An Icon of 20th-Century Architecture | The Farnsworth House

Located only an hour from where I grew up and a two-hour drive from downtown Chicago lies The Farnsworth House, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's modern masterpiece. A pilgrimage site for architects and designers world-wide, it is considered one of our country’s most important modern assets. I have to admit my interest in this gem is recent, only following them on Facebook and Twitter in the last month.

My fascination with architecture started when living in Chicago in the mid-1990s. I worked on the ninth floor of a glass-box office building built in 1967 overlooking the Michigan Avenue draw bridge, the Wrigley Building, and the Chicago Tribune Tower. Our apartment on the 21st floor in Printer's Row, had a birds-eye view of that iconic of all glass and steel skyscrapers, the 110-story, once-named Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower). I was immersed in and surrounded by architectural history.

The 1585-square-foot house built in 1951 on the Fox River in rural Northern Illinois stands as a testament to one of the greatest architects of the 20th century. The portraitist Annie Leibovitz trekked to Plano, Illinois to photograph the house for her upcoming book, Pilgrimage, due out Fall 2011. And, toy giant Lego has even immortalized it in their architecture series.

Open April 1 through November 24 for guided tours. My next trip to Illinois will definitely include a visit to this rich museum.

Knox Martin | The Whaling Wall Public Art Project

Knox Martin's whaling project has intrigued me since my first visit to his studio almost three years ago.  He is passionate about this project and I'm so thrilled to see it moving forward.

Knox Martin and Woodward Gallery announce this important public artwork, The Whaling Wall, to be premiered as a public mural at 334 Grand Street in New York, corner of Grand and Ludlow Streets facing west, scheduled to be completed May 2011.

The powerful image depicts man’s irresponsible killing of the whales, a metaphor for peace and a call for humanity.  Known for his muralist work, Knox was seen in the recent past on a cherry picker putting his signature in a more visable location when his Venus  was partially covered by construction of a new building adjacent to that mural.  At age 88, he is an awesome force!

©2011 Knox Martin/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

The realization of this public artwork is made possible by the commitment of the following:

• Artist Knox Martin has envisioned and will donate his painting to the public to raise awareness;
• Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Downey have donated their building’s exterior wall;
• Golden Artist Colors, Inc. will provide custom paint; and
• Woodward Gallery has coordinated and will curate the project. 

Click here for more information.


Grace to be born . . . | March 28, 1922

A few months after moving to Baltimore in 1989, I was exploring my new neighborhood of Mount Vernon, a beautiful historic area of the city just north of the harbor. Located across the street from a wonderful cafe and bookstore my brother and I used to visit frequently near Walters Art Gallery, I stopped in C. Grimaldis Gallery to have a look around. I was intrigued by a work titled, West Broadway, by Grace Hartigan. On my way out, I took a postcard from the Gallery reception desk with an image of the large, vibrant painting I had just seen. I kept that postcard for quite a while, first used as a bookmark, and then it was pinned to a wall near my desk at work when I moved to Chicago a few years later. I didn't take the time then to find out more about her, I just remember being very drawn to that energetic image.

Video Cover | 2008

Image | The Persian Jacket | 1952

Posting about this painting in

MoMA Collection coming soon.

In the summer of 2003, I was reading the book, Bill and Elaine: Portrait of a Marriage, about the lives of Willem and Elaine de Kooning. Several times, Hartigan is mentioned during the 1950s period when they were all part of the emerging Abstract Expressionist movement in New York.  Alas, my interest in knowing more about her life was born. I sought her out, found she was still living in Baltimore where I first encountered her work, and she had an address listed. So, I wrote her a letter telling her how much I enjoyed reading about her and of my interest in her work.  My partner, James Brock, followed my letter with a phone call to her studio.  

I continued to pursue my passion for knowing more, reading any books I could get my hands on about her life and her work, purchasing catalogs and postcards from her past exhibitions, even gaining access to the papers she donated to Syracuse University. At her suggestion to James, we attended the opening reception of a show in the fall of 2003 at Grimaldis Gallery, and introduced ourselves. We later enjoyed seeing her at more openings, James called her several times and spoke with her at length from her studio, I continued to write to her, and she even suggested further sources to read.

