Remembering Robert Mapplethorpe

by Mitchell McInnis for Doc Schultz I remember the first time I encountered Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography. It wasn’t his photography at all; it was the idea of his photography. An ever-drunk Montana congressman was addressing a group of so-called young leaders, and I was among them. He was going on...

Gauguin Revisited: The Gambler’s Paradox

by Mitchell McInnis - Hauntings are often based on conjurings, so I was curious to find Paul Gauguin haunting my notebooks for months. Having always only been a tepid fan of his work, it was strange to find him recurring time after time in my scribblings. I’ve always been more a fan of his rogue...

Gauguin Revisited: The Gambler's Paradox

by Mitchell McInnis - Hauntings are often based on conjurings, so I was curious to find Paul Gauguin haunting my notebooks for months. Having always only been a tepid fan of his work, it was strange to find him recurring time after time in my scribblings. I’ve always been more a fan of his rogue...

Conversation with a Dead Man: Foucault on Facebook and Confession

by Mitchell McInnis Recently, I found myself in one of those pleasant, Saturday-afternoon pub conversations with a friend. Both of us tired and stressed out, we turned to constructing the perfect dinner party of folks both dead and alive… mostly dead. Leaving the conversation, I then found myself...

Francis Bacon: Atrocity Meets Heroic Color

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion by Mitchell McInnis “One’s basic nature is totally without hope, and yet one’s nervous system is made out of optimistic stuff.” –Francis Bacon Standing before the many canvases and triptychs on view at the Metropolitan...