“Jenny’s China Dream”
Oil/panel
24” x 36”
2021
I have felt since 2017 that the dream of China becoming a middle to upper level wealth country would never happen. And worse, that the Faustian deal the people of China made with the CCP would not go well. The deal was simple in concept: you let us have control over many aspects of your life and we will give you an economic miracle that will lift you out of poverty. Well, for the first 20 years it did. But the fact that there was no exit strategy for how and when that would end, not to mention how the moral decay that is baked into a deal like that would affect the ability of the country to control corruption at every level.
By the time I met Jenny in 2021 and learned about how her husband’s film company had been stripped of its wealth by the CCP and muzzled from producing documentaries that would allegedly undermine the CCP’s authority, it had become obvious to most China watchers that things were getting bad.
This started out as a pleasant portrait of Jenny, an attractive and spirited young woman from Shanghai. But the more she shared her story the more I felt compelled to altar the painting. Now, as I write this in early 2024 things in China have reached another level of severity. Virtually every aspect of people’s lives are surveilled. And every communication is censored and monitored. Furthermore, people’s private savings in banks are routinely garnished by federal and municipal governments to meet their budgetary needs driving people to park their money in other places … like Realestate. This has created a Realestate bubble that has led to over building in staggering proportions. It is estimated that there are currently 3 billion unfinished and empty apartments in China, a county with 1.4 billion people. That is approximately 2 empty apartments for every man woman and child in China. The collapse of the Realestate market in China has already begun and may be the beginning of the end for the CCP. And the end of Jenny’s China Dream.
“Glory to Ukraine”
Oil/panel
6’ x4’
2022
When I sat down to write about this painting I realized it was only half finished. I don’t mean there is anything left to do on this panel. Instead, what I mean is that there is going to be a second panel, equal in size and shape to this one. But before I describe what and why I will paint a second panel, let me share some of my thoughts about this one.
I am writing this piece in the summer of 2022. Russia invaded Ukraine in late February earlier this year. And after some initial hope that Ukraine might unbelievably be able to throw off the much mightier Russian military, it now appears that while Ukraine may still in fact prevail, it is going to be a long hard, painful, costly and deadly war.
When the war first broke out I was painting a nude that was no more complex than a celebration of the beauty of the human form and an effort to push my technique forward in the way I do with virtually every painting. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about what could I do to support the cause.
Very quickly myself and many of my peers saw the war in a way that I believe the leadership of Ukraine wanted us to see this … .as a struggle for Ukraine to at last commit itself unequivocally and at great cost to European values and culture. And what could be a more quintessential Western “story” than the underdog who represents the voice of freedom against a mighty foe that represents authoritarian dominance. It is the subject of Michelangelo’s David, one of the West’s most celebrated works of art, to just for its quality but for the way it places the individual heroically composed within itself in the face of overwhelming odds.
And so, of course I thought of Delacroix’s famous painting done to celebrate a similar cause unfolding in France 150 years earlier as the French struggled to form a republic against the forces of Napoleonic thought. “Victory Leading the People”. Here we see a bare breasted woman leading the charge against near certain death holding the flag of the French Republic against a bloody wind.
All things Ukraine suddenly became known to any American who wasn’t living under a rock. The blue and yellow of their flag and the importance of the sunflower as their national flower but also as an important export crop perhaps like the way we might see champagne as the symbol of France or oil from Saudi Arabia. Well, it didn’t take long for me to rework the arms of the figure. I even asked one of my staff to hold a flag so I could see how the fabric wrapped around her hands. And for anyone who knows me and my oeuvre they know I love sunflowers. In fact, not only is it my favorite flower, it is more like a “spirit flower” to me the way some people say they have a “spirit animal.”
The piece came together quickly. I tried a few things that didn’t work but quickly revised them to my greater satisfaction. Hung the piece on the wall and have felt a mixture of pride and deflation ever since. Yes … it’s well painted and certainly well intentioned. Who could argue with any of that. And indeed, many have expressed how moving the piece is and how thoughtful of me to create and display it in my spa.
And yet, I could not escape the fact that it wasn’t finished. I just didn’t know what was missing until now … the other half.
Unlike France’s democratic movement, Ukraine is literally attempting to turn its attention away from its modern history of influence from and domination by Soviet culture and authoritarian rule. It literally wants to turn around and look the other way. And Russia has revealed its hand by invading Ukraine, making it clear that at least its top leadership wants to return to its imagined glory days of Soviet dominance. Almost like an aging fighter who wants to make one last gasp for championship as old age and sinking relevance threaten to overwhelm a beleaguered ego that never came to terms with a fundamental law of the universe… change. Not to mention another feared inevitability notoriously avoided by those who love power over awareness… decay.
