Title: "Never Really There"
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 16"x20"
Time to complete: 11 hours
Date completed: 2011
*Includes frame
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"Never Really There"
Miles Davis single-handedly revolutionized the world of music. Although his musical presence was holistic and dominating- he was a divided man. His time was divided. His love was divided. His audiences in the states were even divided. But when he went to Paris he found acceptance, both racially and musically.
He found love- and what he was searching for, for so long, was actually inside of him.The right side of the painting is purposely vague and is inspired by George Seurat's pointillism paintings. Seurat was a French post-impressionist painter who is famous for using thousands of colorful dots in close proximity to create an illusion of blended color when viewed from a distance.
My version of Seurat's style symbolizes Miles' creativity being stifled while in the United States because of various reasons- including racial tensions of the Civil Rights era, his dysfunctional home, his drug addiction and his creative oppression by the record label.
But when he played in Paris, he said himself that his music sounded 'better' and he had no creative limitations. His musical output flourished. He felt alive for the first time in his life. His dream was realized. Much of this was fueled by his newly found French love interest and his audience being colorblind.The left side of the painting is painted using realism principles to reinforce the clarity of his mind and the vivid sound of his trumpet when he was in France.