Sunday, January 29, 2012

"Interlude"(for Jacques Tati), 2009, oil/baltic birch. 19"-19".  From the “Science Frictions” series. 
My shaped pieces are not only dealing with the sculpture/painting dialogue but are more about the object/subject contradiction that goes back and forth from subject to object. Where does one end and the other begin? A scene from Jacques Tati’s “Mon Oncle”: https://youtu.be/LE9t98Gox60
"Sax Play"(for Sonny Rollins), 2008, oil/baltic birch, 12"-20". Dedicated to jazz tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Sonny Rollins playing "Broadway Boogie Woogie" or in the case of Philadelphia "Broad Street Boogie Woogie". This painting is now on the cover of a book of poems on Philadelphia streets titled  "Turnings" by Ernest Yates.
“Ups and Downs"(for Jimmy Reed) 2007, oil/baltic birch, 17"-17". For blues singer Jimmy Reed(1925-1976). 
"Pinky", 2008, oil/baltic birch, 14"-19".
“Tickle", 2008, oil/baltic birch, 18"-21"
"Invaders”, 2007, oil/baltic birch, 14"-16”. From the “Science Frictions” series. Invaders can come from anywhere. From other countries or other planets and sometimes from inside our own bodies.

Friday, January 27, 2012

My mother Marina Salz in her peacock costume when she danced in Radio City Music Hall, New York, in 1941 under the stage name of Marina Lord. The costume consisted of 827 rare Australian feathers and was 11 ft high and 14 ft wide. It was also equipped in the back with a motor that activated the moving feathers when bending forward. This photo was taken in the studios of "Bruno of Hollywood" in New York. Another photo by Weegee and more explanations can be found in an older post, June 27, 2010. Here are also two links to articles by New York dance critic Tobi Tobias on the Weegee photo:
http://www.artsjournal.com/tobias/2006/06/weegees_ballerina.html and this coda where I am interviewed about my mother's life as a dancer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo : http://www.artsjournal.com/tobias/2007/04/coda.html

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

"Chamber Music" by Marc Salz, 1988, oil/wood, 22"-22". This painting was on my card for my solo show at the Dolan Maxwell Gallery in 1989. It was also taken to the Chicago International Art Exposition by the gallery the same year. From 1987 to 1997, I painted this series based on the format of 14th and 15th century Sienese triptychs. I was also thinking of Duccio and Cimabue as well as Russian icon painters (Andrei Rublev etc.). These artists had an archaic weight in the physical immediacy of their work coupled with an illusion to a lighter spirituality. I was also listening to the modern sacred music of Arvo Part and Igor Stravinsky when I did this series.
"Testimony"(for Dimitri Shostakovich), 1987, oil/wood, 21"-23". The title is from the book on Shostakovich by Solomon Volkov which I was reading at that time. The painting was shown at the Chicago International Art Exposition at the Navy Pier 1989(Dolan Maxwell Gallery) and reproduced in the catalogue for that art fair.
"Triad” 1989, oil/wood, 22"-26". For more paintings from the same triptych series you may go to posts made on May 28,2011, September 5, 2010 and July 2, 2008.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

"Annunciation", Fra Angelico, fresco in the convent of San Marco, Florence. Over my painting years this piece has had a great effect on me. The two paintings below from 2009 and 1999 are examples. The theme of two figures and the space, distance, between them is not only spiritual but about general life relationships. The light that eminates in between is one of great moments in art.  The connection between Fra Angelico and Morandi is something I always liked. The distance between two objects or two people
“Chosen Paths", 2009, by Marc Salz, oil/baltic birch, 24"-25". This painting and the one below it relate to the Fra Angelico.
"Walk Don't Run", 1999, oil/baltic birch, 17"-20".
“Golden Petals”, 2006, oil/primed paper, 16”-15”.
“Rib Cage” oil/gessoed ragboard, 15”-15.5”. 
"Detours”, 2009, oil/primed paper, 14”-16.5”. 
“Indian Dancers”,2009, oil/primed paper, 14”-16.5”.