Does having a show get any easier?

Every show is last minute.  No matter how much time I’ve set aside, no matter how many lists and deadlines I’ve put in place, I never feel ready.

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Over 25 years of gallery shows and I still can’t sleep the week before an opening.  The nerves are still there.  What has changed for me is the work. Painting is an evolution and I take great pleasure in the newness of what I’m doing. I used to wonder if my paintings were good enough or if people would like them (and therefore like me). Now the only question I have about the work is if people will understand and appreciate what I’m doing with the paint.  I know it’s good. The real journey, is to find my people, my community.  Not everyone has to like what I do.  What I’m looking for, is a connection with those of you who love it.

Gabriel Mark Lipper – Infinity – acrylic on panel – 36″x72″

Hanging a show is intentionally standing naked in the front of the classroom.  You know who you are. No surprises there.  Now It’s up to the world to decide if they like what they see.  This fear of showing up can be crippling, but it’s also what makes our art real. Painting in an echo chamber doesn’t make for strong work. When I know the work that I’m doing is going to be seen, I show up in a different way.

This new body of work is entitled Departure.  It addresses the physicality of travel, and explores the way that our lives can be beautifully affected, and even fragmented by the experience of something new.  When we travel, we can never return as the person we were before we left. The newness of our experience changes us. We inevitably bring a part of that newness home with us and leave a bit of ourselves behind.

Have you found your community of artists and art lovers?

Is the act of painting enough or does the work need to be seen?