Bettie White

 “Why do people say "grow some balls"? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding.”

-- Betty White

Why do people say 'grow some balls'? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding - An Homage to Betty White
Graphite on Bisque, c. 2022

PO1 Mock

As most of my Navy buds know, I used to do a lot of cartoons while I was in the Navy... some were published in base newspapers,  Navy magazines,  Stars & Stripes, etc. I gave most of them away over the years... this one just showed up at an auction.

It depicts the legendary Seaman Schmuckatelli - first as a "boot" in bootcamp and then as a tough sailor a few years later - notice that the Seaman is screwing up the salute!

Seaman Schmuckatelli Navy cartoon from 1983 by Lenny Campello

He always hated when...

He Always Hated It When They Fought
2021 Charcoal on Bisque by F. Lennox Campello

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! May your Christmas be one full of happy things and no Omicronizing of the family!

The Giving Season, by David FeBland, Oil on Canvas, 2007

Once he left...

Once he left, she regained her balance
6x4,1 inches
Graphite on repurposed broken Bisque by F. Lennox Campello 2021

Once he left, she regained her balance
6x4,1 inches
Graphite on repurposed broken Bisque by F. Lennox Campello 2021

 

Monroe's murderer

Monroe see her last visitor (the murder of Marylin Monroe)
Charcoal & Conte on reclaimed broken Bisque
c. 2021 by F. Lennox Campello

Monroe see her last visitor (the murder of Marylin Monroe)
Charcoal & Conte on reclaimed broken Bisque
c. 2021 by F. Lennox Campello

Jose Marti

Yo soy un hombre sincero - homage to Marti
Charcoal and Conte on reclaimed, broken Bisque
2021 by F. Lennox Campello

 

Yo soy un hombre sincero

Yo soy un hombre sincero

De donde crece la palma,

Y antes de morirme quiero

Echar mis versos del alma.

 

Yo vengo de todas partes,

Y hacia todas partes voy:

Arte soy entre las artes,

En los montes, monte soy.

 

Yo sé los nombres extraños

De las yerbas y las flores,

Y de mortales engaños,

Y de sublimes dolores.

 

Yo he visto en la noche oscura

Llover sobre mi cabeza

Los rayos de lumbre pura

De la divina belleza.

 

Alas nacer vi en los hombros

De las mujeres hermosas:

Y salir de los escombros,

Volando las mariposas.

 

He visto vivir a un hombre

Con el puñal al costado,

Sin decir jamás el nombre

De aquella que lo ha matado.

 

Rápida, como un reflejo,

Dos veces vi el alma, dos:

Cuando murió el pobre viejo1,

Cuando ella me dijo adiós2.

 

Temblé una vez —en la reja,

A la entrada de la viña,—

Cuando la bárbara abeja

Picó en la frente a mi niña.

 

Gocé una vez, de tal suerte

Que gocé cual nunca:—cuando

La sentencia de mi muerte

Leyó el alcalde llorando.

 

Oigo un suspiro, a través

De las tierras y la mar,

Y no es un suspiro,—es

Que mi hijo va a despertar.

 

Si dicen que del joyero

Tome la joya mejor,

Tomo a un amigo sincero

Y pongo a un lado el amor.

 

Yo he visto al águila herida

Volar al azul sereno,

Y morir en su guarida

La vibora del veneno.

 

Yo sé bien que cuando el mundo

Cede, lívido, al descanso,

Sobre el silencio profundo

Murmura el arroyo manso.

 

Yo he puesto la mano osada,

De horror y júbilo yerta,

Sobre la estrella apagada

Que cayó frente a mi puerta.

 

Oculto en mi pecho bravo

La pena que me lo hiere:

El hijo de un pueblo esclavo

Vive por él, calla y muere.

 

Todo es hermoso y constante,

Todo es música y razón,

Y todo, como el diamante,

Antes que luz es carbón.

