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Marc Shanker

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Luna Park Postcard

Luna Park Postcard

LUNA PARK SERIES: PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS

January 20, 2017

The exciting images on vintage postcards first attracted my attention to Luna Park, Coney Island. A confusion of forms, circles, linear zigzags, minuets, domes, and colors caught my attention. They were intoxicating, even disorienting. (See below)

Luna Rides. 22" x 30." Wax crayon on paper. 2016.

Luna Rides. 22" x 30." Wax crayon on paper. 2016.

The Luna Park shapes were reminiscent of a series of artwork I had worked on previously that were centered on the power of Hope. In the earlier work, I drew, as a motif, circles inside of circles. Their unending turning and spinning served as representations of timelessness. I cast the circles as the base of a seesaw on which the human experience, with all its obstacles, was balanced against the power of Hope.

I was also attracted to Luna Park because “Luna” was my mother’s Spanish name, and her freewheeling qualities became the psychological impetus for this new work. She was a woman with a loud laugh who loved parties and dancing. I thought I would use the Luna Park theme to try to capture her wild, topsy-turvy spirit.

As a strategy, I decided to throw the images off-balance compositionally. This reflects my idea that fun is a disruption of the expected. I made my forms and figures swirl in all directions, as words turn into shapes, colors exceed their naturalistic boundaries and collide with other colors, and the scale of things is thrown out of kilter. As these pictures took form, it felt as if I, myself, was intoxicated.

The series began with large pen & ink drawings, then monoprints, wax crayon drawings, and finally paintings. (See below.) As I moved from medium to medium, the work grew increasingly abstract. The rhythms of the lines, shapes, and colors took over, blending and colliding into a cacophony of visual noise and energy.

Luna's Last Ride. Acrylic paint on canvas. 48" x 54." 2017.

Luna's Last Ride. Acrylic paint on canvas. 48" x 54." 2017.

Then on October 27, 2016, while I was still immersed in the series, my mother died. She was ninety-nine, and in very poor health. Suddenly, the series changed. The amusement park turned into a statement of the joyous rhythms of life and the eternity of death. The first work in this vein was Luna’s Last Ride.  The swirls take us through the vicissitudes of existence, while the repeating circles prepare us for the timeless transformations of eternity.

I have always tried to link my art to existential questions. In this way I hoped to give my work an enduring quality. I reasoned that the earliest cave art, images of bison, hands, and figures were magical incantations meant to express a modicum of control over our existential powerlessness. They were not pretty decorations.

In my humble way, I have tried to express the riddle of the human condition, a quandary that is unchanging despite material progress and civilization.   

Luna Park. Limited edition book. 26 pgs. 8 1/2" x 11."  Gravity Free Press. 2016. See "Shop" to buy or click on the image to view.

Luna Park. Limited edition book. 26 pgs. 8 1/2" x 11."  Gravity Free Press. 2016. See "Shop" to buy or click on the image to view.

In Aesthetics, Artist Book, Artist Style, Creative Process, Identity & art, Wax Crayon Drawings, Luna Park, Coney Island, Art and death Tags Luna Park, Coney Island, Artists' Writings, Artist Books, Artist Statement, Art Explained, artist process, art and death, Wax Crayon, monoprints, Painting
← FIFTY YEARS DRAWING TREESWHAT IS STYLE? →

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  • September 2018
    • Sep 12, 2018 HOW TO START A PAINTING Sep 12, 2018
  • May 2018
    • May 3, 2018 FIFTY YEARS DRAWING TREES May 3, 2018
  • January 2017
    • Jan 20, 2017 LUNA PARK SERIES: PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS Jan 20, 2017
    • Jan 4, 2017 WHAT IS STYLE? Jan 4, 2017
  • October 2016
    • Oct 26, 2016 THE CIRCLE IN MY ARTWORK (PART I) Oct 26, 2016
  • September 2016
    • Sep 29, 2016 THE PROBLEM OF SIGNING A PAINTING Sep 29, 2016
  • August 2016
    • Aug 5, 2016 McKee Gallery Closes Citing Changing Art Market - art Forum Aug 5, 2016
  • June 2016
    • Jun 14, 2016 OLD & NEW: DEFINING AN ARTIST'S PERSONALITY Jun 14, 2016
  • May 2016
    • May 25, 2016 MY VISIT WITH JUAN DE PAREJA May 25, 2016
  • April 2016
    • Apr 17, 2016 LOST IN THE WOODS-- AUTHOR JIM HARRISON Apr 17, 2016
  • March 2016
    • Mar 13, 2016 ART THAT RATTLES Mar 13, 2016
  • February 2016
    • Feb 24, 2016 Collaging Guston & Dubuffet Feb 24, 2016
    • Feb 17, 2016 Working in Series I Feb 17, 2016
    • Feb 17, 2016 Working in Series II Feb 17, 2016
  • January 2016
    • Jan 25, 2016 Chatting with Images Jan 25, 2016
    • Jan 17, 2016 New Publication: "LUNA PARK." by Marc Shanker Jan 17, 2016
    • Jan 17, 2016 Drawing the Holocaust Jan 17, 2016
    • Jan 4, 2016 Discovering Images: Artist Books, "But a Bubble," and "Man: A Machine of Absurdities Jan 4, 2016
  • December 2015
    • Dec 27, 2015 TURNING 69: AN ARTIST REFLECTS Dec 27, 2015
    • Dec 23, 2015 SUCCESS IS A MOMA PANINI Dec 23, 2015
    • Dec 13, 2015 STILL LIFE WITH CYCLES Dec 13, 2015
    • Dec 7, 2015 Art School? Dec 7, 2015
    • Dec 6, 2015 Intuition Dec 6, 2015
    • Dec 6, 2015 Power of Hope Dec 6, 2015
  • November 2015
    • Nov 22, 2015 Choosing Yellow Nov 22, 2015
    • Nov 22, 2015 How Do You Begin A Painting? Nov 22, 2015

© 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 Marc Shanker, marc(at)gravityfreepress.net