De Kooning

Rough with the smooth

irlandesuk art, poetry , , ,
warp and woof
Warp and woof, John Lyons (oil on canvas)

Rough with the smooth

Love too is a work
            of the imagination
it constantly seeks
            new forms of expression
in order to remain fresh
            to keep the present alive
and not simply trade
            on the faded past

It can be brash
            and outspoken
and have real attitude
            since by its very nature
it’s gestural
            more in the manner
of a de Kooning
            or a Pollock
than a Titian
            or a Raphael

Yes I want all of you
            the sweep of your strokes
across my body
            your hair falling
into my eyes
            my face drowning
in your tears
            of laughter
your precious hand
            gripping on to mine
as we hurtle
            down the roller coaster
moving from the darkness
            into the light

 

John Lyons

Untitled Willem De Kooning

irlandesuk art, poetry , , ,
De Kooning.jpg
Untitled, Willem de Kooning (1958)

Untitled Willem de Kooning

Do you see what I see
           notes for a landscape
a shore and a beach
           and a river and a sky
a path to enlightenment
           a horizon viewed
from a cliff top
           waves perceptible
in the brushstrokes
           mimicking the tensions
in the earth’s crust
           and in all our relationships
abstract cartography
           of the soul

it took a human body
           to paint this
to select the colours
           and to control the brush
it took human energy
           to express this to execute this
rather than accept
           the docility of a pacified
environment in which nature
           sits tamely on a canvas

I came here scriptless
           Willem and I searched high
and low for love
           I am an accident of birth
whatever is concealed
           in this composition
will be revealed in due course
           at its heart is the illumination
of sunlight and a brightness
           that never fades
the joy we associate
           with the loving application
of human vitality
           everywhere apparent
the long sinews
           of genitive muscle

it could be a walk
           on a Sunday afternoon
or a three-penny opera
           in which we all appear
and notice a perfectly positioned
           pinmark in each of the corners
no abstract could ever be
           so inexhaustibly
calculated which is why
           I am not a painter

John Lyons

Painting observed on 10 February 2017 during a visit to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. Click here for an appraisal of this work.