 

Yo sé que el necio se entierra

Con gran lujo y con gran llanto.

Y que no hay fruta en la tierra

Como la del camposanto.

 

Callo, y entiendo, y me quito

La pompa del rimador:

Cuelgo de un árbol marchito

Mi muceta de doctor.

A Sincere Man Am I

A sincere man am I

From the land where palm trees grow,

And I want before I die

My soul's verses to bestow.

 

I'm a traveller to all parts,

And a newcomer to none:

I am art among the arts,

With the country I am one.

 

I know how to name and class

All the strange flowers that grow;

I know every blade of grass,

Fatal lie and sublime woe.

 

I have seen through dead of night

Upon my head softly fall,

Rays formed of the purest light

From beauty celestial.

 

I have seen wings that were surging

From beautiful women's shoulders,

And seen butterflies emerging

From the refuse heap that moulders.

 

I have known a man to live

With a dagger at his side,

And never once the name give

Of she by whose hand he died.

 

Twice, for an instant, did I

My soul's reflection espy:

Twice: when my poor father died

And when she bade me good-bye.

 

I trembled once, when I flung

The vineyard gate, and to my dread,

The wicked hornet had stung

My little girl on the forehead.

 

I rejoiced once and felt lucky

The day that my jailer came

To read the death warrant to me

That bore his tears and my name.

 

I hear a sigh across the earth,

I hear a sigh over the deep:

It is no sign reaching my hearth,

But my son waking from sleep.

 

If they say I have obtained

The pick of the jeweller's trove,

A good friend is what I've gained

And I have put aside love.

 

I have seen across the skies

A wounded eagle still flying;

I know the cubby where lies

The snake of its venom dying.

 

I know that the world is weak

And must soon fall to the ground,

Then the gentle brook will speak

Above the quiet profound.

 

While trembling with joy and dread,

I have touched with hand so bold

A once-bright star that fell dead

From heaven at my threshold.

 

On my brave heart is engraved

The sorrow hidden from all eyes:

The son of a land enslaved,

Lives for it, suffers and dies.

 

All is beautiful and right,

All is as music and reason;

And all, like diamonds, is light

That was coal before its season.

 

I know when fools are laid to rest

Honor and tears will abound,

And that of all fruits, the best

Is left to rot in holy ground.

 

Without a word, the pompous muse

I've set aside, and understood:

From a withered branch, I choose

To hang my doctoral hood.

 All people are born alike - except Republicans and Democrats.

--  Groucho Marx

Extra underwear

 One of the great glitches in the Matrix: Every time that I travel, I always pack extra underwear... why? 

Always...

 Always do whatever's next.

   -- George Carlin

Young Warhol

 

Young Warhol
2021 Charcoal on Bisque by F. Lennox Campello

The greatest generation

80 years ago the United States was attacked by the Empire of Japan and subsequently 16 and a half million men and women responded to the evil brutalizing Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia and responded with the full might of the American people.

I salute the greatest generation.

All I said...

As some of you know, I used to do a lot of cartoons while I was in the Navy... some were published in base newspapers,  Navy magazines,  Stars & Stripes, etc. I gave most of them away over the years... here's another one of the fabled Seaman Schmuckatelli - This one was "Seaman Schmuckatelli... all I said..."

Seaman Schmuckatelli... all I said...
1983 Navy cartoon by Lenny Campello

Scope Art Fair: The Last Day

 As much fun as art fairs are during ABMB week, unless you're one of those galleries who hire professional crews to unpack and hang, and then to pack at the end of the day on Sunday, then the last day of the fair is brutal.

For some odd reason, the people who run Scope thought that it was a good idea to end the fair at 8PM on Sunday - rather than the usual 5PM.

More on the end later...

Today artist Tony Porto was an instant social hit because of the snug T-shirt that he was wearing - a big hit! It was as if the T-shirt gave him superhuman powers among the social waves and waves of beautiful people and influencers.

