SUMMERTIME BLUES
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the nexus of information on “Summertime Blues,” which provides a comprehensive overview of artist Paul McLean’s Blue colorway for his VyNIL Cycle, details on individual artworks available for discount purchase during the online flash sale, an artist statement, a description of the show objectives, images of additional pieces in the series, context (i.e., theory, references, etc.) for the works, more about the artist, his motivations, intentions and influences, and McLean’s vision for the VyNIL Cycle and Blue sequences.
Blue Hybrid #1 Sym Pattern | 1200px x 1200px | 2024
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release in All Media
Valubl Projx and Art for Humans are pleased to present “Summertime Blues,” an online show and sale of “Blue Hybrid” paintings by Astoria, Oregon-based artist Paul McLean. From August through September 2024, we will be offering discounted pricing for selected pieces created by the artist from 2020-21. Images of individual artworks will be posted daily on AFH social media, and supplemental information, including additional available “Blue” series paintings by McLean will be published on the AFH Mystic Novad website.
CONTACT:
Paul + Lauren McLean
EMAIL:
artforhumans@gmail.com (Paul)
laurengmclean@gmail.com (Lauren
PHONE/TEXT:
(615) 491-7285 (Paul)
(916) 206-6564 (Lauren)
DM/AFH SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook: /artforhumans
Instagram: @valubl
WEBSITE:
BLUE HYBRIDS
NOTES ON BLUE HYBRIDS GALLERY: All paintings displayed above are 12” or less in their longest (vertical) dimension. All are created with Flashe (vinyl) paint. The substrates are (mostly) canvas, a few are Flashe applied to multimedia, one (#19) to wood. All are priced the same: $550 (Dated 2020-1).
ABOUT “SUMMERTIME BLUES”
SUMMARY
“Summertime Blues” is a Valuabl Projx | Art for Humans Production.
“Summertime Blues” is an online show and sale of Astoria, Oregon-based artist Paul McLean’s Blue Hybrid series of Flashe vinyl paintings created in 2020-21. The Blue Hybrid series belong to McLean’s VyNIL Cycle opus, which consists of four phases: Network; Work Net; Currents, Flow + Reproduction; and the Cycle of Completion. The Blue Hybrids are part of the third phase, Currents, Flow + Reproduction (CFR), and sub-categorized by the artist as Meta-Element artworks. “Summertime Blues” will focus on the Blue Hybrids, which are small paintings, all of which are 12” or less in their longest dimension. Most are painted on canvas, though some are over-paintings on pre-existing (often framed) artworks from the Cowboyz + Cowgirlz series, and others. McLean documented the creation of the Blue Hybrids via AFH social media (Facebook and Instagram). The Blue colorway in the CFR phase of VyNIL also includes medium-sized paintings on museum board (nodes and bundles), a large canvas, a framed work on panel, as well as compositions on vinyl records. The framed work and the vinyl records were exhibited at the artist’s exhibit at Made In Astoria in 2023. Otherwise, none of the artworks featured in “Summertime Blues” have been previously shown.
Currents, Flow and Reproduction Series #137 Blue Series #20 [Hybrids (Meta-Elements) #15] | $1500 | 15” x 15.5” | Flashe (Vinyl) on Masonite, Framed | 2020
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Paul McLean is an artist, writer and thinker living and working in Astoria, Oregon. He has studied at the University of Notre Dame, Claremont Graduate University and the European Graduate School. Mclean was exhibited in the USA and abroad, including solo shows at Yarger|Strauss (Beverly Hills), SLAG Contemporary (Bushwick) and David Lusk (Nashville). His writing has appeared in the Brooklyn Rail and ArtInfo. His projects have been covered by LA Times and Artnet. His analytic and theoretical focus is on 4D/Dimensional systems.
BLUE NODES
Blue Nodes #1-8 | Variable Dimensions, circa 40+” x 30+” | Flashe (Vinyl) on Museum Board | $2000 | 2020
BLUE HYBRIDS
Artist Statement
The impetus for the Blue Hybrids series is not singular. Let me explain. After my family and I relocated to Astoria, Oregon from Bushwick (Brooklyn, New York), my son Lachlan had his own bedroom next to ours in our house. Blue was his favorite color. I invited him to pick out some art for the walls, and he responded by asking me to paint blue paintings for his bedroom. I said, “Sure!” And that is how the series got rolling.
There’s more to the story, though. At that juncture in the VyNIL Cycle, I had more or less settled on a set of recurring forms in the paintings. These consisted of more than two dozen simple shapes, some geometric, others alphabetic, and a few, like the feather, that evoked the natural world less abstractly. I thought of these in terms of iconography without overt association or rule-based meaning. I was not interested in establishing a visual language as such. There is more to say about this, but for this artist statement, that is sufficient for our purposes.
I had a subterranean impulse to animate the icons, imagining a morphing sequence of these shapes, evocative of dance. For art historical references, I thought of Picasso’s blue period, Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s famous and weird painting, “Vertumnus,” and the Matisse cut-outs. As the reader might deduce from the short list (there were loads of other referents, some of which I will mention below) I was bent toward figuration, although my theoretical frame had more affinity with pre-figurative thinking. I was also envisioning the iconograms as sketches for 3D models and sculptures. The full schematic I imagined as an immersive environment containing graphic elements, suffused color produced by lighting arrays, blue audio, sculptural forms, autonomous paintings, murals and wall treatments, projections and monitors displaying animations and movies and more.
