"Columbus(My Liberation) and The Cat".30"x40", Acrylic on Canvas $950
This piece was a collage of 3 Go!sketches that I felt needed to be seen. Usually I'd work off one sketch, but this one combined many many ideas from my life and my love for Greek Mythology. Everyone love the Cat at the end who is playing with the pause button or pushing it! Had to put a DJ in there also because Columbus or the Midwest in general is so much about music. This city has one of the best music scenes in the country and are what you do on weekends. What was also interesting was how my dyslexia helped create some of the line work. I can draw backwards and with my left hand sometimes and that happened with this painting in a few parts. The mysterious piece to this painting was I felt I needed to do an eclipse for the sun on this one and didn't know why, just followed it. Found out there was a world wide eclipse just after I drew it in. Life is so beautiful sometimes.
"Hope and The Sea Monster". 24"x36", Acrylic on canvas, $750
This is one of my favorite paintings of the group. I love the idea of SCREAMING HOPE! The blue colors are so vibrant in real life and this one has an electricity to it. Try and put a monster in each painting because life always has a monster. In this one someone just purchased a cruise ticket and the ship hits an iceberg and then 2 sea monsters are waiting for them in the deeps. The mysterious part to this piece was the shape of the country of Iraq appeared and I didn't want that (WAR) in my ART, because I am celebrating the foolishness of life. So I let my hand continue and wound up with a beautiful killer fish from the bottom of the sea, one that lures you in to eat you. How funny, still seemed to be about Iraq but much more beautiful than the cannons, helicopters, and minefields I had planned. Plus, it kept with the water idea.
"The Mountain and The Rose" and "Sun Pollution" Both are 24"x36", Acrylic on Canvas, and $750Hard to know where to start, but wanted to place the two pieces with roller coasters together. I used to draw roller coasters as a kid, A LOT! So these paintings were an exercise in joy and playfulness. I will have to tell you though, "The Mountain and The Rose" is about love and loss of love, that is why there is an ambulance. This piece broke me down along with the song, "Run" by Snow Patrol. With "Sun Pollution", it was all about breaking free and expressing yourself. Even the killer worm looks like he is dancing!
"Chicago and White Umbrellas" and "Scissors and A Clumsy Superhero" Both are 24"x36", Acrylic on Canvas, $750
Chicago and White Umbrellas is about death and rebirth. This was about my experience living in Chicago for the summer of 1997. I managed a coffee shop and felt rocketed to the future with all the amazing architecture. The white umbrellas are about peace and relying on the Creator or just where you are to hold you up. Funny how the hand of God is a back scratcher here. With "Scissors" this was a political piece but also a spiritual one. I had just had two Fascist experiences and was beyond upset! Good has to overcome Evil, but how? There was a lot of soul searching and I almost gave up at this time on the show. I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt destroyed. So it was time to produce a spaghetti wielding monster and superhero falling into a bed of nails. But by far my favorite idea is the runaway shopping cart. Wanted to call this one Spaghetti wielding monster and a runaway shopping cart, but you see why I chose what I did. What was also interesting was the idea of using French to convey a contemporary meaning in response to Fascism, as the Surrealists did in Paris between 1920-1940. Go!Paintings are about playing in the face of any problems, great or small. So let's Go!
" Symphonic Heartbeats and one Broken Heartbeat on the Balcony." 16"x20", Acrylic on Canvas $350
Special thanks go to my family for getting me through the emotionally hard times while producing this show. I couldn't have finished without their support. Another thanks to His Eminence Lama Duwang Rinpoche's wisdom and Buddhist psychology to aid me in these troubling times. Life is amazing with the right attitude even if nothing goes right. Go!Paintings are a time and a place outside of this space so we might have a reprieve from all of life's fears. I know I did over the past two and a half months. I hope you can receive some of the joy, hope, and love that I put into each one for you. Enjoy!
-Joshua 2007
For purchases or booking a show contact Joshua at jmseligman@hotmail.com.
Joshua with "Columbus(My Liberation) and the Cat".
Mmm...fresh organic French style snacks!
New Friends
Joshua and Best Friend Tom Gluck(Artist)
Myself and Bobber(Artist)
Myself and Shelly
New Friend, Lamont(Artist), and Myself
New Friend(Artist)
(Soul Mates) Mandy, Joshua, and Miles
Lindsay and Noah
Myself and Cassie(Artist and Catering Partner)Whoa! What a night...March 8th was amazing, had many more people come through and enjoy the new work. Made a lot of new friends, munched on healthy Parisian delights, and received 3 bids on my work. Met a board member from the Ohio Art League and my collector helped out with setting up. It was a fantastic evening, old friends showed up who I hadn't seen in a long time, and it was a nice warm fuzzy feeling in the air. What people were saying was, " Amazing, museum piece, the next level of Art, phenomenal, brilliant, powerful, and electric!" Other comments and the one dearest to my heart was the fact one guy said the work reminded him of Keith Haring or Basquiat but with more direction. YES!!! That is what I wanted. Wanted to step to the next level, the 21st century with what those 2 men did along with Joan Miro. The general manager of Q Bar was especially impressed and was already asking if I would have another show in the future. All I know is it was a job well done and a lot of hard work, sleepless nights, and preparation went into this show to make it shine. Special thanks to Paul Duda, Frank Peto, and Scott Burgin for making these works and event happen. You guys are the best!
-Joshua 2007
Secret Meanings: Go! Paintings are a cultural phenomenon. These paintings are part autobiographical but also universal. Everyone in, at least the U.S., is very busy, so busy it is maddening at times. I wanted to visually show this. It may not make sense at the time but there is a thread through it all, and that is our Path. The Path in the spiritual context is different for everyone but I wanted to create images to convey those truths. So yes, these paintings could be seen as something bigger, a revelation, or an aberration. Just depends on the viewer.
There were special moments during each piece for me. The ones most memorable were sobbing during the song, " Run" by Snow Patrol while I was painting, "The Mountain and the Rose". Yes, that painting is about the heart and love... Believe it or not there is a group called Morningwood and they have a song called, "Jetsetter" that always turns me out and was perfect with "Sun Pollution". On "Scissors and A Clumsy Superhero" the song, "The Story" by 30 Seconds to Mars took me to another place. With "Columbus(My Liberation) and the Cat", Madonna's, "The Power of Goodbye" reminded me of everything I have overcome since moving to Columbus, OH. Feel that piece is about spiritual growth for me and of course, the last moments of painting this final piece at 2:30 am, NIN, "Happiness in Slavery" from the Woodstock '94 concert, finished off the seven pieces and 9 weeks of work. No, I don't do drugs, these paintings were produced with Joy and Love, that is where the energy comes from. Love is more powerful than fear or hatred, we just have to plug into it and practice it, then, it just flows...
I hope you enjoy my new works, just as much as I enjoyed producing them, a lot of play and dancing went into these while I painted!
" A secret is something... you tell one another...so I'm telling...you, CHILD!" - U2's "The Fly"
With all my heart,
-Joshua 2007
Go! Painting: Sun Pollution, 2007 Labels: Go Painting: Sun Pollution
WHAT ARE GO! PAINTINGS???: Go! Paintings are...waking and starting your day, the American way Go!...Life twists, turns, and changes, before it stops...it is your day's journey...the line is a poem or story of someone's day, month, year, or life...it is everything and nothing...like dominoes it falls and changes...life, death, and rebirth...playtime...wonder...a fantastic voyage...possibilities...nonsense...tragedy to triumph...contradiction...and LOVE.
about the artist
josh seligman lives and works in columbus, ohio
email for purchase/public display of any of these paintings