LADy LaMb&Popsy

Interview with Robert Smith

Claudio Parentela — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:01:38 +0000

q)What is your name?

a) I am called Robert Markland Smith. Today is the birthday of my father, Markland Joseph Smith. He died on December 10, 1989, on the same day as Ceucescu, the dictator of Rumania. My dad was fiercely anti-communist, so he had the dubious satisfaction of seeing the Berlin wall crumble just before his death. He wasn’t exactly a nazi – let’s just say he was a tad prejudiced.

q)Where do you live and work?
a)I work out of my home as a freelance translator. This is also where I do my creative writing and drawing, when I do draw. My common-law wife and our two daughters share (with some tension) a four room apartment in a high-rise. It is located in NDG, a middle-class neighbourhood in Montreal. Where we live, it is rather poor, but our home is surrounded by wealthy neighbourhoods. Our apartment is on the sixth floor of this building, and from the balcony, in the summer, we watch the sun set. I imagine incredible scenarios in the clouds. My wife and I love to sit there and discuss everything under the sun.

q)What is your creative process like?
a)Feverish. The last time I went on a creative jag, I was like a speedfreak, cranking out stories every day. I had landed a $ 15,000 grunt from the Quebec ogrement, and I produced 49 stories in 5 moths. I have never learned to pace myself. This is probably why I now have a heart condition.

q)What is your favorite medium?
a)To draw, give me a plain old piece of paper and a ballpoint pen. I love to draw surrealistic cartoons, well, caricatures. I can also draw realistically, and make a human face look like a human face, but I never quite catch the likeness of my subjects when I draw a portrait. It turns out looking like a credible picture, but there is always a detail that I can catch in a cartoon instead of a realistic drawing. The reason is that when you draw cartoons or caricatures, you exaggerate the dominant features in a person’s face. You acquire a knack for noticing that flaw by looking at faces in the clouds. (See the question about the balcony, above.)
q)What is your current favorite subject?

a)Lately, I have written some poems in French about my family, including the cat. His name is Mikey, and he is overweight, just like Bonnie and me. These poems were very simple. They were never meant to be published. So they are very sincere, straightforward.I also love lately to correspond with artists by email. I can get really zany, when there is some kind of repartee going on.

q)How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a) Usually, if I am writing short stories or poetry, less than one day. I can whip off a story in maybe three or four hours. But afterwards, I can rewrite a story four times over a period of many years. If I am doing a pencil or pen drawing, allow me a maximum of three hours. I will do a series of drawings at leisure in a period of three hours, max, and then I lose interest.

q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?

a) Strangely enough, my biggest accomplishment so far has been raising my two daughters, Isabelle and Cordelia. Sometimes my wife was absent, and I was a single dad for months, if not years on end. At the same time, it was a bloody miracle that we survived financially. Sometimes, I had to ask my friends for a handout, just to feed the kids.

q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)I have an ongoing, enduring, painful, annoying, lovely, beautiful, romantic friendship over the years with an artist from Catanzaro called Claudio Parentela. I could easily list famous authors, like Franz Kafka, Salvador Dali, e.e. cummings, Thelonious Monk. I pray to these dead people at times for inspiration. However, they are public domain. They don’t belong to me in particular. I would rather say I extremely value the friendship I have with some artist friends of mine: Brentley Frazer, in Melbourne Australia; Jayne Fenton Keane, in Tallai Australia; Kathy Gormley, another poet from NDG, Montreal; Ann Diamond, who is currently in Greece; Dan Sloate, who taught me technical translation (he is another brilliant poet); there is my cousin, jazz musician Jean Beaudet, who won’t talk to me of late; Dave Gelfand, a bass player who is a really nice guy and has his head screwed on right – and I could go on and on. Many talented friends of mine have passed away, like Peter Brawley, actor, poet, novelist, visual artist, but just because they died, they are still around and are still my friends. At the same time, if you asked these people about me, they would tell you I drive them crazy.

q)Can we buy your art anywhere?

a)People do tell me they bought a copy of one of my books in a used bookstore. I am not a best-selling writer.

q)Anything that people should know about that we don’t??

