I learned today that legendary space artist Robert McCall passed away, on Friday, February 26, at the age of 90.
Robert McCall, painting a mural at a NASA center. Credit: NASA
To many, McCall was known as the artist who painted the poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey. Others knew him as one of the great painters of the NASA program, from the 1960s onward.
I had the pleasure of viewing McCall’s 2008 show, Imagination Unbound, at the the University of Arizona Museum of Art. I keep a copy of the promotional flier for the show on the wall of my studio, by the door. I see it practically every day, and it helps to set the tone for the art I enjoy making so much.
I have been moved by Robert McCall’s bold vision for the future, as well as his precise rendering of concepts and environments that are so challenging to imagine. What’s more, I can never get enough of looking at his work. Especially in his most imaginative works, there’s always something new to see.
Robert McCall was one of the people that made Arizona great. Knowing that he lived here, just miles away, made me feel better about living here. I am thankful that he so generously donated many of his works to the University of Arizona Museum of Art Visual Arts Archive.
Thank you for inspiring me, Robert McCall. We will miss you.
I have some super-exciting news to share with you: This April I shall be having my first solo art show in more than three years — and it shall be a Scottsdale art show, in downtown Scottsdale’s Marshall Way art gallery district, no less. For me, this is a dream come true; I have always wanted to find a way into the Scottsdale market, but the parameters never seemed right.
The venue for this Scottsdale art show will be Soyal, at 4200 N. Marshall Way. Opening night is Thursday, April 1. The show will continue through the end of month, although we’re still deciding upon an end date. What’s more, this will be Soyal’s grand-opening show.
Plans have materialized very quickly. My longtime friend Spencer Hibert (brother of Oliver Hibert, with whom I’ve shown many times) called me Wednesday afternoon to invite me to have the show. Because this will be the gallery’s first exhibition, I was tremendously honored to be the first artist in the gallery’s lineup.
Up until that point, Spencer and I had been collaborating off and on for months on a mural for an art gallery / videogame arcade / vegan donut shop that he wanted to start. See sketches for the mural. As fate would have it, a bigger and brighter opportunity presented itself in downtown Scottsdale. At Soyal, Spencer and business partner Emmett Potter will be exhibiting emerging artists from around the world, bringing work to Scottsdale that metropolitan Phoenix has not yet witnessed in person.
What does Soyal mean? As Spencer explains, Soyal is the Hopi term for a yearly solstice celebration in which a party is thrown to distract the plumed snake from swallowing the sun. “It symbolizes a new beginning of growth. And that is exactly what I want to bring to Scottsdale … to bring something new to the scene,” he writes.
As for me, I’m still trying out names for the Scottsdale art show, and deciding upon how I want to lay it out. “Circles with Corners,” what I called my Fall 2009 collection, is up for consideration. So is “Face the Future” and “Exact and Intact.” Plus, I have quite a bit of wall space to work with, so I’d like to take advantage of that, and make an immersive experience for the viewer. I want to go beyond rectangles and squares on a wall. Then again, I have just under seven weeks to pull this off, so I have to be realistic about my goals.
As things develop, I’ll be posting updates to this space. Be sure to sign up for blog updates if you’re interested in receiving them.
Above are two recordings of digital sketches I made on the afternoon of Friday, January 30.
The top video is merely a first pass at an idea. The video below that is a remix of that original idea — pushing the idea of the first video a step further.
I should note that these videos offer a record of my digital sketching process. Doodling on the screen, basically. Once I actually start painting these ideas, a lot can change. I like to paint these kinds of “maximal and abstract art works” in an improvisational manner.
As an experiment, I thought I’d start recording my screen as I sketch new designs for paintings, then time-lapse the process a bit. The result is kind of like abstract video art.
I just think that something gets lost when the progression of a design is not recorded step for step. Also, on the way toward the “goal” of producing a new design, many accidental designs-within-designs can spring up. Video offers a way of listening for that kind of thing. It’s like an art equivalent to watching a game film — if I may employ a sports analogy.
Perhaps this will help me develop variations and remixes for future painting ideas. Like every experiment, we’ll see where it goes. I’m pretty sure I’m hooked on this idea, though.
Special thanks to my friend Chris Sietsema, a most capable digital marketing consultant, for encouraging me to start doing this.
One last thing: If you’re curious, the above design started with a mental picture (as always) that entered physical reality as a paper sketch:
With Ms. Pike’s consent, I would like to share the story of the found painting with you.
Ms. Pike writes:
“My best friend owned the painting — I am pretty sure he bought it in a thrift shop (!!). He never had any money, but had impeccable taste. My friend passed away 2 years ago and I inherited the painting. At a party at my house [in December], an art professor asked to look behind the painting and said, ‘This is an important piece of art!’”
Ms. Pike has consulted with LA Louver Gallery about restoring — and potentially selling — the Hammersley painting.
Work in progress: A painting called Hypermodic Spastaculatron, as of 5pm on January 17, 2010. Lots of fluorescent paint going on. Is it abstract pop art, or something entirely different?
