by Luca
Panaro
How much important is your childhood in your work?
Much of the imagery I use in my paintings is inspired by children's
books, toys, and other objects and images of childhood. It is those
old memories of childhood that I try and tap into with my art.
Why do you beefsteaks, pork sausages... in your pictures? What does
meat means for you?
I wrote an essay about this: I've been asked over and over why I paint
meat? «I suppose I have to admit one of the reasons I like to
paint meat is because people do wonder about it so much. There are actually
many reasons. One of my primary thoughts was expressed simply by Virgil
Crow when he wrote "Life is a great illusion". We are creatures of pure
energy and "Meat" is the element that keeps us here. I think about how
"Meat" was once part of a beautiful living creature that has then become
an inanimate "substance" that we treat with little regard or awareness
of what it once was. It was once alive. Recently the Austrian artist
Flatz made the news when he dropped a dead cow from a helicopter in
Berlin. I don't care much for this kind of "shock" art but there was
a very interesting part of the story. An animal loving teenager attempted
tolegally stop the performance. The court rejected the complaint because
the cow had the legal status of food. That fascinates me. At what exact
point does the animal cross the line and become meat? From the Bible,
Matthew 26:26 "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed
it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat;
this is my body." I have found this Bible verse the source of much curiosity.How
bizarre a ritual Catholics partake in each Sunday as they eat the body
of Christ in communion. The literal interpretation of this can be the
source of endless visuals from the humorous to the horrific. There is
an obvious horror connected with the meat industry. The blood, the gore,
the inhumane butchery. So many of us indirectly participate in this
with our ravenous consumption of meat. Sue Coe has explored that arena
exquisitely in her work and writings. In my own art I am not personally
making a statement or judgement about the meat consumption in our culture.I
feel more like I am just observing it. Just like T-rex, I myself am
a passionate meat-eater. I feel that the consumption of animal flesh
is a natural primal instinct just like sex and making paintings. But
there is that paradox of knowing how that scrumptious porterhouse made
it to my dinner plate. We have lost any kind of reverence for this.
It would beinteresting if people would have to kill an animal themselves
before they earned the right to eat it. Beyond the conceptual impact,
meat simply has a very strong visual quality. The wonderful variety
of textures and patterns in the marbling of the meat is sumptuous. Subtle
pinks gently swirl around with rich vermillions and fatty yellow ochres.
These visual qualities alone are seductive enough to make meat the subject
of a work of art. Meat is glorious to paint. It is so easy to transcend
the representational to the abstract. Meat has been a subject for painters
from Rembrandt to Van Gogh» (Mark Ryden for Juxtapoz Magazine,
October 2001).
And what about religion?
Throughout history people have been the most creative when it comes
to Religion. Religious stories and fables are so interesting to me.
Religion has historically been one of the most prevelent sources of
inspiration for art.
Do you have a reference? Is
it true that is a monkey?
Doesn't
everyone?
Which role covers the magical alchemy and formulas in your art?
I have surrounded myself with books and charts on mysticism and Alchemy
for years. I have been attracted to the symbols and images. I began
to actually learn more and more about Alchemy as time went on.
What is your favourite artist?
I have many many artists i love: David, Inges, Bouguereau, Gerome,
Lari Pitman, Gergeanne Dean...
Friday 22 march 2002
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Mark Ryden who was born in 1963 in Oregon but grew up in the south California,
began to attract attention of a varied public, from music listeners
to readers of pop magazine, illustrating cover of popular magazines
and records of band such as Red Hot Chili Pepper, The Butthole Surfers
e di Michael Jackson (it's his own work the cover of the very famous
Dangerous), until he reached, in the 90's, the art pubblic that decreed
definitely his success.