American Art in Paris

Last night the Swedish artist Rageneld called me to ask if I would like to attend the vernissage of Ed Rucsha at the Jeu de Paume near the Tuileries. Tough decision but I usually enjoy the openings in Paris since they are very festive. Craigie Horsley also has a show that just opened so I figured I would see something new as well as Rucsha's work.

It turns out the Vernissage was last night but that Ed was giving a talk on his work. We were welcome to sit in the theatre where there was a live webcam presentation of his talk in the next room. It was painful to listen to since he was speaking very slow English so everyone could follow... of ideas that were pretty light weight. Plus, he was showing slides in the gallery that weren't reproducing very well on the webcam. There is nothing worse than listening to someone describe an image that isn't really there. Perhaps this is a personal pet peeve. It is something I try to avoid doing and insist that my students avoid. It didn't matter. The French were swooning all over him while he signed books afterwards. I loved it since its not so easy being an American in Paris these days. We've lost our Heroic edge and reputation as being embassadors of good will. The French Judicial System says a person is guilty until proven innocent so I just keep my mouth shut in public most of the time since my French isn't good enough to defend myself.

We did do an amazing job getting our money refunded after our flight to Bilbao turned into something just short of a disaster movie. We flew to Bilbao on Monday morning and the plane returned home without landing! Snow. Airport closed. No more flights. My friend the Australian artist Irene Barbaris was headed off to London before heading home. We refused to forfeit our money and presented so many complicated options to them (a two year credit for another flight, blah, blah, blah) that they finally gave up and just refunded our money. It was a victory for sure! These cheap European flights are great until something goes wrong. NO REFUNDS! We missed Bilbao though and I was looking forward to that.

Work is slow and steady. There is an invitational show here at the Cite that I've been invited to be in. No better incentive to finsh work in progress than a wall to hang it on so I guess its time to sign out.