By J.J. Tindall
Elegy for a Sign Painter
Loss: I think we
may have lost
our last brick wall
sign painter. I admire
the hell
out of this guy.
We venerate
recovered hand-painted antique adverts
originally painted in oils
(I believe – acrylics?),
ads for laundry soap,
ladies hats
and exterminators,
but I fear
we’ve lost the last
contemporary artist
in this idiom.
My own small productions
are so much more ethereal
and light, less tactile,
less solid, less boldly
colorful
and I envy
the skills
to bring a cold, glistening
bottle of Stella Artois
to luscious life
a hundred feet tall
on a brick and mortar
factory tower.
Thick, dense, vibrant –
hey: vibrating! –
color, a mastery
of scale.
Between Kostner
and Cicero, along the Ike,
stands the last great canvas
I know of,
which I pass regularly
on the Blue Line,
and which I anticipate
with relish
(particularly on the way HOME
from work)
especially as the adverts
change.
It’s something about
the ability to systematically
and reliably
conjure something huge,
hard and tactile,
pure but convincing
illusion, that excites
my envy and admiration.
Thick, bright primary
colors, impervious
to climate
or even graffiti,
a thunderhead
of unadulterated
commerce. Dude’s
got skills,
working perhaps
a square foot a day,
the way Warrenville native
Ivan Albright worked
a square inch a day,
spending two years
on a single canvas
for one haunting grotesque,
many of which are now stashed
in the vaults
of the Art Institute.
Last week
it appeared to me
that the new images
on the tower,
just west
of Garden City Laundry,
were pre-fabricated,
like any old
billboard
or cereal box.
Somehow,
it really
bummed me out.
Some genius
is out of a job
again, the mind
and hands of a true artist,
a fine muralist,
taking to the keyboard
to apply for unemployment
benefits online,
wiping off
the kitchen counter,
emptying
the litter box,
taking out
the garbage,
starting in
on the beer
a little earlier
each day,
wondering
if his wife
is really
at yoga.
–
J.J. Tindall is the Beachwood’s poet-in-residence. He welcomes your comments. Chicagoetry is an exclusive Beachwood collection-in-progress.
–
More Tindall:
* Chicagoetry: The Book
* Ready To Rock: The Music
* Kindled Tindall: The Novel
* The Viral Video: The Match Game Dance
Posted on May 30, 2013