Daisy Rockwell

Radio Open Source Podcast

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:23:24 -0400

I had a wonderful interview with Christopher Lydon for Radio Open Source last week. The full interview can be found here.

From my Bookslut review of Stranger Magic, by Marina...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:21:00 -0400

From my Bookslut review of Stranger Magic, by Marina Warner:

Said’s thesis has unfortunately made little effect in the US outside of the academy. The greatest ostensible change seems to be on the use of the term “oriental” for persons of Asian origin, which is no longer deemed politically correct. Beyond this I have found that when trying to explain his theory, there is a strong desire to reject it on the part of those who enjoy the cultural artifacts of traditional Orientalism, such as the writings of Kipling, or Orientalist paintings. I have never taken from Said the need to denounce or cast off all Orientalist works. There is no need to wrap your well-thumbed copy of The Arabian Nights in brown paper when taking it to read on the train. You can hang onto your Ingres print and display your little bits of chinoiserie about your living room without fear. We are not coming for your Rimsky-Korsakov records. Take heart! If all the world’s art and literature were rejected for its association with the project of empire building there would be little left to enjoy.

“Downtown Bobby Brown,” a painting from my new post...

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:41:00 -0500

“Downtown Bobby Brown,” a painting from my new post on Whitney Houston at Chapati Mystery, The Journey of Everywoman. These paintings will also be on display at the Loo Gallery in the Dreamaway Lodge in Becket, MA, from March 11 through May, 2012.

If you are in New York City this weekend, check out Kanishka...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 09:26:00 -0500

If you are in New York City this weekend, check out Kanishka Raja’s installation “Switzerland for Movie Stars” at the Armory Art Show, March 8 - 11, 2012, Pier 94, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery. Not only will Kanishka’s paintings be a treat, but a faux-tourism pamphlet that is part of the installation, features a series of paintings by me, some painted especially for this exhibit, including the one above, based on a still from the film Darr.

My review of Craig Thompson’s Habibi appears in The Sunday...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 09:20:14 -0500

My review of Craig Thompson’s Habibi appears in The Sunday Guardian today. My (longer, with more pictures) version is up on Chapati Mystery.

The little book tour of terror takes me to Washington DC

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:25:14 -0500

This Wednesday, February 29th, I will be giving a Leap Day reading of my book at the Mortara Center at Georgetown University. The reading will start at 4 PM. Stop by and say hello if you are in the area! For more information, click here.

A review of my show in Philadelphia, by Victoria Donohoe Legacy...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:26:00 -0500

A review of my show in Philadelphia, by Victoria Donohoe

Legacy of difference

Since Daisy Rockwell left academia in 2006 - a Hindi scholar, she headed the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of California at Berkeley - she has been painting small portraits of iconic political figures, including some from South Asia and the Middle East (Nehru, Saddam) chiefly by referencing newspaper and Internet photos. This work is now at Twelve Gates Arts.

Rockwell is a granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, master of American genre scenes. Her artwork is sometimes the very opposite - he made the everyday iconic, she aims to bring the iconic back to the everyday. (I recall several sculpture exhibitions by her uncle, Peter Rockwell, in Philadelphia decades ago. A Haverford College graduate, he still has family members studying at Haverford. And her father, Jarvis, to whom she dedicated her new book, The Little Book of Terror, is an artist as well.)

Rockwell’s range of subjects here is quite extensive, from a dour portrait of a Taliban leader to scenes of visits to South Asia by President Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, and her sister Lee Radziwill. The two women are shown together, happily riding an elephant. But most of the other images are small brooding works, a few in lurid colors, which creates a dense, moody atmosphere rather than textural weight. The mix of cultural, religious, political and personal references to the subcontinent is somehow not confusing. And the portraits function as compelling, decipherable records of personal anguish filtered through a patchy, transfiguring screen. Therein lie both their despair and their art-historical interest.

Twelve Gates Arts, 51 N. 2d St. To Feb. 25. Tue-Sat 11-5. 215-253-8578.

