Writing Off the Walls 2022
Creativity in the age of CoVID
Brought to you by Studio Theater in Exile & Hudson Valley MOCA
Jars at McDaid’s
by MaryAnn McCarra-FItzpatrick
Based on John Wesley, Guinness, 1989
her words repeat and repeat,
raven-haired girl, as he drains
the pint of plain,
eyes closed in silent pleasure
at the drenching draught of
the black stuff.
How many hours on the job
today, building upon what went
before—and more to do tomorrow,
primed for it, thick-necked and
ready to meet any obstacle.
Another day done, and yet,
so many more to do, the
sun cracks through the sky
yellow as the egg yolk scraped
from the breakfast plate to the bin, and, as
the gravedigger in Brooklyn said:
Don’t look back. If you look
back you’re finished. Forge on,
always.
It’s time, gentlemen, time. You don’t
have to go home,
but you can’t stay here….
Sinne Fianna Fáil….
Again by Alice Feeley
Based on John Wesley, Guinness, 1989
Comfort in a glass.
Smug gentleman bathed in pastels
eyes closed, distant from photos repeating
what he won’t see or hear.
Identical women filmed with open eyes and mouths
are cornered in a frame nearby
holding their endless gaze, their voice.
Again and again he sips or gulps.
When will the glass be empty
the frame without further comment?
Feel free to navigate through the tabs to hear the recordings/poems of Jars at McDaid's and Again. All of these recordings/poems are based on John Wesleys painting, Guinness, 1989.
John Wesley
American, born 1928
Guinness, 1989
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 72 inches
John Wesley is an American artist whose paintings hover between pop art and erotic surrealism. Wesley has consistently worked with his distinctive palette: primarily, varying tones of ‘pastel’ blue and pink “It was just fun doing what I was doing.”
“The complex world of John Wesley is, paradoxically reached via a short journey, and the ease with which he is able to conjure up special effects in the viewer’s minds places his work in the great tradition of the blind visionary. Under the surface of his absurd utterances, however, a scathing commentary on society, superficiality, power or abuse can be found, if one only wants to look for it.” --Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, “John Wesley: A Retrospective,” PS1/MoMA
John Wesley has been exhibited and collected by museums worldwide since the 1960s. Surveys of his work have been held at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, curated by Rudi Fuchs and Kasper Koenig (travelled to Portikus); Museum Ludwigsburg, curated by Udo Kittleman (travelled to DAAD, Berlin); PS1 MoMA, Long Island City, curated by Alana Heiss; Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, curated by Linda Norden; Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, Germany, curated by Martin Henschel; Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX, curated by Marianne Stockebrand; and Fondazione Prada at the Venice Biennale curated by Germano Celant. Since 2004, the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX. has maintained a permanent gallery housing its collection of Wesley’s paintings, as was intended by Judd since the foundation’s inception. In 2014, Wesley was commissioned to create a public art project for the High Line.
