Chapter 6
Art and the Goth Scene
Several rather uneventful weeks passed after my romp with Marco, Vangie, Blaine and Freddie. The fact of the matter was that I couldn't find them again. It would be a year before I ran into Blaine at a club downtown and sadly learn that Vangie and Marco had died in a plane crash in Spain, and that Freddie was in prison for selling cocaine.
The most momentous thing in my life during that time was reuniting with my Aunt Miriam. Actually she was waiting for me outside my workplace one afternoon and insisted that I accompany her to an art gallery to see this "Wonderful painter" just discovered. Since she had also offered to buy me dinner I went along without protest.
The gallery was three blocks away and while I had never been inside an art gallery before, I sensed an excitement that outside of sex, I hadn't known for quite some time.
We entered the gallery and Aunt Miriam was greeted warmly. It never occurred to me that it was her gallery... oh, no, I was that dumb.
I was, however, taken by the vivid colors and amazing works hanging on the walls. I left her trailing behind as I scurried from one to the next, lost in the totality of it all. I had never been to any of the art museums in the city. Had that been the case I might not have been affected as I was. But I was immersed in all of it; my mind was reeling with what my eyes were taking in.
Aunt Miriam let me go. My guess is she understood what I was going through and knew enough to leave me alone.
She told me later that I'd gone from one painting to the next for over an hour, repeating the process three and a half times before staggering to a bench and plopping my ass down.
She came over and sat next to me.
"What... what is this?" I managed to say.
"It's an art gallery, Dee, one of dozens in the city."
"It... it's unbelievable!"
"Makes you want to pick up a pencil and start drawing again, doesn't it?"
"Yeah... it does."
She let me sit there absorbing, or trying to absorb what I'd seen for another twenty minutes before saying, "Do you have any questions?"
"Um... are any of these artists alive?"
"As a matter of fact, all of them are alive and kicking, so far as I know."
"You come here often, Aunt Miriam?"
"I do. Partly because I love this place and partly because I also own it."
"You own this gallery?"
"Yes, I own it, Dee."
"You... you think I have the talent to do this kind of work?"
"That remains to be seen. I do think you have a certain talent. But you need to work at it. You need to study with someone who can teach you certain things about art and thereby enable you to, if you have the capability, to rise to a higher level. If that happens, then yes, you'll be capable of turning out work comparable to what we have here."
"These... paintings... what do they sell for?"
"Some are relatively cheap. Some are quite expensive. What you see here range from $800 to $40,000."
"Jesus Christ!"
"No need to swear. These artists have worked a lifetime to reach their current levels. Too many perfectly good artists never achieve this level... of success. They are either not discovered, or are missing some element of artistry the others possess. In my opinion that's something that really can't be pinpointed. Critics will provide a reason for every success or failure, but they're only blowing in the wind. The distinction between talent and genius can't be measured by a critic despite what they say.
"The buyer determines that, and only the buyer. And mind you, the buyer is often wrong, but once someone pays, say $20,000 for a painting, that artist is considered highly marketable, people line up to buy the rest of their work. The critic has little to do with it."
I could only nod my head in wonder.
"Let's get something to eat, shall we?' My aunt said. I nodded again, and we left the gallery for an Italian Restaurant a block away. ________________________________________
During the dinner, Aunt Miriam questioned me again about my wanting to pursue art as a life's work.
I told her I couldn't as I had to earn a living. She pooh-poohed that, telling me that I could work at her gallery and earn slightly more than I already was and would learn something about both art and the world of art in the process.
"But where would I paint? My place is too small and besides I have a roommate who in all probability would muck things up." And yes I used the word 'muck,' rather than 'fuck,' not wanting to shock my aunt.
Aunt Miriam whisked me off to an art supply store, where she proceeded to spend around $2000 on what she termed the essentials needed by any aspiring artist. This included paints, canvasses and brushes, along with the many other ingredients an artist needs to get through their day. ________________________________________
To top things off, she took me home to her place, a sumptuous brownstone a block and a half from the park in mid-town.
"You can have the third floor and store things not needed at the moment in the attic. I think you'll find it spacious enough for any contingency."
We went in, and climbed the stairs to the third floor. It seemed a vast space with only four walls from one end to the other.
"I never got around to finishing this floor. I have all the room I need on the first two as it is. Do you think it suites you?"
"I... I don't know what to say. It's... its unbelievable!" You really mean it? I mean, you want me to live here?"