Ayat al Kursi

This is the center mandala of my new text piece. The title is "Throne: The Book of Revelation cut from the Koran". I used this title because both the book of Revelation and the Koran make many references to the throne of God. It's remarkable, actually, that the metaphors are so similar. So in this center mandala I included a passage from the Koran called "Ayat al Kursi", or "The Throne Verse". It's found in the second chapter of the Koran ("Al Baqara", or "The Cow"), and it begins with these famous words of praise:

Allahu la illaha illa hu.
(Allah! There is no god but He.)

These words are used as a call to prayer five times a day for all Muslims. It is chanted by all Muslims, and forms the core of every Sufi gathering. It even has a name - it's called the tahlil, which translates into English as 'rejoicing'.

So anyway, I like it. A lot. I created the prayer inside the mandala by cutting the letters from the Bible, and wrote it in English, then the English transliteration; back and forth between the two. The rest of the piece, surrounding the mandala, is the book of Revelation, so this little island, or throne, is surrounded by a sea of Revelation, and to create this I cut the letters from the Koran. It's a large piece; 44.5" x 30".

I'll be showing it next week at the "Mystics" show at BRIC. More info to come.

Wretched Artist Disease

An artist friend recently said something that resonated with me:

"I hate being an artist. Hate it hate it hate it. I just want to make art."

So cool. I wish I'd said that. It would be particularly nice not to be an artist right now. I've got the dreaded pre-show blues, where the work is finished, stuff's all framed, and all I gotta do is label the pieces, bubble them up, and send then off to their respective galleries. I should be elated. Instead I'm and deflated and melancholy.

There's no good reason for this. I couldn't be happier with the body of work. I've put everything I have and am into it: blood, snot, tears, love, joy, wretchedness, vanity, fear, ego, various body fluids; you name it, it's in there. Some pieces are better than others, some could have been worked further, but none of that matters anymore. The ones I like the least are always the ones that sell first. So why am I depressed?

Because I'm an artist. It's what we do. We get morose when we should be elated. We get all fetal when we should be doing a victory lap. I should be out in the world, running around and goin' nuts and telling everyone about my shows, but all I want to do is sleep. I've got three stacks of invitations to hand out, but it's just too depressing to contemplate. There has to be a name for this; maybe Wretched Artist Disease. Yeah, that's it. I got an epic case of the WAD.

The good news is that it'll pass. It always does. When the shows are over? Nah, then it's time for the post-show blues, which also majorly suck. The pre-show blues are just foreplay for the post-show blues. No, there's only one solution that will cure the WAD:

Starting another body of work.

~~~~~

The above piece is a rework of a previous piece, which was just too boring. I added the type underneath, and now I kinda like it. Sorta. The large type is a chapter from the Koran called "Earthquake", and the letters are cut from the Bible. The small type underneath says simply "om namah shivaya" over and over, and the letters are cut from the Koran. I include mantras in my work, because I like the repetition. They become predictable patterns; visual mantras. There's something very pleasing in that. But don't get me wrong ~ I'm still depressed.

~~~~~

The first show opens next Saturday at ACA Gallery in Manhattan. It's called "Different Voices, Unique Visions". The other artist is Beth Ames Swartz, who does really lovely paintings. Opens on St. Patrick's Day, from 2-5:00. Come if you can; I'll be in the hall closet with a bottle of whiskey and a pacifier. There will also be an artist's talk on Thursday, March 22, starting at 6:00.

Revko Complete

I started this text piece in 2009. It's the book of Revelation, and I cut the letters from the Koran. (I call it Revko for short). Yeah, that one...I've been talking about it for a long time. I no longer get invited to cocktail parties because that's all I can talk about – Babylonian whores and savage locusts and end time jokes:

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Jesus Christ the Lord who?
Jesus Christ the Lord who just decided not to save you.

Well, you're in luck because I finished the dang thing, and won't be talking about it anymore unless asked. It's now getting scanned over at Laumont Labs, and tomorrow I'll frame it, and then it gets wheeled off in a golden chariot to BRIC Contemporary Art for a month or so. I'm so done with it. My next text is going to be something happy. I'm jonesing to start it...I'm cutting the letters from the Lankavatara Sutra, a Buddhist scripture, and creating the book of Lamentations from the Old Testament. It'll provide some much-needed comic relief from the book of Revelation.

Above: Detail.
Throne: The Book of Revelation cut from the Koran. Finished 2012. 44.5" x 30"