Just about a month ago while wandering through the library seeking a book on a specific topic, printmaking, I saw a book on Ian Hamilton Finlay. I was surprised at his age as I thought he was younger. Anyway, he body of work has fascinated me more than a few times since I have often worked outdoors and have a desire to continue working in the outdoor environment be it natural or manmade.

“Ian Hamilton Finlay, poet, sculptor and print-maker, who died on Monday, was unique among later 20th-century British artists. His refinement and erudition gave to the conceptual art of which he was a true pioneer qualities that were lacking in the work of many who would later claim conceptualism as their own. He was also, for all his personal quietness, combative in his own cause, and in the wider principles of art he espoused. In the early 1990s he had a run-in with the French cultural authorities over a sculpture they had commissioned. (He had overestimated their sophistication, in response to his ironical use of SS insignia.) It ended in his winning a single franc in damages.

Towards the end of Finlay’s life there were growing signs of his acceptance by the Scottish art establishment, after years when he duelled rebelliously with authority of all brands.” William Packer (Financial Times UK)

Acceptance, eh? Since Finlay’s work has not been shown in S. Florida, to my knowledge, it would seem we have a problem with work such as his. With all the subtropical foilage and many gardens throughout the state, Florida would seem to be a natural place for siting his work.

On the other hand, I do know many that get their freaking undies in a bunch when the temperature rises above 80 degrees farenheit. That’s one thing that really bothers me. If you don’t like to sweat, move to North Dakota. I almost said Minnesota except that I love Minnesota.

3 Banners
£200.00
with Gary Hincks, 1992
silkscreen