I'm Kenney Mencher. I'm an artist who left a tenured professorship in 2016 to pursue making art full time. This blog is about art, art history, with a emphasis on human rights. I make homoerotic art featuring bears, otters & other gay wildlife.
Cup, c2600–2500 Mesopotamia/Sumerian from
Nippur
Now in the MET
The cup, dating to
approximately 2600–2500 BCE, originates from Nippur, an ancient city in Sumer,
Mesopotamia, located in present-day Iraq. This piece, now part of the
collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a small and simple artifact,
measuring 4.49 inches (11.4 cm) in height. It can be viewed through the
museum’s online collection here.
Made from clay, the cup
is unadorned and reflects a utilitarian purpose rather than ceremonial or
funerary use. The surface appears smooth, likely the result of careful shaping
and finishing before firing, though it retains the natural texture of its material
without evidence of buffing or polishing. The lack of painted decoration or
intricate designs indicates it was probably crafted for everyday use, serving
practical needs in a household or community setting rather than as a grave good
or symbolic object.
The cup’s form is simple,
with a functional shape designed for holding liquids or small quantities of
substances. It lacks representational or abstract designs, and no space or
forms are delineated on its surface. This contrasts with more elaborately decorated
pottery from the same period, which often includes geometric or symbolic
patterns. The absence of such detail underscores the cup’s everyday function,
aligning it with items used in the daily life of ancient Sumerians rather than
in ritualistic or high-status contexts.
Its
historical context provides further insight into its role and significance.
Nippur was a major religious and cultural center in Sumer, and objects like
this cup would have been part of the material culture of its inhabitants. While
some artifacts from this era were included as grave goods, this cup’s
simplicity and lack of adornment suggest it was not created for ceremonial or
afterlife purposes. Instead, it likely reflects the everyday tools of ordinary
Sumerians, offering a glimpse into daily life in an early Mesopotamian
city-state.
Provenance
is the history of ownership and origin of an artifact, tracing where it came
from, who owned it, and how it ended up in its current location. It’s important
because it helps establish an artifact’s authenticity, cultural context, and
legal ownership, while also providing insight into its historical and
archaeological significance.
The provenance of the cup
ties it to Nippur, a site extensively excavated by archaeologists since the
late 19th century. Many artifacts from Nippur, including this cup, were removed
during these excavations and distributed to museums worldwide. While this has
raised ethical questions about the removal of cultural heritage, such objects
have allowed for significant advances in the study of Mesopotamian history and
daily life. The cup remains in good condition, with no visible signs of
significant restoration, reflecting the durability of the fired clay and the
care with which it was made.
Although the cup’s maker
is unknown, it was likely crafted under conditions typical of early Sumerian
pottery production, involving skilled artisans who shaped and fired clay by
hand or with rudimentary tools. Its lack of decoration does not diminish its
historical value, as it provides important evidence of the practical objects
used by ancient Sumerians in their daily lives.
Pottery has always been
one of the earliest crafts developed by ancient cultures due to its practical
uses. In Mesopotamia, clay and mud were abundant resources, really the only
resources, thanks to the region’s geography. The prevalence of reeds suggests
that the people of Mesopotamia may have also had a strong weaving tradition,
which could have influenced the decorative patterns seen on some pottery.
The earliest pottery was
created using the coil method, where clay was shaped into vessels by layering
coils of clay and smoothing them together. These early pots were fired at low
temperatures, making them relatively fragile. Everyday pottery was often simple
and undecorated, while vessels intended for tombs or special purposes featured
more elaborate designs. Over time, advancements in technique led to the coil
and turn method, in which a pot was rotated slowly (using a rudimentary
wheel-like device) to shape and join the coils more precisely. The potter’s
wheel, as we know it today, was a later innovation.
Decorated pottery in
ancient Mesopotamia was incised, etched with patterns, or finished with glazes.
Much of this decorated pottery is classified as slipware, which refers
to ceramics coated with a thin liquid clay mixture (slip) or a similar material
called engobe:
Slip:
A mixture of clay and water applied to pottery for decoration or as an
adhesive layer. Slip can be colored or left natural and typically provides
a smooth surface for additional decoration.
