Mr Cheverton, I discovered your work through the Rational in Portland podcast. You have my deepest admirement and gratitude for what you do. I have lived in Portland for over ten years now, and have been profoundly frustrated with the many cultural dimensions that you so brilliantly criticize in your pieces. I the last four years I have developed a stronger civic identify and position and would love to help in any way possible, my skills primarily reside in filmmaking and multimedia creativity, should you need help making a documentary to expose the Portland no one wants to talk about, please let me know and I would love to meet to talk about about it. In the case of this most recent article, I also have some amazing insider stories about RACC, having been on their "volunteer board of judges for art grants". Sincerely, Arturo Martinini
Mar 5, 2023Liked by Richard Cheverton, Pamela Fitzsimmons
I have a friend who is an accomplished local artist working in copper plate engravings here in Portland. She had a saying about Portland about being an artist here. "It's not that you are not good enough it's that you are not bad enough."
Have you ever really stopped and looked at Portlandia? Mighty close to Soviet Workers Art (see Worker and Kolkhoz Woman).
My favorite is a happily neglected collection of flowing vacant robes at NE 7th and NE Oregon. That one always brings to mind the commedia dell’arte. Rebecca at the Well (Shemanski Fountain) works for me, too.
I also liked the plump Harvey Scott on Tabor. He'd become kind of comic but he tended to keep it light up there. Moreover, he was a Borglum.
Good god that eldritch death mask of York cast by some gravedigger at an exhumation that was up there in place of Scott was a Poe does Dachau horror. I'd tried to wrench that one down. Before I could return with a Come Along another rational citizen had snagged it.
Mar 5, 2023·edited Mar 5, 2023Liked by Pamela Fitzsimmons
I think there is a certain appeal for work that doesn't seem to show much skill or craftsmanship because it reassures people that this is something they could do if they just took the time and made a little effort. Think Jackson Pollock throwing buckets of paint on a blank canvas compared to work done by the old masters that took years of effort to produce of course Jackson Pollock probably made more money than Michaelangelo.
Actually, Pollock didn't, although "money" isn't the only measure of success. Pollock made it into a group photo in Life magazine and he sold some paintings (for absurdly low prices; it was the owners of that art that cleaned up in the after-market).
Mike, for short, worked for the richest people in the world, at the time (the Medici family of Florence, Italy); then moved to Rome and was employed by the Popes and wound up running the St. Peter's project and painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. One thing is always better than money, and that's power. Mike had it; Pollock didn't.
Craft went out with Marcel Duchamp in the 1920s, when he took a urinal, signed it "R. Mutt" and put it on display; he also drew a mustache on a cheap copy of the Mona Lisa. It's been downhill ever since.
Thank you for the history lesson. I also recall a story about Pollack at a party pissing into a fireplace. Craft still exists even in current art and plenty of the crafts. I'm not going to look it up but sounds like Duchamp was among the DaDaists one of my favorite bunch of characters. Love your forum here. I always look forward to new entries by you and Pam. This one was a particular favorite of mine l've read it several times.
Also, look for the laughable article written by some poop at Willy Weak several years back, (good luck as they've taken down several questionable articles from their online archives). It's about some infamous artist/painter from PSU that everyone idolized because he was a raging alcoholic and only 25 or something. Leave it to that laughable rag to do something like that.
Anyway, his final project was due and he had nothing, because like many mediocre excuses for human beings, he really thought that if he drank himself to death, he'd be immortalized as some artistic genius. He and some pals drove to the coast, drank on the beach while he contemplated his final project, but came up with nothing. On the drive home, they hit a deer and killed it. Said tortured artist/painter jumped out, grabbed a saw and cut off the deer's head. The next day, his final project was presented. The cut off deer head set on a wooden support, cut nicely and painted with the rapidly decaying, bloody stump of a head.
THAT was his final project. Guess who got an A? Guess who graduated?
Don't get me started on the Portland art scene. Its a complete joke.
Richard, I went over and looked at some of your art on Instagram. I think you’ve got a shot at a RACC grant. When you file your application, don’t forget this important qualification: You are a member of the Mongrel tribe.
There is a really great article by a true artist, about the current fraud art that dominates museums across the country. Also, ask Don and me about the stolen painting that sits in the Portland Art Museum. Ohhhh, when I asked about it, this being several years ago, (we were doing research for a paper he was writing for an art class) one of the people I spoke with got sooooo touchy and hostile on the telephone. It was once a gift to Marion Davies from Hearst, (made the rounds during the 1920s) and then it was given to the Portland Art Museum as a "gift" in the sixties, I believe. And you know that THAT means! LOL...
Mar 4, 2023·edited Mar 4, 2023Liked by Pamela Fitzsimmons
My late mother, who studied under Josef Albers, worked almost exclusively in stained glass, the last 50 years of her life, and her works can be found in churches, private homes, and at the University of Oregon [most of her works are part of a wide variety of churches and synagogues in California].
I inherited NONE of her artistic talent, but she was outspoken in her contempt for government-supported art, which she saw an inevitable pandering and always seeking mass approval.
I remember she had a show of her glass work at the Portland Art Museum in the 80s which was very difficult to install.
I am totally mystified about the implication that much of this government-paid art is apparently NOT available for the mere hoi-polloi to see it?
