| |
I grew up in Canastota, New York, 18 miles east of Syracuse, where I was born. Both my parents are painters, and until his passing, Clement Greenberg was a regular fixture in our house. To me, he was something of a grandfather figure. My dad had met him in graduate school at Cranbrook, my mom had met him in New York City before she had actually met my father. Because of my parents close relationship with Greenberg and the group of painters living and working in Syracuse, this small part of the "art world" was my home.
In 2000, I decided that I wanted to organize a book around artists' experiences with Greenberg, their stories, goals, and hopes, and what they thought about the controversial figure who had been a part of their lives - who had according to some made artists rich and famous, but had done neither of these things for the painters of Syracuse, New York. |
|
After six months, the project lost traction - while the artists were enthusiastic, they felt that their energies were needed for painting, not writing, and so we decided on a temporary reprieve.
Two years later, I had focused my own energy on film. Meanwhile, Greenberg's art collection had been donated to the Portland Art Museum, and the museum was organizing a traveling collection for tour. Because Greenberg was a Syracuse University Alum, and because so many of the Syracuse artists had work in that collection, the show came to the Lowe Art Gallery at Syracuse University. A number of round table discussions by artists and critics alike were organized and suddenly, it seemed that this would be the perfect opportunity to complete the "Greenberg Project" - by documenting the proceedings.
As the film began to take shape, it became obvious that the piece itself needed to focus on the artists' relationship with Greenberg and their own work process, and not anything extraneous to that. I had read all the literature by and on Greenberg, and nowhere in it did the artists themselves have a voice. My goal was to give them that voice.
back to synopsis
|
|
|
