Spring Break
Hudders probes his interpretation of reality
Zach Lindsey
Issue date: 2/15/05 Section: Entertainment
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He knew he was surrounded by colleagues, and, in some cases, even friends, and so he had no problem assuming a relaxed position, leaning
casually on a desk to answer questions.
This relaxation and warmth is reflected in his paintings, and it seems appropriate for them to be displayed at Northampton, where they'll be until Feb. 23.
Hudders paraphrased the playwright Sam Beckett, saying, "I don't think artists are the best people to ask about their paintings," but no one could give voice to the images better than Hudders himself.
His paintings, he said, are an "ongoing exploration" of his own interpretation of reality.
That interpretation is expressed clearly in his crazy cool cloud studies, which he wanted to show the "heaviness and substance of clouds," while at the same time expressing their lightness and airy nature.
It may sound impossible, but his clouds somehow manage to unite these two ideas.
His appreciation of the Manhattan skyline, and in fact, almost all his paintings of buildings, manage to seem peaceful and sublime.
But, his focus on soft images is at once his strength and his weakness, and his images of forests don't have enough detail to carry their focusing on trees. It's hard to blame him for that, though, especially after how much he stresses that artists are just people who sometimes make bad decisions. "There are some Rembrandts that really suck," he said with a smile. "He just didn't get it on some paintings."
There's no lack of respect or vanity in those words. He said it because he knows that art isn't limited to a few and anyone can be an artist.
He said he's been getting "more inspiration from writers and musicians these days than contemporary artists," and that comes through in his gallery show at Northampton, which is actually constructed around the ideas in the novel "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace.
Through the metaphor of tennis, Wallace expresses the idea that there is an infinite range of possibilities for beauty. Hudders tries to express that same idea in his work.
Some people think his art is a little weird, which he seems to get a kick out of. He's comfortable with the things he's created, even if not everyone is.
There's no fish in his "Still Life with Fish Bowl," but that wasn't really the point he was going for anyway. So, "the sense of weirdness," he said sheepishly, was not his intent.
"The world is pretty freaking weird as it is," he said, and he views himself as a poet or explorer, just adding his own visions and insights into that weirdness.
Hudders' paintings evoke a chill environment. Not all are masterpieces, but as Hudders said, "I'm willing to let my interpretation of reality stand."