Bubba VonMax

Make America Laugh Again (or chortle at least)

17/10/08 at 4.46pm   /   by vonmax   /   0 Comment

For those of you under the age of 30, there was once a time when Americans could laugh at themselves. We didn’t walk around with a stick up our asses looking for things to offend us or act as if we were being attacked when one questioned something we might have said and it was a good time for this country. It was a good time for us.

Now, you might ask what this has to do with art?

Glad you asked.

As a kid in the 60’s we had so many cool things and not a one of them required us to sit on the couch to play football, be proud of ourselves because we could hold a plastic guitar and puch buttons to pretend we were playing a lead solo. We didn’t spend our days on a cumputer or our cell phones checking to see what other people were doing. When we watched TV, there was not a single episode of some mind numbingly stupid, talentless family creating drama for the masses. Although we did have Gilligan’s Island which was pretty stupid I considered it a fair trade since with Gilligan, the Skipper too, a millionaire and his wife, the movie star and a professor, we had Mary Ann.

But one of the absolute coolest things we had was MAD Magazine. Yes indeed, “What, me worry?” Afred E, Newman in all his satirical glory!!!!

Now, MAD Magazine was not the first nor was it the last but it was one of the best when it came to scathing satire of national and international leaders, TV and movie stars, there was no topic and no person rgar was off limits.

Now for the record, The Harvard Lampoon, established in 1876 was the first politically satirical magazine and is still in existence today. In fact, it was the Harvard Lampoon that ultimately lead to the forming of the National Lampoon in the 70’s.

My old man had his newspaper with its political cartoons (of course I loved the Sunday comics), but it was from the art of MAD Magazine that I not only developed my love for humor and political satire but my fledgling love of art. You had the art of Dave Berg, Don Martin, Jack Davis and so many more.

MAD Magazine cracked open that door to underground comics  like ZAP Comix, which introduced me to R. Crumb, Robert Williams and the list goes on.

Over 60 years of humor, satire, cartoons and art have graced the pages of MAD Magazine. It has taught generations the value of humor in ourselves and in others.

It, along with other influences helped to devlope the twisted son of bitch that exists inside my head but also helped to teach me that it really is okay to laugh.

Here are just a few samples.

 

 

So there you have it, my friends.

Grab a coke, grab the one you love and strap in for the ride we call life. It can be a blast but you gotta laugh sometimes. You just fucking gotta laugh.

Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna

15/10/23 at 4.59pm   /   by vonmax   /   3 Comments

Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

Bonjourno, my friends.

Recently my wife and I traveled to Rome and as if there wasn’t already plenty of sights to take in we happened to be walking one day and came upon the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. If I am not mistaken we were walking to the zoo but needless to say this provided us with a most pleasant detour.

With exhibits ranging from Duchamp to brightly painted Vespas, espresso bars and so very much more, the museum had it all.

One of the most striking exhibits is Alfredo Pirri‘s Steps.

As you enter the museum you cross this symbolic threshold. As written by the artist, “…a zone of self-critical and at the same time celebratory passage. Crossing it is a ceremony that accentuates perception of a spatial and temporal dimension, unreal but at the same time radically and intimately material.”

 

STEPS - Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea STEPS -Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea MuseumOfModernArt (16) Steps Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea Steps Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea Steps Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea Steps Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea Steps Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea Steps Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea

 

 

 

 

 

 

The effect of this sculture is magnificent leaving one with the impression that they are as much a part of the sculpture as the statues. The artist described the broken mirros as “carrying out a twofold simultaneous action of demolition and reconstruction of the image.” He continues by adding that, “experiencing the action of looking at himself upside down, and feeling that infinitesimal space like a skin that binds him to and separates him from his own image, he will come to be part of it in a “natural” manner, in the same way that he is part of the world.”

Placing onseself with the sculpture provides a unique perspective indded. Art ceases to be a mirror of the world as you walk across the cracked and broken mirrored floor. You become a part of the story and the statues placed around become the spectators. Silently watching as you casualkly stroll through the sculpture.

As is the case with all art, my simple few photographs do not do justice to this incredible piece. IT does not allow your mind to let you feel as though you are walking on water or perhaps ice. Gazing at not only your own reflection but those of the statues in their groups.

As I said at the beginning. There is much to see in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome.

Coming Attractions

15/03/10 at 8.16pm   /   by vonmax   /   1 Comment

Yes, this is the second blog post that I have done today. I can assure you that it is more for my benefit as I am trying to acclimate myself to the WP Blog for my website, Much of this acclimation is through trial and error and with me there is always the element of dumb luck.

I just wanted to post a couple of pics on one of my current and as yet untitled projects. I am doing sugar skulls on two panels that were once cabinet doors salvaged from my neice’s bathroom remodel. Now I have actually started a numbert of different paintings on these all of which I have sanded down only to start ovewr with a different idea and or approach which is tyypical of how I work. I am guilty of not always having a well though out plan when I start to paint which can mean a number of revisions as so in this case.

Sugar Skulls

As you can see, it is coming along nicely but does have a way to go. By the way, I must mention that if you might be interested in any of my art, the originalk work is handled exclusively through Daystar Design Lab at 130 N Central Avenue, Suite 307, Phoenix, AZ 85004. These good people are quickly becoming one of the most requested interior designers in the greater Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley areas.

Welcome

15/03/10 at 7.31pm   /   by vonmax   /   1 Comment

Hi, Gang,

I am Bubba VonMax but my frinds call me either Max or Bubba. IT has been awhile since I have had an active website and there have been a number of changes in just the past couple of years that I am still trying to adjust to. Not that I have ever been what one could call “tech savvy,” I have always managed to muddle my way through these things.

So I decided to try out the Blog Page here with my first post as a “get to know you all” knid of thing. Again, I am a painter as opposed to being a webmaster so these things come slowly to me. But I did want an Art Blog page to offer my opinions, insights, share with you thoughts and images from some of the very talented artists that I know and perhaps even vent on occassions.

I think it states on the “About” page that I am the founder of the Phoenix Guerilla Stuckists. I know that many of my friends are unfamiliar with the term ‘Stuckists” or “Stuckism,” much less the movement itself. Gonna give you the Wiki explanation now and tell you that Stuckism is an art movement that was founded to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art. The movementr itself was founded in 1999  by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish. The name, Stuckism” was in response to a poem read by Childish to Thomson in which Childish recited that his former girlfrind and artist, Tracy Emin had adminished him be saying that he was “stuck! stuck! stuck!” with his art, poetry and music. Not long after Thomson approached Childish with a view to co-founding an art group called Stuckism, which Childish agreed to which after considerable grown in the United Kingdom it has expanded world wide and is now considered to be a significant part of the art scene in the UK as well as continually growing here in the US.

There are numerous manifestos written for Stuckism by Childish ad Thomson which Stuckism is described as a quest for authenticity. Other manifestos describe it as Remodernism, a criticism of Post-Modernism aiming to get back to the true spirit or Modernism. There is yet another one describing the movement as anti-anti-art.

So in a nutshell, that brings us to this point at this time. I’ll get into more detail as we go on and leave you with the 1st Manifesto of Stuckism from 1999 – http://stuckism.com/stuckistmanifesto.html#manifest

I hope you enjoy the site and thank you for stopping by,

 

VonMax