Regina and ikye: Modèles de Studio

Subtitle: État Passager de Régression Angélique

Translation: Transient State of Angelic Regression

 Description: A brief snapshot of the Artist Muse and Galerie Intern

Cassandra Landau - Gallery Coordinator

Maubidea Interview: random excerpts

Interview and Content (c) 2010 Putain d'art

All Rights Reserved

Quote: I think the art world as a whole… has an overabundance of pretty paintings and photographs. These pleasant images have a positive / soothing effect on our subconscious and serve a very specific purpose.

On the other hand… the world for many does not have a pretty face. Hence the need for visual disassociation, conscious and otherwise.

*What are your considerations when developing an image?

For the greater part… the work will generally focus on amplifying the darker shades of emotion, exploring the irrational and the absurd. As human beings, these aberrations in “normal” behaviors are most compelling and deserve an effective voice.

*Looking closer at that statement, don’t you mean “normal” expressions and not behaviors?

The face is our personal mirror and directly reflects what an individual is feeling at any given moment. Perhaps if someone was being tortured and the goal was to hang tough and look unaffected, sure… expressions might appear confusing.

Behaviors also reflect what we are feeling and those emotions are translated through facial expressions. Whichever may come first is a toss-up, but in this case I was referring to behaviors.

*From the tone of your statement, are you suggesting that artists abandon the idea of classic landscapes and traditional portraiture?

I’m not suggesting anything of the sort. Traditional landscapes and portraits make up a huge part of the marketplace. Sometimes… in order to do one thing you must first do another. That is the nature of global commerce and a noteworthy concern when attempting to pay for your overhead, things like rent and art supplies.

It was never a conscious decision to specifically focus on certain themes, as the work is subconsciously driven and almost impossible to predict. But after a while certain patterns begin to emerge. Those patterns are what determine the source of a style and it is that which needs greater attention.

*How would you define normal behaviors?

You simply cannot! If everyone walked about like Stepford Wives (robots), there would not exist a visible range of emotions. Expressions would be limited to happy, sad, confused and so on. People would look and act the same all the time which would eliminate the possibility of individualism.

What appears to be normal… is the scale of general expressions people choose to manifest. When that chain is broken and an individual steps outside of what is considered socially or morally acceptable (e.g. child molestation, spousal abuse), it is those and other deviant behaviors most would view as unacceptable and not in the normale de mode.

What is deliberate, is trying to find a method to exaggerate those expressions and push the envelope of absurdity to its illogical conclusion.

*You mention on the About page of your website, that you have never used a digital paintbrush or drawing tablet to develop an image… is that still an accurate statement?


Yes… but today it’s sort of a yes and no depending on what you call painting. Through 2008-09, the only tool I was using was the Liquify and the various modes in that menu. Much had to do with color variations, shading, adjustments to the hue and so forth.

As the program became more familiar and my application (technique) began to expand, the paintbrush became an essential fill tool. Ultimately to change or color correct an area, I began to incorporate the Marquee as it felt natural and a better choice.

You have to remember... the software was part of a purchase for a Digital Drawing Tablet (still unused), and I had no previous training or experience with Photoshop.

*What was the most notable comment on your work to date?

That's an easy one (laughing)... it came from my website developer Nadia, a former Nuclear Physicist.

We were in her studio trying to decide on a particular piece when she turned to me and said; "You make such beautiful pictures for a Photoshop illiterate, I simply do not understand how you can do this... amazing"

Gallery image: Minotaur: Eclipsing the Moon

Radical Displacement of Cytoplasm

Subtitle: Corruptible Fatty Enzymes

Genre: Automatist Digital Sculpture

Collection: Microbiology - Chemistry - Science

Cassandra Landau - Gallery Coordinator

Maubidea Interview: Part 2

Restaurants and Food Service

Interview and content (c) 2010 Putain d'art

All Rights Reserved

After a short dinner break, I phoned Ron back to continue our chat. At this point in the interview, I wanted to explore a bit about his work in the Food Service Industry.

