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  In the spring of 1971 I lost my job at SVA. After a few catatonic days, I
reached out to Ivan Karp at the OK Harris Gallery. He hired me as an art mover.
Soon I had my new, not-for-much-profit, business, Arie Express, hauling art for
NY galleries. Unwittingly, SVA provided me with the epiphany that led to my
discovery of Reflected-Light painting. Viewing an exhibit of unmemorable
drawings at the SVA gallery, I became intrigued by the bright reflections above
the highly polished aluminum frames. Reflected-Light, my brain raced, I could
use intense colors to cast reflections and stain the walls with color. That
summer, Richard and Cathy Artschwager let me stay at their house in
Charlotteville, NY. In exchange for room and board I became Richard’s studio
assistant and hired hand. I had a show coming up at the Madison Art Center in
Madison, WI, and, by removing tons of aged manure from the milking shed attached
to his studio/barn, I created my studio space. My first works incorporating
reflected light were painted there. I was struck by the possibilities and wanted
to show the works to Ivan, but Richard suggested I wait till I fully understood
this medium. It was another 5 years before I showed Ivan my work. One limitation
of reflecting light became instantly clear, the bottoms of the works would
remain dark. In a breakthrough of sorts, the following triangular airbrushed
surfaces of the “Aurora” series have no bottoms and could be lit with ease. The
“Aurora” paintings were done using a “Flit” atomizer pump gun, turning my
Thompson Street railroad flat into a hazard to my health. In these, and in the
canvases of the “Rainbow Division” series, I searched for a saturated surface
that would match the corona of reflected light. The latter work was done by
airbrush in Wojciech Fangor’s Madison, NJ, studio, which later became mine. I
just began a part-time teaching gig at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and
Wojtek and Magda let me stay at their place for the summer. That fall I was
hired as a full-time Adjunct Instructor at FDU, which became my academic home
for the next 32 years. |