The latest news from my studio is this:
My Spring/Summer 2010 collection of paintings is officially “on.” Projected launch date is May 15, 2010.
This will be a decidedly “maximalist” series of paintings. (See more in this style in my maximal abstract art gallery.) This will be a departure from my Fall 2009 Collection, which was focused completely on minimal, geometric compositions.
I am not sure whether labels from the 20th century, such “abstract” and “pop art” really define what I’m painting. (”Abstract pop art” doesn’t quite work, either!) What I’m painting is something new, something that defies categorization, something that hasn’t been seen before. I’m gathering new shapes, patterns, and colors and throwing them into the future.
A New Year’s ambition of mine is to paint one painting per week. The Spring/Summer collection would therefore roll out with 16 pieces, if I’m lucky. Year to date, I have completed 0 paintings. Today, I am still working on version #3 of painting #1 in the collection, shown above. I shall persist.
Choosing my colors: In the studio on Saturday, January 16
All of this considered, I want to show you progress on my work as best as I can. Yet, I also want to keep the collection under wraps until the launch date. Therefore, I shall offer you glimpses of paintings in progress, when available. Just like above.
Over the holidays, I rediscovered my love for detergent boxes — especially vintage detergent boxes. I love how their graphic swirls and shapes are designed to arrest the eye. Beyond that, there’s something ineffably cool about the way detergent boxes have “all-over” compositions — they use all available space. Throughout this genre of design, it is as if negative space is viewed contemptuously as a waste of space!
That said, thank goodness for Flickr. And thank goodness for people like daniele_lavamat, who photograph and upload their detergent box collections (shown at left). If you haven’t seen this collection, and you like packaging, daniele_lavamat’s photostream is worth a visit. You’ll find fascinating snaps of European brands like Ariel, Dixan, and Soflan.
Texas Christian University and Boise State University showing off a Fiesta Bowl color combination extravaganza. Photo title: gd13, originally uploaded by tcuphotos via flickr.
On Monday night, not far from where I live, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl happened. If you don’t know much about — or have an appreciation for — American football, I shall describe the event to you like this: A team of men — who wore super-bright orange pants, white shirts, and blue helmets — converged around a green rectangle with another team of men — who wore purple-black-and-gray pants, purple-and-black shirts, and gray-and black-helmets with red trim — to battle for possession of a dark brown ovoid.
Fans of each team wore the aforementioned color schemes as they sat, stood, and jumped around while all of this happened for about three and a half hours.
I did not watch this game. (I seldomly watch college sports; no real reason why.) Apparently, though, it was an entertaining game to watch.
Regardless, there was something in this game that reminded me of an idea that has rolled around in my mind for a long time: When two teams — with two very different mascots and geographic constituencies — match up against each other, their respective color schemes are destined to collide and create an equally horrible and beautiful overarching color scheme.
In the case of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, the big, overarching color combination can be extrapolated — more or less — into this eye-twisting set of stripes. (Thanks to stripegenerator.com.)
Consider the clash of colors that was witnessed in Super Bowl VII, when the Washington Redskins played the Miami Dolphins: burgundy, yellow, aqua, coral orange, and white. And when the Green Bay Packers play the Arizona Cardinals this weekend in the NFL playoffs, there’s going to be plenty of dark green, athletic gold, cardinal red, black, and white on display. (Egad.)
Do you have a favorite sports color combination? I invite you to share your story below.
Happy New Year and all, friends! ‘Tis a perfect moment for bringing back The Verve’s “A New Decade” … “the radio plays the sounds we made / and everything everything seems to feel just right.” Maybe we can get this decade right … is that asking for too much?
On that note, I’ve got to congratulate my father on turning 84 today. Big ups to my pops. Happy Birthday, Jack G. Wiggins, Ph.D., Psy.D., you incredible psychologist man!
And to my primary reason for this entry: I’ve finally had time — to make time — to hash out new designs (digital sketches) for paintings. And in the spirit of openness and optimism that I am sensing at the threshold of this new decade, I would like to share my new designs with you. Mind you, these are just sketches … some glitches are present here and there.
If you dig these, that’s cool — would love to know your reaction.
From an art and design perspective, I find soccer jerseys are a tremendous source of inspiration. For new and recent jerseys, subside.co.uk is a great place to scan the latest looks of the world’s clubs. And for vintage shirts, I fancy classicfootballshirts.co.uk; you’ll find hours of eye-popping color combinations and patterns there.
I don’t know where else you’d find the wigged-out, op-art splendor of the 1995 Yokohama Flugels shirt and Manchester City’s 1998 away shirt. Brilliant stuff!
Grant Wiggins is a visual artist who lives in Tempe, Arizona, USA. In this blog, he writes about his newest work, as well as beautiful things that inspire him artistically: hard-edge painting and op art, geometric patterns, bold color combinations, product packaging, and minimal design. A self-taught painter, Wiggins has produced hundreds of paintings since 1994; many are in private collections. See his online paintings gallery.
