Jeff Wall, etc

I hear there's a Jeff Wall retrospective at MoMA. Have you seen it, Steve? Or heard of Wall? He's from Vancouver and seems to have influenced artists here, so if you see the exhibit you might be able to "picture" the Vancouver art scene, which is something I know about only superficially. I used to visit the galleries once a month with a friend. We'd have a gallery day and go from place to place. The galleries here are not as concentrated (or obviously as numerous) as in New York, and since those years many more have sprung up in scattered parts of town. When the college year slows, I should start that practice again, because I don't have a real sense of what's going on and how Wall has influenced artists showing now, or if he has. I haven't seen his actual work for some time either, only representations of it.
   I wonder how your new collaborative work is coming along and if you plan to record progress via video, as you did with the skyline painting. I hope you'll set aside some time to catch me up on the paintings in your stash when I come to NY in May. On the accommodation side, I heard from the woman whose place I stayed in on Tompkins Square and she has offered me a bed. Depending on how other variables develop, I may take her up on it. If not, I'll at least meet her for lunch or something, as we haven't met yet. The house swapping thing is great. Both times I've done it, I've stayed in the places of interesting people and come to know them a little via their usual surroundings. I actually met the first, a man who is now teaching at Harvard, who was then a post-doc at NYU. I'm on the verge of advertising again for a house swap in Spain, where I intend to go a year from April, after classes finish. Annie has been accepted to the University of Seville, which gives me the excuse - as if I needed one - and I've been saving air miles for a trip like that. Meantime, I'll return to Spanish studies with my Columbia friend, Marlene, who is married to the artist Diego, whose work I forwarded to you some time ago.
   David is still riding the high of his successful play run. Houses about 75% full on average and a fat royalty cheque, plus the satisfaction of having created work for actor friends who didn't especially need it, but also some who hadn't worked for awhile, including one man who suffered a stroke a few years back and thought he'd never work on the stage again. Lots of extra socializing during the run, too, with various friends and family members visiiting from out of town to see the play. The week it closed he got the news that his psa level is virtually undetectable, so he's having a string of good news lately, and he deserves it, being the good guy that he is.
  The dear old Canucks are riding a high, too, keeping smiles on the faces of all their fans. After a struggling start to the season they've been rocketing to the top, and now sit among the top five teams in the NHL. A lot of the success is due to the superb goaltending of Roberto Luongo, whom everyone loves, but the team as a whole seems to have gelled firmly and they've been playing some beautiful games. Now I'm regretting the timing of my trip East, because I may be gone during a crucial part of their playoff run. Well, TV's are everywhere and I always liked bars in NY. Have yet to visit a bar in Boston. What's 2 1/2 hours out of a day, eh?
   I've reached the point in the term - less than a month to go - where my energy for weekend writing is virutally nil. On top of that, I've been handicapped the last two weekends by a persistent flu-cold type virus. So not much to report from my desk. I'm counting on my sub conscious to churn over the ideas I've been sketching out for the new play, so that when I next open up that file I'm inspired. How bout you? I hope that the news from California has not been distressing and that you've finished some of the projects that had been on the burner for a while.

Comments

[Ursula]

maryburns,
I don't mean to sidetrack from an interesting subject such as Jeff Wall.
But I agree with you on your comment about the type of people who like to do home exchange. They are generally very open minded and interesting people to meet. Last summer, we stayed at a philosopher's country home outside Florence. Over a delicious Tuscan meal we discussed Italian politics with his son's intellectual friends. It would have been hard for us to meet these great minds any other way. This year, we have a home exchange invitation to a journalist's home. His is not a house but a medieval tower. It should be interesting.
Home Exchange has become such a passion for me that I very recently launched my own home exchange network. I would like to invite you to join - membership is free for a limited amount of time (no strings attached). For more information go to: www.jewettstreet.com.
By the way, we have a few listings in Southern Spain.
Good luck with your swap!