Arts & Events

“Park’s willingness to plumb personal memories and explore emotional issues is also suggested by the bold Standing Male Nude in the Shower of 1955. There canvas shocks with its size, palette, and aggressive composition. The male figure is life-sized, deep red against yellow and cerulean blue; he meets our gaze with an unfathomable expression made more obscure by the shadow cast over his features. There is no effort at eroticism here, no coy avoidance of the viewer’s gaze.” (emphasis added) p. 27

—Bay Area Figurative Art, Carolyn Jones, SFMOMA, 1990

“Park’s figures reflect another characteristic of the studio or life model tradition; they avoid any overt sense of the erotic. In his paintings and perhaps more significantly his private life drawings, he accepts the genitals directly, finally, without subterfuge and yet without special concern. He was interested in the total physical body and his response in the largest sense did not lack sexuality. However, he was not an artist anxious or eager to deal with erotic subjects. He responded deeply to the physical rhythms and structures other body, but without making an issue of eroticism.” p. 98

—The New Figurative Art of David Park, Paul Mills, 1988

“The appeal of a good model differs completely from physical or erotic appeal.”

—David Park: A Painter’s Life, Nancy Boas, 2012, p. 194

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David Park died in 1960, age 49. By all accounts, he was happily married to Lydia Park (later Lydia Park Moore), who was appreciative and supportive of his art, and the father of two daughters, one of whom, Helen Park Bigelow, is the author of a book about her beloved father.

But why must these critics, curators, and biographers place Park on such a chaste, hetero-normative, binary pedestal, as if we were still living in Park’s most productive period—the 1950s?

I’ve always been amused and cheered by Park’s rendition of what could be interpreted as outdoor gay cruising scenes, nude boys at beaches, young men walking purposefully in the underbrush, and other same sex groupings. I wouldn’t describe any of his nudes, male or female, as prurient, but they’re not shy either. -more-

Worth Noting:

What Did and Didn’t Happen in City Meetings November 16 – November 19, 2020

At the Agenda and Rules Policy Committee the City Manager removed from the proposed December 1 Council agenda modifying the status of the Berkeley Municipal Pier from design to planning and Councilmember Droste extended the time frame for the proposal to reorganize the City’s commissions to March 1, 2021. At the Children, Youth and Recreation Commission Scott Ferris announced that there were three proposals for the Berkeley Pier that would be presented to focus groups in December, the public in January, to Council for a vote in February and to WETA (Water Emergency Transportation Authority) in March. The Fair and Impartial Working Group Working Group report reviewed at the Wednesday meeting includes a section on accountability which was not well received. Look to the Activist’s Diary in the Berkeley Daily Planet for a more thorough review. https://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com



What’s Ahead

Finally, a light week with only 3 City meetings and a seminar for young people on Saturday.

Monday both meetings are taking up measures presented by Cheryl Davila. Her re-election defeat in District 2 is an enormous loss of leadership on issues of race and climate. In the 10 am morning meeting is the Declaration of Racism as a Public Health Crisis. The afternoon meeting at 2:30 pm is a Just Transition to a Regenerative Economy.

The Youthivism Seminar on Saturday from 11 am – 12:30 pm for grades 5 – 9 is on fake news and how to source reliable news. It sounds like a great start and builds on civics education. There are a lot of adults in this country who need an education in civics and could use help in learning how to identify fake news.



The agenda for the December 1, City Council meeting is available for review and comment and follows the calendar of meetings. -more-