The Hawk

Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Entertainment

Chimes' art is characterized in four distinct stages.

Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential post-WWI modernists, once said, "Where do we go from here? The great artist of tomorrow will go underground."

Sunday, March 18, 2007, was the day a very busy person took advantage of this famed world-wonder in his backyard. I attended the "Adventures in Pataphysics" by Thomas Chimes at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

It was also the day I fell in love with Thomas Chimes and his majestic masterpieces. Falling in love with this exhibit was quite easy for me. Usually, art doesn't pull me in so quickly, but Sunday was my lucky day.

Chimes was born in Philadelphia in 1921. According to the Philadelphia Museum of Art's website, he enrolled at the Philadelphia Academy of Arts in 1939. His studies were cut short by the outbreak of World War II. Chimes served in the United States Army Air Force during the war years, and he subsequently returned to his studies in New York in 1946. The G.I. Bill allowed him to study philosophy at Columbia University, where he painted and sculpted at the Art Students League.

In 1953, to the dismay of his New York chums, Chimes made the fabulous choice to return to Philadelphia. Chimes began to explore his personal childhood memories and dreams, where he created his emotionally driven and intimately personal iconography. He always made art as an expression of himself, reflected in the nuances of the decades' that inspired him. An outward display of growth, and interpretations of his surroundings are quite vividly evidenced in this exhibit.

What does this mysterious term "Pataphysics" mean? I learned that it is a science defined by Alfred Jarry (a French writer whose work has been Chimes' inspiration for over 40 years) who explains: Pataphysics is a science which contains the other sciences within itself, whether they like it or not! Jarry is a person who is captured forever in many of Chimes' pieces. The classic text "Exploits and Opinions of Doctor Faustroll, Pataphysican" is one of Jarry's, works which has given life to Chimes' work.

Pataphysics parallels Chimes' artistry and his fascinating artwork. Just like the science of Pataphysics, his art contains many other art forms within itself. This is the palette of his artwork, a very diverse and colorful palette indeed.

I was amazed at the diverse body of artwork within his exhibit. Pataphysics, "the art containing other works of art," includes inspiration from the likes of Antonin Artaud, James Joyce, Edgar Allen Poe, and other literary heroes, as well as in the art of Henri Matisee , Vincent van Gogh, Thomas Eakins, and Marcel Duchamp. What a mottled and awesome pool of inspiration he drew upon.

Continued...

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