I have great respect for modernist formal painting and sculpture (e.g., Miro, Calder, Mondrian, et al.), and I believe that influence is in play in the Blue Hybrids. Another source of inspiration was graphic design from the inter-War period. I have a long love affair with modularity and rock piles, such as those at Joshua Tree. Reviewing the paintings for this project, I remembered questioning whether, then how, the icons might touch each other. The phenomenon of contact and exchange or relation was an artistic and thematic consideration, in the Blue Hybrid series, but in the VyNIL Cycle in general. Finally, I was thinking about musical notation as a living language, and this in spite of my resistance to the explicitly linguistic, to resorting to sign and symbol as a visual crutch.
If there is an aesthetic nomenclature for the Blue Hybrids, it might involve some conjunction of the recursive, the minimal, the reductive. However, these keywords are contradicted by the painting process I employed in the paintings — which is additive. I don’t at all have a problem with such contradictions, I think because of the presence or consideration of time in my art, operating on an instructive or constructive basis. The structure of the image is similar to a snap shot, with the viewer unable to determine by visual clues whether the composition or configuration is evolving or decaying. Perhaps I am proposing an instant between the two poles of appearance and disappearance. For some reason, blue seems to me to be the optimum color to portray such a moment. I did conduct trials of other colors (reds, greens, yellows, etc.), but none seemed to have the same visceral quality or intensity of the blues.
Blue is associated naturally with sky and water. Here at the furthest northwest tip of Oregon, blue is atmospheric in a way that is unique in my experience. The color suffuses the environment, and for myself and I would say many others (based on anecdotal surveys among visitors to the regions and locals), this suffusion extends metaphorically to mind state, particularly during the long, cold, rainy winter season, which encompasses late fall and much of the spring. I have wondered whether my Scottish heritage predisposes me to this place. I do know that the Flashe palette of blue hues pops very specifically here, on a white background. I find the interplay of Ceruleans, Ultramarines, Cobalts, etc., wonderful, and emotive, especially when juxtaposed with Teal and Veridians or Aqua, or even Pthalos. I have also wondered whether this is partly due to the cascading stories of fires and heatwaves associated with global climate change. After all, there are just as many news reports of hurricanes and floods.
BLUE VINYLS
Blue Vinyls #1 + 2 | 12” diameter | Flashe (Vinyl) on Vinyl Record | $550 | 2020
OBJECTIVES
I described above my idea for a blue immersive art experience. At this point, though, I have completed half a hundred of these paintings, sufficient for an exhibit. “Summertime Blues” provides an opportunity to pitch that concept to qualified dealers, gallerists and curators. I will note that such an exhibit could conceivably be scaled up somewhat, by adding a few larger art works to go with those already finished. Those interested in the project should contact me via email, phone or through AFH social media DM, to discuss options, timelines, logistics and other considerations.
When launching “Summertime Blues” I thought to cap sales of individual artworks at 4-5 Blue Hybrids. I will stipulate to those purchasing the art that consequent to any sale, the buyer should agree to permit the inclusion of the purchased painting in the speculative “Blue” VyNIL show. I already make that stipulation on sales of the VyNIL Cycle artworks (that they remain available for exhibition, should the collected works be slated for display in a significant venue in the future). However, these matters of course are open for discussion, and not set in stone. Alternatives will be entertained on a case by case basis.
Currents, Flow and Reproduction Series #191 Colors Series #15 (Blue Series #51) [Meta-Elements Object-Study] | 24” x 18” | Flashe (Vinyl) on Multimedia on Paper | $1000 | Date: 2020
BLUE MEGAS, NODES + VINYLS
Artist Statement
MEGA-ELEMENTS #1 + META-ELEMENTS #15
“Mega-Elements #1” (pictured above at the beginning of this post) to my mind is one of my most accomplished paintings. I hold Blue Hybrid (“Meta-Elements #15,” ME15 hereafter ) with the same regard, albeit for different reasons, I think. I will try here to explain myself, although I am not entirely confident of my ability to adequately do so. Mega-Elements #1 (ME1 hereafter) is composed similarly to other paintings of roughly similar dimensions in the Currents, Flow + Reproduction series (CFR hereafter). Visually, the painting consists of repetitions of the iconographs spread all over the vertical rectangular picture plane. As I recall, the Flashe blue hues are evenly distributed throughout. The non-rule rule was I would not repeat any shape + color combination. I doubt the casual viewer would guess at the level of concentration necessary to successfully distribute the elements of the painting on the base color. I have described the process metaphorically as high-order mathematics, or Thinking (i.e., thinking for in rigorous philosophical pursuits). Whatever one’s level of confidence, precision and accuracy in rendering, coupled with an awareness of the visibility of each move made in the execution of the composition, generates a certain creative anxiety in my experience. Some artists are better at this than others. Speaking for myself, the requisite focus over an extended period, plus the physical strenuousness of the mark-making, done mostly with tiny brushes and movements, proved very demanding, stretching my abilities beyond previous limits. I am not here applying to the reader for sympathy, because the creation of ME1 for me was an almost transcendent experience. Signing the completed work was an act suffused with joy, with a sense of accomplishment, the right kind of artistic pride. I live for such moments. They are why I enthusiastically return the studio again and again. I wouldn’t like for the reader to somehow mistake the above account as overly technical. After decades devoted to art and its making, one comes to the realization that the spiritual aspects of artist life, such as they are (which I feel inadequate to fully communicate IYKYK), must rate at least as important as the technical, social or professional aspects.
