Schizzo: Slackenings

by Paul D'Agostino

Bosco d’inverno, mixed-media drawing on paper, 2014.

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Slackenings

It was still raining a decent bit, but
a thick warm wind began to blow in
from faraway plains,
they say—the very same plains,
they say, that tend rather to send cold and snow
this time of year.

So the air that should’ve been frigid was
moist and sweet;
the raindrops that should’ve been snowflakes
were raindrops.

Seldom are showers and gusts
quite so welcome when arriving in tandem,
but there are times when they’re like gifts
from skies.

There are times when seasons slacken their grip.
There are times when life does the same.

A winter storm will hit hard within days, they say.

But within hours tonight’s breezes and drizzles
will give way to a quiescent, temperate mist.

And the breathing will be good.

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Artwork & text, P. D’Agostino

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* This drawing, Bosco d’inverno, is currently in Sideshow Nation III: Circle the Wagons, a large group exhibit at Sideshow Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on view through 15 March 2015. More information here.

Schizzo: Shores

by Paul D'Agostino

From a series called “Partenze.” Mixed-media drawing on card stock.

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Shores

Caution, no.
On the side of trust
is where one has often erred.
Where one will continue to err
until skies themselves come slumbering
down, until grounds themselves
yawn wide open.

Count on the sun, meanwhile,
to continue to greet you.
And on the moon, too,
to persist in tugging waves to shores
bearing perils, treasures and
the reliable pleasure of that
pure, familiar noise.

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From a series called “Partenze.” Mixed-media drawing on card stock.

Artwork & text, P. D’Agostino

Schizzo: Nebulous

by Paul D'Agostino

Nebulous, ink, graphite and gesso on paper, 3″ x 8″, 2013.

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Nebulous indeed were the heavens that day.

Nebulous, too, remained the fate of the crew.

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This drawing is part of a group exhibit at Lesley Heller Workspace.
Organized by Adam Simon, the show is called Clouds.
It is up until 26.1.2014. More information here.
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Artwork & text, P. D’Agostino

Schizzo: Save Us in Echoes

by Paul D'Agostino

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Evento ad avvento / Event to Advent, 1-4
Series of polytype monoprints with cross-diminishing palette
Oil on card stock, 2012. Click on one for slideshow of all.

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Save Us in Echoes

It seems to only make sense
to want all at once
all the world’s faiths and gods,
and all the world’s science and reason,
all of the eras and errors that feed them,
all of the fairest and worst of seasons,
and every twilight and every dawn,
and every midnight and every eclipse,
and every storm and every calm,
every cloud and dew and mist,
all of the flora and all of the fauna,
all the balm and all the song,
and every whisper and breath and gasp,
every shout, every cry,
and every word of every knowledge
of every number of all things known.

But we know time to be cloven and brief.
We grieve over griefs that have yet to be sown.

And we’ll never grasp fully
the trees nor the seas.

Uttered words mean nothing
to their echoes.

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Artwork & text, P. D’Agostino

Schizzo: Au delà du rideau

by Paul D'Agostino

Nocturne 6: Les acteurs et le drapeau / The Actors and the Curtain, acrylic and watercolor on paper, mounted to panel, 24″ x 12″, 2012.

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Au delà du rideau

Juste avant de se masquer
pour rentrer en scène
(toujours poudrés, visage et cheveux;
toujours habillé, costume
classique, traditionel)
l’acteur se regarda
un instant dans le miroir
en prenant une petite gorgée d’eau:

“Suis-je, moi-même, convaincu?”
il se demanda.
“Puis-je vraiment, moi-même,
m’oublier?”

Un instant après
il sortit, masqué.
Plus là,
lui-même, son lui-même.

Sa mémoire reste cachée
dans le miroir
quand même.

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Beyond the Curtain

Just before putting on his mask
to take the stage again
(still powdered, his face and hair;
still dressed in classical,
traditional garb)
the actor looked at himself
in the mirror a moment
while taking a sip of water:

“Am I, myself, convinced?”
he asked himself.
“Might I really, myself,
forget myself?”

An instant later
he exited, masked.
No longer there,
he himself, his himself.

His memory still concealed
in the mirror
nonetheless.

