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#ScribesAndMakers 20 March: Do you like graffiti? Do you have an example? Yes.

I love the word.

See @RadicalGraffiti

In summer 1989 in alpine Zermatt, Switzerland, I was surprised to see "Fuck The World" on a side street. The message seemed incongruous to that place & time. I appreciated that it was on a temporary wooden fence enclosing construction. That trip I also learned to love layers of colorful notices pasted all over walls.

Graffiti aesthetic appears in my #Rart paintings.

Center detail of abstract expressionist painting titled Humanism Blue. At top center I used a thick red marker to make a shape like a partial Christmas tree, a backwards 3, or a stylized capital "E." Marker adds a temporary aesthetic to a painting. Several centimeters below the mark described above is a similar color in paint. The paint remains vivid while the maker fades. I enjoy creating work that changes over time after I've walked away from it.
Abstract expressionist painting titled "Tag" for the red marker scribbles that resemble graffiti signature tags in my mind. I can also get the feel of a multicolored plaster wall when I look at some parts of this painting. Besides the fading & covered over red marker tags, this painting features slate blue, bright blues, yellow, peach, light pistachio green, grey & black, & more, with thick white oil paint blending many colors together.
Detail of another abstract expressionist painting that includes red (and green and blue) marker. White paint interacts with the marker to change the red to pink. I love experimenting with materials & producing instability in my work. A fellow artist once expressed shock that my methods are "not archival," meaning the finished work is not stable, fixed in appearance. I say that choices made by me continue to change the painting even after I stop touching it. I think that's bad ass. (At the bottom of this painting there's a strong suggestion of an image that often appears in graffiti. If you see it I'm sure you won't believe me when I say that I produced that shape entirely unintentionally by making lines!) Like so much of my work, this painting detail includes so many colors and shapes without much pattern... very difficult to describe in words, made to escape language.
Detail of an abstract painting mostly in muted purple grey, with green, rose, and bright peach brush marks scattered on the top layer. In the center on top of a peach brush mark written in black sharpie: ANYTHING.
#rart #scribesandmakers @Radical Graffiti
This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to Rob 🏳️‍🌈 RMiddleton.Art

Rob 🏳️‍🌈 RMiddleton.Art
mastodon - Link to source
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 RMiddleton.Art
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P.S. Unfortunately the account I refer to above shares a lot of great graffiti while being one of many "leftists" on the fediverse who refuse to describe their images. 😡

(I used quote marks, I guess because: What is a leftist? I would think it describes someone who promotes equality. And yet... Equal access is not a concern.)

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