Saturday, October 9, 2010

wheels for nostalgia


It’s interesting to remember the birthdays of people gone. We do that with family members, friends, ones we once loved and still do because we learned that love doesn’t really fade like we thought it did. We reread and listen again, look at pictures and dust off memories, and memory has a way of visiting without warning. Nostalgia is a nice word and a pleasant emotion. Harkening back, we travel somewhere. In the present, we think about what is, what could have been.

Art, created in another time, often has a way of informing the present. People curate art in a way to do this for us. But we have that personal experience when we see it. Art fuels nostalgia often. Sometimes the fuel is an aroma, a taste, a melody. To be nostalgic infers a bit of idealism sprinkled into that longing for the past, a helping of what-iffing kneaded into the loaf of sweetbread.

Yesterday, I met one of the curators of the Lennon art exhibit at Crown Center, Richard Hordwitz. We had a lovely talk. He told me the story of this exhibit and his friendship with Paul Jillison, co-owner of Pacific Edge Gallery in Laguna Beach, California. Richard loved Lennon’s art from the beginning, and turned that love into a collection that expanded when he met Paul. Richard's first business was records; selling them. His first exhibition of Lennon’s art took place in Richard’s record store. People thought he was crazy. A record store as a gallery? You're kiddin' me.

I had wandered in the gallery for at least 30 minutes before talking with Richard. I wandered a bit more after talking with him, seeing the gallery in a new way. True, this is part of Richard’s business, but it’s also many other things. His collection motivates nostalgia for some like me. For young people, they can match a new name, a new song, to a drawing.

On the way to the exhibit, a friend of mine shared his dislike for Yoko. He’s not alone. I think they were in love and that’s enough for me, but it’s hard to separate personality from the art, for often, the person is the art.

Pretty cool talking with Richard Hordwitz. He expressed a genuine love and passion for Lennon’s works. Richard’s nostalgia seems grounded being around all of these works of art. Mine’s been a sort of gliding plastic bag, for this was the first time I saw an original piece by this person who sings one of my favorite songs called “Watching the Wheels”, a piece that feels like a soundtrack to my life. People say I’m crazy…People thought Richard was crazy too borrowing money to collect art by this crazy guy Lennon.

There’s no problems…only solutions…a bit ideal, but nostalgia creeps in once in a while.

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