Of Trash and Treasures: A Tale of Painting Reincarnation
Hunter-Gatherer, 2004 - Oil on Canvas, 8' x 5'
The Angsty, Tortured Artist - we all know this story, it's nothing new. An emaciated, pale boy stands rigid in a studio at 4 am and strokes violently onto a large canvas, working furiously until daylight. In the sunlit hours, his failures and mistakes are laid bare. Too many nights of no sleep, too many dinners not consumed...he picks it up by the stretchers and tosses it down into the dumpster on the street.
And then one errant day, another student encounters that painting lying wantonly amongst heaps of refuse, and she brings it home.
This is the trash of Dustin London, a graduate of the Penn MFA program. He continues to paint and draw in NYC. This wall size canvas was salvaged by a friend of mine. It lives happily ever after in her West Philly living room.
When she told me the story, I had to investigate. Judging from the pieces displayed on his up-to-date website, it seems that London has abandoned this more expressive treatment. His latest pieces are much more staid and consciously cerebral.
Hallway, 2006 - Tempera on Panel, 8.5
While he was still in Philly, my friend informed him that she had trash-picked his canvas.
His Response: "Take the canvas stretchers. They're nice. The rest is shit.
My Response: I beg to disagree. Onward and Upward, Dustin!
The Flip-Side
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