STAGE 6: minoan 1 38x36"
1:13 PM: i have to stop early today because we're heading over to saguache to help with organizing a get out the vote campaign so they can get the grant for their proposed, badly needed new school.
i knew i'd be scrumbling over yesterday's fifth stage of minoan 1. and this is where it's now at. i won't know till the morning whether this is a final version or there will be more layers. i was accompanied today by the extraordinary voice of maria callas. at her best, i believe she is an unsurpassed opera singer.
this figure, which is actually cycladic and not minoan, appears in stage 4 of the painting, as you can see in the photo below of all 6 stages thus far. clearly, by the faintly indicated breasts and vagina, this is a woman. but barely. the origins of this aesthetic, unique in the history of art, can only be guessed at. but if you've been fortunate enough to visit some of the cycladic islands, you may recognize the underlying energy. spare, timeless, quietly sensual. like vermeer, about whom i've spoken often during my gaze series blogs, cycladic art transcends it's time & is strikingly contemporary.
6 stages of minoan 1, with the earliest, may 29, on the left