a) OK so you want to know my dirty little secrets, do you? I say the rosary about three times a day. I believe at times that God is a female. I am attracted to men at times. I have spent a lot of time in hospitals, especially in the past couple of years. How many times did I come close to dying, with tubes stuck in my nose, tubes coming out of my arms, plugged into computer monitors, and contemplating, “This the end. I may as well say an act of contrition.” I do have some regrets, like doing LSD for many years, drinking alcoholically for as many years, and sleeping around with people I didn’t really respect. Women are generally more sensitive and compassionate than men, so God must be a Goddess.

q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
a)I remember reading Letters to a Young Poet, by Rilke, and he advised the young poet not to be concerned with publishing. I personally wasted a great deal of energy trying to become famous. This is a huge illusion and a fatal delusion. First, practice your trade. Do art. Then once you have practiced your trade, practice it some more.
q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?

a)In this respect, I don’t separate my translation work from the writing or the drawing. I guess sheer desperation kept me self-propelled in the days when I was an amateur. Revisors would cover my translations with red ink; my heart would sink every time. It takes courage to learn a profession. Oh sure, you get through university, but you don’t learn anything in university classes. In the working world, if you don’t cut it, you don’t get paid. So you learn to proofread yourself, revise and reread. And almost inevitably, five years down the line, whatever you are doing now will seem trivial and ridiculous.
q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?
a)I have a unique vocation. I have been diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic. At first, I started writing and looking for inspiration. I experimented with LSD, hoping to find enlightenment. Then I decided to go crazy to find ideas. Well, I don’t really regret that decision, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else. Next thing you know, I was tied up in a straightjacked in a psych ward and was getting arrested by the police every few days. Take it from there. I am basically a nice Catholic boy, who read The Imitation of Christ when I was nine years old. At the same time, I was a smart-aleck street kid. I was born in 1948, when the times were pretty fascist. I had my own rage against the system. When I was in college, I heard about issues like the war in Vietnam. I guess that is my background. Hey, why don’t you read my books and see for yourself?
q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?

a)I took a writing workshop with Ann Diamond a few years ago. I completed a bachelor’s degree in French literature in 1969, attended evening courses for about ten years, and then did full-time graduate studies in linguistics and translation at the Université de Montréal. One curse (sic) which taught me a lot was called Senior Composition and Rhetoric. I guess the benefit of going to university is not so much the courses themselves, but hanging with some intellectual people. People with ideas. People who aren’t just Joe Lunch Box. You meet interesting people, and it opens your mind.
q)Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?

a)Well, I have become pretty addicted to my computer. That and vaseline.
q)Who are your influences?

a)In retrospect, it seems to me that the artists I love were also schizophrenics. I fell in love with Bosch. I saw some of his work at the Prado. It speaks to me. I also liked Goya. He is very political. A Trotskyite once pointed out to me that the work “Saturn Devouring his Children” might well be about Napoleon. I remember being awestruck when I saw “Los Horrores de la Guerra,” about some Spanish patriots being executed by French soldiers during the Napoleonic wars. I guess comparable to that would be the film “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” by Stanley Kubrick. I read the Bible often as a grown-up. My mother used to read me the Bible when I was a youngster. I just find today that it is so extremely politically incorrect. I wonder why Dali did all those Catholic paintings in the fifties? Was he sincere? No doubt about it, “Corpus Hypercubus” is a powerful work, but is it sincere? And speaking about war and the atrocities of war, consider “Guernica” by Picasso.
q)What inspires you to create?

a)I don’t really know. It is like breathing. It just comes naturally.
q)…your contacts…

a)You can send me a letter at apt. 610, 5455 Terrebonne Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4A 3R5. My home number is (514) 484-9563. Check out my web site at http://www.geocities.com/nietzchesmother/
You might want to send me an email too at robertsmith3@vdn.ca
Yes, do send me an email; I get lonely in this godforsaken frozen country up North.

Claudio Parentela & Stampa Alternativa

Claudio Parentela — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:31:14 +0000

…hola&HELLO&Ciao….

