Artist Ellsworth Kelly
Truthful Fictions
The camera cannot miss the words that are destined to arrive. Intoxicated by a hint of the fantastical,
and the voices of seminal artists, I placed my camera in a space of time. I discovered the demands of connecting dates and places within a revolution of continuous art history. How remiss would the camera have been to not advance, frame after frame, like a reconnaissance sniper in the naked woods.
My camera hears secrets. Thousands have posed before and will after this day.
Artists of various generations have been influenced by many; in a similar manner, many have been influenced by those generations. I was never photographing just one person. I was attempting to photograph every voice associated with the entire DNA of modern art in a single frame.
It was like a witch’s brew—a promise that night will follow day, and the morning will become night. When I visit the studios of most artists I am invariably invited to see more than I previously knew.
The artist Ellsworth Kelly welcomed me into his home, then, with great care, took me by the arm. He turned me around and we walked the land like two characters out of Rølvaag’s Giants in the Earth.
The artists’ hands pointed the way, and touched the wind. I followed this aged man ageless stroller across his grounds, and property in silence. He shared a few words before we paused in our reflections…
For a brief glimpse over the artist’s shoulder I saw two men in a mirror (the shape of his works,) the artist, and the man with the camera. I knew we would make a visual memory with the mere shutter heard.
Entering his house and studio reminds me of a visual marriage between the movie Ex Machina with
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tome “The House of the Seven Gables”. It was like an exploration of minimalist darkness— eerie and alone, with sounds and ideas lurking behind corners. I was not scared, but a bit frightened of the unknown.
Kelly the artist was like a single thread amidst the tapestry of art history. His work has become part of the fabric of contemporary art history. If you stare long enough into his canvases you will see the life of a planet; your dreams can carry you wherever you need them to be. You might meet head-on the way we decipher the history of who we are. His vibrant geometrical shapes, spoke to you if you listened.
He was a mere strand among the finest materials of cloth; woven into the artist’s world.
I realized that after three sessions with Kelly, he and I have changed, and my cameras have changed. What we talk about will be different. In the the spirit of discovery, I have seen the artists’ work in Tokyo, Berlin and countless other cities. The moment is singularly different and the verve felt here is powerful. Red, blue, yellow and other colors hang like drapery offering protection and invitation to imagine.
I remember Emily Pulitzer describing a perfect storm: Ellsworth Kelly and Richard Serra lured Tadao Ando for a meeting of tremendous minds. It was the timelessness of artistic fervor felt in a single frame. I realized my camera had framed each of these people and their works.The story about the conversation that took place to convince Tadao Ando to create the Pulitzer Foundation was like feeling one million fireflies enter any part of the insane brain that is mine. Seeing the entire scope of three giants in one room and Serra and Kelly committing to contribute, was simply inspiring. It was a beautiful story. Three heads of creative prowess together, imagined as I peer into my archives reliving the moments as if I was among them.
Each time I photographed Kelly and waved thank you for the time he shared with me,I envisioned a scenario of death. Each memory of my portrait sessions, would be a lasting finale. Yet, more was to follow. Fantastical dreams prevailed again and again.
