"Headgames" Heads Out

...to a museum showing in Santa Cruz!
(click to enlarge a little; original painting 8 feet by 12 feet, and includes a spinning wheel at bottom, not attached here. phot: Don Jackson)

In 2005, after having attended Burning Man for 4 years, Tony decided it was time to become a fully participating artist. A local group called Easel Park, at that same time, came up with a plan to bring a gallery of huge paintings on huge easels out into the desert. The 'theme' for Burning Man that year was Psyche, and the painting we now call Headgames was born. Covered with hundreds of drawings (representing thoughts? memories? the unconscious?) beneath the outlines of a phrenology chart, it was a collaborative process (mostly the two of us, but with some drawing contributions from the amazing Chris Hataway's sketchbooks, our friends Michael, Claire, and more) and the genesis of the working method that would lead to the following years much larger piece.

Anyhoo, because of the 'Art of Burning Man' exhibition I alluded to earlier, I've been in touch with a curator at the Santa Cruz Museum, working on a similarly-themed show, and now this painting will be appearing there. So, yesterday found us on a 6-hour round trip drive (on a beautiful day!) to deliver this to their lovely facilities.

(update: it was unclear how it would get hung when we left there-- a 12 tall painting in a space with exactly 12 foot wall height, and no room to pivot the assembled pieces into place-- but we've since had confirmation that they were able to manage it, and that it looks great, so we look forward to seeing it installed when we go down for the opening next Friday)