RJ's Cyberart

 I just discovered a disc containing about
120 cyber paintings
that RJ did about 12 years ago


Most of them are his typical
erotic fantasies,
but here are some
that depict friends
or were done with friends
who got together to draw a model


Above is a whimsical depiction
of Carin Hebenstreit painting a portrait

 Depicting one of his favorite models, Dexter,
posing with a second model

 Dexter, again,
this time at Xavier
presumably facilitated by Tom Tsuchiya
who had a studio there.

 Danny Leonard's father, Bill
had died of a heart attack
a few years earlier.

I'm not sure if this was a remedy
or a contributing factor

 Depicting John Pendery,
a family friend
who died not long after RJ


(though I was unaware that he ever got married
 - perhaps this image was mis-labeled)

A model posing
in the studio
of Charles Frymier

Pat Bruchin at the Riverside Art Walk

 
It was a beautiful Spring day in Riverside, Illinois

where Pat was juried into their annual art fair.

Here's my favorite.

Dexter modeled for the male figure
(his face has been anglicized)
so this one was done in Cincinnati.

Echoes of RJ
run throughout the earlier pieces

Many of the pieces were done at least ten years ago,
but there were also several pieces from last year,
including this bronze ballerina

50 Foot Jesus

Tom's  52 foot Jesus has finally been installed




And though it's not as dramatic as
the 'touchdown Jesus'
that it replaces,
it has a gentle, noble stature.

It looks pretty good !

...and happily all the pieces fit together perfectly

Stanley the Robot and Gloria

Gurney Journey is a cartoonist's blog to which I've linked for the past 5 years .... but apparently haven't visited for a while, since this post slipped past me last Summer (right around the time I was visiting MJ for the last time)



The cartoonist had engaged Larry Elig to make a three-dimensional figure of one of his sci-fi figures.



And Larry used his unique talent to make this character just a little more weird.

And being totally asleep at the switch, I also missed last Summer's debut of the

Larry Elig blog

featuring a statue of Gloria.

Here's RJ's version.

As you can see, they were working from the same pose, back when their little sculpture group got together in that basement in Walnut Hills.

BTW -- this is one of the statues that I carried off -- back when RJ was giving stuff away -- and it's one of my favorites.

And here's one of my favorite pieces from Larry's blog - in a further exploration of one of RJ's favorite themes: beautiful young women consorting with large animals.

(BTW, This might explain the recent, tragic death of Lonesome George )

Tom Tsuchiya on the National Mall

Atlas Recycled was
assembled from 14 re-purposed atlases -- and a bunch of re-usable junk from the studio.

for the 2010 Ecosculpt Exhibition on Fountain Square to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

Since then, he's traveled to Grand Central Terminal in New York City,
and to the National Mall in Washington D.C.
.....with his very own page on Facebook




As some of you may know, Tom was a Classical scholar before he took up sculpture, and this is a rather ingenious way to combine both of his interests.

Jacques Lipchitz

-- as well as reviving the practice of cubism.

John Hebenstreit and the Black Brigade: Part II

The Smale Riverfront Park is having it's opening,

...and as it turns out, it's right next to the same bridge, and right across the river from the George Rogers Clark park where R.J. has his statue of Roebling.

...and it's just a few blocks away from the entrance to Great American Ball Park where Tom Tsuchiya has his statues of Johnny Bench, Joe Nuxhall, etc.

So this part of the world is what might be called "Il Museo di Scuola Milleraccio"

RJ in Tennessee

Time,
the great destroyer of all delights
(as Sheherazade once put it)
has demolished the shrine on Erie Avenue.
(depicted here in 2008 )


And now,
I have finally gotten up the courage
to visit the scattered fragments
still on display in Johnson City, Tennessee,
before, once again,
they are scattered even further.

(By the middle of August,
everyone in the family there
will have relocated
to either Guam or Houston)

Above is the glorious entrance
to Eric and Sam's condo,
with two pieces from the 1950's,
"Samaritan Woman by the Well"
and "Eve"

The painting is by RJ's friend,
Bill Leonard.









What a statue!

Eric and I
seem to have the same
preference
for these earlier pieces
which are bit more idealistic
than what followed,
and were made while we were children.

I happen to think this "Eve"
is one of the great pieces
of 20th C. figure sculpture.

But I'm also fond of the relief
since we all once used it
to hold hats, canes, and dog leashes.








In the stairwell
there's a wonderful relief
from the 1980's
introducing that theme
of young women and animals
that RJ would pursue
until the day he died.

Beautifully lit,
it's also one my favorite pieces.








Above the front door
is one of RJ's forays
into oil painting
in the manner of Titian.

It's too bad
he never ventured into making mosaics.
(he tried almost everything else)







And just like Eric,
I love the little animal carvings.

(the beautiful young woman in the photograph
is our mother,
the pouting little girl next to her
is Eric's grand daughter, Aleaa)

















Here's a nice display case
with a small version of Roebling
flanked by portraits of Eric's two daughters.










The monumental-sized version of this
has really had a life of its own
as a public monument
despite the fact that RJ was only offered the commission
after the original sculptor had turned it down.





Here's Johanna as a child.







Here's a carving from the 1940's
that used to hang
in the hallway at
our grandparents' home
in Columbus, Ohio.












Here's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
roasting in their fiery furnace.

(I hadn't noticed this before,
but they appear to be a bit older
than the boys who appear in the story)

This piece hung above the
some living room furniture
for at least 40 years.

The bust depicts my brother, Eric.
(for some reason, he has two statues
of himself in his home,
but none of me,
just as I have two statues of myself
but none of him)










Most of the pieces at Ashleigh and Jason's house
had already been packed away into the moving van,
so I didn't get to shoot
their most prized possession
(a large wood relief of a horse
that used to hang above the sofa
in Cincinnati).


Here's one of his carvings of Chinese characters
beneath an engraving of the orgy
associated with worshiping the golden calf.





Over at my Mom's house,
also soon to be vacated,
here's a portrait of her from 1967,
on the bed next to Chao Feiyen
the Pekinese whom I had named
after a character
in my one and only book of Chinese literature.






And, finally
here's the family portrait
from the 1960's
including myself
out on a limb
in the last time
I would ever wear a suit,
all posing in front
of the Ohio River
as it bends around
Eden Park in Cincinnati.

The painting is flanked
by busts
of MJ, my brother and I.
and a small figure of RJ
as done by Tom Tsuchiya