Chicago-based artist Tony Porto as a social media superstar at SCOPE Miami Beach 2021

You can read his snuggly T-Shirt...

The crowds were once again present on Scope's last day and we were excited to make several good sales, with a few drawings and one painting finding new owners and new walls to hang at!

As the fair closed, the frenzied process of tired gallerists and dealers and their assistants (and the lucky ones with hired crews) begin the process of tearing down exhibits, bubble-wrapping work to be delivered to new owners or shipped back to galleries, or perhaps to the next fair, and figuring out their next step.

Point of order: every art fair, no matter how good, always has a number of dealers that do very well, some that break even, and many who lose money -- every fair.

This year I noticed that Scope had "opened" the fair to individual artists.  While I understand that the post-Covidian world and inflation woes often make economic decisions... but a fair which starts as a "galleries only" fair and then (as not enough gallery applications are received) opens the process to individual artists, so that in the end dealers and galleries are mixed with individual artists is an "issue".

With the notable exception of DC's only art fair a few years ago -- (e)merge, which was designed from the start to couple art dealers with unrepresented artists, the mixture of individual artists and art galleries at the same fair seldom succeeds. This is generally due to the spectacular lack of business acumen and selling experience that most artists have (not all), and the disastrous "discounting" orgies that happen on Sundays when artists realize that the fair is almost over and they haven't sold squat.

My heart broke when I noticed that the Turkish gallery across the hall (which had a professional crew do all the work), had unstretched all the huge canvasses that they had exhibited (none sold) and had put several thousand dollars of custom made and gorgeous stretcher bars on the side marked as THRASH.

I walked around the fair finding Miami galleries to see if they wanted them or knew of any artists who could use them... what a waste.

Meanwhile Mike Janis directed the complex re-packing of glass work, while Terry and Tony did the van dance of coming onto the grounds; then the carrying of the packed art and loading back onto the van for the long trek back home.

Another year done.

ArtBasel Week: Scope - The Saturday report (influencers)

The spectacular growth industry known as "influencer" is very evident in the 2021 version of Art Basel week.  Influencers handing out cards, dressed to be noticed and asking to be photographer, Instagrammed and referenced... as well as the "make sure that you follow me...."

Today's crowds were by far the largest, most eclectic and flowing - not sure how sales are going on. All throughout the fair, people have been admiring and taking hundreds of photographs of  Tony Porto & Mike Janis' collaborative work and of Tim Tate's infinity mirror "Gay Batman" piece, and and myriads of gallery cards have been handed out to the "we'll be back" crowd. Seldom does that happen... The fairs are big and overwhelming... You either get the work when you see it, or forget it...

And lots of beautiful people...

The Bisque wall continues to sell well throughout the day and in the early evening a very well-known artist from California approaches me (together with her "team") and acquires "Sleep is the Cousin of Death."  The work has to return to the DMV and then be shipped... but hey!

Sleep is the Cousin of Death - detail - 

Art Basel Day Five: The Weekend Begins

It's Friday! By 11AM we're on duty and people begin to flow to SCOPE.  I am always entertained by "art fair people." They are as much an integral and positive and creative part of the art scene in Miami as the art itself.

Here are some that I captured in some cool photos...

I was particularly struck by how this spectacular beauty resembled an Elfin Queen and arranged for a couple of quick poses as she agreed to pose in exchange for a portrait of her as an Elfin Queen.

By late noon, Michael Janis and Tony Porto begin to work a deal with a very young curator of a major United Arab Emirates-based company.  The email image exchanges begin - let's see how the deal pans out!

I've continued to sell my Bisque drawings well... there's only a handful left on the wall.

By the late afternoon my first major sale occurs, when a local doctor acquires a large painting on paper on the thematic theme of the Superhero-curated booth - this piece is staying in Miami.

