Lost Art #45: Place Charles de Gaulle, Paris

Hello, everyone! 

During this time that we've all been locked inside, there haven't been many objects lying around in the street, begging to be painted on. But now that we're all venturing back out into the sunlight again, somebody was kind enough to leave this wooden desk drawer out on the sidewalk for me to find, and you know what that means ... the return of Lost Art! I painted this one on the Place Charles de Gaulle, looking up at the Arc de Triomphe. I hope that someone will pick it up and take it home, perhaps as a celebration of our triumph over the lockdown period, or in hopes that we will one day triumph over the injustices that people are rallying to fight around the world. If you find it, please drop me a line to let me know! I wish you all a bright and liberating summer! 

This painting, acrylic on found desk drawer,  38cm x 42cm x 16cm, was left on Place Charles de Gaulle, 75008 Paris, on June 23rd, 2020, at 1:00 pm.

If you have found this piece, it is yours to keep, but please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #44: Square George Cain, Rue Payenne, Paris

Hi everybody! 

I know it's been a while. I've been doing a lot of traveling and have been distracted by other projects, but I wanted to lose at least one piece of art before heading to the states for the rest of June :). This one is on a disused laptop I found. I painted it in my friend Rich's favorite park, over in the third arrondissement of Paris (map below). Let me know if you find it! 

This painting, acrylic on found laptop, 32cm x 43cm, was left in the Square George Cain, Rue Payenne, 75003 Paris, on June 12th, 2019, at 1:00pm.

If you have found this piece, it is yours to keep, but please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #41: Place de la République, Paris

Hey everybody! 

I know, I know, I know. I'm always saying that the next one is coming soon, and this one has been coming forever. But it's been an exceptionally busy year. Since my last Lost Art, I did another big portrait commission, a site-specific performance and projection in Holland, and just finished installing a new audio/video piece for a group show back here in France. I've been spinning around, and working hard in all directions. But I'm always looking forward to getting back to this project whenever I get the chance! As for this piece, I actually found the broken chair and began the painting at Republique a while back, but just never had the opportunity to finish it and drop it off. So here it finally is! The plastic chair is returned to the streets from which it came. I hope that somebody finds it and drops me a line. Let me know if that somebody is you! I also hope that you're all having a lovely late autumn, and that the cold doesn't stop you from going out to look for art in the streets. You never know where you might find it! (I'm losing it everywhere!) It's great to be back :). 

This painting, acrylic on found broken chair back, 47.5 cm x 40 cm, was left on the Place de la République in Paris, on November 25th, 2017 at 4:30pm.

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #33: Place Lucien Herr, Paris

Hey everyone! 

How did it get to be summer already? I've spent most of this spring working on a big portrait commission, so I haven't had the chance to get out and lose as much art in the streets as I would like. But it has been beautiful painting weather! So I'm excited that this week I finally found a moment to get back to work on my favorite project :). I decided to visit a favorite 'stop and think' spot of mine. I've spent many quiet moments in this small park, and had some profound thoughts here. So it's a very special place for me. I hope I have managed to impart some of my fondness for this place onto the bar stool seat that I found in the street not long ago. And hopefully it will find a good home! If you know anybody in the neighborhood, share this post and see if one of them finds it. More to come soon!

This painting, acrylic on found stool seat, 32.5cm x 32.5cm, was left on the Place Lucien Herr, in Paris, France on June 17th, 2016, at 4:30 pm.

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #27: Grande Rue, Moigny-sur-École, France

Hello again, everyone! 

