About

Statement

Combinatory Play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought –
                                                                                                     Albert Einstein
 
Hands up, who wants to play? What is this thing called Play? Animals take part; Children can do it with as little as a handful of inanimate objects or an imaginary friend. Some people practice skills for years to play better, others spend millions to do it the fastest or highest and still others will bet the house and sometimes their own for a chance to play. Some prefer the fun of Role-play and then there’s the Cosplay scene…
 
So what is play? I am not alone in pondering this natural side of the soul. Some of our favorite writers have been seduced to comment on the concept. Emerson said, “ It’s a happy talent to know how to play.” Some question its relationship with work, like Mark Twain “Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, Play consists of what a body is not obliged to do.”, still yet another concern is when and what will happen if it stops, George Bernard Shaw confided that “We don’t stop play because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”. John B Samuel called out on a nightly news program as the 87-year young soccer stud of Virginia Beach (Google it) shared his wisdom on life “ I’ll Know it’s time to stop playing when they stop passing me the ball!” Sounds like some solid advice to me.
 
Like our writers the other arts throughout time have all addressed this phenomenon we all share, Caravaggio’s “the Card Sharps” 1594, The Bard’s cannon of Play’s are still recited the world over, Paul Cezanne’s “The Card Players” 1895. A hundred years later Other artists like Damien Hirst Played with our minds, Others like Keith Haring used playful images to help us to address and come to terms with such serious issues as the silence on AIDS and the systematic degradation of the apartheid regime. Then there was our Mind blowing concept artists such as Gilbert and George, Duchamp. And Christo/Jeanne Claude who some of you might remember there 1976 North of San Francisco work that played with the northern California courts to temporarily rent the sky land and air to build an 18 foot high and 24.5 mile long fabric fence from the north bay to Bodega bay.
 
In this series “ Studies in Play” I am joining the discussion, trying to find the pleasure that drives the soul to participate or create this play placing a range of scenarios for you to consider I hope to remind you of your great moments with this elusive chalice.
 
A Friend Dave Brockie once told me “Life is a participation sport” and if he and these great thinkers are near the mark then I ask you to consider this, the next time someone asks you… You wanna Play?  What the hell, “ you betcha!”
 
[D]
Feb 15, 2020
 

Biography

Damian John Barrington Samuel comes to us from Guilford, U.K.  He studied at Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C. and at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.  At VCU, he was not only immersed in painting, photography and filmmaking, but was also immensely influenced by European art House films and heavily involved in the burgeoning Richmond music scene of the early 90’s.
 
Damian’s art reflects the world, as only he knows it.  Intimate moments and emotional impressions writ in the colors of places that have touched him from the four corners of the earth.  He balances what is plain to see and hints at the secret that hides just underneath his subject’s public face,  while chiding you into taking a breath and lingering considered viewing of each piece of his artwork.