Any Help Helps, cotton canvas for artists, acrylic paint for artists, staples not specifically intended for artists, plywood intended for the city dump, 14.14″ -+ tall, 2013.

The painting was installed and left in my dear neighbor’s house. A nice guy with a real nice little family with kids the same age as ours — He asked if we would take care of his cats while they left for Thanksgiving break. I obliged and thought it opportune to leave a little painting as a memento of our friendship.

For the first few days, I couldn’t imagine one of my previous paintings fitting within their home. It had to be something more somber and quiet, easily nestling in the background and not screaming out “Hey! It’s me, your neighbor!!” Needless to say, I created this work specifically in mind for them.

Admittedly, I was nervous about their return and curious about their reaction hoping they didn’t feel insulted or as though I was invading their privacy. They ended up being pleasantly surprised, laughing about and liking my “performance” as he described. I like that and I like how it ties in with what artist Robert Morris stated, “The object has not become less important. It has merely become less self-important.” Yesss, the painting is important, but all of this is not just about the painting.

3/4 view

backside revealed