Mad, · bad · and · dangerous · to · know

I don't have too much time to watch TV. I have a Tivo and I set it to record a vast number of things I never watch. Meredith and Cathy have basically filled it with their stuff, from Gilmore Girls to Viva La Bam. It also records random shows, sometimes in Spanish.

I have it record shows about artists, and it recorded a documentary about the artist Leon Golub. I finally had time to watch it last night. What an amazing film. It showed Golub painting one of his most riveting works, and it showed his wife Nancy Spero working as well. They had a conversation at the end where Nancy said, "After we got married, I was kind of doing the nuclear family thing." It showed them and their children when they were young. Leon demurred, saying "You were working! You were showing!" and he named a couple of shows in Chicago. She didn't say anything, just looked at him, frustrated. The narration in her voice said, "I was working fiendishly, but I had no direction."

Their work could not be more opposite. It would be unfair to Golub to say his work is "male" or "masculine" in a negative sense. However, it is extremely male -- and much of his later work depicts violence in probably the most severe, insightful way I've ever seen. He said himself during the documentary that he was "awkward" and his work was also "awkward." Very true. Nancy Spero's work is almost equally "feminine" and if Golub is awkward, then she and her work are graceful. An exceptional couple and exceptional artists. I guess they are Chicago people, but their studio is in New York. Golub died last year, but the studio is not only still going, there are many artists there now.

http://www.procuniarworkshop.com/home/index/artists_home.html

She paints women and their bodies and about things related to their lives. He paints men and their bodies and about violence. They saw things wrong -- both were very activist artists in social issues and problems. It was also interesting to see and hear the EXACT SAME, IDENTICAL words, behaviors, etc. filmed during the Iran-Contra time in the Reagan years, when Golub was painting his real shocking whoppers. Just fast-forward the film and replace the names. Yamma yamma yamma yamma. But Golub's paintings and people's faces as they see them -- those are real. Same as Nancy's work. Violence is wrong. I hope that his paintings have had and will continue to have some impact. Nancy now says she is asking, "What happens after the revolution?" What an awesome artist.

Me? I'm all about freedom.