Has there ever been a moment that you admired a contemporary artist's work, and you later find out that they are no longer alive? Well, that has just recently happened to me. Around the year 2000, I saw this really interesting artist's work in the Whitney Biennial; his name was Jeremy Blake. His work was really beautiful and unique. I remember seeing this colorful, abstract anamorphic shapes colliding in and out of form; it was a new media piece. The video was very painterly, and, come to think of it, it was like looking at a Morris Louis painting that came to life. When I first saw his work, I thought how clever. What I remember is seeing this psychedelic video of colors morphing in and out of each other and the sound that was emitted was a film projector.
The last time I remember seeing his work was on the CREATIVE TIME screen in New York City's Time Square. that was a year or two after seeing his work at the Whitney Museum of American Art. After that, I hadn't seen his work in a long while.
Yesterday, I had done some research on the web and I found out that the artist lost his girlfriend; she apparently committed suicide and not to long afterwords so did he....
He died last year at the age of 36 years old. Why do people I admire a great deal for their talent,skill and fame decide to die. I guess three Whitney Biennial exhibitions and having multiple gallery exhibitions in New York and L.A. was not enough. If you're not grateful for what you have, you'll never be happy. Artists are fragile people and this artist will definitely be missed, and his work will be admired by many.
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Because of depression, and a lot of that stems from the financial stressors that we all have. For an artist, sure they may be successful at some point, but then life goes on and the finances go on, and maybe they lose sight of themselves and feel that they'll never have enough to live comfortably. I'm sure he probably felt guilty because his girlfriend did herself in, that he couldn't give her the life she deserved. So he went with her......
And if one doesn't have family, or if family doesn't appreciate their life's calling, there can be many reasons why a person would give up so much that they would want to take their own life. The guides and angels will see them through, when they get to the other side. There is no judgment for this act although there is considerable karma. They will have to climb their way back up the ascending ladder, nothing is easy in this life or the next.....
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