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Allen Iverson is finally on the right team!

The No. 1 topic of conversation at the Highland Park barbershop has been the election of Barack Obama, but a close second was the Pistons' acquisition of NBA superstar Allen Iverson. - Detroit Free Press

I'm a huge basketball fan. One day I'll be sitting in MSG recognized as the painter version of Woody Allen and Spike Lee (if in fact I'm making paintings - and I probably won't be sitting in the Garden as we currently know it - and I probably won't be rooting for the Knicks). Allen Iverson has been my favorite basketball(er) since he was drafted by the Sixers. Yes I'm from Philly so I was already primed for this. However, I followed him in Denver and now happily to the Pistons.

To sum up why I like him so much, I submit to you these examples:

o8 is great!

Needless to say I'm happy that we have a president elect Obama, who also seems to be a pure point guard. A position known as "the floor general", the person who runs all the plays.
Speaking of basketball... the next post will be a tribute to Allen Iverson who just got traded to the Detroit Pistons, the second best deal of 08.

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This weekend I went to see the Mary Heilmann show at the New Museum.
A number of times I heard skeptical middle aged people say "my kid could do that". The truth is that their kid could not do that, nor could most grown adults. I think a specific nerve gets tapped in "these" people as they walk around the galleries in disbelief. Mary Heilmann's paintings are uninhibited to the point that they reference the place in people that we tend to loose as we grow in to adults. A lot of people have lost touch with pleasure. A lot of people are put off by self indulgent pleasure. In other words - play. Well, I don't know what to say to the nay-sayers except why do you go to museums in NY, pay the $20 admission and try to loose yourself in something challenging or beautiful?...... It's all just sophisticated play.

Here is another addition of awesome kid art found on Flickr:

9.5

...even more

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Let's get this one out of the way...

I'm an independent voter. I believe in third parties. The country is making history with this past primary election and the current presidential election. The next historically political ground breaker will be a third party candidate in a tight (and realistic non-Ross Perot, non-Ralph Nader) primary race. I believe in the third party because I decide my vote based on my own personal agenda. I've gone through periods of questioning whether or not this was a moral stance. After all, I do believe in socialized health care. Most importantly though, I believe public education should be paramount. Magnet schools and charter schools are okay too. I didn't go to a good public school. Some would say that West Philadelphia has none anyhow. I did go to a school where ethnic diversity was almost utopian and I did have a few stand out teachers that shaped my teens. The content of my classes lacked but the context saved me. There was no art program (which was a serious minus) and I was forced to think outside my situation (which was a serious plus), make lemonade you know? I was lucky. Most kids in lower economic neighborhoods are screwed by the first day of kindergarden. You all know how shitty this scenario can get. So in my questioning of whether or not voting on my personal agenda was selfish, just recently I realized that the personal and the social are not so mutually exclusive. I'm right in tune with the problems that need to be addressed right now! Hence my official endorsement of Barack Obama.

ten point five

I've been M.I.A from my blog. I apologize to the 11 (or so) people who read it. I'm gearing up for a super-duper top 10 to end it - probably before the election. I'll then keep the blog viewable for a bit afterwards.

Stay tuned for in-depth coverage of illuminating visual and textual descriptions of enlightened self-deprecating tales that span the surreal, mediocre, sublime, pensive, intoxicating, exotic, occasionally reluctantly geniousy(type) adventures of Aaron Wexler!

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some new works
Blink, 2008 - 30" x 38" - paper collage and acrylic on panel.
Hide N' Seek, 2008 - 66" x 48" - paper collage and acrylic on panel.
Strong as a Symphony, 2008 - 60" x 44" - paper collage and acrylic on panel.