Engobe:
A type of colored slip mixed with metallic oxides or other pigments. It is
more opaque than regular slip and is often used to create a base coat or
decorative designs before firing.
Examples of Ancient Pottery
Pottery
is a great starting point for understanding ancient cultures, and there are
several reasons why it’s so important. For one, pottery is one of the most
common artifacts found in archaeological digs. It’s incredibly durable—made
from fired clay, which can last for thousands of years. Even when broken,
archaeologists and curators can often reassemble the pieces to study their
original form. Pottery offers insights into everyday life, showing us what
people used for cooking, storage, and rituals, as well as what they considered
visually significant or beautiful.
The four pots I’m
introducing here highlight a range of uses, from practical to decorative. They
also show how pottery designs reflect broader cultural patterns. The
decorations and imagery on these vessels, such as incised patterns or painted
motifs, often resemble or overlap with forms seen in other media, such as cuneiform.
Through pottery, we can see connections between functional objects and the
symbolic or artistic traditions of the cultures that made them.
Many of the pottery
pieces and artifacts we study were found in funerary contexts, meaning they
were recovered from burial sites or tombs. These artifacts were often created
for significant individuals, though occasionally items from the tombs of less
prominent figures have also been preserved. The state and decoration of the
pottery—whether simple or elaborate—help us understand not only the daily
routines of the people who used it but also their spiritual or cultural
practices surrounding death and the afterlife.
Textiles are an important part of Navajo culture. Textiles are evidence of cultural and geographic changes. Textiles preserve many of the rituals, symbols, and stories of the Navajo.
The Navajo people have experienced multiple forced relocations in their history, including in the 1860s and 1974:
1860s
In the 1860s, the U.S. Army used a scorched-earth policy against the Navajo, burning their homes and fields, and killing or stealing their livestock. In 1864, the U.S. Army forced around 9,000 Navajo to march over 300 miles from Fort Defiance, Arizona to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico for internment. This forced march, known as "The Long Walk", was intended to be a reservation, but instead functioned as an internment camp where soldiers prevented the Navajo from leaving. The Navajo were given inadequate resources and faced a dark period known as "The Fearing Time". Four years later, the U.S. established the Navajo Indian Reservation, allowing the tribe to return to their homeland.
1974
The Land Settlement Act of 1974 divided 1.8 million acres of jointly owned Navajo-Hopi land in northern Arizona, creating an artificial boundary that required families to relocate. The law made eligible families eligible for relocation expenses, and the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation was created to carry out the relocation. By 2018, over 3,600 families had relocated, and the office was still operating.
Navajo weaving has a history that dates back at least 300 years, with written records dating back to the early 18th century. The tradition began when the Navajo, a semi-nomadic tribe that settled in the American Southwest in the 10th and 11th centuries, learned from the Hopi how to weave. The introduction of sheep by Spanish colonizers in the 1500s provided a steady supply of wool, revolutionizing the weaving process.
Navajo women, who owned the sheep in their matriarchal society, were the primary weavers. They initially wove women's dresses by sewing two blankets together, eventually evolving into single blankets, or mantas, and then Chief's blankets. Navajo blankets were originally used for clothing and for trade with the Spanish and Plains Indians. In fact, in the past, a Navajo woman couldn't marry a man unless she could weave him a beautiful blanket.
As the need for warm blankets diminished, Navajo weavers began to create decorative rugs and tapestries, known for their distinct style and colors. Over time, Navajo rugs became more diverse and sought after, with some pieces selling for over $100,000 at auction.
The first blankets were traditional geometric designs that were almost neutral in terms of meaning. Many were based on geometric designs representing natural elements and possibly alluding to the story of the Spider Woman who taught weaving to the Hopi and Navajo. However, around 1910 the US government introduced French Rambouillet sheep to the reservation to increase meat and fleece production. However, the quality of the wool was poor, making it difficult to clean, and some weavers lost interest in the process. However, two things occurred with industrialization and tourism.
