About
6 months ago I received an email asking if I was still interested
in showing at Gallery 135 also known as chashama. "If so",
the letter continued, you are scheduled for the following dates.
It went on to schedule me for the second half of the month of
January. I had never heard of chashama. I was very familiar with
Times Square as I had lived there in the Hotel Edison when I first
arrived to New York 15 years ago. An art show back on Times Square,
I accepted.
Having
just finished an Emory University Memorial dedication Show of
one of my paintings, "American Beauty 911", I was anxious
to move on to something new. That work, commissioned and dedicated
to the victims of 9/11, was a large, approximately ten foot by
six foot painting of an American flag. It is currently hanging
in the Woodruff Athletic Center at Emory University in Atlanta,
Georgia. I painted the first "American Beauty", an abstract
representation of the American flag, at the turn of the millenium
2000 for my older brother Craig. A former general's Aide and Eagle
Scout; he wanted me to paint a flag that represented America today.
It was to be my vrsion of the Amercian flag a là Jimmy
Hendrix and his Star Spangled Banner. The only rules, keep with
the traditional red, white and blue colors.
The
show at chashama consisted of the series of paintings after the
American Beauty Flag series with a couple of notable exceptions.
To me, each series is a glimpse into the mood and feeling of the
time and of the artist. I envisioned a fresh new canvas affected
by the remembrance of the past and stepping into the rediscovery
of the present.
Given
the size and location of chashama, 42nd Street Times Square, it
offered the unique opportunity of having the work easily accessible
to a large viewing audience crossing all socio-economic aspects
of our society. Ironically, Wednesday night, two days before the
installation of the show, I received yet another email, this one
forwarded from a friend who is a producer on Good Morning America.
It said they were looking for men with unusual jobs to appear
on the show the next morning. My friends wrote, "sounds like
you, check it out."
Because
of the success of the Joe Millionaire show, one of the hosts suggested
she could tell what a man does just by looking at him. They invited
me and several other men to the show to test her accuracy. They
instructed us to wear comfortable jeans and a shirt. We were there
at seven o'clock to do a "teaser", live, in front of
a studio audience. Then, throughout the show, the camera would
pan across us.
At
the end of the show they brought us all out again. I was standing
beside a doctor and a ballroom dancer. The Host approached the
dancer first. She noticed he was sharply dressed and wore pointy-toe
leather shoes. "You're the ballroom dancer," she said.
Next she looked at the doctor and me. She couldn't decide who
was who. She looks at me ans says, "Very serious, aren't
you?" A girl in the audience suggsted that I was the doctor
because of the way I held my hands. You're the doctor, aren't
you?" she said. "No, I'm an artist."
To
stand up on national television, at the media center of our country
and the world and proclaim, live in front of a studio audience,
"I am an artist" was the highlight of the show for me.
Back on Times Square where I started this New York experience,
this life as an artist.
At
the end of the day I believe that art should be experienced by
all people, from all walks of life. It should be something that
is discussed, and compared. It should evoke feelings and bring
out each person's unique ability to see what thy want and need
to see in a body of work. I believe it is this opportunity that
chashama offers each artist that shows work there. The feedback
from the various people who came to the reception, especially
the people "right off the street" was also very rewarding.
I
am grateful to chashama for the opportunity to come back home
to Times Square and hope I will have the opportunity to show with
them again in the future.
Sincerely
Todd
Monaghan, Artist