….wow….my collaboration with Stampa Alternativa continues…I’ve created for them 5 wonderful(…&yes…they’re really wonderful…!!!!)&big panels(inspired by 5 their books)…They’ve been shown in Turin at the'’Fiera Del Libro'’…Other important thing is the cover I’ve drawn for ‘’Dolly City'’(oh… I love this book…& also the other books of Orly Castel-Bloom…really fantastic …)just now printed also by Stampa Alternativa…!!!

Here some photos…

Love&frieNDSHIP

Claudio Parentela

www.claudioparentela.net

Stampa Alternativa

www.stampalternativa.it/

‘’CoSMIC Crystals&DIRTY PigS'’

Claudio Parentela — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:44:37 +0000

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I’ve called it:'’CoSMIC Crystals&DIRTY PigS'’…what do you wait….Visit it now!!!!

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Interview with Kendrick Mar

Claudio Parentela — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:26:36 +0000

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a) I am a painter based in New York. My work is metaphorical
self-portraiture that explores childhood emotions and trauma.
Originally I am from California and grew up there. I studied art at
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist (or had you other hopes)?

a) I didn’t become an artist until I was a 4th year university
student. I took a drawing class and the teacher and other students
encouraged me to pursue art. When I realized I wanted to be an artist,
I didn’t finish my studies at the university due to practical reasons.
I worked for a few years and saved up, then went back and attended art
school when I was 29.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a) I work in oils because for me, it’s the most flexible medium. It
doesn’t express it’s limitations.

q) How would you describe your style?

a) My style has a rough, childlike quality. The compositions are very
simple and use a lot of primary colors and thickly textured paint.

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a) Usually I do a lot of free drawing in order to find interesting
motifs and ideas. When I find the ones that resonate, I then work them
into more complete compositions. Sometimes I do color studies. Then I
transfer the drawing onto the canvas and develop it from there. The
most important stage for me though, is getting a strong idea that I
can carry through to a finished painting. It seems like the best ideas
come when I’m not trying too hard to find them.

q) What are you working on at present?

a) I have a few things in the works, but it’s better for me not to
talk about them before they are finished.

q) What about recent sources of inspiration?

a) A recent source of inspiration is children’s books.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a) Getting gallery representation in New York is probably at the top
of my list.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you
like to show at?

a) I was in a group show at the F.U.E.L. Collection in Philadelphia
recently. I am currently in the process of researching the gallery
scene in New York.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a) info@kendrickmar.com

http://www.kendrickmar.com

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just
starting out?

a) My advice for artists just starting out is this: Believe in what
you have to say to the world through your art. Question the agendas of
people who try to discourage you from pursuing your dreams.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a) My favorite artists are all the old masters, plus a lot of
contemporary artists including Ross Bleckner, Jean-Michel Basquiat and
Damien Hirst.

q) What books are on your nightstand?

a) Right now the books on my nightstand are Murakami’s "Blind Willow,
Sleeping Woman", a children’s book by Taro Gomi and a sketchbook.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a) Hmm… sushi?

Interview with Nathan Pendlebury

Claudio Parentela — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:25:33 +0000

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself… Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a) Always liked to draw, even when young. I used to play a game I called "Squiggle" whereby one person would draw a squiggle or shape on a blank piece of paper, then the second would have to make a picture out of it. I always entered the local newspapers colouring competitions when I was a child too, and at primary school I looked forward to the school poster competitions we used to have.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a) I like both but prefer to paint on paper, it provides a much more vigerous imagery, and I prefer the way that paint handles as opposed to canvas. Recently though, I have grown to love my photography as much as my painting too.

q) How would you describe your style?

a) Urban Abstract

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a) I tend not to use a sketch book, but keep all my images stored up in my head, that way they become more naturally selected. I get an idea and it stays with me until it is on the page. i always know what I am intending to paint, but I do vary the way I compile the overall image, and take things from other ideas to make a composition.

q) What are you working on at present?

a) Currently working on a large series of paintings on paper, which are mixed medium, and on two sheets of paper (different colours) which are then put together to make one image, somewhat of a collage drawing if you will. I am also in the process of a potential commision for a London art Firm which I hope will work out. I also have a two-man exhibition (with my father) on in Liverpool, and I am taking part in a group show in New York (showing my photographs). In fact I have exhibitions in April, May, June, July, August, October all of which are two-man exhibitions with my father. I am having September off as I am getting married.

