Hiroshima: Ground Zero 2009

Reflecting on the Museum on the Seam (& NY Times) references below, it occurred to me that the Hiroshima: Ground Zero image would fit seamlessly (pun intended) into the Entropy Drawings, so I created a new version:


Hiroshima: Ground Zero, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

This is not a copy per se. It's much larger than the previous versions, which were small. I created it without referring to the original(s). It's done in brush & ink, the original drawing was done in pen & ink (a somewhat rusty Speedball ink pen that I found lying around at the time). There are slight differences in the layout & details. However, the essence is pretty much the same, with the vaporized souls of Hiroshima depicted in the spaces between the hatching.

In general, I don't like to repeat myself literally -- of course, themes and images recur throughout my work. However, from time to time I like to return to an iconic piece, to see if something new can be drawn out of it.

Museum on the Seam in the New York Times

It's good to see that Raphie Etgar's Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem (I was in the Bare Life show there, & have a piece in the permanent collection) has been featured in the New York Times. It was in an article in the Travel section, entitled "Where Art Thou: Twenty-Nine Places that will Open Your Eyes and Blow Your Mind". The museum was number 5 on the list, in the online part anyway.


The Museum on the Seam a couple of years ago. The museum is dedicated to political art.

Here's the link:

www.nytimes.com/indexes/2009/05/17/style/t/index.html#pageName=17artw

Kudos to Raphie.

You'll need Flash & javascript installed. MOTS is number 5 in the small thumbnail icons at the bottom of the screen. The other places look pretty cool, too.

Postscript: BTW, the painting of mine in the Museum on the Seam's collection is this one:


Hiroshima Ground Zero, 2004, acrylic on board, 12" x 9".

It was based on this drawing:


Hiroshima Ground Zero, 2001, pen & ink on paper, 7.3" x 6.4". It was published in the NY Times on the Op-Ed page, as you can see from the header, on August 6, 2001, on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. So, from the NY Times to the Museum on the Seam to the NY Times again. So, that loop in the time-space continuum has been completed for me, and we move on...

Hope Among the Ruins

Here is a drawing I did a few days ago, uploaded here, then took down again as I wasn't sure it was worthy of inclusion. Maybe all it needed was a title change:


Hope Among the Ruins, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". There is always hope, speaking of positivity, as we were.

Artworks with a strong, positive message

I got a comment a couple of postings below complimenting my work, but asking if any of my work has a positive message, as much of it seems to be dark. Well, I am in the midst of a series of drawings called the Entropy Series, which depicts the world literally falling apart into disorder, but I believe I have created a number of works which have a positive message for humanity:


The Golden Age, 2004. This is not necessarily a nostalgic piece looking back to a long-lost utopian state for humankind. I believe we are on the cusp of a new golden age, we just have to realize it.


To Life, 2005. Private collection. Just before I had done this painting, I had created another image entitled "Empire of Death", which I thought was fairly self-explanatory. This was the antidote I created to that image. It does look a little melancholy, but is suffused with light, and life.


The Lovers, 2006. The power of love to illuminate the darkness.


Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 6, 1991. The UDHR series focuses on the rights & freedoms that should be enjoyed by all people, everywhere. Most of the images have a strong, positive message. Of course, some, such as the image depicting torture, do not have such an upbeat message, but I felt it would be irresponsible of me not to depict that. And so on. From a series of 30 images, viewable at www.udhrart.org.

So, I think that makes it reasonably clear that, while much of my work deals with a negative message (yet still seeks to find light in the darkness, I hope) there are at least some images which are very positive. When I'm done with my current preoccupations, I'd like to make some more conventionally "beautiful" images...

RICS - Rhinebeck Institute for Creative Studies

This is to mention that I'm working with a couple of artist friends, James E. Ransome & James L. Stevenson (I only work with people called James) on the Rhinebeck Institute for Creative Studies (RICS). This is a loose grouping of the 3 of us, who are offering classes & workshops in our own studios to interested parties. We are all professional artists with considerable experience, so I think we have something potentially very useful to offer to other artists & students who may be just starting out or needing help in some way.

For more information, please check out the RICS blog.

Other links:
www.ayton.net (my main web site)
www.jamesransome.com (James Ransome's site)
www.jlsfineart.com (Jim Stevenson's site)

Head of a Boy (pencil)

I don't usually work in pencil:


Head of a Boy, 2009, 23.5" x 18", pencil on paper.

Maybe I should, this came out reasonably well, and it's much quicker than brush & ink. However, the contrast is not as strong, so the photo shows up the shadows on the page when I increase its contrast in Photoshop...

Masked Colossus Destroying a City

A new drawing that came out better than I thought it might:


Masked Colossus Destroying a City, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

It has an endearing clumsiness that I like. Also takes me back to those early 60s (or late 50s, even) Jack Kirby / Stan Lee comics where a giant monster would be destroying a city while the terrified populace (or a half dozen of them) would scream out of the lower part of the image. I didn't put in the terrified populace. Also influenced by those Breughel paintings etc. where the landscape stretches off to infinity with a seascape & boats etc. I didn't put the boats in either.

Biohazard

A new ink drawing of an armored figure:


Biohazard, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". I like the idea of depicting armored figures, in this case the result reminded me of a biohazard suit of some kind, or some kind of futuristic protective garb. This drawing became an exercise in rendering, as much as anything, and an excuse to stretch my lines out over some relatively simple shapes.

Ruined Man

An Arcimboldoesque (see link) Entropy drawing of a figure made up of ruined architectural elements:


Ruined Man, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

I've kept the background empty. I might do another version with a sky or landscape or something...didn't seem necessary. I could even do a mini-series of figures like this. BTW, I don't always do sketches for these, but in this case I did. Here is the original thumbnail sketch:


That's done on the back of an envelope, as you can probably see. It was lying on my desk when I had the idea. The confirmation number refers to my electricity bill & has no deep significance.

Upheaval

New Entropy drawing:


Upheaval, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". If you look closely, you can see a couple of pencil sketch lines -- those will be erased.

It's All Over

Another ruined colossal head drawing:


It's All Over, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

The Citadel Falls

New Entropy drawing:


The Citadel Falls, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". I was looking at Breughel's Tower of Babel the other day, might be related to that.

The Death of Death

A new drawing, a little dark perhaps (but maybe not if you think about it):


The Death of Death, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". Entropy Drawing.

The Final Wall

Another Entropy drawing:


The Final Wall, 2009, brush & ink drawing, 23.5" x 18". What's your final wall? And what's behind it?