I know, I know. It seems like every time I post one of these lately, I'm looking forward to posting more often. But then I get swept away by the rhythm of life and it takes me another month to get one done. Hopefully the suspense isn't killing anyone out there! Once again, we've been babysitting the little house out in the French countryside this summer, so I thought it would be fun to venture into some of the neighboring towns to do some painting. Last year, I did paintings here in the village of Courances and in Milly-la-Forêt, the bigger town nearby. This time I went just beyond the hedges and did one in the next-door town of Moigny-sur-École. I found this broken-off slate of terracotta roofing that seemed to need a new purpose in life and I painted this view of the Grand Rue onto it. I hope somebody in town finds and enjoys it! I don't know if I'll be able to do another one while I'm out here, but as always, I'll be hoping I get to do more of them soon. I'll be going back to Paris next week. I'm sure there must be a neighborhood there that I haven't gotten to yet! If you have any suggestions, please feel free to let me know in the comments. 

À bientôt !

This painting, acrylic on found terracotta roof slate, 22cm x 32cm, was left on the Grande Rue, in Moigny-sur-École, France on August 20th, 2015 at 3pm.

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #24: rue Montmartre, Paris

Hello everyone! 

I hope you're all taking advantage of this beautiful spring by going out to search for abandoned artworks in the streets! With the weather a little more suited to longer walks, I've been trying to expand my reach a little lately. This week I found myself up in the 2nd near the rue Montmartre. While I was working on this piece, I was approached by a very sweet man who lived on the streets in the neighborhood. He said that he had found a pen recently and that he wanted to donate it to my cause. So now, thanks to my new friend, I have a new pen in my collection of Lost-Art-making supplies :). He left before I could get his name, but he wished me luck and he made my day. It would be nice if he turned out to be the one who found my painting! But if not, I'm sure that whoever does will give it a nice home. As for me, I'll have to make sure to use my new pen in my next piece! Thank you all for staying tuned, and if you live in a neighborhood I haven't been to yet, I'm always open to suggestions!

This painting, acrylic on found corrugated cardboard packaging,  17 cm x  35 cm, was left on the small place between the intersections of rue Montmartre, rue d'Aboukir, and rue du Louvre in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris on May 12th, 2015 at 6:30pm.

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #23: Palais Royal, Paris

It's official! Spring is now in full bloom. April in Paris, and all that jazz. The trees are leafy green and the temperature is getting very friendly. It even got a little hot while I was painting this one in the lovely garden at the Palais Royal. I headed over to the 1st arrondissement to do this painting so I could catch a glimpse of the Paris marathon on my way. I wished I could have been running in it, but since I wasn't registered, I was very happy to be doing something else I love: painting. Luckily, I found another soul enjoying the sunshine in the garden that day. I wonder if she noticed me painting her? In any case, I hope someone finds this one and enjoys it as much as I did! 

This painting, acrylic on found Styrofoam block, 22.25 cm x 22.25 cm, was left in the garden at Le Palais Royal, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris on April 23rd, 2015 at 4pm.

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #16: Midan Bab-el-Louq, Cairo

There's more Lost Art on the streets of Cairo this week! Unfortunately we've been offline for several days, so I didn't get a chance to post this until now. But I'm excited to have finally left a painting on the Midan Bab-el-Louq, which is a place where we have spent a lot of our time in Cairo. I had a very interesting time painting this one. There were lots of curious people who approached me to ask questions, but I didn't have an interpreter with me, so most of it I didn't understand. There was a nice painting teacher from a local art school who hung out with us for a while and did some translating. He was even nice enough to send a message in to the blog and say hello! I hope that maybe he, or one of the other nice people I met in this neighborhood, finds and enjoys the painting. At the very least, I hope that is not found and enjoyed by the creepy guy who works at the public toilet who tried to kiss me when I was getting up to leave. (You know who you are, creepy guy. If you found this painting, please don't enjoy it ;) ). But anyone else who finds it is more than welcome to do with it whatever they wish. And as always, please leave a comment and let me know if you found it!  Now I'm off to scout new locations for my next few Cairo paintings. Still a month to go here! If you're in Cairo and want to suggest a neighborhood for me to paint in, please feel free to let me know in the comments. See you in the streets! 

