Laurie Lipton Update!

I just had the most amazing experience. 

I'm obsessed with "culturestuff", particularly art. And I'm particularly fond of art done with pencil and charcoal. This probably stems from my love of black and white films and photography. I've found that most people have little or no appreciation for black and white images. Such people view black and white as the absence of something... namely color. They don't understand that black and white isn't the absence of anything... it's just something else altogether. Black and white images take me out of the real world of color and transport me elsewhere. I'm not particularly interested in the real world anyway... certainly not these days. Back in the day when I watched television ... ( I no longer do )... I used to take the color out of the set and watch everything in black and white.  I discovered that doing so could improve even total crap. 

About a year ago while surfing the web, I accidentally discovered the art of Laurie Lipton. Only H.R. Giger's work had affected me so strongly. Laurie's attention to detail was astonishing. The strange black and white images connected and resonated with me on a very deep level. The images were startling and disturbing yet filled with humor and cynicism. The more I stared at them, the more absorbed I became. Whenever artists would visit my business, if they seemed like they had the necessary mentality, I'd introduce them to Laurie's work. I remember telling a filmmaker friend that I wanted my films to look like Laurie's art. Let's just say I'm a big fan. 

So for Black Chateau's first artist profile, I chose Laurie Lipton. It was a no brainer. 

Now here's where it gets amazing. The very next day after posting my blog on Laurie, I received a comment... FROM LAURIE! It was like hearing from one of my few idols... Thelonious Monk, Clive Barker or H.R. Giger. It turned out to be a hilariously bittersweet experience because she wrote me to thank me AND to correct something I'd said about her. In my blog, I'd referred to her as a surrealist. WRONG! She wrote:

"Surrealism is an art movement that used the juxtaposition of dream symbols to create a picture. It's a kind of "stream of consciousness". My work is intentional... more like the religious paintings of the middle ages. They chose certain images to tell a story. My work is a narrative without words, like those Medieval Masters. Sorry to pull you up on this point, but I feel it's important!"

Needless to say I was immediately both elated AND dismayed. I'd been contacted by one of my favorite artists, but I'd mistakenly called her an apple when she was really an orange! Oops!

However, when she explained her art to me, I understood one reason why she's become such an inspiration for my filmmaking. Along with creating startling and disturbing images, I strive to make my films "narrative without words". 

Thanks for the correction Laurie!

And the inspiration.