Your career and artistic pursuits have been very diverse to say the least. You began as a Musician and a composer of Microtonal Music. At some point you entered Food Service and earned the title, Executive Chef. You worked in Cable Television as a Producer / Director, a graphic artist and the list goes on.

*Would it be presumptuous to conclude that you have invested more time in Food Service than in any other area?

That is a good question… but no. I was always doing something after work and on the weekends. Band rehearsal usually began after a long 10-12 hour shift in the kitchen. When I was the Executive Chef at the Library Restaurant in Manhattan, a few of us on staff started a band as a way of staying sane.

Our combined adrenaline levels was off the charts and seriously needed a way to chill out. Burning up the last of that energy was an imperative for a good night’s rest.

*What is your educational background and where did you study?

Most of what I do has been self taught. Music composition and melody were just parts of a genetic package. You could say I was born hearing music and sounds as well as orchestral arrangements. As for the cooking part… I've been preparing food for people since childhood. I think my motives had more to do with an affinity for Chinese cleavers and large, open flames than the cooking itself. (laughing)

*You entered the Restaurant business with previous experience?

No… cooking was self-taught as well and learned all the basics the hard way, in the field. That would not include the many thousands of hours spent researching the history and science of food. I had it in my head that cooking professionally would be easy.

After all, it was just about preparing foods right . . . wrong!!

It was Food (fucking) Service and I was totally unprepared at the time, for a disciplined lifestyle and a public clientele.

My career started with the opening of a French Café/Restaurant in Brooklyn Heights called, Café de Ron. The menu was casual-eclectic and forever changing depending on the season… the mood… the weather! (laughing)

The basic premise was to be a culinary jazz musician. To improvise with everything and dispel common notions of tradition which included the Classic preparations...

The effort (my concept) was an accident waiting to happen… I was terminally clueless when it came to normal business practices. And after a much needed pow wow with the manager and head waiter (my two closest friends), the idea of standardizing basic items began to make sense.

*Are you saying that you opened a restaurant without a basic menu?

I’m saying that I opened that restaurant making every possible mistake imaginable! Yes… there was a basic menu but the emphasis was on the daily specials in terms of a creative outlet.

*I was under the impression that most restaurants conform to that?

They do indeed… but they don’t usually have twenty or so items on the specials board that could be prepared several different ways. Each variation constituted an entirely different dish. Adding to that, my customers had the privilege of requesting items and combinations that were not on the regular menu. This happened every day at lunch and dinner… it drove my staff crazy!

*Allowing for such choice is quite commendable; did the pace drive you crazy as well?

Absolutely not… I was already there handing out passes to the asylum!

*Was the Café an existing restaurant in the area?

That would be a definite no; it had to built from the bottom up. The space itself was actually a Real Estate office that had gone out of business. It didn’t have the right plumbing and an upgrade to the electrical service had to be installed.

*Aside from the demolition and general construction, did you install the plumbing and electrical work as well?

You require licensed professionals for that sort of thing otherwise the Buildings Department would immediately shut you down. I did build the kitchen and help install all the equipment. The counters, tables and the banquette were all constructed with these two hands.

My customers always had the sense they were dinning in a special place… where the majority of the dishes were started from scratch. Local people would stop me at the market and ask about the evening specials, a recipe… whatever.

*Were the recipes standardized and would you share some of your cooking secrets if asked?

There were no recipes per say… since all the cooking and preparation was done by me, there was little point in that. At the time, I couldn’t afford to hire a qualified cook and usually brought a staff member into the kitchen if they showed an interest in learning.

I might add that the Café was also the first modern Jazz Club in the history of Brooklyn Heights… it was quite a unique experience.

Gallery image: Knackende Eier für ein Omelett
Cracking Eggs for an Omelette is the first installment in the Hunter Thompson, Peyote and Juarez Mexico series of Automatist Digital Sculptures for 2010

End of Part 2A . . . to be continued

Odious the Misogynist: Gespräch zur Hand

Title: Talk to the Hand

Subtitle: In Less Than Perfect Harmony

I can only speak for myself when I say… women have always had a unique inner strength and depth, far beyond the capacity of most men. They have the ability to bring new life into the world and for the greater part, appear more adept at tolerating indiscretions.

