – July 14: (Reception June 2, 5:30 – 7:30 PM)151 3rd St, San Francisco

Paint outdoors in Italy 2012

Anthony Holdsworth January 19, 2011

I am leading painting groups to Tuscany and Liguria, Italy in June 2012. Early registration is necessary for Italy.

Tuscany:

We paint Florence in the rain. Linda and Niccolo serve dinner. A view from our windows.

Liguria:

View from our farmhouse Portovenere

For information about this painting expedition and to view a short video go to the Classes section of my website and scroll down to 'Outdoor painting in Tuscany and Liguria, Italy'

Beginners and one or two non-painters are welcome on these trips.

Jerry Brown on Broadway

Anthony Holdsworth January 13, 2011

A couple of months before Jerry Brown took office as mayor of Oakland an aide asked me if I'd be interested in depicting Jerry on the streets of Oakland for possible use as a book cover.

I began a panoramic painting at 14th and Broadway that was so large ( 40” x 84”) I had to paint it in two sections. I placed Jerry stage left, lit by afternoon sunlight, as if by a floodlight, facing city hall. I would later place myself in the shadows, stage right.

Three activists from the arts community, Sonny Lee, Randolphe Belle, and Tomyé, all of whom had met Jerry, posed in dialogue with him.

I joke that Jerry was my most difficult model. Jerry, who is born the same day as me (several years earlier), is as impatient as I am. He had trouble standing still and disappeared about halfway through the session. He wanted to see if De Lauers was carrying his most recent book. I had some trouble getting him back in position. I joke about this, but I was, and am still, impressed that a political figure of his stature would pose on a corner for a street artist.

The painting accurately represents a phase of Jerry's career which began when he moved to Oakland and hosted his popular program “We the People” on KPFA. His command of progressive thought, his accessibility and enthusiasm are all evident in this work – as is a certain unconscious, patrician demeanor.

Jerry is governor once more. The 'era of limits' that he prophetically proclaimed in his first administration is upon us with a vengeance. No one is better qualified to take on the challenge.

Since his last administration, national wealth has migrated to the top. Today one percent of the country holds 24% of the wealth. We have not seen such a disparity since the beginning of the Great Depression. It is a principal cause of our financial crisis. Higher taxes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations, including oil corporations and banks, would help to rectify this situation. The wealth could be redirected into emerging green technologies as well as into our threadbare educational and social programs. If done right this might jump start our moribund economy. Jerry is one of the few politicians with the courage to do this, but only if ' we the people' can deliver him a voter base that will agitate for and support this policy.

The book for which I created this painting never materialized.

Sometime later, local poet, critic and radio host, Jack Foley, chose it as the cover of his ambitious and engrossing work "Foley's Books: California Rebels, Beats & Radicals published in 2000 by Pantograph Press.

Holiday Exhibition: New Paintings of Italy, Oakland & San Francisco

Anthony Holdsworth December 6, 2010

Join me in my studio the weekends of

Dec 11-12 & 18-19 from Noon to 5 PM

View my recent work and enjoy

wine, cheese and cappuccinos.

351 Lewis St. Oak. 94607

510.836.1681

My ongoing Global Warming Series led me to an interest in the depiction of water. I took full advantage of the breathtaking, blue-green waters of the Ligurian Sea during the five days I stayed in Portovenere, Italy. This port faces the Bay of La Spezia which was a playground for the Romantic poets. Italy is a touchstone for me. Here I can reflect on most of western history and also paint reflections of that history in its landscape and its buildings.

Scroll down to the previous blog or click here if you wish to view the eight paintings I created in Italy.

The waters of the Pacific enter an ultramodern port along Oakland's shores:

"I started painting at Berth 10 in the port of Oakland this afternoon. Across a trapezoidal space of green-brown water, maybe a third of a mile away, lie freighters more than 900 feet long. “If you stood one on end” a tugboat captain remarked “ it would be taller than any building in San Francisco.” I tried to visualize a freighter balanced on its stern. It looked big across the water, but not that big. The problem is that the scale of these ships, and cranes, is almost impossible for us, who are ants by comparison, to grasp." Diary 11.14.2010

I decided to return and re-paint the Chronicle from a slightly different angle than just over a year ago. Last year I spent March and April painting the building as more than a hundred employees left the struggling newspaper. My stimulating exchanges with reporters, editors and other employees (as well as that painting) may be viewed at News in the News Pt 2: The Once and Future Chronicle in the archives of this blog.

View many more paintings like these in my exhibition.

I look forward to seeing you!

About the artist

Anthony Holdsworth was born in England in 1945. He was introduced to oil painting in high school by the New England painter, Loring Coleman. Holdsworth embarked on a painting career while working as Head of Outdoor Restoration for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy after the flood of 1966. He continued his studies at the Bournemouth College of Art in England where he studied with master draftsman Samuel Rabin and color theorist Jon Fish and at the San Francisco Art Institute where he studied with Julius Hatofsky, Bruce McGaw and Fred Martin. He has shown with major galleries in Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles. He has participated in two exhibitions at the Oakland Museum. He was included in the California Cityscapes exhibition at the San Diego Museum. He was a recipient of WESTAF-NEA fellowship in 1990. His work is in corporate and private collections worldwide.