Painting her son's final images of Iraq

Typically, this site is devoted to posts about artists' first endeavors, or breakthrough moments in art history, but I was really moved by an article I recently read in the Los Angeles Times that may be more appropriately categorized as a "last".  Suzy Shealy, the mother of a soldier who lost his life in Iraq, is painting images of the last things her son saw in his short life.  An excerpt of the heart-wrenching story is below:

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Suzy Shealy was one of those preppy Southern moms whose artistic streak found expression in what she calls "crafty-type things": cross-stitched towels, Christmas ornaments, knitted scarves.

It was stuff to give away at school auctions or offer to neighbors, stuff with little hearts and frills, the comforting, precious visual language of mother-love.

Yet here she was on a balmy June afternoon, in a studio overlooking a yard full of petunias and marigolds, painting the kill-or-be-killed scowl of an American soldier patrolling on the streets of Iraq.

Whish-whish went her brush, and as if by magic, the planes and angles of the soldier's bones emerged from a light haze of grayish paint: gun-metal cheekbones and nostrils flared and fierce. She outlined the suggestion of a right arm, and a hand clutching an M-16 assault rifle.

The snapshot she painted from was attached to the canvas with a potato-chip clip from her kitchen. In the photo, a second soldier hovered in the background, his torso emerging from a Humvee turret.

But Shealy will not paint her dead son. She is not ready.

"I'm just not," she said. "I don't know why."

Some of Sgt. Joseph Derrick's personal belongings were returned to his family in boxes. Some of it came back in little velvet jewelry bags with "UNITED STATES ARMY" embossed in golden letters. His mother has kept nearly everything, no matter how trivial: the phone card he used to call her from Baghdad, his cellphone, his boot laces, his civilian clothes.

A mother learns that every one of her children has a signature scent. The old T-shirts and sweats still smell like her first child. She can still picture him the day he was born -- those perfect hands and perfect feet, those big blue eyes. How could she throw his things away?

Among the belongings that came back from Iraq was a tiny Flash drive she had sent to him as part of a care package. It returned to her filled with more than 500 photos. Some of them were taken by Joseph. Others were taken by his fellow soldiers. Before Sept. 23, 2005 -- before the insurgent sniper fired the bullets that pierced his neck -- Joseph had told her about the pictures. He couldn't wait, he had said, to come home and deliver the stories that the pictures promised. But without their narrator, Shealy found that the photos amounted to a chain of riddles. An eternally incomplete slide show.

Click here to keep reading the story

Chagall's first artwork

Marc Chagall, the painter associated with Modernism and France, was actually born Moishe Segal to a Russian-Jewish family in 1887. At the time of his childhood, Jewish students were not admitted to Russian schools. However, with a bribe to an official, Chagall's parents managed to get him access to attend, where he fell in love with drawing.

It makes perfect sense that, considering Chagall's contribution as a Jewish artist, his first artwork ever created was an illustrated Haggadah for Passover (a text that details the order of events for Seder) for his family. I couldn't seem to find any images of his particular Haggadah... perhaps it's still in his family and not on public view?

"Damien Hirst's auction" or "Hirst rhymes with first"

It's been almost a year since Damien Hirst's infamous auction took place at Sotheby's in London. Hirst is an interesting figure in the art world - his splashy work and astronomical prices have earned him a spot as one of the most loved and despised artists in the world. September 15, 2008, Sotheby's held a special two day sale of works by Hirst, which is nothing rare (I joke). However, it was incredibly rare, in fact the first time that a set of work went straight from an artist's studio to the auction block - no galleries, no exhibit, no public display. It was sensational. It angered many. It made a lot of people smile, and a lot more people curse his name.

Agnes Denes

The artist Agnes Denes, known for her "Whatfield - A Confrontation" in Manhattan, created a piece entitled "Tree Mountain - A Living Time Capsule" between 1992 and 1996. The drawings and renderings were the beginning of a project that the Finnish government would make as their Earth Day contribution at the Earth Summit. Denes invited 11,000 people to each plant a tree on a mountain, using a mathematical pattern. This marked "the first time that an artist has been commissioned to restore environmental damage with an artwork that is global in scale, international in scope, and unsurpassed in duration."

keep reading

Hong Kong artists at Sotheby's auction

This past Spring auction of contemporary Asian art at Sotheby's was the very first time that an auction house had a series dedicated specifically to Hong Kong artists.

From Art Radar Asia:

"The artworks are concerned with significant historical Hong Kong events including the 1997 Handover of the British colony to China, the 2003 SARS epidemic and the annual July 1st protests as well as the experience of living in Hong Kong’s cramped urban cityscape.

