Urban Scrawl
After seeing the Keith Haring retrospective at the AGO in 1997 I began exploring the notion of disposable art, manufactured for its own sake, with no commercial value whatsoever. Inspired in particular by Haring’s subway drawings, I began to explore chalk and cement as a new medium. Differing from the profession I was practicing at the time in the commodity-oriented Interior Design industry, these works are manufactured in a temporary and fragile manner. Most of these works do not outlast the next rainfall.
The figure I often execute, called a Hed, is one I have been drawing since childhood. I could not begin to count the number of times I have rendered this same image. Despite the compulsion to repeatedly render this image in just about any medium I can, its full meaning continues to elude me. (Is it you? Is it me? Did I watch too much TV?)
The image, when rendered correctly, is a visual haiku containing 17 lines, or gestures. Repeatedly drawing this image, in search of the perfect one, becomes a Zen exercise in self-control and humility.
Lake Simcoe 2011 |
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michael mike peter ra