Today my short documentary for the exhibition "Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs" debuts as part of the show's opening at Museum of the City of New York. Along with my video and Chast's original New Yorker artwork, another highlight of this new venue will be a large mural that the cartoonist created onsite to celebrate her New York roots. The show is good fun... I recommend anyone visiting the City through October 9, 2016 to check it out!
Robert Cottingham in his Newtown, CT studio, April 2016. Photo by Jeremy Clowe / NRM. All rights reserved.
This week I continued work on a video for a new exhibition we have opening at Norman Rockwell Museum this summer. Rockwell and Realism in an Abstract Worldwill examine the forces that inspired the relegation of narrative painting, and especially the art of illustration, to a lesser status by mid-century. Illustrators working on the edges of abstraction and personal expression sought to meld both worlds, but cultural distinctions between fine and applied art remained. The exhibition will examine this fractured history and explore the resurgence of realist painting during the latter half of the twentieth century. One of the contemporary artists to be featured in the exhibition is photorealist painter, Robert Cottingham. I had the pleasure of traveling to Newtown, Connectict this week to meet with and film Cottingham in his home/studio. Focusing on light/perspective, Cottingham has become known for dramatic, almost abstract works of such urban subjects as store signs. He was a good interview, and I think we had an even better time filming him painting; after we were done, he remarked to me that "you're the right guy to do this!" I enjoyed learning more about his work, which is stunning.
Photo: Jeremy Clowe / NRM
Also featured in the exhibition and joining us for an interview was realist painter Eric Forstmann, who has created some exceptional still life works over the years. Both Forstmann and Cottingham's work are exhibited at Eckert Fine Art of Pine Plains, NY (we interviewed founder Jane Eckert for the video as well).
Rockwell and Realism in an Abstract World is set to open June 17 at the Museum.
Congratulations to Albany-based singer Joey Sontz, whose current single "I Melt" has top 20 on the Hotdisc Country Charts in the UK!
Back in February I spent the day with Joey in Saratoga's Congress Park, filming a music video for the song, which is the second single off of his album It All Begins with a Song. It really is a great park, filled with interesting sculpture, buildings, and levels, which match the charms of the renowned resort town.Also charming was the interaction between Joey and his friend Rachel Wellington, who I captured larking about the park, having snow ball fights, getting sprayed by a water fountain, and hassling the local ducks (felt like I was directing the opening of Friends)! After a few weeks of dedicated editing, here is the final result:
In addition to the satisfaction of creating the video, I'm pleased to learn that it is featured on this week's Hotdisc Country Top 20 TV Programme, currently airing in the UK on Sky TV's Keep It Country channel! We'll see if the song/video can climb any higher in the weeks to come... fingers crossed!
Joey has been getting some nice reviews on his album, and offered his own words of praise on the edited video, saying that it looked like we had a large crew working on it... besides him and Rachel, it was just yours truly: videographer, director, and editor... signed, sealed, delivered!
I read the news today, oh boy... We have lost another great in the world of music. The Beatles became "The Beatles" (and one of my forever favorite groups) because of George Martin. I have had that discussion with several people over the years. Shaping the sound...bringing color to the studio...facilitating the experimentation...it's truly remarkable what the band were able to achieve with help from the producer, and it still holds up. After hearing of his passing this morning, I was in for a treat during my drive to work, as I discovered local WRPI Radio basically playing the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album in its entirety...on vinyl, no less (you could hear the "pops!"). This reminded me of my first discovery of the Beatles at age ten, following the tragic death of John Lennon. Seeing my growing interest in the band, my mother kindly gave me her old vinyl copies of Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road-- those two albums were really what sealed it for me. Martin, of course, played a huge part in both, bringing classical music elements to the sound, clever sound effects and notation, and adventures in stereo, all while leaving it enough room to breathe... I remember being entranced by that opening of "Come Together"... the creativity of the side two medley... and blown away by the eccentric and dramatic elements present throughout Sgt. Pepper's, building up to the melancholic "Day in the Life"... I would put these albums on in the early evening, and marvel at the musical journey I was experiencing...my first, really...
To you, Sir George, with sincere gratitude... you were the gold standard, and played a big part in igniting my passion for music and becoming a musician. R.I.P.
Where to go in the Capital Region when you're asked to direct a country music video? Saratoga, of course! This proved to be a good call, as I joined musician Joey Sontz for some filming in the resort city's scenic Congress Park yesterday. Honestly, country music isn't normally my cup of tea, so I was a little wary about taking on this particular video project when Sontz first approached me about it. What finally convinced me was the idea of supporting a fellow musician/performer in the area, and Sontz's own enthusiasm (Rachel Wellington, his co-star in the video, admired the fact that "he doesn't give up on his dreams"). It also helps to be open-minded when it comes to music—his new album, It All Begins with a Song is actually quite well-produced (Jeff DeBusk of Tennessee's The Music Sanctuary at the helm), with some strong support from Nashville session musicians.