And so I will create a second panel in the style of so called “Soviet realism.” I may even include Putin himself as he would like to be seen, bare chested and stalwart… fist clenched and seen slightly from below as if to suggest his exalted bearing, rising above the din of us mere mortals gladly surrendering our individuality for the might of the State…through him of course.
Two paintings. Side by side. Each vying for our attention. Each representing in subject and method the values and sensibilities of its country’s choices. That is the state of things. And the choice for the viewer will be theirs to make. Which one do you like better? And is there something of worth to have them both? Together. Are they greater than the sum of their parts? Do they stand alone? Will any of this matter 20 years from now?
My challenge is to paint this second painting with as much care and sincerity as I painted the first. As a business owner and father of 2 children I can certainly relate to the power of authority and its efficiency, especially in times of crisis. And so, I will visit this side at least while I complete this second part. Fortunately, my children and staff will be there, thriving in all their glorious messy creativity and free wheeling spirits, shining a light for me to return to when the work is complete. Yes, I like the power and efficiency that comes with authority. But like the Ukrainians, I wouldn’t trade it for the glorious mess that is freedom.
Glory to Ukraine smacks a little too nationalistic to some of my learned peers. And I see where they are coming from. But not being a speaker of the Ukrainian language I can not know the implications and nuances of this slogan. Nevertheless, I have my own interpretation based on what I see and read. It means glory to us and our destiny to self actualize, to be free from tyranny… a people willing to fight and die for our individual rights but that now we have come together under this flag to galvanize our strength and to work together. It’s implied that while they are fighting under this Blue and Yellow banner, unlike their Russian advisories, when they prevail they will have the freedom the right to not give a shit about a flag. They will be able to focus less on being “a people” and much more on being simply people.
“BLM”
Oil/panel
18” x 12”
2020
This is a bold subject with a complex idea on a very timid scale. It’s only 18” tall. I think it’s small because when I painted it I had conflicting ideas and feelings about the Black Lives Matter movement and where we were as a culture…a full blown pandemic unfolding and a president unraveling as he grasped at racist and xenophobic straws to maintain his popularity and the spotlight.
Yes…of course Black lives mattered as did the movement. I quickly came to understand that it was my White privilege that left me frustrated and angry that we were still here as a culture. Really? Really really I asked myself and my Black friends, employees and associates. Are we really still that backward? “ Yes…we were….are” was the resounding answer from everywhere.
But I wasn’t buying the White Fragility thing and I certainly wasn’t onboard for the defund the police movement which had a hold on many well intentioned and frustrated people.
So yes…the BLM letters are bold and black. But the white rabbit is obfuscated and timid. And behind it all is a mythric eye. The one on the dollar bill. One of America’s symbols of divinity, all seeing, both good and evil, beyond judgement but conveying to all strength to endure. And a little patch of blue Sky for hope….hope for peace and resolution.
Make of it what you will. These are messy times. One’s race is only slightly more interesting to me than whether you are right or left handed. But I realize it’s still a big deal for people and if you are on the wrong side of their judgement life can be deeply unfair in ways we had no idea of. Racism that goes on for that long and gets its start in something as base as race based slavery is going to run very very deep. That painful awareness is what the BLM movement has provided for me.
Perhaps I should repaint this 10 times as big.
“Tienanmen Square Spirit”
Acrylic on Cardboard
24″ x 36” Approximate
1989
I lived in China and Taiwan from 1983 to 1986. I never traveled to Beijing at that time but I spent a lot of time studying the history, language and art of ancient and modern China. I know much more than the average American about Chinese geography and modern Chinese history, social trends and politics. It’s probably fair to say that I know more than the average Chinese person about these things as well. In 2004 I adopted a girl from China. She was born in Chongqing. I mention all of this to help explain that I have always taken a particular interest in China in general and the 1989 June 4 massacre at Tienanmen square in particular.
Living in Communist China in the mid-1980s was an opportunity to see what real societal and governmental oppression look like. When I lived in traveled in China everyone except foreigners and small children were required to wear a uniform known as Chairman Mao suit clothes. In order to unify the people, everyone was required to wear one particular kind of clothing. They were either army green, drab blue or black. Some white shirts seemed to be allowed. Apparently this changed rapidly after I left the country. Currently I am studying Chinese with a young tutor from China. He is 22 and does not even remember that people before him were required to wear these restricted clothes.
But restrictions on clothing were just the beginning. Artists were not allowed to paint whatever they wanted and they certainly were not permitted to show what they created or wanted to create. I had many conversations with people on trains and in their homes about this. I spoke passable Mandarin at the time so I was able to carry on conversations with lots of people.
Most of the people were focused on the freedom to travel. Chinese people had just been given the freedom to travel to other Chinese cities for the first time in decades. Many of them had not seen relatives in neighboring cities in over a generation. It was an intense rush. Railways were completely overrun. And in many cases, a single rail line was all the linked one city to another.