Whenever anyone asks me what the pseudonym ‘Lapata’...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:49:37 -0500

Whenever anyone asks me what the pseudonym ‘Lapata’ means, I’m going to send them this photo, which the photographer, Slogan Murugan called ‘Lapataganj’ on facebook, after a popular TV serial. (link to Murugan’s website, Mumbai Paused)

Show at Twelve Gates Arts opening 2/3/12: Come see this and...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:17:00 -0500

Show at Twelve Gates Arts opening 2/3/12:

Come see this and other paintings in the series in my show at Twelve Gates Arts, opening February 3rd, 2012 in Philadelphia. All previously unexhibited work, mostly related to South Asia themes. Shown here- A Quiet Stroll: Jackie Kennedy and Jawaharlal Nehru enjoy a quiet stroll in Washington DC.

The Little Book of Terror: My new book, The Little Book of...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:10:00 -0500

The Little Book of Terror:

My new book, The Little Book of Terror comes out on February 1st, 2012, from Foxhead Books. The book launch will be at the opening of an exhibition of my paintings at Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia on Friday, February 3, 2012, 6:30-8:30.

Lecture and show in Waterloo, Ontario: I had a wonderful time in...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:07:00 -0500

Lecture and show in Waterloo, Ontario:

I had a wonderful time in Waterloo, Ontario last week, giving a lecture at CIGI with the help of Christine Fair, and also attending the opening of my show “Please Make it Stop!” at the Button Factory.

The best of all possible care: Former Iraqi leader Saddam...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 04:17:20 -0400

The best of all possible care:

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein,
upon being apprehended by US forces in
Iraq, was treated to the best possible dental
care before he was executed.

Acrylic on wooden panel, 10” x 10.”

I have a new Etsy shop! Right now I’ve got sets of Libya...

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:19:06 -0400

I have a new Etsy shop! Right now I’ve got sets of Libya and Egypt postcards up. Click here to visit. #fridgeart

Part of my new series on Libya. The rest are here:...

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:44:00 -0400

Part of my new series on Libya. The rest are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lapata/sets/72157627350962636/

The complete series is now available at my etsy shop as a series of 10 postcards. Click here to visit the shop.

Within a Budding Grove: A commissioned painting of Taliban...

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:08:13 -0400

Within a Budding Grove:

A commissioned painting of Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

Acrylic on wooden panel, 6” x 6”

After watching Gone with the Wind at an impressionable age, I ...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:06:21 -0400

After watching Gone with the Wind at an impressionable age, I became obsessed with the flexibility of Clark Gable’s eyebrows. I endeavored for many months afterwards to develop the muscles necessary to produce similar effects with my own eyebrows. I now bear the mark of my success on my 42-year-old-face: a surprising fountain of wrinkles originating from my left eyebrow and shooting upward toward my hairline that seem to have materialized overnight. At night, brushing my teeth before the mirror, I stare intently at the wrinkles and try to produce the facial expressions that created them. And then I naturally think about age, and about death, and about Osama bin Laden’s face, and what, exactly, the Navy Seals did to it that makes photographs of it unfit for public consumption.

-From my new post on the death of bin Laden and various other individuals.

Sajjad Zaheer: Portrait of Urdu author Sajjad Zaheer, for the...

Tue, 17 May 2011 05:01:07 -0400

Sajjad Zaheer:

Portrait of Urdu author Sajjad Zaheer, for the cover of a friend’s translation of his novel A Night in London.

Acrylic on wooden panel, 6” x 6.”

Pièce de Résistance: The final installment in my series of...

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:21:00 -0400

Pièce de Résistance:

The final installment in my series of paintings inspired by the 2011 revolution in Egypt. This painting is based on a photo of a couple that got married during the protests in Tahrir Square (my painting Honeymoon is based on a photo of a couple who came to the square right after getting married). This painting is much larger than the others in the series, which are all 6” x 6”.

Acrylic on wooden panel, 12” x 18”

See the full series here.

The complete series is now available as a series of ten postcards at my etsy shop. To visit the shop, click here.

Tiger (detail; full painting here) Russian premier Vladimir...

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 18:23:00 -0400

Tiger

(detail; full painting here)

Russian premier Vladimir Putin pats a tiger. Putin has championed the cause of the endangered species, and is said to have identified tigers as a suitable symbol for his reign.

Acrylic on wooden panel with gold mica flakes, 10” x 22”

Poseidon. Vladimir Putin with dolphins. (detail- full sized work...

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:13:00 -0400

Poseidon. Vladimir Putin with dolphins. (detail- full sized work here)