Monthly Archives: July 2018

Art and/or Advertisement

Posted on by Bill Chance

“The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.”

― Banksy

El Pajaro y la Nina by Ray Smith, 2016 Mexico/New York, Material Reclaimed Tires/Poured Concrete
Poydras Street, New Orleans

In the City of New Orleans there is a fantastic arrangement of sculpture along Poydras Street. Walking down and back from my son’s apartment to the Running of the Bulls I took photos of a few of them that I’ll share with you.

I don’t know what I like the best… the sculpture by Ray Smith… or the giant poster for Zatarains.

Even Facts Change

Posted on by Bill Chance

It is said that ‘change’ is the only real constant. It may very well be fact, but then again, even facts change and that may be the fact that governs us all.
—- James Surls, artist statement

Standing Vase With Flowers, James Surls, 2010 Colorado, Bronze and Stainless Steel
Poydras Street, New Orleans

In the City of New Orleans there is a fantastic arrangement of sculpture along Poydras Street. Walking down and back from my son’s apartment to the Running of the Bulls I took photos of a few of them that I’ll share with you.

Walking down Poydras, I spotted another sculpture along the street and immediately knew I had seen this sculptor’s work before.

It was Standing Vase With Flowers by James Surls… and I had seen his work at the Irving Arts Center Sculpture Garden and at the Frisco Sculpture Center.

It gave me a comfortable, warm feeling to see work from an artist I was familiar with – echoes of shapes from a long way away and a long time ago.

James Surls, Again in the Meadows, plus a construction crane, a pile of dirt, and a stop sign

James Surls, Star Flower
reflection
(click to enlarge)

James Surls, Star Flower
(click to enlarge)

James Surls, Star Flower
inverted reflection
(click to enlarge)

James Surls, Star Flower
(click to enlarge)

James Surls, Again in the Meadows

David in Bluestone

Posted on by Bill Chance

“People are so fucking dumb. Nobody reads anymore, nobody goes out and looks and explores the society and culture they were brought up in. People have attention spans of five seconds and as much depth as a glass of water.”
― David Bowie

David, by Boaz Vaadia, 2009, New York, Material: Bronze and Bluestone
Poydras Street, New Orleans

In the City of New Orleans there is a fantastic arrangement of sculpture along Poydras Street. Walking down and back from my son’s apartment to the Running of the Bulls I took photos of a few of them that I’ll share with you.

From the exhibition Label:
ABOUT THE ART”
“David” is a bronze casting of a larger-than-life-size figure that was sculpted in layers of bluestone. The unique style of Vaadia’s work is directly inspired by the natural formation of stone in the earth and other forces of nature. Through the materials he works with and the sculpture he makes, Vaadia explores the primal connection of Man to Mother Earth.”

Down at the river end of Poydras is another sculpture entitled “David” very different than the one by Enrique Alferez that I wrote about the other day. This “David” is by Boaz Vaadia and is an almost-abstract figure of bronze cast from flat layers of stone.

I’m sure thousands of commuters drive by every day on their way to work and thousands more tourists go by on their way to the French quarter or the Casino. None of them notice the giant figure standing there at the intersection. Shame, really.

Seven Points of View

Posted on by Bill Chance

“I assert that the art of sculpture, among all the arts connected with design, is at least seven times greater than any other, for the following reason: why, sir, a statue of true sculpture ought to have seven points of view, which ought all to boast equal excellence.”
― Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography Of Benvenuto Cellini

Gymnast, by Enrique Alferez, bronze, Poydras Street, New Orleans

In the City of New Orleans there is a fantastic arrangement of sculpture along Poydras Street. Walking down and back from my son’s apartment to the Running of the Bulls I took photos of a few of them that I’ll share with you.

The first one that I noticed was a beautiful bronze woman in an athletic, dancelike pose, rising above the median only a few feet toward the river from where my son lives. Looking it up, I wasn’t too surprised to find out it was another work by Enrique Alferez like the nearby Lute Player and David – which I wrote about the last two days.

Alferez has work all over the city.I must make a list and try to get to some more the next time I visit.

Beautiful And True

Posted on by Bill Chance

“Why do beautiful songs make you sad?’ ‘Because they aren’t true.’ ‘Never?’ ‘Nothing is beautiful and true.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Lute Player, Enrique Alferez, New Orleans

On the right side of the entrance to the First Bank & Trust Tower on Poydras street, downtown New Orleans – is the huge statue of David, which I wrote about yesterday. On the other side, also done by Enrique Alferez is “The Lute Player” a softer sculpture, adding a little contrapoint.

