AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS, PRINTS AND DRAWINGS BY JAMES M C NEILL MESPLÉ P R I N T WO R K S G A L L E RY S E P T E M B E R 9 – O C TO B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1
MERCURY AND VENUS (MONEY AND ART)
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li Maor informs us in his fascinating book Venus in Transit (Princeton University Press) that Venus will transit the face of the sun on June 6, 2012. This rare occurrence will not happen again for 105 years. Mercury was featured on March 31, 2011, in The New York Times giving us our first views of that planet’s surface taken by NASA’s Mercury Messenger spacecraft. The ancients ascribed symbols to both the planets and gods and goddesses associated with them. Venus’ symbols include hearts and roses, the mirror, and any reflective surfaces, including gemstones and even the artist’s palette. Mercury’s symbols include his winged feet and winged cap, a bag of money (gold) and, of course, the caduceus – his wand. The caduceus was created when Mercury saw two snakes fighting. He put down a stick and the two snakes coiled themselves around the wand in perpetual opposition. Since antiquity, the caduceus has been used as a symbol of balance and equilibrium. Even today, the medical profession uses the caduceus as a symbol for illness and health in constant stasis or balance. The caduceus is literally a symbol for any two opposing forces that are in balance – light and dark, day and night, harmony and dissonance, High and Low Art, the past and the present; yes, even life and death are guided by Mercury (Hermes Psychopompos) with his caduceus to either the Elysian Fields or the realm of Pluto. The choice is Mercury’s.
I have used classical imagery since I began making my art. Why? Because Greek and Roman art forms are the iconic foundation of Western Civilization. The Founding Fathers (Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, et al.) used classically inspired architecture to construct our nation’s capital.
From there, it spread across the country in state as well as federal government buildings. It became ubiquitous; even banks adopted the style. These classic forms resonate and communicate the nature and Gaia-centered sphere of the American psyche. They are part and parcel of the accepted legacy and mindset of the American people. So what are the natures of both Mercury and Venus? Both the planets and the deities of the ancients were given characters and domains over which they alone could rule. Venus is well known as the goddess of love, beauty, and art. Through her son Cupid and his bow and arrows, Venus decides who will and will not fall in love, depending upon the arrowhead used – gold for love and lead for loneliness. She inspires verdant creativity in all the arts, along with Apollo and the Muses. Venus, however, through the senses promises to deliver even more. Mercury, while ever present in American culture, has attributes that are less familiar. Fleet-footed Mercury was the god of commerce, trade, and house-wares. The word merx, mercis (L.), meaning “wares,” is the source of our word merchandise and merchant. Mercury was the messenger of the gods, providing luck with dice and all forms of gambling. He was the deity who ruled over manual skill, speech, the written word, eloquence, cleverness, travel, and even thievery. We often say that things that change quickly or suddenly are mercurial in nature. Sometimes Nature herself is mercurial. Perhaps my year spent drawing and painting Mercury and Venus was a meditation, a silent prayer, for the hope that the commerce of the art market, like the caduceus, would re-balance itself and fly high on the wings of Mercury. JAMES MESPLÉ Chicago, 2011
Front cover: Drawn by Mercury. Ink, gouache and silverpoint. 10 × 8 in. Back cover: detail of Mercurial Bouquet. All works were created 2010–2011 and are on paper unless otherwise noted.
DRAWN BY VENUS
SAPPHIRE
Oil, egg tempera and sanguine. 10 × 8 in.
Oil and egg tempera. 8 × 10 in.
EMERALD
VENUS DRAWING BALANCE Sanguine and watercolor. 7½ × 5½ in.
Oil and egg tempera. 5½ × 7½ in.
GOLD AND WHEAT Oil. 10 × 8 in.
Sanguine and watercolor. 8 × 10 in.
MERCURIAL BOUQUET
MERCURY AND VENUS Oil and egg tempera. 8 × 10 in.
Oil and egg tempera. 7½ × 5½ in.
PRIMARY LIGHT
CLOUD MERCURY Monotype. 5¾ × 4 in.
WATER VENUS
SKY VENUS
Monotype. 5¾ × 4 in.
Monotype. 9 × 7 in.
DIPTYCH OF VENUS AND MERCURY Egg tempera and oil on canvas. 40 × 60 in.
LOG CABINS AND CALATRAVAS Ink and gouache. 10 × 8 in.
TOPAZ Oil and egg tempera. 8 × 10 in.
RUBY
PAN’S DANCE
Oil and egg tempera. 7½ × 5½ in.
Oil and egg tempera. 10 × 8 in.
CADUCEUS Ink, sanguine and gouache. 20 × 16 in.
ART MONEY
VENUS REFLECTION
Watercolor, gouache and carbon. 11¾ × 16½ in.
Oil and egg tempera. 5½ × 7½ in.
AMETHYST
WISDOM’S VESSEL Gouache. 9½ × 8 in.
Oil and egg tempera. 8½ × 8½ in.
VENUS HEARS PAN Gouache. 20 × 16 in.
JAMES MCNEILL MESPLÉ
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riginally from the Missouri Ozarks, James Mesplé developed an interest in classical mythology during summers spent with his half-Osage grandfather, who shared with him many Native American tales of nature and animals. The common theme of the battle between good and evil, the “battle of the Cosmos,” inspires many of Mesplé’s paintings. His work captures the spirit of Prometheus who, throughout history, has symbolized unyielding strength that resists oppression, and it ref lects man’s quest to obtain spiritual enlightenment and creative freedom. Mesplé attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, and studied painting for two years with Fred Shane. Through Shane he met Thomas Hart Benton, who introduced him to the “mixed technique”— a painting technique that combines egg tempera and oil paint.
Mesplé moved to Chicago in 1968 and, after graduating with honors from Northeastern Illinois University in December 1970, began teaching art at Chicago’s Francis W. Parker School. While teaching at Parker, he returned to his study of painting under Karl Wirsum at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also became a parttime instructor in the SAIC Studios Program. Over the years, Mesplé has taught egg tempera workshops at Midway Studios, University of Chicago; North Central College; the BASIC Program (advanced studies for art teachers) at SAIC; and to Ed Paschke’s graduate students at Northwestern University. Since 1988, he has worked full-time on his paintings, which have been showcased in numerous exhibitions both locally and nationally. His work also is included in many public and private collections. N AT H A N H A R PA Z Curator, Koehnline Museum of Art
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