This painting, oil on found wood, roughly 32.5 cm x 70 cm, was left at Midan Bab-el-Louq, Cairo on October 29th, 2014 at 2:30pm.

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #11: Place Georges Pompidou, Paris

This week's Lost Art painting was left on the slope of ground in front of the Centre Georges Pompidou. It was a fun place to paint, and it seems like a natural place for some Lost Art to become "found." It's also my first painting on found concrete, which made it a lot of fun to carry across town :). If anybody does find it, and want to keep it, they'll have to work a little to get it home! I'm heading off to the countryside for a few weeks, so this will be the last one in Paris until the end of August. As always, if you know anyone in the neighborhood, who might find this piece, please feel free to share!

This painting, oil on a fragment of exposed aggregate concrete, 34.5 cm x 20.5 cm, was left at Place Georges Pompidou on July 29, 2014 at 1pm.

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #10: Place Dauphine, Paris

Lost Art continues in Paris again this week, this time at the Place Dauphine on the Île de la Cité. So far, there have still been no confirmed finds in Paris, so some lucky person has a chance to become the first Parisian participant if they discover this painting! I'll be in Paris again next week, and then out in the countryside for a few weeks (where I might leave a painting in some unsuspecting small village!) so this might be the last couple of chances to find one in Paris before the fall. Let me know if you or anyone you know might have found one! And I hope you're all having a great summer!

This painting, oil on found hardboard, 22.2 cm x 20.5 cm, was left at Place Dauphine on July17, 2014 at 1pm.

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #5: rue Charlemagne, Paris

This week, Lost Art made its first official trip across the Seine into the St Paul neighborhood in the 4th arrondissement. This is the fifth painting in the series, and still no word from those who have found the first four, but the project continues to spread! Over the next few weeks, Lost Art will make its first appearances in the United States (I'm talking to you, Pennsylvania!) so keep a lookout for them there. The series will resume in Paris at the beginning of July. I hope you're all having a great summer, and as always, let me know if you find one of the pieces!

This painting, oil on found broken wood, 31cm x 85cm, 

was left on rue Charlemagne near the intersection of rue du Fauconnier in Paris on June 8, 2014 at 5:30pm. 

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #4: Quai Saint-Bernard, Paris

The saga continues!! 

I can only hope so far that all my pieces have found happy homes. No word yet from anyone about having found any of them, but maybe I'm just not hitting the right neighborhoods yet :). There is, however, one great piece of encouraging news. The other day I heard from UK photographer David Wise who was inspired by the Lost Art project to leave his camera to be found on a mountaintop in Sri Lanka. He also wrote about that decision, and about my project, on his terrific N.U.M.A. blog, which I highly recommend. This bit of response, and the reminder of how far and fast an idea can travel, has definitely helped me find the motivation to continue. Thanks David!  Today's painting was left on the left bank of the Seine, which should be crowded on such a lovely day. And the wait begins again!

This painting, oil on found wood, 32cm x 14.5cm, 
was left on the Quai Saint-Bernard in Paris on June 1, 2014 at 12:30pm. 

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #3: Place Alphonse Laveran, Paris

It's time for Lost Art #3!

Unfortunately, I still haven't heard any news about the fates of Lost Art #s 1 and 2, but I suppose I knew it was going to be difficult when I started, and there's no going back now! So I've just left Lost Art #3 at the place where it was painted: 

This painting, oil on found wood, 21.5cm x 21.5cm, 
was left at the  Place Alphonse Laveran in Paris on May 25, 2014 at 2:20pm. 

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #2: Place de l'Émir Abd el-Kader, Paris

Hello again! It's time for Lost Art #2!

No word yet about the fate of the first piece, but the project continues...

This painting, oil on found wood, 23.5cm x 13.5cm, 
was left at the  Place de l'Émir Abd el-Kader in Paris on May 18, 2014 at 4pm. 