Giants Are Not What We Think

Posted on by Bill Chance

“Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

David, Bronze, Enrique Alferez, New Orleans

Sculpture of David, in front of the First Bank & Trust Tower on Poydras street, downtown New Orleans – Enrique Alferez

A Conversation at Molly’s

Posted on by Bill Chance

“The beauty of Molly’s is that it is not, whether in the daytime or at night, the exclusive preserve of an age or income group. Unlike the sterile night scenes of pretentious San Francisco or New York, Molly’s (and most other New Orleans bars) welcomes all ages, all colors, and all sexual persuasions, provided they are willing to surrender to the atmosphere.”
― Andrei Codrescu, New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writings from the City




A conversation between my son, Lee, and the bartender at Molly’s, Decatur Street, New Orleans

Eat it Off

Posted on by Bill Chance

“The minute you land in New Orleans, something wet and dark leaps on you and starts humping you like a swamp dog in heat, and the only way to get that aspect of New Orleans off you is to eat it off. That means beignets and crayfish bisque and jambalaya, it means shrimp remoulade, pecan pie, and red beans with rice, it means elegant pompano au papillote, funky file z’herbes, and raw oysters by the dozen, it means grillades for breakfast, a po’ boy with chowchow at bedtime, and tubs of gumbo in between. It is not unusual for a visitor to the city to gain fifteen pounds in a week–yet the alternative is a whole lot worse. If you don’t eat day and night, if you don’t constantly funnel the indigenous flavors into your bloodstream, then the mystery beast will go right on humping you, and you will feel its sordid presence rubbing against you long after you have left town. In fact, like any sex offender, it can leave permanent psychological scars.”
― Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

When you are on vacation in a city with as varied and variable opportunities as New Orleans there is always a struggle between new experiences and going with what you have known and enjoyed in the past. A balance between the two is best.

I drove from Dallas to New Orleans to stay with my son and attend the 2018 New Orleans Writing Marathon. He lives in a downtown high rise and parking is horribly expensive, so I stashed my car a couple miles away on a side street in the Lower Garden District. It sat there untouched for a week. I took my Xootr Swift folding bike out of the back to ride back to his place on Poydras.

I drive a tiny car – a Toyota Matrix. I always liked it because I could fold the rear seats down and get a bike (barely) into the back of the car (never liked exterior bike racks). I’m always surprised at how small the Xootr Swift folds down. I’m able to fit it easily in the small space behind the rear seat. Now I have a four-passenger car again.

It was hot and I was thirsty and I was hungry so I decided on a stop at one of my favorite and familiar places in the Big Easy – The Avenue Pub.

My folding bike locked up outside of the Avenue Pub in New Orleans

The big black thing on the back of my bike is a Bushwhacker Omaha grocery pannier mounted on a Xootr Crossrack. Very ugly and even more handy.

The beer selection at The Avenue Pub is second to none. It was a hot day and I wanted something cold and lighter and selected an excellent French Saison – Cuvée des Jonquilles from The Baron and Baileux brewery. Really nice on a summer afternoon.

They have a good kitchen in the bar and I ordered something I had before, and will certainly have again – Fried Green Tomatoes with Shrimp Remoulade. Delicious.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Shrimp Remoulade

New Orleans is actually a good city to ride bikes around in. It’s flat and the ancient streets slow the traffic down. Once I finished it only took me seven minutes to ride from The Avenue Pub to my son’s place.

I don’t think I could have driven it in that time.

They Were All Running Together

Posted on by Bill Chance

“Down below the narrow street was empty. All the balconies were crowded with people. Suddenly a crowd came down the street. They were all running, packed close together. They passed along and up the street toward the bull-ring and behind them came more men running faster, and then some stragglers who were really running. Behind them was a little bare space, and then the bulls galloping, tossing their heads up and down. It all went out of sight around the corner. One man fell, rolled to the gutter, and lay quiet. But the bulls went right on and did not notice him. They were all running together.”
—Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

New Orleans, Running of the Bulls

New Orleans, Running of the Bulls

Most of the “Bulls” (female Roller Derby team members) in the New Orleans version of Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls wear similar, red-themed, skimpy outfits complete with gaudy decorations – in the New Orleans style.

One Bull dressed in blue – with a bit more class, including a matching plastic bat. She looked great – though she did complain of the heat in her outfit.