I was hoarse the day this interview was recorded and think my voice sounds like Brenda Vaccaro's old Tampax commercial. Nevertheless I am thrilled that Karen Gillenwater from the Carnegie Center thought to post these pieces on "youtube" for all the world to find and hopefully enjoy. This specific technology connection is very exciting for someone like me who is still working to establish a permanent state of detente with my hand me down laptop computer (named, not surprisingly, Grammie's Challenge). I suspect such publicity is exciting for most people since the vast majority of us live lives far far outside any hope for 15 seconds in the spotlight let along 15 minutes of actual fame.
After Karen and I talked about my work in the "Phoenix Rising" show I asked how she planned to use what we had recorded. Et voila...... there are 2 iPODs, 1 in each gallery. The complete question and answer series is on each iPOD along with about 60 images of my work in chronological order beginning with 1980 through some 2010 pieces that we couldn't include in an already very tight exhibition. Now do I actually expect people to sit and listen to our running commentary while looking at the work? I feel that's too much to hope for. But I have been assured that many visitors to the Carnegie have been known to input this sort of information the way I would be glued to the curator's audio talk for a Mark Rothko or Arshille Gorky exhibit. But the one request I had for Karen was to find a way to be able to post this on their Facebook page or website so I could link it to this site. Once again, job well done Karen. And thank you.
Dear old Brenda! We've all missed her and I so appreciate your including her in your write up.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, Susan. You ARE a star!
Michael
I am perhaps fated to enter the art history books (!!) as a Brenda Vaccaro sound alike rather than an Ida Kohlmeyer wannabe as so many said in the early 80s when I had absolutely no idea who she was or what sort of work she did that made people think I was her imitator. How sweet if I might have some small portion of her enormous career success.... I once actually contacted old Ida (then in her mid 70s) after finally seeing (and genuinely admiring) her work. I was about 33 or 34 and just exploring the idea of my won potential as a "serious" artist. I sent her a set of slides and boldly asked for any comments or suggestions she might want to offer someone just starting out. About 2 weeks later I got back my slides and a short hand written note which read: "I'm flattered you would want my opinion. It's obvious you know all you need to know about color. I suggest you forget anything about marketing and just paint your pictures.... cream always rises to the top." It was the most honest and most valuable piece of professional advice I ever got. And now here I am 3 decades later starting all over again!! Oh the irony of it all!!!!!
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