And I didn't see even one third of the show, and there was another exhibition composed entirely of his drawings.
I had such a punch in the stomach that threw me back to where I came from to begin with. To the very beginning of why i want to do art in the first place. Delacroix's world is my world. The world of Michelangelo, Durer, Leonardo, Rembrandt, the greatest artists in the world that ever lived, and their spatial and chromatic sensibilities. This is why I like brown. And marble.
I had such a head spinning experience and there was so much emotion in me and so much taking in of paintings I couldn't sit still at the exhibition and will be coming back many times. Delacroix will be my beacon and mentor for the next few months. I will come back to see his work, and his words.
I reflect on why i think beauty is important. Beauty is important because it transcends and transports, and my own duty in this world is to produce as much of it as I can, and cause as much of it as I can in the world.
As I sit here reflecting on Delacroix, I think a manifesto of sorts, of what to do. I will do relentless beauty through works large and small. I will work with ideas large and small, that reverberate. I will put enough power, intellectual and worldly so these ideas have enough trajectory to shoot upwards.
I reflected on what I want to achieve with my Memory Replacement World Trade Center installation and performance - I want to overwhelm with beauty and color and life, with a human touch, with a personal stroke and with the closeness and within the personal space of a human being.