click image for magnified detail
click for magnified detail Crash
1998
Oil on linen
44.0" x 78.0"
Available - Contact Louis Meisel Gallery

Mort and Virginia had the three stretched-out cars, which reminded me of the Grant Wood 1935 oil painting "Death on the Ridge Road", a favorite of mine. You know instantly upon viewing it that the impending disaster is unavoidable. I added in a previous accident, but the car escaping it will inevitably encounter the speeding, out-of-control truck careening around the curve. This is the darkest painting I've ever done, and I struggle to understand where it fits into my usually optimistic view. The articulated wooden Mutt (minus Jeff) is truly unexplainable. Compositionally, I needed height on the left side of the painting. In 2003 terms, I could go on at length about how one disastrous event leads to another and another and another.
JAlbum 3.6