Thomas Chimes: A poet chimes in

Neither Dali nor Mailer, but himself

VINCENT RINELLA

Imagine!
He lives here in Philadelphia!
& has been invisible
For years!
“Pataphysics”
Pulls you in.
But
Like Dali & Wyeth,
The conceptual questions
Are trumped,
By
The painting/ brushwork/ carefully wrought
Metal boxes.
Which keep you there.

Imagine!
He could have painted
Mailer or Bellow,
But followed
His bliss:
Jarry, Artaud, Duchamp & Joyce.
Have you ever seen a more
Beautiful painting
Of Rimbaud,
Facing his lover Verlaine?

Imagine!
His Crucifixion paintings
Transcending Matisse
In Vence
Or his Metal boxes
Surpassing Cornell’s constructions.
His Panel Portraits:
(48):
The frames as integral
As the paintings:
Wittgenstein embodying
“the science of imaginary
Solutions.”

And, penultimately
The White paintings:
Still lost in the
Snows of faux
Absinthe & Self
& (finally) Entropy:
Brush with White
Oil,
Apply glue,
Wipe off the glue,
Apply more white:
An homage to
Finnegan’s Wake:
Beginning where
We end.

Imagine!



To read responses, click here.
To read a review of the Chimes exhibit by Andrew Mangravite or Anne R. Fabbri, click on the appropriate name.