The first would be Walt Disney. Although he is not remembered as much for his cartoon artistry as his vision of the future, is there a five year old child who doesn't know who Mickey Mouse is? Jiminy Cricket, Minnie Mouse and a host of other characters created by this man painted a visual canvas of fantasy that has thrilled all ages for decades. His vision of playlands for children and adults, created theme parks and made them a mainstay of Americana. His technological abilities, his ability to generate fantasy delights for all have made him an icon of the 20th century and beyond.

The Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel, The Thinker. These works of art were truly the creations of visual artists that may live forever. But can the grin of the Mona Lisa bring a warm feeling to small child as the story of Pinnochio can? Can the artistry of the Sistine Chapel make a child stand and stare in awe as the displays in TomorrowLand can? I don't think so. As long as there are children and even adults who take to flights of fantasy, there will always be Walt Disney and his vision.

The tying achiever of visual artistry in my opinion is Charles Schultz, the creator of Charlie Brown. Through his cartoon strips in most every newspaper in the free world, books, tv specials and holiday specials, he has effected more people in a short span of time than any other man in his medium. Showing the commonality of people while still showing their differences has made this cartoon a learning tool for children and adults of all ages. Sometimes thought provoking, sometimes sentimental, always humerous, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty and the rest of the gang are all characters we can relate to. While alot of visual artistry involves works of art on walls in museums or on pedestals in art gallerys, these guys are a living tribute to the vision of one man to make us smile and feel good about ourselves no matter how hopeless we may seem.

While people may not agree with these selections, visual art should be something that is ever evolving and changing with the times, not stagnent and stationary.

Mike
koehle@a-znet.com

Well, it’s just my own opinion, but to me the greatest visual Artist ever was a man named Joe O’Connell. While there may be other people who have painted their names in flashier colors with a broader brush that may have been noticed by more people, I can only speak of my own world of Art. And where I come from Joe is about as good as it gets. I may be biased; I am willing to admit that possibility. Joe was also my friend and neighbor and employed me as his “slave” (his way of saying “apprentice”). I worked for him after school for a few years and was also able to help him a bit with his final masterpiece.

However, be that as it may; I have been around on the planet a bit and have somewhat of a critical eye when it comes to sculpture and design and I have encountered few sculptors that equal Joe both in stylistic use of form and spatial design. By that I mean that Joe had his own style but he could get across the feeling of a portrait and his designing his work to fit into a space without overpowering it unless that was what was needed.

Another reason that I pick Joe is because he was such a great guy. I heard people exclaim after meeting Joe “he’s an Artist?? But he’s so normal!” And as far as people that I know who live a bit of what I think of as “Christianity”; meaning something like what was taught by Christ, Joe was among the most “Christian” people I have ever met, and I have met a lot of people who have called themselves that. Joe lived a very simple life, took pleasure from his work, his family and the world around him, was kind to strangers and always ready to help someone in need. Also, if you asked his opinion about something he would give it to you.

In 1995 I was chosen to go to Las Vegas, Nevada to represent Joe at the installation and blessing of his final work, a triptych of 3 large limestone sculptures for Christ the King Catholic Community there. Joe was too sick, the esophageal cancer had left him enough energy to finish and direct the crating of the trio of stones (8-, 9- and 10-tons). But by the time it went out on the truck he was pretty much done eating and he was too weak to make the trip. My trip was paid for by the College of St. Benedict and I thank them for it.

While in Las Vegas I realized why Joe had been so willing to do so much for the people of that community, they are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Also I saw for the first time the space that the piece had been designed for and what the lighting would be like and it increased my opinion of Joe’s genius. The pieces were designed to sort of challenge you as you left the church, you could get around it without looking at it but you must make a conscious effort to do so.

It took Joe 5 years to complete those stones and while he didn’t work on them every day, it was always there in the back of his mind over those 5 years, the memory of the space it was to go into and what the people were like all affecting the outcome of the project. Joe showed me the value of working slowly but steadily. Joe also taught me the ability to adapt from a mistake and make something better from it. Once I carved away an area of stone where Joe had been thinking of putting a detail. I stopped in time to leave him enough for something, and I think it works well, whether better than what he had intended, we’ll never know. Joe was very cool about it. Me, I have never forgiven myself for that and I stopped working for Joe for a while because I couldn’t bear to come in and see my blunder every day.

But in the end I did come back a helped him right through to the time that he died, and was sort of an honorary pallbearer at his funeral. I brought back a video of the installation and went back to his house once or twice to reassure him that it was indeed in place and that all was well. One of the last times I came back to reassure him (he was having a bit of trouble with his memory) after I had told him that all had gone well he said “yes, yes, never mind all that Dave, how were the casinos?” He kept his sense of humor right up until the end of his life.

You would think that, if a person is the greatest of anything that he must have some equally great friends, wouldn’t you? How about Author and radio host Garrison Keillor? National Book award winner J.F. Powers? US Senator Eugene McCarthy? Dorothy Day? Joe had an amazing array of very famous people who were friends that he never mentioned; they would just turn up one day. From College presidents to welders, they all were welcome if they weren’t too full of themselves.

He had a great sense of humor and of the absurdity of “the human condition” (a term which makes me queasy and I may have to edit out), it often featured in his work. I admire how he cast himself as Judas in some of his representations of The Last Supper, meaning that there is a bit of Judas in us all, even lowly Artists. In his final masterpiece he cast himself as a homeless person clinging to a very small bundle of worldly possessions. I have always imagined it as a bundle of chisels and a hammer, although it more closely resembles some sort of clothing.

Another thing Joe had going for him was that my father admired him, and anybody that my father admires is okay with me.

When I look at Joe’s work I see so many influences, of people that I heard him speak about and also some whom I didn’t. Michelangelo, Henry Moore, Eric Gill. But some others as well, like the people of the Catholic Worker Art School. And Albrecht Durer.

Someday, if I work very hard, I might be able to incorporate some of Joe into my own work along with some of those others. And perhaps, someday, if I play my cards well, someone might look at me and have the very odd thought “that Dave, he’s about the best there is”…

Well… I can dream, can’t I?

Dave Cofell
January 1^st, 2003
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!