Large scale art at Roy.
I exhibited some larger new pieces at Roy with the show title "No Fun" which was by some accounts a bad name for a show. I found it needed an explanation. I was unable to pass out a postcard for the event without also adding a verbal explanation about the title. What, one wonders might that "needed" explanation have been? Actually, it was a series of events in Santa Barbara that led to the selection of the show title. There was a fire that burned across the rain deprived mountains and choked the town in smoke for a number of weeks. I remember seeing fire trucks from Ohio, North Carolina, Compton, Oregon and almost everywhere else. Then after that, it was supposed to rain. However, the rain didn't show up on the day it was predicted. Here in Santa Barbara, with our drought prone climate, rain forecasts often don't live up to the hype. Sometimes it doesn't rain as much as expected, or at all. So, after the fires the rain didn't arrive as expected and instead came 12 hours later, at 5am. I understand how people who had been evacuated from the fire as many as three times, would not rush to evacuate yet again because of the idea of rain. Unfortunately, when the rain did arrive, it came down as fast and hard as possible. The mud and ash rivers were like fast moving rivers of foam that were able to float boulders and crush homes as the creek beds were flooded out and the result was a mini Katrina like event. 23 people were killed by the debris flow.
I decided to do a show that left out the whimsey, going into a series of paintings that started at the time of the natural disaster mentioned above it seemed like a good fit. Those paintings however, were bad. I know that art is subjective, but in this case the bad paintings got pushed aside by other paintings that eventually became the "No Fun" show. These pieces are more introspective, and crafted. To me this work more about strength, resilience and renewal. The title will be forgotten, but the work will live on.
