Demoiselle H. H.
When this flyer for a show of Detroit artists flew in though
my mail
slot, I said "Wow! Somebody else is putting cut out
figures on
the road." I immediately recognized the figure as being
a central
personage in Picasso's 1907 painting, "Demoiselles
D'Avignon", a seminal painting in the orthodoxy of
Modern
Art. However, the more I looked at the flyer, I was not
convinced
it was an actual cut out placed on the shoulder of the
expressway. There's something odd about the light and
the figure
has been reversed to better fit the composition of the
roadside
scene. I called Lynn
Galbreath, one of the twelve women artists
in
the show at the Ceres Gallery in New York and the designer of
the
advertisement. She readily confessed that it was a
Photoshop
creation. She was delighted that I wanted to make her
idea a
reality by cutting and painting the figure, life sized,
from half
inch plywood. I explained that, in the past, all my
Hitch Hikers
were of living people who agreed to take temporary possession
of their
Hitch Hiker, write something on its back, and abandon
it. Since
this Hitch Hiker has no living* counterpart in reality,
I asked
Lynn to accept the role which she did.
Before leaving me for Lynn, the Demoiselle H. H. did me the
service of
escorting me to a few spots around Detroit.
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A visit by the
Demoiselle H.H. may suggest
an answer to the public's question:
"What's Rodin's Thinker thinking about?" |
Inside the Detroit
Institutes of Arts, the lady visits a distant relative. |
A more immediate
kin
was suprised to see her turn up in Modern Art but
enjoyed the visit.
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The lady also went to some of the local hot spots
including
this drinking establishment, a favorite among voyeurs' enjoying
the sighs, signed and sights
along Detroit's infamous border, Eight Mile Road, but none
reminded her
of the old haunts back in Avignon.
The other day, I notice this HitchHiker had no followup, so I
wrote Lynn .
Hi Lynn,
If you recall from 17 years ago, in 2004, I sent this Hitchhiker to you to possess for a year,
write something on the back of it then abandon it.
Im curious what you wrote, (if you remember!) But you dont have to tell me.
For the record (web page,) where did you abandon it?
I hope all is well with you and yours.
Regards,
Jim
May 2, 2021
Hi Jim.
Wow! Thanks for sending this. Those were great days. And I loved
this project. I ended up placing it in the Center for Creative
Studies Sculpture Park one evening in clear site. I do not
remember what I wrote on back side and cannot find the photo I
took of Sue Carman and I placing it there. Will look again. How
are you doing? What a crazy year. Hope you made it through ok.
My studio is in Pontiac if you ever feel like seeing the
work.
To creativity.
Lynn
* Demoiselles D'Avignon
(Girls of
Avignon) refers to a brothel Picasso frequented in the South
of France
when he was a young man.
n.
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