It’s one week before the big opening at Cannery Row Studios. Artist John Teague and gallery owner Richard Stephens are done for the day. Oh, wait, now it’s time to face the nation – or at least the local media.
“Places in the Mind: Paintings and Sculpture” will be on view beginning this Saturday (reception 6 to 9 p.m.) and running through April 22.
Richard begins by explaining that John was a world champion surfer in 1963.
“Well, not world champion, no,” John replies.
Ah, c’mon; you were the world champ, this writer says, wanting to spruce up his story.
“I was very good,” John concedes.
The writer scribbles down these words: He wasn’t quite the world champ, but he was very, very good.
“John Joseph says I was a U.S.champion for two years,” John Teague explains. “But you couldn’t prove it by me; I was too busy surfing to pay attention to all that stuff.” Pause. “I knew I was doing good in contests.”
Long time coming
You’ve been painting since…
“Since my entire life, really,” John says.
And that must go back a ways…
“Well, 66 years worth, almost 67. In June.”
He was born inTennesseein 1945.
“You were around here in the ‘50s?” says Richard
“I was around here in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s.” Pause. “Here we are.”
A question for Richard: What made you decide to have this show?
“He’s my electrician. He did all the lights. He keeps my place up to code.”
He keeps it well-lit, then?
“Yeah, well-lit,” says John.
In more ways than one, the writer says with a wink and a nod.
“I’ve given every one of my artists a solo show,” says Richard. “This year I’m starting with John.”
It’s the first show at Cannery Row since October. Richard had some medical issues to put behind him.
Have you shown here before?
“I was in the Art of the Surf show,” John replies. “I’ve been in a couple of two-person shows, with Melinda (Moore) and Wilfred (Sarr). I’ve been in the Hermosa Beach Art Walk since its inception.”
Doing it backwards
Your work mostly depicts nature?
“Pretty much,” John replies. “And the ‘places in the mind’ idea… I don’t sit down with an easel and paint; it just comes out of bits and pieces of memories – from vacations with parents going to national parks, seeing a lot of different stuff.” He points to an abstract painting of a lone tree. “You can’t find a place that looks like that.”
The writer looks up and shakes his head: I saw it on the drive over. I know exactly where this is.
John laughs. “Well, I’ve been there before.”
“So, you’re inspired by things you see around you?” Richard says.
“Just about everything,” John replies.
Are there certain artists who inspire you as well?
“Oh, a lot, yeah,” says John. “Everybody from the Old Masters to pop artists. Probably the most influential movement in art was Dada. Very short-lived, but look at everything that grew out of it. I think it was more important than the Impressionists.”
Richard, anything you’d care to add?
“Well, I really think he’s come into his own over the last five years. When I first saw his stuff I thought he had potential and it’s nice to see all these 20, 30 pictures that he’s been doing.”
“And notice that they’re all old windows,” John points out – window frames with the glass panes intact, “and these are painted directly on the glass. It’s called reverse painting, where you paint backwards. You paint your foreground first and then you go back into your background. It’s completely opposite of everything that you learn.
“I thought I was onto something new till I found out that da Vinci was doing it… long before me.” John laughs, and continues. “And there’s a lady down in Borrego Springs who does it; hers are more spiritually-oriented, more realistic. I like more impressionistic things, more abstract. Actually, everything is abstract.”
What else? This is your chance for posterity.
“Let’s hear it, John,” says Richard.
John Teague summons up the right words:
“Everybody come; bring lots of money.”
It’s a wrap!
Places in the Mind: Paintings and Sculptures by John Teague opens on Saturday with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. at Cannery Row Art Studios, 604 N. Francisca Ave., Redondo Beach. Hours, Thursday to Sunday from 12 noon to 7 p.m. Closes April 22. Call (888) 366-1988 or go to canneryrowstudios.com. ER
