Art History as a Sandbox

Only a Handful of Monumental Art Cycles

For a few years in the early 1980s, I lived in Staten Island, walking distance from the Staten Island Ferry. Whenever I wanted to take a break from painting, I would hop on the ferry, with its spectacular view of Manhattan, nearly brushing against the Statue of Liberty along the way. Whenever I crossed the harbor, for some reason, I thought of Manhattan as a playground.

In the same way, that’s how I look at art history: as my personal playground. I grew up reading all of my grandmother’s art books on famous artists. That influence, in part, led to how I do my art. The pillars of my art-making are direct observation and introspective feelings and thoughts, but the third pillar is my art historical context—it’s a sandbox I play in.

Until I researched it, I had no idea how rare my vision of the Space Series is. There are only a handful of notable artists who create monumental cycles, and of those, fewer still are self-funded and self-directed. Of the self-funded cycles presented in the following chart (five of them), two are disturbingly dark and depressing, two are non-objective abstract, and one is Monet’s famous Water Lilies. My Space Series is the only benevolent, figurative cycle from the chart that isn’t propaganda for a church, state, or patron.

Mid-Covid I Embarked on Two Big Projects:

Sharing my knowledge of art with my Collector’s Set of eight books: from history to theory, to practice and memoir.

And my Space Series, of secular gods and nebulae, each 64×48″, oil on linen, so far 19 of 24. Its theme: their shadowed selves are transparent and the stuff of the universe, lines mark their boundaries, and light defines who they are.