[July 9, 2008]
I arrived hoping to finish the Mazur painting today. First, I put together the stretcher bars, stretched and gessoed the canvas for the George Dugan self-portrait. I helped Andrew move selections from “Open Curating” down to storage, and bring more work up. A slight procrastination. We talked about the David Ahlsted paintings; I am not a fan of his portrayal of women.
I got to work on the Mazur, starting with the slide (in the drawing) itself, and working my way around into the grass and trees. I can sense that I am getting closer to finishing this painting, and I find I am losing my patience–it needs more time and work to make it perfect, or I could leave it as pretty good and move on to the next painting. I am going to have to use my time in the gallery on the paintings; I can work on drawings at home, referencing prints I’ve made and finishing them in the gallery in front of the “original.”
A woman and who I assume is her teenage son wander in. I tell them what I’m doing and hand them each an order form, but they don’t say much or walk into the space very far.
Kit Minervini visits, bringing a large painting her mother made. The painting is a portrait of a woman, made within a copy of another painting. It looks like a Gainsborough painting, or of that time and style. Kit wasn’t sure what the reference was, I will investigate. Kit’s mother studied at the Art Student’s League, and then at the Maryland Institute. She painted all her life, and did many portraits, this being an example of one of the ways she would create them. She later did eye portraits (which I’d love to see).
Kit was the Director of the gallery for two years. She was a student who worked at the gallery, and when the director left, she was hired. She told me about some of the work she exhibited–an installation that was based on an empty lot and rubble in the Bronx; photographs in wine bottles arranged all over the gallery. Another work was comprised of red dots that the artist had placed all over NYC, and mapped; students were given red dots to mark around campus.
Kit orders a copy of Ben Galos’ “Yonkers,” a WPA painting. She tells me she always liked that painting, and was worried about its condition, once visiting to check on it. She thinks that alumni or others could sponosr paintings. I think that painting is okay, but there are some paintings that need some conversation.
I left without finishing the Mazur. Another day.
