First things first, as I want you to see this show if you are so inclined. My son’s gallery exhibition, “Reading,” runs through next Saturday the 25th of February.
850 S Broadway Suite 600, Los Angeles, CA 90014 (9th and Broadway)
Wednesday-Saturday 11am-6pm
310-985-1983
Now’s the time.
We always like our kids’ stuff, true, but I was surprised (briefly stunned) by how much I liked the works in person. I’d loved them on Patrick’s Instagram account, sure, but walls are not phone screens. Those who spend lots of time in galleries should feel free to say now, “Duh.”
In person, these pieces break the consciousness’s usual “I got it,” to be replaced by, “Wait, stop, wait, meaning’s right over there,” giving you space to experience the crawl of new understanding. Does that make sense? Do you know that “pop,” like something breaking and being created at the same time, I’m talking about?
It always makes me want to sit down. So I did.
That little preppy green piece is my favorite. It says, “Exegesis,” and is ornamented in a glittery thread with what my personal lexicon of symbols insisted were palm trees, despite being told they were in fact arrows.
Exegesis means deconstruction, essentially what I’ve tried to do here for my own tight-lipped culture. Lily Pulitzer included. Not that this piece was made for me but that’s art, right? Things made for someone else are also for you.
This on the other hand–where’s that heart emoji when we need it?
I could not capture the way “Father” glows almost neon in its illuminated folds. Close to faerie. Neon faerie. Trust me.
It was lovely to have the artist himself, in situ, to discuss.
“Memory,” below, in its coloration, reminded me of mourning pictures in my father’s art collection, now at Berkeley. They are also fabric art; embroidered in past American centuries by young women from shared templates.
The knitting, the pattern and the wool/between-the-stitches of it, has an impact that doesn’t translate to a screen. Again, full permission for a chorus of “Duh”s from the cognoscenti.
Do we:
The knitting is resolute.
You may remember my son began this project following the premature death of his father, when he was enrolled in the MFA program at UC Riverside, just as the pandemic broke out. One of the first pieces he ever made was this tank top, “Loss.”
View this post on Instagram
The idea has evolved.
Rainbows. Pride. Floor. Thanks for your time and attention. Here’s to a life of all our senses. Have an amazing weekend.
20 Responses
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I love all of this. Very much.
Cara, thank you:) and for the heart emojis xoxo
This made my day. So happy to see Patrick getting to showcase his talent! I’d come out and see his exhibition if I lived anywhere nearby. Thank you so much for sharing so that we can all enjoy it.
I love all of these, but especially “Memory” — for reasons somewhere between personal and profound. And “exegesis” was a favorite word of a favorite professor of mine! The backbone of all analytical works. :)
I hope you and Patrick have a magnificent weekend. <3
Jess, I love that two words have particular meaning for you.
The first one grabbed me and made me pause. I especially like Memory, evoking time as filter and sweetness. If I were close by I would definitely attend this exhibit.
Enjoy the long weekend !
Jane, “time as filter and sweetness.” Lovely.
Lisa, Your son does beautiful work. He is lucky to have you!
Luci
Luci, thank you! I’m pretty sure I’m the lucky one:)
So marvellous, all of this! What your son has wrought, and that you’re able to be there at his show, the profundity of certain words allowed to resonate quietly in a simple, ancient technology, renewed in this contemporary application. . . (also, in a nice coincidence, my redheaded daughter told me yesterday that she’d just read James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room and been blown away by it. And since somehow I’ve never read it, it’s now on my list for SOON).
xo Happy weekend sitting with what must be beautiful vibes! ;-)
Frances, “resonate quietly in a simple, ancient technology, renewed in this contemporary application…” Yes. The profound domestic arts.Thank you.
It’s so stunning when our kids’ consciousnesses explode beyond our simple legacies. Don’t you just love when they teach you things you didn’t know -and didn’t know you needed to know til they showed you? This looks like such a great show. Congratulations to him on it.
Kristina, yes! “our kids’ consciousnesses explode beyond our simple legacies.” It’s just wild. Thank you.
O Lisa, how proud you must be of this triple-threat genius who wields a poet’s eye to create the most interesting fashion and models them like the matinée idol he is no naturally. He’s now a brand, to boot. Puts my pandemic behavior to shame, but I admire him so, and feel as though I’ve made a genuine friend of him. I am so fond of him. I always know I will feel ennobled or edified after seeing his posts. I can’t wait for his book signing in New York! You’re clearly quite a Mom. I’m so sorry for the loss of Mr Carroll. I lost my father suddenly at 17; premature for all of us. Life is tricky, but too magnificent not to take chances and turn a therapeutic act into a full-fledged business! Bravo.
xxTheo
Theodore, thank you so much. I don’t know that there’s much else a mother might like to hear :) And thank you for supporting him.
What an amazing body of work he’s created. I can’t express it better than Frances, so I’d love to echo her words here. xoxo
KSL, xoxoxoxox
Patrick’s work is profound. Memory is may favorite because in my old age, words and thoughts come slowly to my brain and mouth.
Linda, thank you. Words and thoughts come more slowly, feelings, in my case at least, more quickly. Thank you for reminding me.
Wow! Others have expressed my thoughts better than I could, but even on a screen this appears powerful. And that act of being amazed, and needing to sit. That too resonates. I could be on that floor letting the power of it all inhabit the air around me.
Mardel, thank you!!! That’s exactly how it was on the floor.
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