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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Lost Art #1: Place de l'Estrapade, Paris

Today's the day! The Lost Art project has officially begun. It was more difficult than I expected, leaving this first painting out on the streets. It started to rain as I walked away. But this is the challenge I signed up for. I look forward to seeing what happens next!

This painting, oil on found wood, 29cm x 23.5cm, 
was left at the Place de l'Estrapade in Paris on May 11, 2014 at 3:40pm. 

If you have found this piece, please let me know in the comments!

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An Introduction to Lost Art...

I've always had a hard time letting go, especially of my work. I've always been afraid that once it left my possession my work would somehow get lost, or thrown out, or forgotten, or in some way cease to exist. And I imagine that this fear is rooted in my fear that I too will someday cease to exist. And if my work is what I hope to leave behind, then I must do everything in my power to protect it, right? But this protectiveness I felt toward my work eventually became a crippling burden. I didn't want to show my art, or sell it, and at some point, I didn't even want to do it. I started getting protective of my ideas before they even left my mind. I was shrinking away from the very interaction with the outside world that I so desperately craved. I needed to do something to get back on the horse, to open the channels of creativity and exchange. I had to find a way to let go. And this is how I conceived the Lost Art project.

Being a bit of a pack rat, I have for years collected materials from the streets. Any time I saw a smooth piece of wood, a nice chunk of marble, a large strip of fabric, I would gather it up and carry it back to my little basement studio, where I would horde it in piles, imagining that someday it would be made into something even more beautiful than it already was. But that day didn't seem to be coming, and the piles just seemed to be growing. So, facing the possibility that I would simply run out of space in my cave, I decided to start releasing these acquisitions back into the wild. But not before I found a way to put my mark on them.

I decided that I would take these things I'd found in the street, these bits of wood or canvas or plastic, and paint on them. I would paint the scenes that I'd seen in the streets where I'd found them. And then, after letting the paintings dry for a few days, I would take the objects back out into the street where they were found and simply leave them at the locations where I'd painted on them. You know, because, if you love something set it free, right? I needed to experience the freedom of turning these paintings loose into the world and being forced to make peace with whatever might become of them.

I assume that some of them will be thrown out, some will be damaged or destroyed, and some will merely go unnoticed for countless cold and rainy nights. But I also have the hope that maybe a few of them will be discovered and find homes. Just as these objects appeared to me as 'found art,' they will now be lost again, and perhaps they will go on to be found once more. And perhaps their new owners will even turn them into new works of art, or give them totally different functions altogether. The important thing is that they will go on to have lives after me, and after my artistic relationship with them. Their stories will not just end in my basement, in a whirlpool of anal-retentive self-doubt.

But despite my relinquishing control over the destinies of these objects, I will remain curious about whether they are ever found, or appreciated, or hated or loved. They are, after all, things that have passed through the inside of me, and they now carry with them some trace of my vulnerability and insecurity off into the streets, wherever they go. So I have marked the back of each one with the title of the project, and the internet address for this blog, in the hopes that anybody who finds one of them might get in touch and let me know what has become of the work. 

In each blog post, I will include a photo of the painting, and a map to where I've left it, so that anybody who has found one will be able to recognize what they've found. Then hopefully, we will get some news from the future lives of these pieces. Perhaps we will see a photo or two of a painting in its new home, or one that has been damaged and salvaged, or even one that has been painted over by an artist who fancies their own vision more than mine and is happy to have discovered a new canvas on which to work. And surely, there will also be a few that are never heard from again. But I won't be able to predict or control which ones. And that's what I'm in it for. It's like art shock therapy. 

So if you're interested to see where the project goes, and what does or doesn't become of the paintings as I deposit them back into their native environments, please sign up to follow the blog. If none of the pieces are heard from again, I'll still be interested to hear whether you think the project is worth doing. And if you find one of the pieces, please do whatever you wish with it, but make sure to visit the blog and tell us all about it!