Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Self Portrait, 1982

Self Portrait, oil pastels on paper, 12 x 18 inches, 1982.

M Y   A R T — It's so interesting for me to go back and look at my earlier pieces of art. When I was working on stuff like this all those decades ago, each piece was random to me. I've worked on perhaps one hundred self portraits, in all sorts of mediums. I've done hundreds, if not thousands of doodles and sketchs and paintings of varied subjects. For each one, I only thought about that singular piece as I was working. I never gave a thought to any sort of overriding "arc" of work, or any sort of grand scheme. When I look at these early pieces though, I can see the nascent elements of my current art—repetitive graphic elements, check; a rainbow of colors used in odd ways, check; well-cropped subjects, check.

I was probably listening to music like Talking HeadsElvis Costello, The Pretenders or The Cars during this early '80s period.

10 comments:

  1. I JUST KNEW IT WAS YOU BEFORE I EVEN READ THE POST. I'D LIKE YOU TO DOODLE WHAT YOU THINK EACH ONE OF US LOOK LIKE JUST FROM WHAT WE POST ON HERE. IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT YOUR MINDS EYE SEES.

    GRANNY

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  2. Actually, I see a bit of Trevor Horn, the renowned music producer behind Freddy Goes To Hollywood, Pet Shop Boys, etc. If you remember the Buggles, you'll automatic remember the dude with the round glasses, that was Mr. Horn himself singing lead vocals, but Casey's facial structure is more chiseled with more personality and less nerdy : )

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  3. lol, my face WAS more chiseled. Sometimes when I look in the mirror now I see a beige M&M staring back at me. I'm not fat but at 53 nothing is where it used to be, rofl.

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  4. Seeing the names of those groups takes me way back to the early eighties. Those were among the favorites that my friend Raymond and I would listen to while altered. Raymond loved music and was briefly in a band called KMZ (he was the M) that performed at the Pyramid. Those wee the days!

    Paul, NYC

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  5. Oh, and I like your self portrait very much. It displays so much of YOU. I especially like the haircut!

    Paul, NYC

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  6. ...beige M&M...casey, you kill me. rofl Now help me up off the damn floor

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  7. Beige M&M, that would make two and I'm not even 40, lol.

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  8. Beige M & M, my ass! I bet not. Got any current self-portraits? Probably just a little softer and wiser...

    With admiration,
    Katie

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  9. KATIE, I AGREE SOFTER AND ALOT WISER. PLUS MAYBE SOME SOFTNESS THROWN IN ON THE SIDE.

    GRANNY

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