New York Stories & Loft Living

Every once in a while someone asks me about the deal with me living in a loft, how that came about, etc. I always tell them about being in art school and seeing a movie late, late on cable one night with Nick Nolte. To clarify, the movie had Nick Nolte in it. Nick Nolte was not at my house watching TV late at night with me.

Anyhow. The movie was New York Stories, and the Nolte piece, "Life Lessons," was written by Richard Price (Clockers, The Wire, The Color of Money) and directed by Martin Scorsese (ummm... the Departed and a ton of other amazing movies). It features Nolte as an action painter, and it features him prancing around his loft painting up a storm.

So, I am watching this movie like 12 years ago and think, "I want to do that." Some of this was because Nolte's loft in the movie had a basketball hoop too, which I still aspire to, but mostly it was because I thought painting like that would be amazing.

And it has been. Basically, I tell everyone about this movie and if they are close enough to me I force them to watch it. Nolte does a great job as some de Kooning / Pollock / Chuck Close -ish combination, and Scorsese turns Nolte into genius, Christ, genius, tortured soul and all back again. It is very well done.

Looks like I will be talking to some UMASS / Boston students later in the month and I have been thinking of the importance of studio and space to your work. So, I was thinking about Nick Nolte and this movie. Came home and checked youtube and found this compilation of painting scenes. Maybe that is another reason I like it. There are moments here that seem to portray exactly what it feels like to be involved with a painting at times for me.

And on the topic of the Color of Money. What is better than Tom Cruise wearing a Toys R Us tee shirt that says Vince on it and playing pool with Forest Whitaker? Someone told me recently they were naming their child Vince and I thought of Tom Cruise chewing gum and playing pool... dancing around to Eric Clapton's "it's in the way that you use it."