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a) I am mostly inspired by Rauschenberg, Tapies, de Kooning, Kline, early Hockney and various poster and flyer designs I might see.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a) I am in some ways a typical Virgo, I am tidy. But other than that I am not that bad, I try not to worry about things to much, I take a leaf from my Grans Philosophy when she used to say ‘Why worry about it, it doesn’t really matter’. And you know what, she was right.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?

a) I have shown in most Liverpool Galleries (UK), like ‘The Dot-Art Gallery’, ‘The Cornerstone Gallery’, ‘The Liverpool Academy’, ‘View 2′, ‘Domino Gallery’, ‘Egg cafe’, ‘The International Gallery’, ‘Ullet Grange’, ‘Blackburne House’, ‘Gostins’ and also in Southports Atkinson Gallery (UK), and also was successful in winning a place in the 2007 Chelsea International Fine Art Competition in New York. I have future exhibitions secured in the ‘Portico Gallery’ (Manchester, UK), and also at the ‘Harris Museum & Gallery’ (Preston, UK). I am about to show in New York again, and would very much like to keep this up showing further in New York, and perhaps showing work in London, Berlin, San Francisco?

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a) via email, via the website.

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?

a) Keep at it, don’t give up. Sometimes you may have to stop painting because you need to eat or pay a bill, but don’t loose the dream. I am 34, and am not successful, I work full time and can only paint in my spare time, but I have a dream still of becoming successful enough to paint full time.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a) Rauschenberg, Tapies, de Kooning, Kline, early Hockney

q) What books are on your nightstand?

a) I don’t like to read in bed, I prefer to talk.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a) Dark Chocolate, cinema/films, music, television.

Diego Gabriele

Claudio Parentela — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:01:00 +0000

www.ak-house.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/didoewoak/

‘’I TAROCCHI DELL’IRIDE'’

Claudio Parentela — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:14:29 +0000

…Hermatena Edizioni have published my new and last Tarots’ Deck'’ I TAROCCHI DELL’IRIDE'’…

To order it visit their site :

www.museodeitarocchi.net

or write to:

‘’Hermatena Edizioni'’-

Via palmieri,5-

44038 Riola(Bo)

hello&hola&bye&ciao

Claudio Parentela

www.claudioparentela.net

THE BRYTEN GOSS 2008 MEMORIAL EXHIBITION

Claudio Parentela — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:36:53 +0000

THE BRYTEN GOSS 2008 MEMORIAL EXHIBITION
COMMEMORATES TALENTED L.A. PAINTER AT SANTA MONICA’S
TRACK 16 GALLERY ON FEBRUARY 21, 2008
* * * * *

Hosted by Danny Masterson, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Lee, Ben Foster, Stark Sands,
Laura Prepon, Christopher Masterson, Juliette Lewis, Alexandra Breckenridge,
DJ A.M., Soleil Moon Frye, Josh Warner and Jordan Bromley

Los Angeles (January 16, 2008) – Before his untimely death in October 2006, acclaimed artist Bryten Goss was considered one of the rising stars of 21^st century contemporary realist painting, whose friends and patrons included a who’s-who of Hollywood’s brightest. On Thursday, February 21^st, these individuals have joined together to host The Bryten Goss 2008 Memorial Exhibition at Track 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station, in Santa Monica, CA, from 6pm – 12am. Featuring music and refreshments, the event officially launches The Bryten Goss Foundation for the Arts, a non-profit, tax exempt 501c(3) organization, dedicated to raising money to provide art scholarships and group exhibitions to deserving young artists who excel in the mediums in which Goss excelled: oil painting, etching, drawing, dry-point, pastels and photography.