2 Navajo Eye Dazzler Blanket 1880's
The arrival of railroads brought an influx of tourists seeking authentic Navajo textiles as souvenirs. This demand sparked a transformation in the weaving industry, as commercially produced and dyed wool became readily available. The introduction of higher-quality wool and vibrant colors revolutionized the craft, making the blankets more desirable and valuable. This shift led to significant financial gains for the weavers and paved the way for the mass production of blankets for export, catapulting Navajo textiles into the global market.
Shortly after 1910, Hosteen Klah began weaving blankets that, for the first time, incorporated ritual designs. One of the earliest examples of these depicted a ceremonial dance and sacred masks worn by the dancers. This was highly controversial and some of the other clan elders condemned it as sacrilegious.
In 1911, Hosteen Klah created a controversial blanket featuring Yei Be Chei dancers and sacred masks. Local singers deemed it sacrilegious and demanded that Klah perform a ceremony to expel evil spirits and destroy the weaving. Instead, Klah sent the blanket to Washington, DC, without facing any consequences.
Hosteen Klah, a renowned Navajo artist and spiritual leader, is widely recognized as an intersex individual, born with physical characteristics that don't fit typical male or female classifications. This aspect of Klah's identity is significant, as it empowered him to bridge traditional gender roles in his community. In Navajo culture, weaving is typically considered a female activity, while chanting is seen as a male domain. Klah's intersex status enabled him to transcend these gender boundaries, exceling as both a weaver and a chanter. His unique perspective and abilities allowed him to create exquisite sandpainting rugs and perform important ceremonial chants, leaving a lasting legacy in Navajo art and spirituality.
Six years later, Klah shared his cultural heritage with Franc Newcomb, the wife of trader Arthur Newcomb. After witnessing a Nightway ceremony, she became dedicated to helping Klah preserve Navajo traditions through various art forms. Franc attempted to recreate the sandpainting designs from memory but struggled. Klah sketched them for her in pencil, which she then translated into watercolor reproductions. To avoid offending other Navajo, she displayed them in her bedroom. Encouraged by the lack of repercussions, Klah created 27 more paintings for her.
In 1919, Klah began weaving sandpainting rugs based on his ceremonial chants. His first piece, a whirling log design from the Nightway ceremony, marked the beginning of a new art form. Over the years, Klah collaborated with non-Navajo scholars, sharing his songs, ceremonies, stories, and sand paintings. Although his Navajo student, Beaal Begay, passed away in 1931, Klah continued to work with his nieces, Gladys and Irene, creating over 70 sandpainting weavings between 1919 and 1937. These artworks preserved the ceremonial sand paintings for future generations.
One of Klah's collaborators was Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who founded the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art in 1937. With the Newcombs' introduction, Wheelwright recorded many of Klah's songs and established the museum to safeguard his medicine knowledge and sacred objects.
The design on these rugs is a good example of Navajo weaving because it’s the end result of the contextual, formal, and symbolic elements are shared by many of the sand paintings and blankets from the 19th through today.
It is flat, stylized and almost diagrammatic in its rendering. Although it contains forms based on nature, it is neither illusionistic or naturalistic. There is no creation of depth or space, all the elements are pushed up against the front of the picture plane. The composition is radially symmetrical. The blanket made in the 1930s uses a less saturated or intense pallet of colors, but the one on the right uses more intense or saturated colors. The change in color is probably the result of changes in taste, possibly to make the blanket more salable, and the availability of commercially dyed wool.
The symbolism and content of the image also relates to the religion, ritual, and story telling of the Navajo. It portrays a story called the Whirling Logs.
The Whirling Log episode is a pivotal element in the Nightway chant, appearing on the sixth night, as well as in the Feather or Plumeway and Waterway chants. This iconic sandpainting is also referred to as the Floating Logs episode.
