earlier today, surrounded by some of the paintings in my tokyo olympics series
12:32 PM: i got a relatively early start today, with the awareness that i’ll have to stop earlier than usual in order to attend the first firewise committee meeting from 2 to 4. appropriately enough, a team spent all day yesterday clearing the lower branches of trees and anything they determined might increase the danger of a potential fire spreading and damaging the house & studio.
i introduced a couple of new figures into the lower portion of the tokyo olympics 18 composition. the most prominent of which is a dramatic dancer/skater, arms and hair flailing, epitomizing the absolute joy of being alive in a body. you could say that pretty much sums up the feeling and tenor of this entire series, which started with my response to the video we saw of the celebrations following the 2020 tokyo olympics. following that magical ah-ha moment, these paintings unexpectedly began pouring out of me. having a focus and a deadline: my solo exhibition opening march 16 in athens, definitely helped the process along.
i had imagined, when the exhibition was confirmed, that i’d be making paintings with greek themes. but what i ended up doing is actually more deeply greek than anything else i might have done. the olympics, after all, started in greece centuries ago, and are deeply rooted in the greek psyche. and the joy of being alive in a body is perhaps the clearest reflection of my 15 years living and painting in greece. the indominable greek spirit, as i experienced it, was there to see in the movement and energy of the impromptu rembetika dancers in the little clubs we used to frequent in athens and piraeus.
tokyo olympics 18 15 1/2 x 37 1/4” at the end of my painting day today