Sharing hosting duties for the inaugural exhibition are Goss’ patrons who also happen to have some of the hottest names in Hollywood: Danny Masterson (That ‘70s Show, Yes Man, The Bridge to Nowhere), Giovanni Ribisi (Saving Private Ryan, Lost in Translation), Jason Lee (My Name is Earl, Almost Famous, Mumford, Vanilla Sky, Jersey Girl), Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, X-Men: The Last Stand), Stark Sands (HBO’s Six Feet Under, Broadway’s Journey’s End), Laura Prepon (October Road, That ‘70s Show), Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers), Josh Warner (GoodArt Hollywood jewelry artist), Jordan Bromley (Hollywood lawyer and Hip Hop Congress founder), DJ A.M. (world-renowned DJ artist), Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster, Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Christopher Masterson (Malcolm in the Middle, The Art of Travel) and Alexandra Breckenridge (FX’s Dirt, Family Guy, She’s The Man). These individuals, along with members of the Goss family, will be featuring Goss paintings that have become part of their private collections, but will be shared with the public for this exclusive, one-time-only event.

“Bryten was a gifted artist from a very young age, and the evidence of his passion and dedication towards perfecting his craft shows in his body of work,” said Rose Goss, the artist’s mother and Director of The Bryten Goss Foundation for the Arts. “The Bryten Goss Foundation for the Arts will keep Bryten’s spirit alive by carrying forward the legacy he left behind in his work, and by helping other aspiring young artists make their dreams come true!”

The Event is sponsored by actor Stark Sands and The Rosewood Foundation, which supports organizations and institutions in the visual and performing arts. The exhibition will include such beloved Goss paintings as Alex Riding Pig, Little Pope, Alex Throwing Roses to Pigs, Japanese Girl, Twins, The Blind Leading the Blind, the Tribeca series, the Triumph of Death series, Jesus Saves and others. Although these paintings will not be for sale, the Bryten Goss 2008 62-page catalogue will be available, and advance orders will be taken for special, high-quality Giclée, limited edition digital prints.

The Bryten Goss 2008 Memorial Exhibition
Thursday, February 21, 2008
6pm – 12am
Track 16 Gallery
Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave, Bldg C.
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Goss, a self-taught painter, began exhibiting his work in 1993 at the age of 17. His first exhibition was hosted by actors Giovanni Ribisi and Jason Lee in downtown Los Angeles. Actress/singer Juliette Lewis purchased four of the young painter’s pieces that night. With solo shows held almost annually, Goss continued to increase his body of work and build a solid reputation as a painter. In 2001, In Style magazine and Jason Lee hosted a red-carpet gala exhibition that drew 750 people, resulting in Goss selling his entire displayed collection of 34 pieces in that one night. Goss’ paintings and high-profile exhibitions have been featured in publications such as Elle, Los Angeles Confidential, Emmy, In Style, Nylon, Los Angeles Times, Gadfly, US Weekly and more. His lengthy list of collectors includes Hollywood celebrities such as Nicolas Cage, Winona Ryder, Jason Lee, Kevin Smith, Nick Nolte, Ben Foster, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon and more.
The Bryten Goss 2008 Memorial Exhibition is open to the media. Interviews with Rose Goss, as well as Bryten Goss’ patrons, can be arranged in advance.

For more information on Bryten Goss or to view his works visit: www.brytengoss.com

To find out more about The Bryten Goss Foundation for the Arts visit: www.myspace.com/brytengoss

Contact:
Jenni Weinman, PR
8383 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 530
Beverly Hills, CA. 90211
310-770-8871
323-655-5150
jenniw@plpr.com

Erik M. Stein, PR
Scoop MARKETING
3701 Wilshire Blvd. 6th Floor
LA, CA 90010-3950
Office: 213-639-6162
Fax: 213-639-3950
estein@solters.com

‘’DIaBEtic DEW555′’

Claudio Parentela — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:37:28 +0000

…Hello GUys…bad&sweet&good&black&white&yellow&grey…!!!

…I’ve published my first 3 interviews on my new art blog…

‘’DIaBEtic DEW555′’

http://diabeticdew555.blogspot.com

….GO NOW TO READ ALL!!!!

Ciao=hola=hello&see you there…..

Claudio Parentela

Raoul Willer

Claudio Parentela — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:00:58 +0000

www.raoulweiller.com/