In the sandpainting, four gods are depicted clockwise from the top:
- Talking God (B'ganaskiddy), the teacher
- Calling God (Hastye-o-gahn), associated with farming and fertility
- Two humpbacked guardians, dressed alike, representing seed gatherers and bearers
The gods carry prayer sticks, while Talking God also holds a medicine pouch in the shape of a weasel. The sandpainting shows the hero's encounter with a whirling cross, where he learns about farming and receives seeds from the Yei pair (male and female deities). The plants - corn, beans, squash, and tobacco - are depicted in the four sacred colors (white, blue, yellow, and black) according to their cardinal positions.
The Rainbow Yei, a guardian god, is portrayed on the right side, bottom, and left side of the sandpainting. A blue circle may be drawn at the intersection of the cross, representing the whirlpool that was the hero's destination. In Navajo sand paintings, figures typically move towards the sunrise or clockwise, with the east (top) being the orientation of the hogan's door, symbolizing the dawn's light.
The Whirling Log is a sacred symbol in Navajo culture that represents wellbeing, good luck, and protection. It's one of the oldest symbols depicted by humans, with recordings in rock and cave paintings dating back at least 6,000 years. Navajos used sand paintings to portray the Whirling Log in their religious ceremonies until the late 1800s, and by 1896 the symbol was also appearing on Navajo rugs. Some weavers still incorporate the Whirling Log into their textiles today.
The idea of animal symbols relating to family lineage and name is part of the iconography of the art. The exteriors of many of the plank houses are decorated with recognizable animals, such as ravens, eagles, frogs, bears, etc. The use of animal symbols relates to the naming and status of the individuals who use the structure. The central pillars of the house, the poles carved with totemic symbols or crests, is a stacking or combining of lineage and naming. Sometimes, the doorways are portals that are metaphors for birth or transformation.
Both the Tlingit Clan House and the Tlingit Grizzly Bear House Partition Screen, are a part of or a work of decorative architecture. The clan house is made of planked and carved wood which is then painted. The facade (front or facing) of the building is decorated with stylized anthropomorphic (human) and zoomorphic (animal like) forms
The decorations are sometimes enhanced by incising or carving lines around the forms in a type of relief sculpture. Relief sculpture is when the features are attached or engaged with the surface they are carved from. In this case the relief is very low (bass relief) and doesn’t project much from the surface.
The features and animal’s anatomy are unrealistic. They are not naturalistic even though they are based on animals and forms found in nature. They look a bit like a cartoon depiction and are stylized in a way that was invented by the cultures that produced them.
The stylized and outlined renderings or design of these forms, according to art historian Marilyn Stokstad, consists of "two basic elements: the ovoid, a slightly bent rectangle with rounded corners, and the formline, a continuous shape-defining line." The ovoid form is a stylized in a geometric fashion. The formline could also be referred to as a contour line. Both the partition and the facade of the clan house are symmetrical. The doorway is at the center of the design.
Tlingit, Grizzly Bear House, c 1840 cedar paint and human hair
Another shared element of art from the Northwest Coast is that there are images of faces and animals combined or placed within the bodies and forms of the largest creatures. In the Grizzly Bear Partition, there are faces within the hands, eyes, and nose of the bear. It is possible that this compounding of images is related to lineage in the same way that the stacking of crest animals in the poles is a kind of “family tree.” It may also be related to the ideas of the spirit or soul of the animal being anthropomorphic or made up of another creature inside another. Like the pine needle inside the Princess. There are also shaman or priests who believe that they can transform or wear the body of an animal and travel about in it.
The house may be a symbol of transformation or birth. In the case of the Grizzly Bear screen the doorway is place where a vagina is located. Moving through the doorway is then a symbol of birth. Some houses openings are painted to look like the mouths of animals and or birds. Some are even hinged beaks. The houses then consume or eat the person who enters the structure. These kinds of visual metaphors of consumption are part of the Raven story. At one point the princess consumes the Raven as a pine needle and then gives birth to him. After the Raven steals the planets and releases them, he escapes from the King’s house and is reborn and transformed into a black bird.
The totem poles and compound imagery of the partition and facade represent the history of the clan. Each image represents the lineage of the clan that uses the house. Each of the animals is associated with a society, family, or grouping.
