Censorship, the environment and nuclear power : upcoming exhibitions

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!…)

Detail:San Francisco Globsal Warming Triptych # 2

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”

New Montgomery and Market after we are gone?? Detail:The San Francisco Global Warming Triptych # 3

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.

Why not dedicate the 18-36 billion, earmarked to 'jumpstart' a new generation of nuclear power stations, to a massive development program for solar, wind, wave and geothermal power?

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

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

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.

Jerry Brown on Broadway

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

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

Cinque Terre Through My Window, oil/canvas, 45" x 35" Unfinished

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:

Winter Light Port of Oakland, oil/canvas, 24" X 48" Unfinished

“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

The Chronicle A Year Later, oil/plywood, 20" X 24", 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!

My Painting and Cultural Tour in Tuscany and Liguria: 2010

This September I led a painting group on an ‘agriturismo’ twenty minutes south of Florence. As well as painting around this farm, which produces exceptional, organic olive oil, wine, grappa and vino santo,  we took two day-long visits to Florence and one to Siena. The trip is documented in an eight minute video on youtube  “A Painting and Cultural Tour in Tuscany and Liguria 2010″  which you may access here.

This blog focuses on the eight oil paintings I completed during my month in Italy. They will be exhibited for two weekends in my studio Noon to 5 PM, Dec 11-12 & 18-19. For directions to my studio just go to Visit Studio on this website.

Piazza Santo Spirito from beside the church

I arrived in Florence five days before the painting group. I stayed at a pensione in Piazza Santo Spirito which is one of the few areas of old Florence that maintains a vestige of its original character.

Early mornings I worked on my first painting standing in front of  the homeless who slumbered in their sleeping bags alongside the church under the disapproving gaze of its priest. ‘Tutti in piedi! E tempo di lavorare!” (Up on your feet! It’s time to work!)  he shouted one day – an exhortation which had no discernible effect.

The open air market in the square offered fresh fruit and vegetables. Evenings tourists and Italians patronized several restaurants while the homeless, adding a commedia dell’arte flavor, squabbled around the fountain . Young students across from the expensive restaurants crowded the charming little ‘aperitivo’ ‘ Pop Cafe’  .

There are views of Florence which transport me back to 1967-68 when I lived in a  little attico  behind the Palazzo Vecchio.  I would pass over Ponte alle Grazie and look back at the city center from across the Arno. Because it is associated with so many memories this view continues to resonate  strongly with me.

Florence from Ponte alle Grazie

In those days I would continue out of  the city and climb the steps past Piazzale Michelangelo on my way to paint in the fields. I would often pause to savor this view (below).

On this visit, my student Daniel Altman and I spent two afternoons painting here. The first afternoon rain accompanied by thunder and lightening added drama to the scene, and to our experience of painting it!

Storm Clouds over Florence

On the ‘agriturismo’, where we all stayed for two weeks, the  courtyard in front of our accommodations (of which a corner is discernible in the bottom of this painting) served as our outdoor studio. It offers a number of fine views of vineyards, olive groves and hilltop towns.

We also ate breakfast, lunch and some dinners out here.

Above our courtyard

I have often hiked  this road past our farmhouse to other subjects like abandoned farmhouses, chapels among the cypress and breathtaking vistas.

The road past our farm

But we found beguiling subjects without even leaving our rooms!

Grape harvest time

From Tuscany I accompanied two of my students to Portovenere in Liguria which is a two and a half hour drive north-west of Florence on the Mediterranean. The name Portovenere derives from the fact that there was originally a temple  to Venus where this 12th century church of St Peter  (below) now stands. The church appears to have succumbed to it’s pagan antecedent: it serves, almost exclusively, as a site for lavish weddings.

There is a decidedly Venusian flavor to this port. The colorful fishing boats, charming alleyways that climb its steep slopes, alluring artisan, fashion boutiques and fine restaurants like Da Antonio seduce the senses.  After busy, warm days,  an evening dip in the calm, blue-green water that is set aside for swimmers along the quay was a welcome balm.

Portovenere

These waters also conveyed me on a spellbinding journey to the Cinque Terre.  Seas permitting, there is regular ferry service from Portovenere. The five lands live up to their reputation. But they struck me as incredibly fragile clinging precariously to the steep, unstable cliffs. And I wondered if the current  avalanche of tourism might eventually bear their delicate terraces and precipitous towns down into the oblivion of the blue-green waters…

Riomaggiore

I am planning further painting trips both to Tuscany and to Liguria. Contact me if you are interested in participating. I will soon post dates and details in my ‘ Classes ‘ section of this website.