Having said that, there are those men who nurture an irrational resentment… and take every opportunity to lessen the acceptable standard of “All things being equal” as a bridge for physical abuse and debasement. Odious is one such example… a pathetic reflection of social evolution and cultural adaptability . . . Ron Maubidea

Maubidea Interview by Putain d’art

Digital Painting

Automatist Digital Sculpture

Interview and content (c) 2010 Putain d'art

All Rights Reserved

It was mid-winter of 2008 when I first suggested this interview to Ron. The seed of what is here began with the Wikipedia article, Abstract Automatism (automatism abstrait du moment) as it was defined by the artist.

The Questions… Part 1

*Has there been much change in your approach to Digital Painting and Sculpture since 2008?

Not really… certain things become a bit clearer in terms of the software but generally speaking, the approach is still the same.

*I can see that in the new work, but elements inside the work do appear different somewhat.

There has been a progression in the technique… as I said; some elements of that approach get redefined as the “feel” changes with different and upgraded programs. These days, I have been starting new pieces with Photoshop CS. The tools are in different places and what exists in one version is absent in another. Not knowing where things are will change the momentum of a developing image.

More time = more thought, which translates to different considerations and possibilities.

*I don’t completely understand your point. Are you saying that common tools and brushes are missing in different Pshop versions?

They’re not exactly missing… but yes, of course I am. If Adobe wanted its customers to have every option available in their top of the line software, it would be like shooting themselves in the foot financially speaking! The lesser versions are for those users with simpler needs. People who wish to amp the colors or sharpen an image would do fine with a less expensive package.

*Do you currently own or use the Pro version of Photoshop?

No… never! It’s way out of my realm of general applications. Perhaps if I was engaged in print work or designing gift cards, it would have a real purpose and justify the additional expense.

*You employ the phrase “emotional color”, what does that mean exactly?

I guess the simplest explanation would be to refer to my observations as a teenager. Back then, most of the art was collage. My bedroom was filled with them, the walls, the ceiling and the doors. A door (like a canvas), was actually the best place to construct one because the measurements are fixed and it made the process that much easier.

When I would step back to examine the image, certain flows of color became evident. Those color flows were part of what made up the "mood", different excerpts were projecting. The elements themselves (hand cut images), came from various sources like magazines and books. The print paper was different from source to source so the light hit your eye differently depending on the ink and the quality of reproduction.

The elements that were chosen, reflected different time periods and styles in art history and modern journalism.

*Was Fashion photography a big influence on your early work?

Honestly… I don’t think so (lighting a cigarette). Most of the images that caught my attention in terms of Emotional Color, were those of abstract nudes and general weirdness. Dutch painter, Hieronymus Bosch would be a perfect example. The work of say… Helmut Newton would make most anyone stop turning a page and look closer. His work was passionately fashion oriented, sensual and of course uniquely tasteful . . . and abstract.

His depth of sensual content (bordering on the perverse), was unique in its own right. It wasn’t going to be a mass market commodity in any measure especially at the time his photographs were first being published. And for the greater part, I would say it appealed to people with darker sexual inclinations.

*Can you be more precise?

Darling, if I have to be more precise… what would be the point of this interview? I mean… why would anyone read this stuff? I will say this though, as a young boy he spent some time in a German Concentration Camp. Newton was also the son of a fairly well-to-do Jewish family, which owned some kind of a factory producing buttons for the clothing industry.

Considering the times, his existence paralleled that of an African American living in the Southern States during the 1940’s. That was a period of major oppression and racism in our history. People lived with the understanding that being of a certain ethnic group or gay, made you “subhuman” and a person of lesser value than say those of other orientations.

Considering that, I would say that his work was mostly about Freedom of Expression and having the ability to place the subject in situations that were otherwise taboo. His collections would probably be kept in someone’s library or bedroom. Not exactly the fashionable, Coffee Table decoration you might see today…

End of Part 1 . . .

Gallery image: Plutonium - Global Recipe for Destruction

Le fossé du Marianne: Sonar marin

Translation: Marine Sonar in the Mariana Trench

Gallery collection: Environmental - Landscapes