Houses such as the one above were communal dwellings. The screen at left was used to divide the chief's living area from the rest of the community. Houses were also used as ceremonial centers in which special festivals such as the Potlatch and Hamatsa ceremonies were held. The Potlatch was an elaborate feasting, dancing, and gathering that lasted for several days. Often dancing societies, each with its own crests and dances, would perform and reenact important stories or histories central to the culture. Gifts were exchanged and dances were performed. The most powerful individuals were the ones who gave the feast and in some ways the festival was an elaborate way in which the participants battled in an economic fashion. In 1885, the federal government enacted a law prohibiting the Potlatch, claiming that the Kwakwaka'wakw were harming themselves economically.
During the Potlach ceremonies, there are dancers who wear masks and costumes that depict supernatural creatures and reenact the stories that are associated with them. The function of these performance and story telling is a way of unifying the culture the culture, keeping ideas alive, communicating cultural values. They also entertain. Two characters, Bakwas and his wife Dzunukwa are probably cautionary tales similar to ghost stories like La Llorona in Mexico. La Llorona is a story that warns kids to stay home at night and keeps them away from water where they might drown. In the case of Bakwas and Dzunukwa, the two are also ghosts. They might have the benefit of communicating “stranger danger” to children and to warn children against wandering too far from home, accepting food from strangers and keeping them from places where the children could easily drown.
Anyone using an old version of Dragonspeak dictation software by Nuance? Careful about reinstalling a legacy version!
I have been uaing Dragonspeak for years. Version 13.0. When I bought a new computer, I tried installing the legacy version. I had everything, the serial number, activation key, everything. Here's the tricky part.
After I installed it and clicked on the link within the program, it brought me to a website to register and or activate it. The website had somehow hacked or diverted an address for the 5 year old version and was attempting to install malware.
I Googled customer support and stupidly clicked on a "sponsored site" on Google, called the help line and it was a hacking scam. I didn't fall for it but the site and the scammer were really good and professional sounding. Still with me?
I found the right number on a Nuance site (not Dragonspeak) and asked for help with version 13.0. They said no. Buy the newer $700 version. They don't support old software.
Okay.
Then I told them about the fake clone sites and the attempted scams. I tried to give them URLs etc. They clearly didn't care and I'm sure they thought I was too much trouble. I guess I'll never use a Nuance product again.
Transition, 12x16x1.5 inches oil on stretched canvas by Kenney Mencher $425
This painting also is important to me because it allows me to express my feelings about gay relationships, body positivity and representing people who often are at the very least, not represented by mainstream culture in a positive way, and also not seen as being beautiful. It’s very clear to me that there are a lot of people who find this kind of body type attractive or beautiful. I certainly do and that’s why I like to paint them.
This painting took a couple of weeks to complete. My working method is that I will often spend a couple of days sketching out or drawing compositions on anywhere between three to 10 canvases with a crayon to try to get the underdrawing correct and work on the compositions. Sometimes these underdrawings are actually very detailed and I’ll even shade them and make marks on them to give myself a sense of of the direction of the brush marks. One of the things I really like to do is draw and so this satisfies my need to make a study for the painting. I also sometimes make detailed crayon drawings on paper in preparation for these kinds of paintings. The next step is to put down a fairly thick painting on the canvas that I know that I will paint over in later days. This often takes an additional day.
After letting the painting dry for several days, often even letting it sit for a week or two, I’ll return to the painting and start by mixing up large batches of thick, gooey, pasty, paint. I don’t like to thin down the paint because I want the textures to mimic the direction of the planes and contours of the skin and muscles of the figures. I like to use thick hog’s hair bristles brushes to make the painting because then you can really see the brushwork. I vary the textures by sometimes using sable brushes and I’ll even use plastering knives and palette knives to continue to sculpt or apply the paint. If you look at the painting up close you’ll see that the skin and the hair have distinctly different textures as does the background.
