Our friend Howard is back in town.
Let's check in with him and see what's new.
I did a series of paintings that I called the Giant series,
and,
uh,
there's a reoccurring image of,
uh,
a large gentleman of great proportions with a white beard and white hair who appears in the pictures,
doing different things,
and for me, you know,
even the paintings were called "Giant Morning",
uh,
"Giant Dreams",
Giant this,
Giant that,
and,
uh...
With the figure,
the male giant with the beard and the grey hair,
I automatically thought oh yeah,
it's a giant.
Giant doing this,
giant doing that,
and then when I saw people see -
People came in my studio,
and I'd get a little bit of,
uh...
Conversation going with them and a little input on what the painting says to them,
all of a sudden I realized that...
What I viewed as a giant,
they saw as God.
I don't paint God cause I don't think God has...
Has...
A physical image,
but, uh...
I was a bit surprised to see that instead of seeing a giant they were seeing God,
but I understand it because in Western culture...
God is who Michelangelo said he is.
God paint g -
Michelangelo painted God and Adam,
and...
His God had a white beard and white hair and is half-naked,
and in most of my paintings my G -
My giant is with a white beard,
white hair and half-naked as well,
and, uh...
Yeah, it showed me -
It taught me that I -
I can have...
That's one of the reasons I stay away from doing political art,
is that you can have an idea...
And somebody can come along...
And interpret it in a manner which...
Is something totally opposed to what you were trying to say.
There's a show I had in Haifa.
Uh...
At the beginning of the summer.
A Surrealism show,
I was part of the Surrealism show,
and I'm standing next to my -
One of my paintings,
talking to some people,
and this woman comes up,
and she's really, really excited by the painting.
It's "The Cult of the Personality",
it's about...
You know, uh...
Governments run by figures like Stalin,
Hitler,
Lenin, where the personality...
Overwhelms the...
The real politic,
and,
uh...
She's starting to interpret the painting,
and I'm telling her,
uh,
actually,
no, I -
That's not what the artist meant,
and she's telling me,
What do you know?
(laughs)
It's very funny,
but, umm...
And then when I said I'm the artist she was...
Rather embarrassed,
but it was an inter -
It was interesting to hear what she was coming up with,
but it had very little to do with what my intentions were when I painted it.
So yeah, I -
I realized that once you finish a painting,
you're sending your...
Your child out into the world,
and,
umm...
You can't always stand there and say no,
he's a good boy...
Some people will like your child,
some people won't like your child.
They will interpret your child and misinterpret your child,
and -
But, you know,
the painting's out of my hands. It's -
It's still mine,
but it's not mine anymore,
and people will do with it what they do with it.