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Artwork & texts, P. D’Agostino

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* A number of other paintings from the series Nocturnes, as well as collages, sculptures and drawings from several other bodies of work—the latter also gathered into a book, Floor Translations—are currently featured in Twilit Ensembles, a solo exhibition of my artwork at Pocket Utopia Gallery, located at 191 Henry Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The exhibition is up through 21 April 2013. More information at pocketutopia.com.

 

Schizzo: Diceva sempre che era il suo preferito

by Paul D'Agostino

Diceva sempre che era il suo preferito / She Always Said It Was Her Favorite (detail), oil on panel & secondary panel, 7.75″ x 8.75,” 2012. Private collection.

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Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood
(excerpt)

William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850)

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What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now forever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.

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Artwork, P. D’Agostino

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Diceva sempre che era il suo preferito / She Always Said It Was Her Favorite, oil on panel & secondary panel, 7.75″ x 8.75,” 2012. Private collection.

Schizzo: Futuro anteriore IX

by Paul D'Agostino

Future anteriore IX, mixed media drawing & collage on mylar & paper, 2012.

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Futuro anteriore IX

Si sarà sì
spesso detto
di quella sera
che certe presenze
vagavano per la chiesa.

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Future Perfect IX

Of that evening
it will have so often been said
that certain presences
were adrift
in the church.

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Artwork & text, P. D’Agostino

 

Schizzo: L’Isola di Fortuna / Fortune’s Island

by Paul D'Agostino

L’Isola di Fortuna / Fortuna’s Island, 1-4.
Serialized set of polytype monoprints with cross-diminishing palette.
Oil on card stock, 2012. Click on one for slideshow of all.

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According to a tradition going back to
the Romance of the Rose (Jean de Meung, 1280),
Fortune lives in a half-crumbling palace set on a rocky island,
which is now assaulted by waves, now left high and dry,
and it is constantly changing shape.

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Extracted from The Mill and the Cross,
Michael Francis Gibson

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Artwork, P. D’Agostino

Schizzo: Abbild / Likeness

by Paul D'Agostino

Apparenza vagando nel giardino / Appearance Adrift in the Garden, 3/4. From a set of serialized monoprints with diminishing palette, oil on paper, 2011.*

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“Passing away is the figure, the way of being of this world.”
–  Paul the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 7:31

“Man is enclosed in his image and he does not know it.”
–  Pierre Legendre, Dieu au miroir**

Abbild

Eine Sache
die sich immer
noch weiter verwandelt,
obwohl sie immer
im Grunde
die gleiche bleibt:

wie wir bezeichnen
was wir sehen
als Abbild,
unsere Sehnsucht
nach als ob,
nach als ob nicht.

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Likeness

One thing
that is always
yet further transformed,
though it remains ever
essentially
the same:

how we designate
what we see as
a likeness,
our longing
for as if,
for as if not.

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Artwork & texts, P. D’Agostino.

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* This set of serialized monoprints will soon be among the new works featured in D’Agostino’s solo exhibit, Appearance Adrift in the Garden, at Norte Maar Gallery. Curated by Jason Andrew, the exhibit will run from 3 February 2012 to 4 March 2012. Opening reception on Friday, 3 February. More information available soon at nortemaar.org.

** The citation from Pierre Legendre’s Dieu au miroir (Fayard, 1994) appears as referenced by Michael Francis Gibson in his book The Mill and The Cross (Acatos Editions, 2000). The citation from the writings of Paul the Apostle appears as referenced by Giorgio Agamben in The Time That Remains: A Commentary on the Letter to the Romans (Stanford University Press, 2005).

Schizzo: Cielo stanco / Tired Sky

by Paul D'Agostino

Angeli in attesa del visitatore / Angels Awaiting the Visitor, 2/6. From a set of serialized monoprints with diminishing palette, oil on paper, 2011.

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Cielo stanco

Nel sempre buio
del mattino grigio verso
mezzogiorno: ancor’ cadendo
verso volendo quegli
uccelli della
sera.

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Tired Sky

In the yet dark
of this ante-meridian
unto noon: ever falling
toward wanting
those evening
birds.

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Artwork & texts, P. D’Agostino.