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美国国家公共电台 NPR Hard At Work At 84, Artist Sam Gilliam Has 'Never Felt Better'

时间:2018-09-03 07:33:27

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Sam Gilliam is on the art world's hot list these days. He has a one-man show in Switzerland, commissions, sales in the six figures - pretty cool for an artist who had his heyday1 in the 1970s, when his unique draped paintings started heading into a major museum collections. Recently, NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg found the 84-year-old African-American painter at his Washington, D.C., studio surrounded by yards of painted fabric2 hung from a line with big alligator3 clips.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE4: Oh, can I step on this?

SAM GILLIAM: Sure.

STAMBERG: I can even touch it. The vividly-colored, silky polyester puddling to the floor so sheer you could lift yards of it with your pinky.

GILLIAM: It catches light.

STAMBERG: This is Sam Gilliam's signature - lengths - 75, 100 yards of gauzy fabrics5 that he paints in gorgeous acrylic colors. And then he drapes them from walls and ceilings. His inspiration - laundry hanging on clothes lines.

GILLIAM: The idea is to develop the idea of movement into shapes that go on the floor, some that go on the wall.

STAMBERG: Or hang from the wall.

JONATHAN BINSTOCK: His art is painting, but it's also not painting.

STAMBERG: Gilliam expert Jonathan Binstock directs the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester.

BINSTOCK: It's sculpture. It's also not sculpture. It's architectural. It's not architecture. He's really established himself in a unique way in the history of art through this form.

STAMBERG: Are you tired of talking about the draped work?

Gilliam's done other things since his first draping days - black paintings, collage6 pieces. But it's the 3-D draping that made his name then and now.

GILLIAM: It's to be revisited. It was something that I had a chance to do. It was in the air.

STAMBERG: Jackson Pollock and others had been dribbling7, spraying, pouring paint onto canvases spread on the floor. Then they picked up the works and framed them. Sam Gilliam's big idea was to eliminate the frame and hang his radiantly painted cloth in graceful8, free falls.

So when you take it down...

GILLIAM: You roll it up like a carpet and stir it.

STAMBERG: He likes that it will never be hung the same way twice. As the soft folds change, so does the painting. Gilliam also works with paper, pleating it.

GILLIAM: Holding the paper like a fan and then pouring color through. And then once it's open, you have a rhythm.

STAMBERG: Is it always a surprise when you unfold it?

GILLIAM: Yes, it is.

STAMBERG: Looks like multicolored Rorschach blots9. These are small pieces. They sell. And they let him make the big stuff - the yards of draping, a large public work at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. At 84, he's had his health problems. On dialysis three times a week, he's doing well. These are pretty good times for Sam Gilliam.

GILLIAM: I've never felt better in my life. I stopped drinking. I stopped smoking. I live for this period of being in the studio and actually working and having a very exciting life.

STAMBERG: He keeps finding excitement in the work, seeing how it will turn out, moving colors around every day.

GILLIAM: Well, it's just an experiment.

STAMBERG: This is just an experiment? And you're satisfied?

GILLIAM: It's a very open process. You don't know that it's going to work. You just say one, two, three - pour (laughter). One, two, three - add silver and pour. And what you see is what you get.

STAMBERG: In his bright northwest Washington studio - years ago, it was a drive-through gas station - rambling10 a bit, his voice soft, an occasional twinkle in his eyes, Sam Gilliam says every work of art has a moment. This is clearly his.

I'm Susan Stamberg, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF POPPY ACKROYD'S "QUAIL")


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 heyday CdTxI     
n.全盛时期,青春期
参考例句:
  • The 19th century was the heyday of steam railways.19世纪是蒸汽机车鼎盛的时代。
  • She was a great singer in her heyday.她在自己的黄金时代是个了不起的歌唱家。
2 fabric 3hezG     
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织
参考例句:
  • The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
  • I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。
3 alligator XVgza     
n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)
参考例句:
  • She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
  • Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。
4 byline sSXyQ     
n.署名;v.署名
参考例句:
  • His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
  • We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。
5 fabrics 678996eb9c1fa810d3b0cecef6c792b4     
织物( fabric的名词复数 ); 布; 构造; (建筑物的)结构(如墙、地面、屋顶):质地
参考例句:
  • cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
  • The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。
6 collage XWYyD     
n.拼贴画;v.拼贴;把……创作成拼贴画
参考例句:
  • A collage of coloured paper covers a table top.一副彩纸拼贴画盖在桌面上。
  • He has used a mixture of mosaic,collage and felt-tip pen.他混合使用了马赛克、拼贴画和毡头笔。
7 dribbling dribbling     
n.(燃料或油从系统内)漏泄v.流口水( dribble的现在分词 );(使液体)滴下或作细流;运球,带球
参考例句:
  • Basic skills include swimming, dribbling, passing, marking, tackling, throwing, catching and shooting. 个人基本技术包括游泳、带球、传球、盯人、抢截、抛球、接球和射门。 来自互联网
  • Carol: [Laurie starts dribbling again] Now do that for ten minutes. 卡罗:(萝莉开始再度运球)现在那样做十分钟。 来自互联网
8 graceful deHza     
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的
参考例句:
  • His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
  • The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。
9 blots 25cdfd1556e0e8376c8f47eb20f987f9     
污渍( blot的名词复数 ); 墨水渍; 错事; 污点
参考例句:
  • The letter had many blots and blurs. 信上有许多墨水渍和污迹。
  • It's all, all covered with blots the same as if she were crying on the paper. 到处,到处都是泪痕,像是她趴在信纸上哭过。 来自名作英译部分
10 rambling MTfxg     
adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的
参考例句:
  • We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
  • It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

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