Belushi Bacchus
Oil on canvas, 36"x48", 3/13/2013
Belushi in Paradise
John Belushi does not live here anymore. He moved to Heaven on March 5, 1982. He enjoys Paradise better than Earth, but at times, he misses the sweet exciting static of Saturday Night Live. John's special powers are his mesmerizing dancing moves and the ability to zapp his enemies with humor until they fall down in helpless hysterics.
All the Gods and Goddesses from all times and localities live together harmoniously in Paradise. All live peacefully except for the gods of war. Tlaloc, Athena, Muhammad and Jehova and their ilk find many enemies with which to tangle. The Holy Spirit, Zeus in the position of CEO of Heaven, commanded that the warriors are only to war with willing participants. "Leave the peaceniks alone". Also the warring area is restricted to the Jousting Arena. No trees, art museums or other environments will suffer from the devastation. War in Heaven is in one significant aspect different from war on Earth. No one dies. That's right folks! No grieving moms, widows or orphans left behind.
The Greek god of wine, Dionysus lived many hedonistic years on Elysian Fields Avenue. After about two thousand years of burning the candle at both ends, he outgrew self indulgent behavior. He made an afterlife change and began a rigorous meditation retreat with Sidhartha Guatama Buddha. The pantheon position of Holy Wild Liberator was left vacant. John was ecstatic when Zeus elected him to the position. John took the Roman name, Bacchus.
You can see that Belushi has been buffing up at the Olympus Health Club. Elvis, looking very fit himself, is his trainer. Elvis, as the manifestation of the Hindu God, Hayagriva, looks more handsome than ever with a horses head. His sexy snarl and molasses voice have not changed.
John is in training for another Mission from God. The Holy Spirit has commanded this mission: Bacchus shall refrain from meddling in human affairs for most of the year. He is allowed to incite hedonistic behavior only for Mardi Gras, and maybe important birthdays and maybe big celebrations. Bacchanalias are to be restricted primarily to holiday bashes.
Humans need to be goal oriented and guard their chi most of the year, so they should worship Demeter, whose powers are, giver of food, mother goddess, nurse, moral justice, and legislator. She presides over sacred law and occasionally enacts divine retribution. Hmm, divine retribution, that means if you are really bad she will get you. Don't piss off Demeter.
The Holy Spirit named these new behavioral guidelines, "The Balanced Life". He encourages humans to express their orderly, socially responsible side, and only occasionally let their wild side out of the basement.
This picture has captured Belushi Bacchus one evening just as the party is just starting to roll. He is tweeting, "Hot blooded humans invited now to the Burning Ends Festival. 6969 Desire Street, NOLA." Phrasing his invitation in euphemistic code so that only the cogniti understand.
Painting the Picture
This image has been my friend for more than a year now, giving me plenty of time to think about what it represents. Deities may be seen to represent certain human needs, desires. They are guiding stars. The Greek deities are known for bad behavior. Bad God, bad God. (Isn't the similarity between dog and god funny?) Zeus and Venus are known for their erotic episodes. Zeus raped Leda. Cronus ate his children. They meddle in human affairs and cause chaos. Greek gods, along with most all gods, encourage war, they order their humans to kill the infidels. In most wars both antagonists claim to have god on their side.
Note to self: focus, focus.
This picture started as a digital image. I used Caravaggio's masterpiece as a model. It is a humbling activity to redo a classical painting. Trying to paint after a master artist makes me aware of my limited skills. But the act of copying parts of the masterpiece challenges me to improve. Redoing a classical picture is like a performer singing, reinterpreting an old, much beloved song. I make an interpretation of an ever popular picture. So much classicalism is relevant today, some basic human attributes do not change. To make the painting "now", I add current props. I doubt that Carravagio ate bananas (are they from South America, which was not yet exporting to Europe at the close of the fifteen hundreds) . The banana is a Warhol reference. Parts of the drapery reminded me of O'Keefe.
Speaking of Bacchus, Wikipedia says,
He is also the Liberator (Eleutherios), whose wine, music and ecstatic dance frees his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subverts the oppressive restraints of the powerful
In Freud speak Bacchus is lord over the id.
I began the oil on canvas painting about six weeks ago. To begin, I printed out references, my digital Bacchus, Caravaggio's masterpiece, pictures of John Belushi, and some chest shots of hunky males. The canvas was preprimed and stretched. I sketched in the major lines with conte crayon. I did the first coat of paint with burnt sienna acrylic paint. Switching to oils, the color was deepened and blended (which is a specialty of oil) and I painted details. Belushi's chest hair was styled by Dancing Brush. Some areas got pattern rather than realism. In a few spots I used the tiny sable brush. I photographed the canvas and put it back in photoshop. I touched up the photo, because I am not such a good photographer. I rock with photoshop. The oil paint is drying now. I want to change some things, but, at some point the work must be abandoned.
