Introduction
We first
encountered Tim Wengertsman’s work in 2015 at the Corner
Pocket Bar & Grill in Middletown, Connecticut, where
poet Carlo Parcelli was performing his dramatic
monologues in full first century costume as part of the
First International Beat Poetry Festival coordinated by
Colin Haskins, Yvon Cormier & Debbie Kilday. The Bar
was the location of Yvon Cormier’s Bukowski Night with
works dedicated to the American bard whose work the
Poetry Foundation describes as depicting “the depravity
of urban life & the downtrodden in American
Society”. To honor Bukowski and the Beats, poet and Beat
Archivist George Wallace was named the First Beat Poet
Laureate.
The bar
was located in half of an alley. Neon Lights, bar stools
and beer tabs. And Catfish McDaris, who had a bonafide
Bukowski connection, called in & read some of his
work over the telephone.
The Beat
Energy intersected between patrons, billiard players
& poets.
And here’s
where we saw Tim Wengertsman’s brilliant woodcuts
hanging comfortably on the wood paneling near the small
platform of the stage. A full-on woodcut of the Last
Supper – but Jesus was a biker? A shaman? A Shaman
Biker? “Eating The Rich – Because We’re Poor” emblazoned
on the top, and “We Drink – We Ride – We Fight” cut into
the lower edge. “Read” and “Beat” are tattooed on the
Apostles’ feet. And the Apostles are dread-locked and in
spiked clothing. The chalices are full of beer, one
apostle vomits, a small machine & a beer bottle spew
smoke & fire. Suggestions of skulls abound & two
bikers ride in on each side on fantastical Steam-Punk
bikes. The spiked clothing mimics feathers. This is
Punk-Posada, or Jose Posada meets R. Crumb meets Sue
Coe.
“The
Last Supper in Hartford” wood block print, size: 24×48, Tim Wengertsman
Tim
Wengertsman’s work comes from his own personal
experiences & those of his friends. He says
“…there is no standard of what art should look like,
there is no standard of how people should look,
there is no standard of what we should like. Do what you
want.
I want to give my subculture a voice.”
He is an
artist and drummer and part of the punk subculture of
Hartford, Connecticut. His work has a sense of both
defiance and inclusion, and of both satire and engagement.
It’s as at home in a bar as it is in an art gallery. The
art gallery, EBK, is right to cite his influences as
George Grosz, Kathe Kollwitz & Ralph Steadman.
Wengertsman was able to use his art skills to fine
tune his own personal cry of existence & that of his
friends. He can do this with the time-honored tool of
the artist’s woodcut or with the commercial toss aways
of Bic Pens and Color Markers from the local office
supply store.
EBK Gallery describes his work: “[They] are intense,
rebellious, dense with symbolism and are very personal.
Rich with private allegory they challenge you to see
deeper as you look closer.”
Below are a few photos of the Beat Festival to give you
a sense of the Bukowski Night vibe at Middletown’s
Corner Pocket Bar & Grill, along with links to EBK’s
Wengertsman’s Artist Page.
——————————-
Photos from 2015
The Beat Festival / Corner Pocket Bar &
Grill, Middletown, CT with T.W.’s work on the
walls. Lower Left: Carlo Parcelli, Center Left:
George Wallace, Lower Right: Yvon Cormier with
Catfish McDarish’s telephone reading. Select
Photos: Debbie T Kilday.
EBK
Gallery FaceBook Page.. https://www.facebook.com/ebkgallery/
has videos of Tim at work on his larger “Last
Supper in Hartford” [2015].
Crazy Creative
Podcast 3 with Tim Wengertsman [1 hr, 49 min]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziGzQwFjE-8
|
Mama, ballpoint pen &
