According to Sandy

We’ve enjoyed Bob’s online presence for several years and now we get a chance to see his work up close and personal as part of a group show, “Know Yourself At Every Age”.

Stop by and meet him on May 1, 2015. More than 25 pieces of Bob’s art will be on view until the end of the month.

“Know Yourself At Every Age”

Bob Martin – Artist Reception

Friday, May 1, 2015,  6 – 10 PM

First Studio, 631 N. 1^st Ave, Phoenix, AZ

PS – you can also see some of his work here!

The Schomburg celebrates Ms Catlett, painter, sculptor, printmaker, activist (1915 – 2012), with music and poetry on Saturday January 12, 2013 at 6PM..

“Inspired by the Civil Rights era, the late Elizabeth Catlett became one of the world’s most treasured artists of the 20th century- defining the courage, hope and beauty of African-American life in America. Join notable scholars, poets and artists remembering her life and contributions!”

“Art must be realistic for me, whether sculpture or printmaking, I have always wanted my art to service my people—to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential…. I try to tell young artists, black artists, that there’s a great need for their work. Some are only interested in doing what they want to do, not what people need.—Elizabeth Catlett”

 For My People: A Musical & Poetic Tribute to Elizabeth Catlett

Saturday, January 12, 2013  *  6PM – 9PM

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY

(Sculpture: “Mother & Child”, 1959. Mahogany)

I was recently able to get to the Museum of Modern Art, NYC and visit one of my favorite paintings again.

“Starry Night”, makes me smile, makes me want to get up close. I swear that the swirling stars are infused with some sort of electrical current to make them look like they are about to fling themselves off the canvas. I expect to hear a sizzle when I lean in.

I think Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was able to recreate “night” brilliantly – no pun intended. Fortunately for us, he did a lot of paintings and so many of his landscapes show his treatment of evening light.

According to a museum catalog, he “attempted the paradoxical task of representing night by light. His procedure followed the trend set by the Impressionists of “translating” visual light effects with various color combinations. At the same time, this concern was grafted onto Van Gogh’s desire to interweave the visual and the metaphorical in order to produce fresh and deeply original works of art”.

(Just an aside – Had a conversation with my brother, an artist, speculating about what would have been the outcome if Van Gogh had taken his medication consistently, would he have “seen” things the way he did? I assume that he painted what he “saw” – exploding stars, riotous color and all. If he were sedated, would his visions have been different? I don’t know.)

“The Godfather” films by Francis Ford Coppola based on the books by Mario Puzo lives on. Parts 1, (1972) and 2, (1974), re explode every 6, 12 months on some TV channel.  If you don’t have 8 hours to devote to this great American story, you could plug in whenever – meal times, in between telephone calls or text messages – and remember dialogue and revisit scenes that have soaked into our collective bones without even knowing it:

“It was never personal Michael, it was just business”

“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

“I know it was you Fredo, your broke my heart!”

“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”

“They shot Sonny on the causeway”

“The Godfather” is #2 with a bullet on the American Film Institute list of 100 best. If not on TV,  there is always DVD and it just came out on Blu-Ray.