Mr Cheverton, I discovered your work through the Rational in Portland podcast. You have my deepest admirement and gratitude for what you do. I have lived in Portland for over ten years now, and have been profoundly frustrated with the many cultural dimensions that you so brilliantly criticize in your pieces. I the last four years I have developed a stronger civic identify and position and would love to help in any way possible, my skills primarily reside in filmmaking and multimedia creativity, should you need help making a documentary to expose the Portland no one wants to talk about, please let me know and I would love to meet to talk about about it. In the case of this most recent article, I also have some amazing insider stories about RACC, having been on their "volunteer board of judges for art grants". Sincerely, Arturo Martinini
I have a friend who is an accomplished local artist working in copper plate engravings here in Portland. She had a saying about Portland about being an artist here. "It's not that you are not good enough it's that you are not bad enough."
Well said. Socialized art winds up looking like...socialized art.
Have you ever really stopped and looked at Portlandia? Mighty close to Soviet Workers Art (see Worker and Kolkhoz Woman).
My favorite is a happily neglected collection of flowing vacant robes at NE 7th and NE Oregon. That one always brings to mind the commedia dell’arte. Rebecca at the Well (Shemanski Fountain) works for me, too.
I also liked the plump Harvey Scott on Tabor. He'd become kind of comic but he tended to keep it light up there. Moreover, he was a Borglum.
Good god that eldritch death mask of York cast by some gravedigger at an exhumation that was up there in place of Scott was a Poe does Dachau horror. I'd tried to wrench that one down. Before I could return with a Come Along another rational citizen had snagged it.
I think there is a certain appeal for work that doesn't seem to show much skill or craftsmanship because it reassures people that this is something they could do if they just took the time and made a little effort. Think Jackson Pollock throwing buckets of paint on a blank canvas compared to work done by the old masters that took years of effort to produce of course Jackson Pollock probably made more money than Michaelangelo.
Actually, Pollock didn't, although "money" isn't the only measure of success. Pollock made it into a group photo in Life magazine and he sold some paintings (for absurdly low prices; it was the owners of that art that cleaned up in the after-market).
Mike, for short, worked for the richest people in the world, at the time (the Medici family of Florence, Italy); then moved to Rome and was employed by the Popes and wound up running the St. Peter's project and painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. One thing is always better than money, and that's power. Mike had it; Pollock didn't.
Craft went out with Marcel Duchamp in the 1920s, when he took a urinal, signed it "R. Mutt" and put it on display; he also drew a mustache on a cheap copy of the Mona Lisa. It's been downhill ever since.
Thank you for the history lesson. I also recall a story about Pollack at a party pissing into a fireplace. Craft still exists even in current art and plenty of the crafts. I'm not going to look it up but sounds like Duchamp was among the DaDaists one of my favorite bunch of characters. Love your forum here. I always look forward to new entries by you and Pam. This one was a particular favorite of mine l've read it several times.
This is their archive. Impressive huh. Just look at those dates. LOL... Yep, its like, super complete.
https://www.wweek.com/archive/
This is a great article I read years ago.
https://www.arthistoryproject.com/essays/is-there-such-a-thing-as-bad-art/
Also, look for the laughable article written by some poop at Willy Weak several years back, (good luck as they've taken down several questionable articles from their online archives). It's about some infamous artist/painter from PSU that everyone idolized because he was a raging alcoholic and only 25 or something. Leave it to that laughable rag to do something like that.
Anyway, his final project was due and he had nothing, because like many mediocre excuses for human beings, he really thought that if he drank himself to death, he'd be immortalized as some artistic genius. He and some pals drove to the coast, drank on the beach while he contemplated his final project, but came up with nothing. On the drive home, they hit a deer and killed it. Said tortured artist/painter jumped out, grabbed a saw and cut off the deer's head. The next day, his final project was presented. The cut off deer head set on a wooden support, cut nicely and painted with the rapidly decaying, bloody stump of a head.
THAT was his final project. Guess who got an A? Guess who graduated?
Don't get me started on the Portland art scene. Its a complete joke.
Richard, I went over and looked at some of your art on Instagram. I think you’ve got a shot at a RACC grant. When you file your application, don’t forget this important qualification: You are a member of the Mongrel tribe.
There is a really great article by a true artist, about the current fraud art that dominates museums across the country. Also, ask Don and me about the stolen painting that sits in the Portland Art Museum. Ohhhh, when I asked about it, this being several years ago, (we were doing research for a paper he was writing for an art class) one of the people I spoke with got sooooo touchy and hostile on the telephone. It was once a gift to Marion Davies from Hearst, (made the rounds during the 1920s) and then it was given to the Portland Art Museum as a "gift" in the sixties, I believe. And you know that THAT means! LOL...
Sorry to be so blunt but this is in no way art. Unless shit is now considered art.
Actually bodily fluids and excrement are artistic mediums. Remember Piss Christ?
My late mother, who studied under Josef Albers, worked almost exclusively in stained glass, the last 50 years of her life, and her works can be found in churches, private homes, and at the University of Oregon [most of her works are part of a wide variety of churches and synagogues in California].
I inherited NONE of her artistic talent, but she was outspoken in her contempt for government-supported art, which she saw an inevitable pandering and always seeking mass approval.
I remember she had a show of her glass work at the Portland Art Museum in the 80s which was very difficult to install.
I am totally mystified about the implication that much of this government-paid art is apparently NOT available for the mere hoi-polloi to see it?
Just because:
https://nypost.com/2023/03/04/nyc-doe-probing-anti-white-texts-tied-to-black-superintendent/
Larry: You get the award for quick reads.
Prefer to let my guns do the talkin'