Banksy in Oz? An 87-person house in Maui, a new book of poetry coming, sculpture show in March 2024, and much, much more!

Banksy has been formally invited to Wise Acres.

The barn at Wise Acres was built in 1894 and has been waiting for a Banksy ever since…

 A group representing the guerilla paint-and-fly-by-night artist asked for venues and Wise Acres responded immediately with a strong entry; the 1894 barn as canvas. Hey, if the KC Royals can move downtown and the Chiefs can consider North KC, why not a Banksy in Resume Speed, Kansas?

 We offered free parking, 24-hour pump water access, lighting apparatus for night stencil and graffiti work, and an open-gate policy for throng access for Banksy worshippers. Beat that, Downtown KC. And it won’t cost the town council a cent. (What town council?) Slight charge for selfies. More on this as it occurs.

  Maui Strong, Maui Generous.

Home to an extended ohana of up to 87 people at one time…

Of the many reports coming out of Maui, the warm spirit of aloha persists. Not the watered-down oft-uttered aloha greeting, but the essence, the core deal. It’s *”…the foundation of Hawaiian values. Love, affection, generosity, speaking from the heart, patience, and listening are some of its many meanings. In the present, “alo” means to share. “Ha” means breath, or life energy.” It’s extremely expressive to Hawaiians, and contains many permutations for a language that depends on only 13 letters. Aloha is what will reinvigorate the island, honor the lost, and welcome visitors once again. Typifying that spirit is this one story of many that brings the meaning of Aloha home (link).

*The above italicized excerpt in the text to right of photo is from The Homey Hawaiian blog at (link).

The view from Kaanapali…enchanting

I was fortunate to experience aloha in spades back when I was attempting to buy a small agency on the island in the early eighties. Very good friends, extended ohana in fact, discovered I was staying at The Pioneer Inn, and demanded that I come to Kaanapali Plantation during my frequent visits. Years later, one of them gifted us a condo there for the length of our honeymoon when Freddie and I were married on Maui at Kihei. An NBA star wanted to buy that condo but was told it was in use at that time; he indicated it was now or never. He was told, “Never, then. It’s in use.” Had I known, we’d have vacated it for the sale. (Never was not okay with him. He waited and did buy it.) The island is forever part of me, and those wonderful friends, though passed away, are aloha memories we cherish. What lovely times those were. Full of life and positive energy and friendships.

I recommend Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. to anyone interested in helping mitigate the drastic needs Maui is suffering at present, and well into the future. It’s an island institution knowledgeable with Maui emergency demands; vetted and trusted, it’s the organization Freddie and I use.

 

G-Sculpture show coming March 5th to April 14th, Overland Park!

When the gallery I’d been showing at closed, unceremoniously and with zero warning, it put me into a bit of a funk. Some pieces I’d started remained unfinished and sketched pieces stayed on paper. Overland Park Arts to the rescue—and what a rescue! Tomahawk Ridge Community Center is the place; plenty of parking, a large open area where the sculpture can be viewed close up or from a comfortable distance, and a great expanse of wall space for hanging pieces. Easily accessed at 119th and Lowell it’s just a couple of blocks from the Blue Valley Parkway.

Red, reaching for a fly. He lives in AZ…

Prior experience with the OP arts people, at the Arboretum, was quite good. Some of my horses were placed in a shady glen and they found homes in Florida, L.A. and Scottsdale, AZ. And they won some jury awards. I’m planning a small horse or two for the 2024 Tomahawk show, probably no taller than four feet at the back, so possibly house-sized or garden-placed, we’ll see. Crows, too, as gallery-goers seem to like them. And a new direction; lit pieces with unusual lighting components. Neon, LED, retro bulbs. Abstract weird lamps if you will. And poetry pieces. More soon. Mark those calendars, please!

And this: gallery venue, non-gallery prices, reflecting no gallery commission taken. (Now showing: quite a nice selection of plein air paintings. Freddie and I took a stroll through during the Labor Day holiday and loved the show.)

Fifth poetry book in the works—might come out in 2023

The cover is two popsicle sticks on white. One has title. Back is some red-orange stuff including a mashed kid’s cowboy hat. The popsicle sticks are from two that I ate.

It’s called “The Taste of Red-Orange” and it has a publisher. It’s 81 pages now and could go as is, but I’d like to have 100 poems in it. Some of the work has been published in literary magazines, and more of it is awaiting acceptance/rejection, a long process. Some lit mags take six months or more to get back to you. I designed a cover and back and that is in finished art now, so we’re nearing the end of the process. This is what kept me going during the sculpture hiccup when I was just too pissed to weld anything. But it did give me some ideas that will appear in the sculpture show, one of which has a 1949 Ford grille and a long panel of rusty sheet metal that will lean against a wall, and, probably have a lighting component as well. The poetry is slopping over into the sculpture and so is some photography I’m contemplating. Bad Craziness, as David Ludwigs used to say. Which, of course, meant fun.

Books, of course. And where they lead.

Hold Still, by Sally Mann. Still Pictures by Janet Malcolm. An “In Focus” book about a 19th-century photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron. A pile of others. And the two pictured here; the William Eggleston MoMA show, and The Dyer book. Something has led me to read about photographers whose work I’ve loved over the years; Weston, Lange, Avedon, Evans, Gedney, on and on. Oddly, I read several Dyer and Malcolm books for the writing, the essays—but so many of the essays of both these fine writers were about photographers and their work as shown in museums and galleries. The connection here is this: Ever the tyro (dilettante?) when asked what I wanted for my birthday, I pointed out a Canon Rebel with various lenses and attachments. And I got it.

Why do such a thing? Well, like the 90-year-old lady who took up elk hunting, when asked why: “Nobody told me I couldn’t.” And the lifetime I spent as an art director/CD developing an “eye.” It may come to nothing, but it’ll sure be fun.

I’ll end this with a poem from The Taste of Red-Orange.

Photos with Current

A snapshot is just a snapshot / A result of an unfeeling machine / and a machine operator. / “Smile” the operator says. / The result is one of millions. / Landfillions. / Even if the snapshot gets / 28 “likes” and a “stunning” there may be no current / especially if it is self-taken.

But the current between subject / and taker, unmistakable in a Hido / an Evans, Lange or Avedon. They / give the machine life. / Current. / An ontology — a humming / circuit completed by subject, taker, viewer. / Alex Soth. Robert Frank. / It’ll zap your ass tomorrow / or in a hundred years.

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I aspire. I may miss by miles but what the heck. And that, as they say, is that. (Thanks for the fantastic birthday gift(s) Canon, cupcakes, Artforum, etc.) xxoo G