7 QUESTIONS: Brian Calvin

Brian Calvin, Memory of a Sister (Con), 2013, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches.

We asked Brian Calvin the following 7 questions because we think he's a good artist and we really wanted to hear his answers.  His work is currently on view at the Finley, an alternative space in Los Angeles offering visitors a very unique viewing experience.   Brian described it as a sweet little art oasis for Peeping Toms.  We're intrigued.  The show, titled End of Messages, is on view through May 18, 2013. Click here for more info.


1. What is your connection to Los Angeles?

I exist just on the periphery of Los Angeles' gravitational pull.

2. Name a living painter that you admire.

Maureen Gallace, Charles Garabedian, Jane Freilicher, John Wesley, Jim Nutt, Tomma Abts.

3. Name a dead painter that you admire.

Many of my waking hours are spent contemplating painters who were dead before I was born: Giotto, Piero, Fra Angelico, Manet, Cezanne, Bonnard, Vuillard, Matisse, Balthus, Milton Avery, Marsden Hartley, Forrest Bess, Morandi.  And what about Guston, Joe Brainard, Alice Neel, Fairfield Porter, de Kooning, Agnes Martin, Warhol, Christina Ramberg, Roger Brown, CPLY?  But somehow "dead painter" makes me think of more recent deaths (Richard Artschwager, Raoul De Keyser).  And yet, getting back to my initial response to the question, I particularly admire Albert York!

Brian Calvin, Untitled, 2013, oil, acrylic and sand on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

4. How much did you sell your first painting for?

$50

5. Of the paintings you have made, which is your favorite?

That's a terrible question!

6. LACMA, MOCA, Getty, or Hammer?

Getty.

7. Why make paintings?

I have no idea. Channeling David Foster Wallace, to keep my head from exploding.


Thanks Brian.