Paul DiPasquale Alert!

Paul DiPasquale is showing fifty ears carved from artifact bricks, and other clay things, at Cross Mackenzie Ceramic Arts (in DC)... the opening is TOMORROW, Friday January 19th, 6-8pm.


Here is Jerry admiring some of the ears that were included in Art Basel: Stuffy's.

PLUS! The documentary about Paul's Neptune statue, Neptune: Making of the Myth, is airing on PBS TV 23 (in Richmond) on Thursday January 25th, at 9PM. It won Best Educational Film in the Documentary Awards category of the 2006 NY Film Festival.

"Neptune: Making the Myth documents the creation of a breath-taking 34-foot bronze statue of this mythical character which now adorns the shoreline of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The effort begins with an “idea” which is then lifted and shouldered by a tenacious group of citizen/volunteers from the Neptune Festival, who carry out the vision from initial fundraising to a climactic public unveiling under the stars the very next year. The journey takes the viewer half way around the globe and back with amazing footage of an artist’s rustic foundry in China and a myriad of logistical challenges that must be overcome to bring the dream to reality. Against all odds, the devoted Richmond artist, Paul DiPasquali and other participants find ways to overcome each obstacle that blocks their path. Graphic animations are used to visualize the ancient Chinese lost wax process used to cast the bronze statue. Though this painstaking process itself is enough to carry a documentary, there is engaging subtext on ecology, leadership, cross-cultural communication and a host of other fascinating topics. Woven throughout the program are the candid perspectives of those involved as we follow their impossibly short timeline to its triumphant conclusion."

RELATED: Neptune God of Shockhoe Bottom! Awesome Giant Neptune!! Eric Fischl’s Arthur Ashe Statue VS Paul DiPasquale’s Arthur Ashe Staue!!!

Eric Fischl's Arthur Ashe Statue VS. Paul DiPasquale's Arthur Ashe Statue

Eric Fischl's Arthur Ashe Statue. Yes, he is naked, heavily muscled, and about to swing an invisible tennis racket.

VS.

Arthur Ashe, originally uploaded by answermyclone.

Paul DiPasquale's Arthur Ashe Statue.

NO CONTEST!!!

Art Basel: Stuffy's!!!!

Art Basel: Stuffy's is now open! You can see many booths, and art!!!

Featuring:

Michelle Arthur
Martin Bromirski
Travis Conner
Don Crow
Paul Dipasquale
Scott Eastwood
Micheal Lease - don't miss Alley-Oop!
Drew Liverman
Oura Sananikone
Tom Harte
Rachel Hayes
Timothy Sean Johnston
Fiona Ross
Barbara Tisserat
Bruce Wilhelm

October 23 - November 30, 2006

Stuffy's Subs
411 N. Harrison Street
Richmond VA

The postcard announcement is also a coupon, good for 10% off your next purchase at Stuffy's!

Bloggers, apply for press passes! You won't be turned away! Photographers, send me your photos from the fair!


RELATED: Meatballs at Stuffy's

Paul DiPasquale

Paul DiPasquale's Neptune, installed at Virginia Beach. This thing is awesome.. look at how Neptune is palming that turtle! That turtle is like, "Uh oh, I am about to get DUNKED".

Some interesting comments left on that last post on Paul DiPasquale. Bill Gusky said it reminded him of Ray Harryhausen flicks from the '60's... Beq mentioned Salvador Dali, probably in reference to his Dream of Venus.

I am still impressed thinking about how he got the Arthur Ashe statue up. What would DiPasquale do here? Neptune kind of reminds me of Puppy.

Paul DiPasquale

Paul DiPasquale's Neptune, one of the pieces included in the second annual Richmond Outdoor Sculpture exhibition. There is something weird about Paul DiPasquale, he has a knack (intentional?) for making conservative, odd sculptures that get installed at sites that make them seem even more bizarre and subversive. Why is there a sculpture of Neptune, the God of the Sea, on a loading ramp in Shockoe Bottom? We are not near the ocean... so strange.

DiPasquale made the Arthur Ashe statue on Monument Avenue. Monument Avenue is a broad street with a wide park-like median dotted with huge equestrian statues of Civil War heroes like J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee. The last lonely statue on Monument is this one of Arthur Ashe. Look at that freaky thing. It looks like they are in a bird's nest - the children want the book like it is a worm and Ashe is going to whack them with his tennis racket. Plus it looks like it is made of stale dusty chocolate, here is a better shot closer to the actual color. Why are the children standing in a hole?

My assumption was that the Ashe statue was something that the city had wanted, and that DiPasquale was one of a number of artists who submitted proposals, but in fact it appears that the entire project was initiated by DiPasquale.

Two years ago - less than one week from the opening date of this year's sculpture exhibition -Richmond was flooded by Hurricane Gaston, with Shockoe Bottom hardest hit. Weather reports had called for some rain, but the storm that arrived was totally unexpected; I think five people were killed in Shockoe Bottom. Seeing Neptune in Shockoe Bottom now is so freaking scary and weird!! A reminder that powerful forces or events can suddenly appear and just kick the shit out of you. This statue is like a memorial to the storm, an offering of respect to appease the storm god.

Reminders were everywhere -


This is a jellyfish or maybe an octopus, bowing to Neptune from across the street.


Starfish and sand-dollars and barnacles...


Seaweed.