What I don’t understand, in looking back, is why I didn’t feel I had the right to stay and be a stronger advocate for change. Or was it the lack of courage? I think, pondering these questions now, in my mid-50s, would give me insight about the nature of maturity as well as my own personal growth. In my mid 20s, I was simply not mature enough to grasp the uniqueness of my situation, nor to have the confidence to have any impact on it. I was a tourist and a student in the mid-1980s. I was there to learn and I thought… to get my hands dirty, but really? I was not there to have any impact on the culture. In fact, I remember taking some pride in being able to slip somewhat unnoticed into the crowd, dressing in Mao clothes and speaking better Mandarin than many of the countryfolk I encountered.
When I returned to the United States, I eventually made my way to Seattle. I took a job in Seattle University where I became the director of international student services. Naturally I had Chinese students as part of my charge. I was working in that job in the Spring of 1989 and we were naturally very excited about the fact that students were leading a significant change in Chinese society through their democracy movement.
Our excitement turned to horror, however, when on June 4 the democratic movement came to an abrupt halt with the brutal shut down and massacre in Tienanmen Square. Within days my Chinese students and I were seized with the idea of creating a replica of the statue of freedom and democracy that students in Tienanmen Square had erected to galvanize their movement. It was a plaster replica of the Statue of Liberty. It was destroyed by tanks on June 4 along with untold numbers of students and protestors.
We did build a replica, several actually, but that is a story for another part of this portfolio.
We also had posters made featuring the iconic image in Time magazine showing a single student standing in front of a tank waving a flag. We used those posters to garner attention when the replica of the statue was moved from my studio to a prominent city park to protest and show solidarity with the students in China. We attached the posters to sticks so that people could hold them up.
At some point I began painting these figures in black and yellow right over the photograph. I thought from the beginning of these figures as the souls of the individuals that were killed that day. I gave them away as gifts. I don’t know how many I did. At some point, I wanted to do one for every individual that was killed. But even today, 25 years later, it is still not known how many were killed. Was it 400? According to official reports it was. Or over 1000 reported by students themselves? Even 400 is unimaginable. Try making 400 individual paintings sometime much less raising 400 children to become men and women.
I have included a gallery of the posters I managed to retrieve or simply never gave out to protesters. Looking back on them now in 2024, nearly 36 years later, I realize they are more than symbols of souls lost to the massacre on June 4, 1989. They also represent the death of many artists and the return to authoritarianism in the West.
Each of these yellow and black souls departing over Tien An Men Square look like the “types” of many modern artists, a movement that represents the yearning for democratic freedoms, most notably the freedom of expression. But also the freedom to create one’s persona and identity…and now…even one’s gender. Some of these figures look like figures from a painting by Goya, Munch, Picasso, Derain and even Keith Haring and the artists of Hanna Barbara cartoons just to name a few.
By 1989 I was 28 years old and steeped in modern art history and the struggle of its artists to free themselves from so many authoritarian restraints on creative expression. Somehow, without realizing it, I saw the Chinese students who risked everything for the possibility of more freedom become living and dying realities for what I had been studying with so much passion.
During this time, the late 1980’s, the modernist drive to create more freedom had run out of purpose. The Cold War ended that same year. America and Europe had won…..sorta. Democracy and free market capitalism had clearly triumphed over Authoritarian communism. And artists floundered with so much easy freedom and no purpose. Naturally it drifted into decadent materialism at the very least and then eventually political correctness at the extremes at worst.
As post modern deliberate ironic vapism took over the art world at the highest levels I remember the peculiar irony I felt when declaring my own ironic proclamation: “I am a modernist, damn it.” It’s ironic because modernism, in the way I meant it, seemed to be mostly about being a avant garde….a fancy French term for “new.” And yet declaring this in 1996 was definitely retardaire, a fancy French term for being old fashioned.
Well, finally, in 2024 as MAGA Trumpism is pit against a radical left split from the Democratic Party for the hearts and minds of Americans, I realize that before “avant- gard” the modernists I proclaimed to be aligned with were about democratic freedoms. And I saw then that despite needing to buck the tyranny of academic traditions that favored a watered down and superficial look of classical artistic traditions, these artist were essentially classicist, as in the principles and desires of the ancient Greeks who gave us the notion of Democratic freedom with its basis on the human figure, soul and desire for creative expression.
Artists in the late 20th century and early 21st forgot the important part and as such “Avant Gard” degenerated into “new for newness sake.” Without the restraint and balance baked into a true understanding of Greek thought and without a deeper ambition such as a thirst for freedom, superficiality and ultimately populist splits will occur. And in that space a demagogue will emerge. Demagogue: a leader who wins the allegiance of people by appealing to their fears and prejudice rather than their reason and elevated virtues. And once secure in their support, will subvert democratic freedom into authoritarian rule.
