Hi Stu,
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I certainly try to choose words which not only work intrinsically, but set up the tone I'm looking for. I also think about the structure of the piece on the page as an integral element of the finished work.

Chris

Comment is about Retrospective (blog)

Original item by Chris Hubbard

so good chris. i love the dark vein (excuse the pun) running through the whole thing, much like the heroin itself. it works beautifully with the more standard (in language not in quality) words you use to describe the galleries and public. really good. i hope that makes sense, i'm a little tired.

Comment is about Retrospective (blog)

Original item by Chris Hubbard

Hi Keith,

Thank you for these comments. They are much appreciated.

Whiteley's images and his sculpture left a lasting effect on my mind, now some twenty years ago in that Gallery. Their sheer power was visually overwhelming.

I sometimes think that the most maddening part of this art form is the way it impels you forward in search of some perfect poetical nirvana. As a reformed perfectionist I know that "down this road be dragons".

But still I try.

Chris

Comment is about Retrospective (blog)

Original item by Chris Hubbard

Chris, this poem evokes many images of galleries, art and their impression on us, but the poem is a focus on the artist, his struggle which eventually resulted in his death. So many gifted, talented musicians and artists share this fate. The poem poses many questions as to the nature and burden of creativity and genius. I enjoyed it enormously as you have reached beneath the surface and discovered the kernel. Keith

Comment is about Retrospective (blog)

Original item by Chris Hubbard

Hi Col,
This poem has had a long gestation period since I saw the Whiteley retrospective in the late nineteen nineties. I still remember the almost electric effect it had on me.

In those days I was only starting out in poetry and did not know how to approach the structure or atmospherics. I recently dusted it off, gave it a thorough renovation and launched it on an unsuspecting audience.

The exhibition was in Perth though, at the Art Gallery of Western Australia - it caused quite a stir at the time.

Best wishes,

Chris

Comment is about Retrospective (blog)

Original item by Chris Hubbard

this is an excellent and well-constructed poem Chris with so much going on - the art, the gallery, the artist's life, the critics, the public - all skillfully thrown onto your writing canvas. I would have loved to have seen the exhibition. Was it in Perth recently? Cheers, Col.

Comment is about Retrospective (blog)

Original item by Chris Hubbard