I persist toiling in my head on a dramatic project about her, wondering if it will ever take shape. I still collect books about the New York School and her place in art history as a second generation Abstract Expressionist painter. Currently, her work is hanging in the Abstract Expressionist New York exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, and we forever enjoy visiting the Smithsonian's National Gallery of Art and the American Art Museum to see her art in their collections. The title of this post, Grace to be born and live as variously as possible, is a line from a poem by her dear friend and poet, Frank O'Hara.  I dedicate this post to all the joy she has brought to my life, honoring the day of her birth—March 28, 1922. Thank you, Grace.

The Cubies' ABC and the Armory Show of 1913

Much has been written about the importance of the Armory Show of 1913, indisputably regarding this watershed event with changing the course of art in America. A little gem of a children’s book, The Cubies’ ABC, published in 1913, rhymes through the alphabet invoking the images and ideals of the Show’s participating artists. The red, yellow, and blue Cubies take on Matisse, Picasso, and other artists as well as the modern art collector, Gertrude Stein, in quirky and bizarre poetry that hardly seems to be written for a child. About Stein, the Cubies exclaim for the letter G:

G is for Gertrude Stein’s limpid lucidity,

(Eloquent scribe of the Futurist soul.)
Cubies devour each word with avidity:
“Alone words lack sense,” they affirm with placidity,
“But how wise we’ll be when we’ve swallowed the whole!”
G is for Gertrude Stein’s limpid lucidity.

With images by architect Earl Harvey Lyall and verses by his wife, Mary Mills Lyall, the book is dedicated to the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, organizers of the International Exhibition of Modern Art (the Armory Show). The entry for the letter Y expresses the boredom with art before this exhibition:

Y’s for the Yawn overcoming each Cubie
At sight of a painting not done in his style
“If man doesn’t use all the colors, from ruby
To sapphire and emerald and topaz—the booby!—
To look at his canvas is not worth one’s while!”
Y’s for the Yawn overcoming each Cubie.

The jokes and thought-provoking prose leave you smiling with the excitement the art world must have felt putting themselves and their work forward for an unsuspecting public to encounter and interpret. The illustrations in this book are as whimsical and fun as the language. See the complete book on openlibrary.org. I leave you with this:

I is for the Cubies’ Immense Intuition—

“The only real need of an artist,” they say:

“Without it we all would go straight to perdition!”

Between you and me, I’ve a sneaking suspicion

The Cubies themselves appear well on the way!

I’s for the Cubies’ Immense Intuition.

A Love Affair in Art

Frank O'Hara | 11 in. x 14 in.
Pastel and Pencil on Paper | James K. Brock

I'm in love with art. I find it everywhere. It hangs on every wall at home. I wake up next to an artist every morning and go to bed with one every night. I get dressed in front of art each day. Walking to the subway, I pass street art painted on cement walls. I live and work in a great city where I see monumental and world-famous art at free museums. I read biographies about artists and art movements, and devour art magazines and blogs dedicated to art. Art covers the walls of my office and flies around on my computer's screensaver.



Being in the presence of and learning from Knox Martin has been an incredible experience. Knox is a wonderful, kind man who completely fascinates me. His art is alive, positive, and dancing with energy, just like the man. Much more than just visual with Knox, he has recited poetry, talked art history, and once even cooked dinner in his studio for me and his coterie of that moment of other artists, musicians, and writers. Meeting Grace Hartigan and to have her know of my interest in her life and work will always be a part of my rich, life experience.



And, being included in the artistic process every day with my partner, the artist James Brock, brings incredible joy. The art and his studio are the central universe of our home. His art is lively, colorful, and splendid, evoking only positive feelings and images of life around us. Our journey has been painful at times, but worth every patient step when I sit and contemplate a newly executed work of art.



I listen to music while I commute and workout daily. Madonna, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, and Kanye West turn those daily routines into a dance. I love music from every genre and decade of my life and credit my father's love of music for it always being a part of me. I played trombone and piano in my youth and dabble at keyboards today.



I hear poetry in the work of openly gay rapper, LastO. An artist outside the mainstream, he brings a fresh voice to a genre dominated by sickening homophobia. LastoO's words and music forge new ground documenting a raw, urban, gay experience. My fascination with the life of Frank O'Hara, born out of love for Hartigan, now stands on its own as a testament to him as poet, curator, muse, friend, and lover to the art world of the 1950s and 1960s. The dialogue and characters created by playwrights Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams torture me in my own quest and I wouldn't have it any other way.



The best part is being with the person I love most, with all my heart, the one who is at my side loving all of it along with me, James. We share with each other what we learn about art every day. Through Twitter, Facebook, and email, we constantly document our pursuit of art. Always at the forefront, I can't ever imagine my life without him, or the beauty of art.