My Top Ten Favorite Poets, acrylic on canvas 1995 by Frank Gaard, Droid Shots,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 2012, photos © 2012 by QuoinMonkey. All
rights reserved.
There aren’t many things more satisfying than the combination of music, literature, philosophy, and art. In January we attended opening weekend of Frank Gaard: Poison & Candy, a 40-year retrospective at Walker Art Center. The work is a visual feast. Layers of eye-popping color on canvas, vinyl, and CD fuse the past to the present with timeless themes that stretch far into the future. By the time I arrived at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), Frank Gaard had been teaching there for 17 years and was a legend. From 1974 to 1994 Gaard was the mastermind behind Artpolice, an underground ‘zine about art, war, politics and life. The Walker show features over 50 works including portraits, illustrations, and sketchbooks (he has kept a dairy all his life) and runs through May 6th.
After attending the opening, I could not pass up the opportunity to hear Frank speak. Gaard On Gaard, his gallery talk on February 9th, woke me up. I’d like to listen to it again and write a longer piece. When you hear lifelong artists speak about their lives, you learn things about the craft that can’t be taught in books. The artist in me came away inspired by the strength of his voice; he was fearless. The writer loved the way he incorporated his love of writing, philosophy, and music into his art. My favorite paintings include his walls of portraits and his lists. Which of his poets would be at the top of your list?
RESOURCES:
Walker Salutes the Old Gaard by Mary Abbe – Star-Tribune, January 26th, 2012
Frank Gaard: Poison & Candy, Walker Art Center, 2012
Emily Dickinson Electronic Archives
Ezra Pound: The Poetry Foundation
Rilke at The Poetry Foundation
Bertolt Brecht at International Brecht Society
RPO Selected Poetry of Alexander Pope
Edmund Spenser at Poetry Foundation
The Life & Works of Vladimir Nabokov
Frank Gaard Portraits, Droid Shots, Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 2012, photos © 2012 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
-posted on red Ravine, Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
-related to posts: Does Poetry Matter?, Got Poetry? National Poem In Your Pocket Day, Emily’s Freedom
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QM,
I am not familiar with Frank Gaard, but that exhibit sounds amazing. Thanks for the additional inspirational resources. I am a big Rilke fan and read his poetry everyday as part of my morning meditation. Usually I memorize a poem of his every few weeks. Lately, I’ve been writing my own poems in conversation with some of his. I would love to read Navokov at some point, he is on my list.
Who is on the top of your list?
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Teresa, wonderful idea to write your own poems in conversation with Rilke’s poems. I am a fan of Rilke, too. I was introduced to him at an early age and have carried him with me. Same with Emily Dickinson though her writing is in a completely different style. The fact that you read and memorize Rilke’s poetry as part of your morning meditation seems to me to give you a deeper insight into who he was as a person. What a great practice.
Right now, my top poet of these ten poets is Nabokov. I had always wanted to read his work and learn about him. And when I found him on Frank Gaard’s list of poets, I took that opportunity to learn more. His life is fascinating to me. And I love the way he kept his poetry in books where he sketched on the covers and inside next to the poems. He wrote out a genealogical chart when he was writing his memoir. And was obsessed with butterflies which he often sketched.
Learning about a writer or a poet’s life leads me deeper into their work and that’s the way I like to dive in. I’d like to read Nabokov’s memoir Conclusive Evidence. And more of his poetry. The ways that writing and art play off of each other can be inspirational. I so appreciate you stopping by. Hope you are well.
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One more note on the range of these poets and the period in which they lived. When researching the links above, I found this timeline of poetry in English. It’s a simple structure and doesn’t cover everything, but it helps to put the poets into perspective by what was going on around them with other writers of the time. Kind of fun to think about.
Old English: 449-1066
Middle English: 1066-1485
Early Modern English: 1485-1800
Renaissance: 1485-1603
17th Century: 1603-1667
Augustans: 1667-1780
Present-day English: 1800-present
Romantics: 1780-1830
Victorians: 1833-1903
Georgians: 1903-1920
Moderns: 1920-1960
The Beat Generation: 1950-1970
The Movement: 1960-1980
Postmoderns: 1980-
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It’s a tie between Rilke and Dickinson for me. Like you mentioned, completely different styles. Variety is good. 🙂
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Robin, I checked the poll today and Rilke and Dickinson are tied. I am continuing down the Nabokov path for a while. I like to dig into one person and learn about their lives. I need to read more of his poetry. Sometimes I’m fascinated by a writer’s life or an artist’s life but don’t particularly like their work. Or the other way around—sometimes I’ll love the books of a certain writer, then hear them in person and wonder how they wrote them. That doesn’t happen all that often though. Usually learning about a person’s life makes the work all that richer to me.
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