All of the lots were sold at estimate or more. Kum Chi Keung, Kevin Fung and the Kowloon Emperor achieved sale prices which were double or several multiples of the estimate."

Kum Chi Keung

John Fung, Kin Chung

Herb and Dorothy

Last night I saw an amazing film - Herb & Dorothy - at Cinema Village. I must say that I was in tears for much of it - so sweet!

Anyway, the movie documents the married couple Herb and Dorothy Vogel - unlikely but very prolific art collectors. Living on goverment incomes, they amassed an amazing and significant art collection that they housed in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment for years, until donating most of it to the National Gallery of Art. Because they were willing to schlep downtown to "dangerous" neighborhoods, they often got work for very cheap from emerging artists and developed relationships with artists - they traded with Sol LeWitt for one of his first geometric works. Their story is moving and beautiful - a love story - they loved each other and loved art - unlovable art. Whether you are an artist, a collector, or just are an interested person, definitely go see this movie. Click here for theatres and showtimes.

HERB & DOROTHY Trailer from Herb & Dorothy on Vimeo.

Ross Bleckner - UN Goodwill Ambassador

(Photo: Anna Rosario Kennedy/United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)

This year Ross Bleckner was named the first fine artist to be a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Long known for his abstract paintings and work about AIDS, Bleckner recently went on an official trip to the Uganda district of Gulu, where abduction and human trafficking has traumatized the people.

Using supplies shipped over from New York Central Art Supply, Bleckner worked with 25 children to create over 200 paintings. The work was exhibited and sold at a UN exhibition. Bleckner plans to return to Uganda and continue the project next year.

Click here to see the NY Times slideshow featuring the children's work

Below is an excerpt from the very moving speech given by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the opening of the exhibition:

I imagine many of you are invited to more fabulous parties in more glamorous locations. But you are here this evening because you care about the issue of human trafficking. And you understand the profound contribution that Ross Bleckner is making through his work.

Today, Ross Bleckner will make history by becoming the first fine artist to be named as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. I welcome him to our family and I hope many others follow.

His tremendously powerful exhibition, “Welcome to Gulu”, proves that art has a unique and important mission in advancing peace and human rights. With his eye, Mr. Bleckner has been able to show the world a side of human trafficking that a diplomat never could. I have my role to play in fighting the horrendous abuse of children we see in northern Uganda and elsewhere. But only an artist as visionary and compassionate as Mr. Bleckner could allow the victims to express themselves so eloquently.

Their paintings show that, although they have endured terrible forms of abuse, these children retain a purity and love of life that are the birthright of all youth. Only art -- the kind of empowering art that Mr. Bleckner has facilitated through this life-changing project -- can offer such a profound perspective.

It is vital that we shine a harsh light on the terrible trade in humans. I recently reported to the Security Council on the extent of this problem. I listed parties that are recruiting children to fight in conflicts, and abusing girls as sexual slaves. We call this “name and shame”. I urged the Security Council to take action against those guilty of these atrocities.

At the same time, I am all-too-aware of the limits of my office. Naming and shaming are critical to confronting perpetrators. Punishing them is essential to fighting the culture of impunity. But none of that will truly heal the boy who has been forced not only to witness killings but to commit them, or the girl who has suffered multiple rapes.

That is why I so deeply appreciate Mr. Bleckner’s contributions. He has done more than just expose a problem -- he has taken steps towards solving it. For him, the victims are not just poster children trotted out to show the devastation caused by human trafficking. They are people with full rights, talents and aspirations. They are speaking in their own voices, painting their own images and healing in the process.

I was delighted to learn that proceeds from the sale of these powerful paintings, and from Mr. Bleckner’s compelling portraits, will benefit former child soldiers and abducted girls.

Two years ago, my wife opened another exhibition sponsored by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC] here at United Nations Headquarters, called “Human Trafficking: Images of Vulnerability”. She decried the trade in people, and she said, “Thanks to this exhibit, it is staring us in the face.”

Then she called for action. “Let us not just look at these pictures and walk away”, she said. “Let us be moved to act.”

There was an artist in the audience that day who took those words to heart. His name is Ross Bleckner, and we see today the results of his passionate activism.

So I repeat the words my wife spoke then: Let us be moved to act. You may not have the same painting skills as Mr. Bleckner, but each and every one of you can make a difference in your own sphere of influence.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is showing the way through its invaluable activities. By supporting UNODC, we can stop human trafficking so that the people who are today in shackles can tomorrow be free to contribute to a better world for all.