This painting also is important to me because it allows me to express my feelings about body positivity and representing people who often are at the very least, not represented by mainstream culture in a positive way, and also not seen as being beautiful. It’s very clear to me that there are a lot of people who find this kind of body type attractive or beautiful. I certainly do and that’s why I like to paint them. Many straight folks are unaware of the bear subculture. Hardly a surprise, since a powerful majority rarely concerns itself with the doings of a marginalized minority. When, three or four years ago, I first mentioned bears to my straight friends, none of them knew what I was talking about, though by now at least one of them calls me “The Bear.” Similarly, my heterosexual students, as expert as they might be on current media, seem equally ignorant about this topic.
Most GLBT folks, however, by now seem to know the basics. A “bear” is a hairy, bearded, brawny-to-bulky gay man, usually displaying aspects of traditional masculinity. A cub is a younger version of the same; a wolf is a lean, hairy man; an otter a young version of that. “Woof!” is a lustful expression, meaning essentially: “Tasty! I’d like to climb all over that!” “Grrrrr!” means much the same. As you can see, after twenty-some years of development, the bear community, like any subculture, has its own jargon, sometimes called “bearspeak” or “vocabulary.” It also has its own values, its own style, and its own commodities. There are bear-oriented bars, festivals, music, movies, magazines, and books. There are regional clubs for bears not only in metropolitan centers, where the communities first developed, but also in rural areas.
Since this is on stretched canvas with 1 ½ inch wide stretcher bars and the canvas is wrapped around the back, you don’t necessarily need to frame this piece. You could just stick a nail in the wall and Hang the piece on the wall. Another way of finishing the painting off and making it fit with your décor would be to paint the edges. If you do choose to frame this painting, please don’t go to a framer since they are very expensive, you could easily buy an open back frame from a website like Dickblick.com or Amazon or Etsy since this is a standard size frame.
The biography of Francis Bacon is filled with bizarre anecdotes about him trying on women’s clothing when he was a kid, a film in the 1990s featured his relationship with a burglar named George Dyer fell through his studio skylight into his home and he became lovers with a guy. The guy who played James Bond plays Francis Bacon’s lover. Elements of the film and his biography are quite surreal however, when they first started exhibiting his work at one point he was rejected from exhibit for not being surreal enough.
Again, context is everything and Francis Bacon can be linked to other art giants of the 20th century such as Lucian Freud and other Surrealists. The fact that he comes from the upper crust of English society probably did not hurt his career. As an upper-class educated white male (although many biographies insist he didn’t have much education as a child because he was asthmatic) his position in in wealthy English society during the 1930s and 40s Francis Bacon had access to design schools and art history. His formal education, more or less as an interior and furniture designer.
I am sure his education in general probably provided him with enough information that he could in some ways see the art of art history and incorporate ideas from earlier periods into his work later. Probably some of the biggest influences on him were the early surrealist movement of Dada however, it’s clear his knowledge of art history and such figures as Rembrandt as well as Edvard Munch are clearly referenced in his work. So Francis Bacon is clearly the air to a long continuous line of European artists who reference art history and re-appropriate ideas from earlier periods.
In the same way that some pop musicians’ “sample” earlier works and incorporate things like baselines and themes into new compositions Francis Bacon borrowed from Velasquez, Edward Munch, and Rembrandt. Almost in a form of a kind of the equation in which one plus one plus one equals Francis Bacon.
If you were to describe his work in terms of the formal qualities probably one of the most interesting and important elements in his work is that he paints on the reverse side of canvases. I learned this in watching a documentary video about him in which he described part of his process. He explains that one day she had run out of canvases and so flipped a canvas to the raw side that was on prime unfinished and he liked how the mark making he made was permanent and indelible and so he decided to continue working on raw canvas.
Today, this is caused a lot of problems for conservators and museums that hold Bacon’s work in their collections. The reason being that oil paint interacts with open weave cotton or linen canvas and has a kind of rotting effect on the canvas that the oil paint is adhered to. That’s one of the reasons why artists gesso or prepare the canvas. It keeps the canvas from rotting or interacting in a way with the oil paint in such a way that the painting will deteriorate over time. Bacon was not afraid to experiment with materials and with ideas.