Joey Sontz on the set of his new music video. Photo: Jeremy Clowe
"Turn and face the strange...ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, just gonna have to be a different man..." I'm sure it's pretty obvious to anyone who has seen me take the stage- David Bowie was a HUGE influence. I always had him in the back of my mind... how I imagined the perfect rock star should sound and look. It was art and rock and soul. This past summer I had my first shot as front man (really) for a live music band- it seemed absolutely fitting that I start by singing a medley of two of his biggest tunes, "Suffragette City" and "Fame." Honestly, I could have done a whole set of his songs. All that is good... alternative/indie rock...whatever they are calling it these days...owes a huge debt to Bowie. He was always exciting and consistent...one of the few. A true performer, who brought drama and intelligence and tons of creativity to the world of music. I'm so glad I had a chance to see him live on a handful of occasions, and sad that I won't have another chance. But his spirit will live on, that's for sure... how could it not? R.I.P. and THANK YOU, Ziggy Stardust.
Happy New Year…and, conveniently, Happy National Science Fiction Day!I say “convenient” because a “long time ago” (last year) in a “galaxy far, far
away” (this blogosphere), I had been meaning to write about a couple things
related to the genre. Today’s “holiday” celebrating the birth date of sci-fi
author Isaac Asimov, seems the perfect excuse to revisit that idea.
My introduction to science fiction, like most kids born in
the 1970s, was through Star Wars. I
already had a pretty active imagination (fueled by comic book super heroes and
monster movies) by the time that George Lucas’ classic, space western exploded
on the big screen; I would, however, be lying if I said that that the film series wasn’t
a huge turning point for my creative mind growing up. Weird-looking aliens, droids,
spaceships, and futuristic battles…I was absolutely hooked. I forgot just how
much these films took over my creative world, until a recent trip back to my
parents’ house where I uncovered box after box of action figure, play station,
and comic book (some of my own creation), which I would use to reenact Lucas’
amazing fantasy world.
The Ghost of Christmas Past (aka the droids I was looking for)!
As I grew older, the world of Star Wars became a little more
distant, but it never stopped being an inspiration for me as an artist. Maybe
that’s why the prequels, which started rolling out during my late 20s, sort of
soured that experience. Design-wise, The
Phantom Menace recaptured the imaginative brilliance of those early films,
but something was definitely off…even with all the hype, I could sense that the first
time I saw it and the subsequent films (i.e. I only saw them once... that's saying something).
By 1999 we had entered the world of digital filmmaking and,
ironically, the huge advances in special effects actually made the movie
experience seem less special. I no longer believed these characters were
interacting in this world, and the spectacle seemed to take over the human
element (don’t even get me started on Jar Jar).
So this past year I approached the news of a “reboot” of
Star Wars with a little more weariness. Truthfully, it applies to all big
budget Hollywood films these days… most of the time they feel cheap and
unwatchable in comparison with the films (from the Golden Age of 70s/80s) that I grew up with.
Then I started seeing previews for Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Harrison Ford (reprising his role
as Han Solo) telling his Wookie friend, “Chewie, we’re home…” how couldn’t I
get excited?
Furthermore, I began to feel reassured to learn that director J.J. Abrams,
who also grew up with these films, was on board; a couple years ago he had rebooted Star Trek, and I loved those movies! I
was never much of a Star Trek fan,
but he actually rekindled my interest in that science fiction world (which were probably more science-based, in retrospect)... his
updated movies, with their nod to the original TV series, felt more organic,
more fun than most big budget movies these days… more like the original Star Wars, actually.
The Force is strong! Two thumbs up, post-screening, December 17, 2015
By late last month, I couldn’t wait. Sarah and I caught a
sneak preview of The Force Awakens
the day before it was released. It was a 3D spectacle, but Abrams brought a
human element back to the series, and I actually found myself quite absorbed in
the new characters’ story before any of the original cast returned to the
screen. That being said, there was something so comforting about the site of
the Millennium Falcon, the droids, and all these players, and the way it
connected to a new generation! The movie series was always about family
struggles and this new installment adds to that drama (but no spoilers from
me!). It’s got me excited about The Force again, and I want to go back and
watch the originals (which I haven’t seen in ages).
The only sad, perhaps inevitable note is hearing that George
Lucas was disappointed. Apparently, he considers this new outing “retro"—that has been a criticism of the new film, that it basically retells the original
plot of the movie with slightly different settings and actors. I understand
that, to an extent, but I also see plenty of fresh ideas—the biggest plot twist
took me by surprise, and I thought it was really interesting. The difficult
thing is that I now have to wait a couple years for the sequel (it’s an odd
experience…this instant, Netflix generation), but it just might be worth the
wait, as I hear that its director, Rian Johnson, is quite innovative… apparently he directed some of the more memorable episodes of Breaking Bad (that’s saying something),
as well as 2012’s Looper, a film
about time travel… hmmm….
