Well, soon seems to be relative, today is April 14, 2020 and we are in the throws of the COVID-19 Pandemic. It has been over a year since John's Memorial and I've had over a year to get used to my new normal, and now everything has changed once again with the "Stay Home" order from Governor Gavin Newsom. Who would have thought that John would beat the Coronavirus! Of course, staying home and working would have suited him just fine, it's what he did, nights, weekends, holidays, for over sixty years.
Last night I was reading a book that John bought: Art Theory 1900-2000. I was reading the passage on Picasso, as John would often state in his interviews that Picasso was one of the artists he admired. The following passage was particularly moving to me. It is an excerpt from a published interview with Picasso.
In Picasso's own words:
“We give to form and color all their individual significance, as far as we can see it;
in our subjects, we keep the joy of discovery, the pleasure of the unexpected;
our subject itself must be a source of interest.
But of what use is it to say what we do when everybody can see it if he wants to?”
John had a reputation for not saying much.
Giving you that look...
He was waiting to see if you got it.
Peavine Installation in Reno Nevada, at the University of Nevada Campus.
Reference: Harrison, Charles & Paul Wood. Art in Theory 1900-2000. 2003, Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. p217.