BRETT WHITELEY'S EYES

[Cropduster]

BRETT WHITELEY'S EYES

Through cheating, through lying,
deceiving, distorting the world,
a rebirth of pleasure
before you is slowly unfurled.
A swirling cascade of
cavorting convulsion belies
a passion and beauty,
seen only through Brett Whiteley's eyes.

Dismembered arrangements
assembled with strokes of a pen.
Slashings of colour
resuscitates life once again.
Urgent impatience
climaxing as each brush stroke flies.
A passion and beauty,
seen only through Brett Whiteley's eyes.

Copyright (c) Allan Cropper June 2015

[Neville Briggs]

Allan. I hope you take this as constructive comment. I think a theme like this could be more developed to include a vivid description of a particular picture, so that the reader gets not only the writers opinion of the artists oeuvre , but a word picture if you like, of a painted picture. Just my thinking.

Full marks for the subject I am a passionate fan of Australian art and I think there is a relationship between Australian art and poetry that has a lot of treasure to discover.


p.s. Brett Whitely was a marvellously talented draughtsman, destroyed by narcotics.

[David Campbell]

Interesting idea, Allan, and well executed. Following up on Neville's point, did you have a particular painting in mind? I ask because his output varied quite a bit. Some of it was black and white, including, for example, a pencil portrait of Patrick White.

Cheers
David

[Cropduster]

Thanks David. No particular work in mind. I was just fascinated by the was he was able to deconstruct an image and reconstruct in his own style, to represent how he viewed the world through his own eyes, and then express it through his art.

Neville - I do appreciate your comments and feedback, and perhaps it may be advantageous to describe a particular paiting. The poem is more to do with Brett Whiteley and his style of painting than any one particular work.

[Shelley Hansen]

I really like this Allan - the title intrigued me immediately and I had to read it!

I can see where you are coming from in making the assessment of Whiteley's view of the world, captured on canvas (or other surface!) I also think it would interesting to develop (perhaps in a second poem with similar structure), that view as expressed in one particular painting. Then perhaps take it a step further and assess a completely different Whiteley work - and make it a trilogy of poems!

You could even personify the paintings/drawings and let them tell their own story of being crafted by Whiteley.

(No pressure )

Cheers
Shelley

[Cropduster]

Hmmmm...the challenge is set, Shelley

[Neville Briggs]

I always thought he looked like Harpo Marx, seemed he might suddenly pull a bulb horn out of his coat.

[Cropduster]

Thanks Matt. You summed it up beautifully. We all perceive the world differently, and while most will endeavour to describe the geometric forms they see in literal terms or stylised imagery, some, like Whiteley, had the ability of deconstructing and reconstructing a world that they felt and experienced. Mad...perhaps, but as we know there is a thin line separating madness and genius.

Neville - I had not previously considered the likeness to Harpo

[Vic Jefferies]

Harpo too, was a genius!

[Bob Pacey]

Whenever I see someone who is prepared to go outside the boundaries I think on this Allan.

Here's to the crazy ones by Jack Kerouac...

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine.
They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do...