| Monkey
Business is one of the later works in the series, and it probably
reflects a sense of wanting to stretch out, and find something new.
These later works, like Duck Soup
and Horse Feathers and
Admiral Baby, came
about during the end of 1999 and pretty much followed Spicy
Asian Pork Burger, which I've always felt was the culmination
of my work with watercolors on paper.
For
these paintings, I was experimenting, trying to find the next vein
to mine (to use Neil Young-speak). For Monkey Business,
I used watercolors as a background pattern, but splattered blie
acrylic paint in the foreground. Liquid Paper, what else?, is mixed
with the blue, and you can notice the difference between this and
mixing LP with watercolors. It's like trying to mix with mud; not
really something I'd recommend.
I
wanted paintings that were more alive, more kinetic. Paintings that
moved and flowed. The final effect here is captured fairly well,
especially considering the improvisational nature of painting in
this style. You can map out where you want to go, but when the paint
and brushes start to fly, you have to think on your feet pretty
quickly. Success and failure are very real terms, and maybe that's
what gives expressionist art its kick when it works. When it fails,
everything just becomes an embarrassing mess.
The
B-Side was assembled sometime in 2001, like most of the back sides
to everything on paper. I did so after the B-Sides to the Watercanvas
paintings, and tried to take advantage of the added space and better
frame ("widescreen" is always better.) This is just about
the best collage in the entire collection, crowded and messy and
fits wonderfully. There are a number of quotes and references to
Malcolm X and other various things to think about, as well as touches
of color here and there for flavor. |
