Timothy J. Clark and Milford Zornes

Visited the Timothy J. Clark and Milford Zornes show at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. What can I say. I'm floored. Timothy was doing urban impressionism before it was even an issue , nocturnal Chevron gas stations, Ralph's parking lots, crepuscular semi-abstract freeways...Then suddenly he turned to watercolor and never looked back. His watercolors are brilliant even though he left behind the more "daring" subject matter. May be he had to pay bills and cater to more conventional taste? I bought the catalog so I guess I'll find out.

"Artist on a hill" T. J. Clark

Reproduced without permission for educational purposes

I used to think Milfor Zornes was cartoony and abused blacks. Well, I've been disabused. This 100 year old man is a magnificent painter. The show at PMCA was so dazzling , so bold and intense that I have gained a new name to my list of idols.

On a side note : Sometimes catalogs use euphemism to express common shortcomings of artists. museums and the art world in general. Just like in real estate an "eclectic" neighborhood means there are shoot-outs daily, in art-speech, euphemisms abound also. For example : "catering to new patrons" usually means "selling out"; a "vital" artists would be considered a drunk in most venues and "flamboyant" is sometimes shorthand for "egotistical asshole". A "sensualist" or "proteic" artist is usually a serial rapist . A "stipend" means he had to borrow money from his or her sister. And so on....