cohen, drawn by leonard
The last time we saw him in public he was being awarded the Prince of Asturias’ Prize. Although they tell to convince us it’s a prestigious prize, if it weren’t for the 50,000 Euros that go with it, not many people would go to listen to bagpipers in Oviedo and shake Letizia’s husband’s hand. Cohen’s manager ripped him off and left the artist from Montreal without a penny in 2006. He went to collect the prize because he’d been ripped off. And, thanks to that bastard manager, the flying Canadian’s come out of retirement and is giving concerts all over the world to pay his debts. We’re not going to say we’re happy about what happened to him ... but almost!
Without hypocrisy, or any highfalutin messages, Cohen’s shown us with his world tour that he belongs to this world rather than to some starry galaxy, organized to pay his debts and then carry on living. The musician/poet/worker got the Prince
of Asturias’ Prize, shook Letizia’s husband’s hand and then, without reading a single word, gave a fifteen minute speech of thanks which was worth the cheque’s value: .
We know Cohen the musician and the poet. And now we want to introduce Cohen the draughtsman in the balde. We think whatever piece of paper he draws on, it’s more Leonard than Cohen who’s drawing. Cohen will go down in history for his words and his sound. Leonard won’t have to carry such a heavy weight because of his drawings. Perhaps his paintings are better known: naked women, guitars, a few landscapes. The typical, clichéd painting you can see at art schools. We’re not particularly interested in those paintings. Like all paintings that require planning, reflection and time, it seems they want to be transcendental.
We love Leonard’s self-parodies. They’re self-portraits done in a few seconds. He adds a phrase, a place or a date to the faces he draws so quickly. Paper and ink reflections of moments and places right then, right there. Relaxed, fast “I”s created using instinct and enthusiasm. Taking off Cohen’s mask, these quick sketches show us Leonard. Inky wrinkles that show us the passing of time. Leonard and Cohen. Cohen: a man with old people’s wisdom when he was young. Leonard: a man with young people’s
daring now he’s old.
graffiti artist and gardener
In 1950 they closed Toronto’s King Edward Hotel because of safety problems. It wasm’t opened again and became a ghost house for half a century. When they started the renovation works, they found this sentence drawn on one of the Victorian style walls: “You have made my heart a
garden”. It could be an anonymous graffiti, frozen there over 50 years, if we didn’t look at the writing and what the words say. Leonard Cohen often lived in the hotel. The short film I Am A Hotel also had Cohen as its main character. He
talks about the hotels he has lived in, including, Toronto’s King Edward. We think it was the young Leonard in the hotel (or an older Leonard, turned into a ghost). Cohen has never
denied or admitted having written the words. What happens in a hotel stays there. Perhaps the gardener was in a garden which was not his…
Without hypocrisy, or any highfalutin messages, Cohen’s shown us with his world tour that he belongs to this world rather than to some starry galaxy, organized to pay his debts and then carry on living. The musician/poet/worker got the Prince
of Asturias’ Prize, shook Letizia’s husband’s hand and then, without reading a single word, gave a fifteen minute speech of thanks which was worth the cheque’s value: .
We know Cohen the musician and the poet. And now we want to introduce Cohen the draughtsman in the balde. We think whatever piece of paper he draws on, it’s more Leonard than Cohen who’s drawing. Cohen will go down in history for his words and his sound. Leonard won’t have to carry such a heavy weight because of his drawings. Perhaps his paintings are better known: naked women, guitars, a few landscapes. The typical, clichéd painting you can see at art schools. We’re not particularly interested in those paintings. Like all paintings that require planning, reflection and time, it seems they want to be transcendental.
We love Leonard’s self-parodies. They’re self-portraits done in a few seconds. He adds a phrase, a place or a date to the faces he draws so quickly. Paper and ink reflections of moments and places right then, right there. Relaxed, fast “I”s created using instinct and enthusiasm. Taking off Cohen’s mask, these quick sketches show us Leonard. Inky wrinkles that show us the passing of time. Leonard and Cohen. Cohen: a man with old people’s wisdom when he was young. Leonard: a man with young people’s
daring now he’s old.
graffiti artist and gardener
In 1950 they closed Toronto’s King Edward Hotel because of safety problems. It wasm’t opened again and became a ghost house for half a century. When they started the renovation works, they found this sentence drawn on one of the Victorian style walls: “You have made my heart a
garden”. It could be an anonymous graffiti, frozen there over 50 years, if we didn’t look at the writing and what the words say. Leonard Cohen often lived in the hotel. The short film I Am A Hotel also had Cohen as its main character. He
talks about the hotels he has lived in, including, Toronto’s King Edward. We think it was the young Leonard in the hotel (or an older Leonard, turned into a ghost). Cohen has never
denied or admitted having written the words. What happens in a hotel stays there. Perhaps the gardener was in a garden which was not his…
