swanson

i recently attended some sessions at fuller seminary with a topic: the narrative of life, faith and visual art - that featured a speaker from vanderbilt university and an artist from here in l.a.

i found myself in a handful of conversations with the artist - john swanson. when i first encountered his work that was displayed it would have been difficult not to see the different influences he speaks of that makes his work what it is. the color is brillantly infused and the depictions are iconic. but the thing that most got my attention was the narrative text within his work. his art takes you into a story that must be told.

i have not seen anything quite like his work (or maybe also quite like him).

in the very first moment of a very first reaction to his serigraphs i found myself being physically drawn closer and closer. the work draws you into the story. it demands proximity in the encounter. i kept trying to step back for a different look at the work and it kept drawing me closer as the work spoke and the drama of it's value-laden narrative. like a fire it was warmer up close. up close one encounters the merging of voice, color, story, image, perspective, and word. but you have to get close to encounter the art that fills, collides, overlaps, and spills off the edges.

i felt like my eyes were dancing and dizzy the closer i stepped forward into the space between.

while i struggle with the point of the lecture about art in the service of an agenda - a practical, utilitarian focus on faith...i did enjoy the artist and the work that invited me into proximity. i am still thinking about the relationship to the art the same way i have felt while sitting in front of a room full of rothko at the tate modern...