The Magic Hour: Part Two, Artst's Statement

    ‘The Magic Hour: Part Two’ is the culmination of my look at car advertising which began in 2000 with my double-sided painting ‘Billboard’. ‘Billboard was followed by ‘The Magic Hour: Part One’ In June of 2004 at the Diane Farris Gallery. In part one I chose to look at the shadowy side of car advertising. The works were dark in tone and reflected an uneasy feeling of menace and foreboding. It addressed the disconnect between the car advertising fantasy and the hard reality of gridlock. In ‘The Magic Hour: Part Two’ I shine some light in to balance the darkness of part one. Although car advertising and modern SUVs reflect a tyrannical impulse to conquer the earth and our fellow citizens, I feel that they also symbolize the genuine, human desire for liberty. We may possess the dark urge to dominate the world through the car but the car is also an instrument of freedom.
    This theme is shown in my new painting, ‘Sable Black’. ‘Sable Black’ is a follow-up to the painting ‘Dragon’ in which we see a knight with a broken sword defeated by a lurking and mysterious SUV. In ‘Sable Black’ the knight holds a newly restored sword aloft in an image of celebration. He has shed his armor, and with his new ally he has triumphed over his four-wheeled nemesis. The SUV is still trapped in the billboard while the man has escaped to freedom.
    Another work in ‘The Magic Hour-Part 2’ is a piece called ‘Cactus’. This piece shows two figures on a desert highway at dusk. The woman hands the man a large, brilliant diamond while a mysterious, spiny, floating bomb looms behind them. Even though there is no car seen in the painting we see headlights reflected in the bomb itself. We the viewer, sit in the car. I see the diamond as a triumph over the darkness the bomb, and ultimately the car, represents. Two other pieces, ‘Professional Driver, Closed Course’ and ‘Six Point Adjustable’, each show a figure confident in the powers their cars grant them.
    Some darker questions still linger in these new works. The painting, ‘Cortez’ asks a simple one: ‘Does the car seek to bless us or destroy us?’. The sword, like the car, is only a tool in the woman’s hand. This is the primary theme of the entire Magic Hour series. The car, and the sword, are static and lifeless without us. The Magic Hour series is not about the influence of the car over us, but our choice in wielding the car against ourselves. Car advertising is simply a mirror that reflects our desires. The car is not just a tool, it is a human proxy, a tangible extension of our own bodies. Cars and car advertising bring to life our will for freedom and our will to dominate. Which goal will we drive toward?