Hell and IndianSubmitted by robin on Sat, 03/14/2009 - 9:07pm |
While visiting family in Washington, DC, I was blown away by the art of Louise Bourgeious and Fritz Scholder. One of Louise's pieces has this statement embroidered:
I've been to hell and back
And let me tell you, it was wonderful!
At the American Indian Museum, they provided a video interviewing Fritz and discussing his life. His quotes are killer. Totally contradictory and sometimes poking fun. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble remembering them, and I can't find the really good zingers on the web. He talks about being 1/4 indian, and this isn't too far from what he said in the video:
...I'm proud of my one-quarter heritage but it really means nothing, because how can you be anything if you're one-quarter
source: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/schold95.htm
My favorite Scholder painting is Monster Love No 1 (sorry it's not easy to link to). It's such a beautiful piece. The Smithsonian site shows all his work on display in DC and NY.
Oh another quote, it was something like "As far as I can see, fine art is the best racket around (or maybe in town?)". I love that! I wish I could have met him.