The color in Francis Bacon’s paintings is probably strongly influenced by Munch’s painting and from other expressionist artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. These artists used color often straight from the tube in a nonlocal highly your or saturated way. The colors, and the randomness of the choices being very different from the idea of warm and cool colors used by the Impressionists who often used nonlocal color.
The paint texture of these reverse canvas paintings is often very thin with flight thick paint called impastos in various areas. More important than the color and the paint quality are probably his use of lines and some geometric forms. For example, in his study after Velazquez’s portrait, not only does Bacon smear the paint in vertical long stripes, he also does a similar thing to the face in which he smears the face in vertical stripes. He surrounds the figure with almost cartoonlike motion lines at the base of the figure which gives the overall composition a sense of flaring from the bottom and moving up towards the top in an explosive way. The yellow diagonal and almost horizontal lines surrounding the throne are references to the throne but Francis Bacon also used similar forms and arrows like this in many of his other paintings. Some historians have interpreted this as being taken from his training as a designer.
Francis Bacon is not really interested in traditional things such as the accurate portrayal of anatomy, or shading and value structure. When he uses paint, and the way he uses it, is probably closer to how the German expressionists used paint as a way to portray feelings and or emotions, especially those that are unsettling or violent. The symbols Bacon uses in many of his paintings speak to some of this unease or violence.
Doing an iconographic analysis of Francis Bacon’s paintings, one can see that he is clearly references art historical sources but uses the symbols in a kind of reversal or reinterpretation of them. It is very possible that Bacon is referencing his own sexuality and in particular his proclivity towards rough gay sex that included fairly violent fantasies acted out by his “rough trade” sex partners.
Another strong influence on his iconography and imagery is that he collected some medical journals and was very interested in 19th century scientific photographers such as Eadweard Muybridge. In one documentary Bacon talked extensively about the imagery in some 19th century dental journals that showed mouths being held open by medical instruments. This is directly referenced in the mouths in many of his paintings. In the documentary, Bacon talked about his fascination with these images and that he found the flesh of the open mouths “beautiful” and “sensuous.”
The most popular interpretations of Bacon’s series of “Pope” paintings after Velazquez are that they are an expression of the authoritarianism of the Catholic Church and possibly how the Church might view his sexual orientation and proclivities. However, he seems to have never made a definitive statement as to what he intended them to mean. The facts are as follows:
He collected art books and medical journals that he used as reference material, he began painting his “Popes” in 1946 and stopped painting them in the in the mid-1960s and even called the series “silly.” Although he is known to own many reproductions of Velazquez’s painting of Pope Innocent, historians often comment on the fact that he did not see the painting when he visited Rome in 1954.
When you research Bacon’s work many of the scholars who write about and interpret the work often include their own “baggage” of ideas in their interpretations of the work often making connections and leaps to film references and other imagery they assume Bacon would have known. In keeping with the Dada and surrealist notions that their paintings came directly out of their own unconscious and dream state Bacon’s works are perfectly aligned in their mission however, it’s possible that the interpretations of the work were meant to be points of departure for the audience viewing them. Bacon might not have had a conscious intention of what they meant to him and what the symbols meant.
Northern Bear, 24x36x1.5 inches oil on stretched canvas by Kenney Mencher $1200
I don’t usually let myself make too many large paintings because they are often too expensive and maybe even too large for my collectors, but they are so much fun to make and I always imagine how they might look in a museum! A big painting holds a wall, makes a statement and there is so much more room for me to experiment with texture, layering, and color.
I made a version of this painting last year and it was 18 by 24 inches. Since that time, the painting has gone viral on Tumblr. It’s been shared almost 1000 times across the platform. In a way social media has allowed me to understand who my “tribe” is and what I can do and what sort of paintings I should make that would please them. This also connects to my desire to make a painting in another format and try other things out. In a way, the smaller older version, is a kind of rehearsal or study for this large painting.
