Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Eulogy delivered on 11/4/09 for Mardy Lemmons

The Texas Panhandle lost a great artist and educator last week. Mardy Lemmons, artist and design instructor at Amarillo College, passed away at the age of 49. The following text was shared with Art21onKACV by Jacob Breeden. It is a eulogy, delivered by Jacob, at Mardy's service on 11/4/09. Art21onKACV extends its heartfelt sympathy to Mardy's family members and friends. And thank you, Jacob, for sharing this with the Texas Panhandle arts community.

"So...I’ve been asked to say a few words about Mardy. At the risk of sounding cliché, that is no small task. I want to talk about the Mardy I knew well. Mardy the artist.

I met Mardy several years ago. I was working in my studio, and in walks this big lumbering fella. Unkempt, unshaven, and un-tucked. Grinning from ear to ear like he was up to something. He introduces himself and hands me a small paperback book by some guy named Hermon Garbriel, about composition…

My first thoughts were...who the hell is this guy...and who the hell is Hermon Gabriel.

And that, in a lot of ways, was what I came to know as Mardy. Always with a handshake, a smile, and some archaic unknown artistic genius he wanted to tell you about.

Mardy was an artist in the truest sense of the word. His work, drawings-paintings-design… are a visual representation of his pursuit. He was always exploring, always reinventing, and always challenging himself to find something new. He was a blue collar guy, and he brought that with him into the studio.

His subject of choice was always the figure. Even in the brief time period that he went abstract…the figure was always there. I feel blessed to have one of the few abstract pieces he did…and I think, the only one with a nipple.

His ability to deal with the figure…to understand the figure…and to see past the flesh was like that of few other artists I have ever known. He saw the body…and loved the body…for what it is…

Beautiful for all its flaws. Elegant in its oddity’s. Glorious in its ugliness.

He loved to exaggerate the body…be it the eyes, the pecs, the bum, or the ummmm…well “that certain part of the male anatomy”.

Realism, in a way, was always his objective…but not in the sense that you may think. His objective was not to create a “photograph”…but to capture the essence of the scene in his mind. To make that very real thing…that very real emotion…that existed in his mind…to make it visual and to share with others. He wanted to seduce you into sinful thoughts…especially if you were a bit too pure. He wanted to make it hard to overt your eyes…especially if you wanted to…His women often look you straight in the eyes. They challenge you, as did Mardy.

When the phone rang at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday…I always knew it was Mardy. He had not been to bed yet, wanted coffee, and to talk about art. Always art. Never politics, never world events, or sports…or anything…always art. Sometimes his, sometimes mine, sometimes a show around town…or whatever art history book he happened to be lugging around. He loved art. He loved artists.

But the conversations were not always…well…positive. Nothing made Mardy smirk like a well done show or a newly discovered piece from the past…and nothing made him grumble…and damn could he grumble…like bad art. Now…his tastes ran the gamut from the brutalities of German Expressionism to the quiet landscapes and portraits of Thomas Eakins, and more recently the subdued works of Andrew Wyeth.

What he consider to be bad art…was shallow art. Art made to look like last month’s Art in America…art made to please an audience…art made to sell. Mardy shared a trait with another great man we lost recently, Hunter Ingalls. Mardy and Hunter had the uncanny ability to see through the paint…to see through the bullshit…and to see the real intentions of the artist. And if you were making something bad…something off…neither man would hesitate to tell you. In a town full of critics…they offered genuine creative criticism.

Over the last few months a new Mardy began to appear. Motivated Mardy. Mardy the teacher. The evening before he passed away… Mardy explained his teaching philosophy to me. He did not want his students to mimic his work…he did not want to shove some philosophy of “Art Making” down their throats. He told me that he “looked for what each student did well…and then challenged them to use that strength.” He wanted them to use their own voices...not his…not this month’s cover artist of Art on Paper…but their own voices.

Mardy wanted that for all of us. He wanted to hear our voices and then add his to his to the fray. Mardy always said that it was better to have your work be hated, then ignored. At least it meant your voice was real. At least you were creating emotion. At least your work was doing something.

He longed for Amarillo to learn to support art and artists in a real and meaningful way. That people would learn to see the difference between art and craft. Good art and bad art. Between true creative passion and a hobby.

And for the last few months he talked regularly about wanting to do something big. Something to change the landscape. Something loud. Something powerful. He never got around to saying what he had in mind.

But I do know that Mardy said things lately that might help us understand this idea of his. He talked about the need for artists to support each other…to push each other…to understand that what we do…we do for the sake of ourselves, not for the other people, not for a professor, not for sales…not for the public.

He talked about ways to help the “scene” grow. To bring it life. To make it shout. And Mardy did everything he could to foster that idea. He was a true politician of the art world. He could, and did, walk into any space and talk to any artist…to any lover of art…He brought big egos together at a common table. He was always in the right place, no matter the crowd.

So…I won’t speak for Mardy, but I will tell you what I think might make him smile.

To Amarillo…support your local artists. Guys like Mardy should not have to look out of town for people who are willing to support their work. Go to studios. Ask questions. Look at the work as if it is something more than just an “image”…because it is.

If you are an artist….Never give in to the trend… Never create what you think the “in-crowd” will like…never bend to the whims of the public…trust your own instincts…be bold, be brazen, be ambitious.

Create constantly. Make art that scares you. Make art that means something to you. Use your voice, stand your ground, defend yourself.

Love each other, support each other, push each other. We are all in this together."


Jacob Breeden
artist-designer-misfit

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