The Day that Supergirl decided to show the world her tattooes
Mixed Media Painting on 600 weight paper,36x36 inches, c. 2021

Later on some very nice collectors from Fredicksburg show up and buy half a dozen prints from the 1980s when I was in Art School at the University of Washington - they also fill my bucket with their smiles and appreciation for art.

Art Basel Day 4: The Thursday report

In a typical Miami sort of way, today was essentially characterized by a lots of young women as slim as rifles (and just as dangerous), and men of all ages in impossibly tight high-water pants with no socks taking a lot of selfies in front of artwork.

In a previous review of ABMB a decade or so ago, I wrote the below... and little has changed:

Once the VIP pre-opening parties were finished and the elegant crowds, booze and small food ceased to circulate, and tightly-dressed women in lethal-looking six inch heels finished their improbable art fair strolls with plastic wine glasses in their manicured hands, and handsome young men in slim suits and nerdy black glasses used their cell-phones to photograph the artwork, while third generation blue-eyed Cuban-American girls, four or five inches taller and 25 pounds lighter than their political refugee grandmothers, and slim as rifles, finished shooting selfies in front of the artwork...

Working the art fair is brutal work for the galleries and dealers - on your feet all day and floating in that rarified world where you never know if the person that you're talking to is just another nice guy or the planet's third largest art collector.

It is also great fun for people watching, where often the person becomes the artwork itself...

The day went fairly fast, with visits from a DMV museum director (who purchased one of my Bisque drawings!), the very talented Sondra Arkin, gallerist Corey Hampsom from Habatat Galleries, and the very talented Zanni.

Zanni looking at a Tim Tate piece

At art fairs you meat all kinds of gifted people from all sorts of mankind's talent pools - one such super talented human being is a young rapper named F.O.E. YoungHustla who just released a record which I suspect will be noticed and should be noticed - part of that is the spectacular and gritty design of the release.

Talent rises to the top in spite of all obstacles -- Expect big things from this young and rising star - he needs a good promoter...

After the fair closed at 8PM, we hustled (pun intended) to dinner, as tonight there are extended hours till 11PM, and ran once again into Akemi Maegawa at the nice Thai restaurant on Washington Street where we all met by chance.

Tony Porto, Lenny Campello, Akemi Maegawa, and Michael Janis

Mike Janis and I then hobbled back to the SCOPE Art Fair to see what the extended hours were all about... once we got there, we discovered that it was essentially a party, and since both Mike and I are past our sell-by date for that, we strolled in and strolled right back out to our beds... but not before Mike snatched two pink flamingo inflatable drink holders... cough... cough...

Art Basel Day 3 - The first day of the public opening

Once again, in spite of the fears of the Covidian Age, decent crowds showed up again to the Scope Art Fair in Miami Beach. Today was the day that the fair technically opened to the public - yesterday was the VIP opening.

The brisk sales of the drawings on Bisque continued (they are quite affordable), and by now about half of them are gone.

I rea-arranged them so as to put them all onto one and half panels and thus be able to hang more artwork.

This gents has returned 3-4 to consider one work

The "interest gage", as I would put it, was also noticeably higher, with loads of interested collectors making the rounds, and we also saw some DMV folks, such as Akemi Maegawa and others.

Artist Tony Porto holding court

I walked around the fair, trying to (as I always do) select my top 10 booths/artists of the fair.  The spectacular work of DMV artist Mark Jenkins - as always - stands out immediately. Jenkins is without a doubt one of the best-known DMV artists on the planet.

Mark Jenkins artwork at SCOPE Miami Beach 2021

I also liked the spectacular technical skill of the Austrian artist Nychos' artwork with Miris Gallery in booth D01 - this is clearly the work of a master technical "urban/graffiti" artist with almost Renaissance-like painting skills.  Nearly all of his work was sold!

Nychos artwork at Miris Gallery

After the fair closed, we headed for Greek food at Poseidon, where we feasted on Greek food... on the way we passed two of most terrifying ATMs on the planet.