“Change we can believe in” starts today with the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. There is tremendous excitement and anticipation across the nation and around the world that his leadership will transform years of political and economic gloom into a new era of peace and prosperity.
In the poem “Change” and the painting “Habitat,” Bruce captures the exhilaration of the new. An avid colorist, he uses yellow, red and blue to express vivid emotion and invite you into the space he has created. He once told me that to him, yellow means freedom. Birds, too, symbolize freedom; we see that even indoors they can fly unrestrained. (Are there three birds, or do we see the liberation of one bird: from its humble cage, to the table below, then finally into the air with wings outstretched?) Blue sky seems to be coming into the room. For Bruce, art is about transformation, and by “swing(ing) the brush” we can create change.
..
Change
A coat of paint . . .
Will change
The look of things
—
Give
. . . . New life . . .
. . . . . . .. .To the old joint!
—
So . . .
Step up and
SWing the brush . . . .
—
And . . . . . feel
—
The adrenaline rush
—
The
Saccharine hush
—
Of
Freedom!
—
The once-tattered
Room
—
Where nothing
Mattered but gloom
—
Has
Now
Become
—
A
Repository
—
Of
Most
Mellow yellow
—
And
—
I place my
Birdcage
—
In a
New
Paradise!!
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Habitat
Oil and mixed media on canvas, 48.5″ x 34″
Artwork and poetry copyright 2009 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.
Tags: art, artist, birds, change, inauguration, Obama, paint, painting, poem, poet, poetry