As for ME15, the technical intensity of the composition + paint application was a radically different thing. Compared to ME1, the painting was done in a flash, it seemed. This is not exactly true, of course. In fact, it isn’t true at all, in the case of either painting, if you induct their production/exhibition histories into the accounting. Which is to say, if you consider both as 4D paintings resolved over time, from start to completion. Let me explain. Both ME1 and ME15 originated as paintings in the mid90s. ME1 began its art life as one of my Scottish series; ME15 as one of the Tobacco Road paintings. Each has been added to and appeared in multiple showings since then, in several iterations. Sometimes, fairly rarely, I have made paintings whose art lives extend this way, paintings which seem to resist resolution, even if they might temporarily seem so resolved (and I have even signed them, signifying as much). These two artworks, then, were twenty-five years in the making. ME15 seemed to practically resolve itself, relatively immediately, when I commenced to rework it for the Blue/CFR sequence. I recall feeling quite shocked. And also overwhelmed by the beautiful simplicity of the composition, which I would characterize as harmonious, even melodic. The picture in its over-painted pre-existing frame (by Ambiance, Nashville, circa 1988-9) reminded me of master modernist paintings I had the opportunity to art-handle for major collections, while employed by LA Packing, Crating and Transport, or during my stint at Goldleaf Framemakers of Santa Fe.
BLUE VINYLS + META ELEMENTS OBJECT STUDY
Since the conception of the VyNIL Cycle (VC hereafter), I have been including paintings on vinyl records in the sequence, because it just seemed to make sense to do so. All of the VC vinyls came from the same trove of albums someone had left outside our Bushwick loft building I think in 2019. I had been planning to somehow acquire a number of 12” records for the project, so, imagine my delight at discovering the perfect amount by my doorstep! At such moments, one feels the support of the universe in one’s creative endeavors! The titles were wonderful, too, by my standards of musical taste and ironic sensibilities as well (check the archives for amplification). The vinyl on vinyl paintings evolved. The earliest efforts were quite complex, but became more so as the VC progressed. By 2020, the series had shifted and the compositions were simplified, and demonstrated my interests in refining the iconographs and minimizing or refining the components in the picture plane. The vinyls of this period reflected the shift. Keep in mind that I envisioned displaying the vinyl-paintings on spinning turntables mounted on the wall, or displayed in arrays or suspended from the ceiling by filament, as I did in Heartless01, circa 2000-1. These works are meant to be presented as kinetic installation elements.
The Meta Element Object Study belongs to the. series of VC works on paper, beginning with the Card series and continued through the Cycle in a various iterations. There are several convergent ideas at play in the configuration. I was thinking first of the Petri dish, of life contained within parameters for study. I was also thinking about digital file systems and information flow. Thirdly, I was thinking about ponds or living bodies of water, maybe also about swimming pools, and children at play. Finally, for now, I was thinking about screens and electronic content. On the conceptual level, I would disclose that there is much to this configuration than these four ideas or themes. For the purposes of this statement, though, that disclosure is sufficient. Further, I would share with the reader that I sense that the Meta-Element Object Study points to a new seam or thread, which I might pursue in future studio projects.
BLUE NODES
The Nodes have, as a practical matter, deep roots in my work, beginning as best as I can recall with the simple wooden building sets of my youth, which are still common today. When I endeavored to learn Photoshop for artistic purposes, I could see the connection between those basic kid’s building blocks and the digital tools developed for graphics software. In my painting and drawing practice, really, from my earliest efforts at developing my own iconography, coded image-objects or symbols, the line enclosed by filled or open round points at either end was a staple. I decided it would refer to the Timeline, or Lifeline, or Deadline. When I began using maps in my travels, the start-to-stop mark-making when plotting a journey added another layer of meaning to the iconography. Later, in the 2010s, the circle or disc connected by linear forms reappeared as margin doodles made during lectures I attended at EGS. By 2020 or so, I began to take them more seriously, making pencil sketches on grid paper in between painting sessions. In VC paintings (and this built on previous realization) I began thinking of the barbell shape, the sideways “8” or infinity symbol, and map-timeline iconograph as inter-related forms. In the Node series, though, I was thinking of information networks, of rhizomatic systems and other matrices for dispersion, communication, travel and movement and so on. Of the several color ways I tested, I found the Blues more to my preferences, although I believe that is a subjective matter.
Blue Hybrid #1 Sym Cell | 1200px x 1200px | 2024