Geoff Hoyle in 'Geezer' at the Marsh

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.

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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/

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

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

CinqueTerreThruWindow

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:

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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!

Censored: Feds Force Closure of Global Warming Show in First 'Green' Federal Building

CENSORED !

How does a Federal agency censor art without appearing to?  They cite permit irregularities. This is what GSA Management did when the San Francisco Chronicle columnist, Leah Garchik inquired about the cancellation of the reception for my “San Francisco and Global Warming” exhibition in the new San Francisco Federal building, 90 7th St., and its forced closure three weeks early.

Imagine being invited by the management of the first green Federal Building in the country to show your work. You put together an unusual show highlighting the issue of climate change which is warmly received by the tenants of the building. Now imagine arriving to attend your reception and being ordered by a bureaucrat you've never met to take down your show immediately. This, in a nut shell, is what happened to me on Friday, May 7th.

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EVENTS OF MAY 7th

When I asked this official, whom I will refer to as 'Jones', why my work had to come down he explained that the permit for the show had not been renewed in a timely fashion. Building management was obligated to clear ongoing events on a monthly basis with GSA management. I responded that the show was advertised as continuing until June 1. It was listed on my website, on the Britweek Website, and on cards which building management had made available to the public. He was unmoved. He indicated that the show was more than two weeks beyond its permit.

This is an abbreviated version of our conversation:

“If its more than two weeks in arrears, one more day won't make any difference. You should at least allow me to have my reception. It's been widely advertised.”

“I'm ordering you to take it down now.”

“I don't take orders from you!”

“Don't raise your voice with me.”

“You're disrespecting me and my work so I will raise my voice. I will not take this work down.”

“Then we will.”

“If you value your job, you won't touch my work.”

I turned and walked out of the building.

About an hour later, after a conversation with Kenneth Baker at the Chronicle, I returned and, through the windows, observed that my work was still on display. I entered the building but was detained by the head of security.

“Why am I being detained?”

“I 'm contacting 'Jones' ”

“I've already spoken to him. I have nothing more to say.”

I left the building and went home where I received e-mails from people who had come to the show and were puzzled by my absence.

IMPLAUSIBLE PRETEXTS

I later received an e-mail from 'Jones' giving a new reason for disallowing the reception. “Your application request to greet 30 to 150 guests from noon to 5:00 pm and show them your artwork will interfere with access to the area in which it is displayed as well as disrupt government business...”

'Jones' had not mentioned this to me in our conversation.

It was an absurd reason. Friday is a furlough day so half the tenants are absent. Besides, I attended an Earth Day event in this same space on Thursday, April 15, where a dozen tables were set up and hundreds of people milled around without any problem.

HOLES IN THE OFFICIAL STORY

The GSA spokesperson led Leah Garchik, of the Chronicle, to believe that I'd been tardy in filing a permit and that the show had been slated to come down the end of April. In fact permitting was an internal affair. Building management passed all documents by me and then filed them as they were due. Upper management was aware that the show was going to be up until June 1st 2010 and had verbally assured building management that I could receive the public on May 7th as part of Britweek, an event sponsored by the British Consulate.

THE REAL STORY

All along there was some tension between upper management and building management. Building management was generous and friendly. I admired their determination to bring art into the building. GSA management had originally refused to let me show the Global Warming paintings until I wrote a letter explaining that these were works of the imagination not statements of fact. They later refused a request from building management for me to talk on Earth Day about the genesis of these paintings. They were monitoring every aspect of the show, including my website. On one occasion they asked building management to have me alter information on the website.

Given this level of scrutiny, GSA management must have been aware that permits were in arrears by almost three weeks. Maybe they didn't care until it provided them with a pretext to take down the show.

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A PLAUSIBLE MOTIVE

Clearly upper management was uncomfortable with the show. But why yank it? Several observers have suggested that my painting “Oakland Global Warming # 2”, with its depiction of oil burning on water, became uncomfortably relevant after the massive BP disaster in the Gulf. Maybe, in the minds of upper level bureaucrats, this painting had left the realm of fantasy and was pointing an accusing finger at the Federal Government.

QED

If GSA management truly liked my work, it would have allowed my reception to take place, stored my work for a few days , expedited the permits and rehung it until June 1st. These permits are in house, after all. Or if they felt, for legal reasons, the work had to come down immediately, they could have offered me a rescheduled reception date. Their behavior clearly indicates that my work, not permits, was the issue.

MISPLACED PRIORITIES

Apart from the fact that a federal agency should not be engaged in censorship, we all need to ask why GSA is attempting to stifle public awareness of climate change and environmental disaster precisely when these are the most urgent issues of our time.

Global Warming Paintings at the San Francisco Federal Building: March 18 - June 1, 2010

My two Global Warming Triptychs, set in San Francisco and in Oakland, will be on exhibition at the San Francisco Federal Building, 90 7th St (at Mission) from March 18 to June 1. The exhibition will occupy the ground level of the lobby. To purchase prints of the paintings shown in this blog go to "Featured Works" in the Shop.

Across a Hundred Years, oil on canvas, 2007

This is an appropriate location to showcase the Series for two reasons.

1. This building, designed by Thom Mayne, is the first 'green' Federal Building in the country.

2. The idea for this series occurred to me while I was painting this building  from the corner of Mission and 7th St. That painting "Across a Hundred Years" is included in the exhibition.

The Global Warming Series is an invitation to you to actively imagine our future if global warming remains unchecked. These paintings are not  predictions. They are science fiction. There are too many variables for us to predict the future of our planet with any precision. Only by exercising our imagination can we begin to grasp the enormity of the effect our species is having on this planet, and, perhaps, take measures to lessen our impact.

Here are the central panels of the two Triptychs:

For San Francisco

San Francisco Global Warming Triptych # 2, oil on canvas, 2008

For Oakland

Oakland Global Warming Triptych # 2, oil on canvas, 2009

Also on exhibition will my recent painting of the Chronicle, and a ten foot wide painting of the Bay Bridge both created on location in San Francisco:

Storm Clouds over the Chronicle, oil on canvas, 2009
Bay Bridge Panorama, oil/canvas, 2007

The Federal Building is open to those who wish to view my exhibition. Please inform security at the front door of your interest.  If you intend to bring a large group contact Conference Center manager, Mike Ladd, in advance at 415.625-2756 , 415.948.8531 [email protected]