This painting took a couple of weeks to complete. My working method is that I will often spend a couple of days sketching out or drawing compositions on anywhere between three to 10 canvases with a crayon to try to get the underdrawing correct and work on the compositions. Sometimes these underdrawings are actually very detailed and I’ll even shade them and make marks on them to give myself a sense of of the direction of the brush marks. One of the things I really like to do is draw and so this satisfies my need to make a study for the painting. I also sometimes make detailed crayon drawings on paper in preparation for these kinds of paintings. The next step is to put down a fairly thick painting on the canvas that I know that I will paint over in later days. This often takes an additional day.
After letting the painting dry for several days, often even letting it sit for a week or two, I’ll return to the painting and start by mixing up large batches of thick, gooey, pasty, paint. I don’t like to thin down the paint because I want the textures to mimic the direction of the planes and contours of the skin and muscles of the figures. I like to use thick hog’s hair bristles brushes to make the painting because then you can really see the brushwork. I vary the textures by sometimes using sable brushes and I’ll even use plastering knives and palette knives to continue to sculpt or apply the paint. If you look at the painting up close you’ll see that the skin and the hair have distinctly different textures as does the background.
This painting also is important to me because it allows me to express my feelings about body positivity and representing people who often are at the very least, not represented by mainstream culture in a positive way, and also not seen as being beautiful. It’s very clear to me that there are a lot of people who find this kind of body type attractive or beautiful. I certainly do and that’s why I like to paint them.
Many straight folks are unaware of the bear subculture. Hardly a surprise, since a powerful majority rarely concerns itself with the doings of a marginalized minority. When, three or four years ago, I first mentioned bears to my straight friends, none of them knew what I was talking about, though by now at least one of them calls me “The Bear.” Similarly, my heterosexual students, as expert as they might be on current media, seem equally ignorant about this topic.
Most GLBT folks, however, by now seem to know the basics. A “bear” is a hairy, bearded, brawny-to-bulky gay man, usually displaying aspects of traditional masculinity. A cub is a younger version of the same; a wolf is a lean, hairy man; an otter a young version of that. “Woof!” is a lustful expression, meaning essentially: “Tasty! I’d like to climb all over that!” “Grrrrr!” means much the same. As you can see, after twenty-some years of development, the bear community, like any subculture, has its own jargon, sometimes called “bearspeak” or “vocabulary.” It also has its own values, its own style, and its own commodities. There are bear-oriented bars, festivals, music, movies, magazines, and books. There are regional clubs for bears not only in metropolitan centers, where the communities first developed, but also in rural areas.
Since this is on stretched canvas with 1 ½ inch wide stretcher bars and the canvas is wrapped around the back, you don’t necessarily need to frame this piece. You could just stick a nail in the wall and Hang the piece on the wall. Another way of finishing the painting off and making it fit with your décor would be to paint the edges. If you do choose to frame this painting, please don’t go to a framer since they are very expensive, you could easily buy an open back frame from a website like Dickblick.com or Amazon or Etsy since this is a standard size frame.
This an alla prima painting that was completed in a 12 hour session.
Alla prima refers to a direct painting approach where paint is applied wet on wet without letting earlier layers dry. In Italian, the term alla prima means “at first attempt”.
Paintings created in this approach are usually completed within a single session. This made it popular with the Impressionists, as they were able to more easily capture the fleeting light and color of the environment.
I like to experiment and bounce back and forth between different kinds of techniques and styles as I work in my studio. I think he keeps me fresh as a painter and I don’t slavishly create the same kind of painting over and over again.
One of the things that my new batch of paintings has in common is the fact that I’m trying to incorporate a little bit more of an environment around some of the figures to create a little bit more of a story or a bit of mystery about who the character is and what they’re doing. Another thing that I’ve been incorporating into some of my new work works is a little bit more the use of blues and a fuller spectrum or palette of colors.
This painting still has a lot of the main themes that I like to work with such as,older hairier men and the idea of appreciating different body types. I like to represent everyone rather than just a tiny cross-section of humanity.
This was painted on a canvas panel, which is a very sturdy ground or surface for a painting. It won’t flex a lot and is less likely to be damaged in shipping then stretched canvases. Although I tend to be really good at boxing and packaging the paintings I ship. This is a standard size and you won’t have much trouble finding it’s called an “open back” painting or framing kit on the web or at a local art store.
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