I traveled to Albany to read poetry at an anarchist storefront known as the "Capital District Federation of Ideas" (which is at 383 1/2 Madison Avenue). Afterwards, Thomas Wilk, one of the leading anarchists, brought me to the Underground Tunnel of Art, part of the massive state office complex. In a wide underground passageway, Nelson Rockefeller’s own art collection is displayed: mammoth sculptures and paintings, almost all dating from the late 60s. Their psychedelic colors and silly, looping shapes almost exactly reflect the pop music of the era.
Thomas’s favorite painting is "Sky-Wagon" (1969) by Gene Davis. It’s 54 feet wide, and consists entirely of vertical stripes. In a sense, it predicts the barcode. The colors are cheerful but eccentric, with unexpected blacks and muted greens. "Sky-Wagon" is a great title, and the painting is pleasing to stand beside. It radiates a confident questioning.
From a website called "flickr" I learned that Gene Davis lived most of his life in Washington, DC, and belonged to the Washington Color School. Born in 1920, he originally worked as a sportswriter, covering the Washington Redskins. In the 1940s, he was often President Truman’s partner for poker games. Davis began to paint in 1949.
In 1972, he painted "Franklin’s Footpath," a series of stripes on the sidewalk in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and also the world’s largest painting, "Niagara," in a parking lot in Lewiston, New York. Davis also generated extremely small works: "micro-paintings," some of which were 3/8" square.
An artist who lived in Washington, DC, began as a sportswriter, and created the largest and smallest paintings? A little suspicious, I’d say. Part of the skill of poker is bluffing. Was Gene Davis bluffing?