Subway Checkpoint

Subway Checkpoint

2021, oil on linen, 24" x 28"

In this recently finished painting I departed from my usual harmonies of unified colors and instead used a discordant color palette. The blue-green and light-yellow walls contrast with the rich deep tones of the clothing. The narrative depicts a possibly tense or unpleasant moment, and I felt a discordant palette would work best.

In comparison, my 1987 painting, The Truth about Lola, has a similar composition of people in line to gain entrance, but it uses a harmony of closely-related reds and dark greys. The reds hopefully add an element of anticipation and excitement.

The Truth about Lola

1987, oil on linen, 32" x 42"

Private collection, Massachusetts

Subway Checkpoint took seven drawings to develop, and an eighth when I decided to turn the blonde woman's face from profile to three-quarter view:

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #1

undated, pencil on pieces of graph paper taped together, ca. 7 1/2" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #2

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 8 3/4"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #3

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #4

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #5

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #6

2021, pencil on graph paper, 8 3/4" x 10"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #7

2021, pencil on paper with pastel tone on reverse, 24" x 28"

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #8

2021, pencil and ink on paper with pastel tone on reverse, 8 1/2" x 11"

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Subway Checkpoint, in progress

A painting on the easel that's close to completion:

Subway Checkpoint, in progress

24" x 28", oil on linen

As with most of my compositions this piece took multiple drawings to develop. Over the course of the drawings, I try to work out the spatial problems that emerge. Here is the final drawing that was used to transfer the image to canvas:

Subway Checkpoint, drawing #7

24" x 28". pencil on paper with green oxide pastel tone on reverse

No matter how much the composition has been worked out, however, there are always changes that need to be made once I start painting. Sometimes the changes are minor, but in this painting, there were three significant changes. 

First, the boy in a baseball cap went away, and then - though I'd already painted her face and hand - his mother went after him. A faint ghost remained where she used to be:   

Finally, the blonde woman on the right turned her head to look at the man showing his ID:

Each change improved the flow and made the composition stronger. 

The major parts left to paint now are the interior of the booth and the walls.

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Four Women and a Demon

Four Women and a Demon

2021, oil on linen, 14 3/4" x 21"

Demons have appeared numerous times in my work. They arrive unpremeditated in the initial drawing of a composition, quietly arising from my subconscious – as do most of my ideas.

The meaning of this and other demons is totally up to the viewer, and from comments I’ve received I know the interpretations vary greatly; they can be humorous or evil, sexual or chaste, the representation of an internal dysfunction or of an external influence. Whatever ones see is what it is. 

I’ve long thought it best to leave the viewer to bring their own creativity to deciphering the meaning of a painting. A verbal explanation on my part would be limiting.

One of the best examples in my experience of divergent interpretations happened at the opening of my 1995 exhibition at the Adelson Galleries and involved the painting Pharmacy.

Pharmacy

1994, oil on linen, 9" x 9"

A man came up to me, pointed to this painting and told me: “You have a very malevolent view of humanity. You must be severely depressed.” He walked away without waiting for a response. 

Not that I had one. 

Fifteen minutes later, another man pointed to the same painting and said: “I love it. You have a wonderfully wry and profound view of the world and its absurdity.” 

A good antidote to the first comment.

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