Guest Blogger - Bill Amundson

Bill with his piece the "Nervous Patriot" at the Denver Art Museum

work in progress (two days in)
Working title-TEEN EXCAVATION

work in progress (two days in)
Working title-TEEN EXCAVATION

A recent review in the Denver Post said this of Bill, "Bill Amundson is such a familiar figure in the Denver art scene that it's easy to take him and his art for granted. " I've posted his work several times on this blog, and I asked him to share a list of thing he's been influenced by or interested in lately. As with his artwork, Bill did not disappoint:

5 Artist's I look at all the time...

1. Peter Bruegel the Elder.

2. Ivan Albright (The first, perhaps only, artist my parents took me to see.)

3. Roger Brown (along with fellow Chicago icon H.C. Westermann)

4. The great draftsman and mama's boy Achilles G Rizolli

5. Illustrator/humorist Bruce McCall

5 artist's I've been looking at a lot recently...

1. Wayne Thiebaud (based on multiple visits to his current show in Loveland.)

2. Peter Saul (cause it's always good to revisit the real King of Bad Taste.)

3. Frank Magnotta (especially his big, BIG imaginary structures.)

4. Mental patient artist extrordinaire Adolf Wolfli.

5. Glen Brown's recent obsessive abstract paintings.

5 musicians that are really important...

1. All Randy Newman (he's my real hero and role model.)

2. Cleveland's Per Ubu (their first 3 recordings from 75-77, DATAPANIK IN THE YEAR 0, THE MODERN DANCE and DUB HOUSING.)

3. Yo La Tengo (I play their noise rave up I HEARD YOU LOOKING at least once a day.)

4. Steve Reich (especially Music For 18 Musicians. It's perfect for repetitive work. repetitive work.)

5. Any and all George Jones.( aka the non Clapton God.)

I'm also currently streaming the great New Jersey free form station WFMU a lot.

10 Movies that I must like cause I've seen them 5 times or more...

1. Jacques Tati's Playtime l967. (The best art film ever made, and one of the great social satires to boot!)

2. Gates of Heaven 1978. (The first, and still the best, of Errol Morris' documentaries. Everyday life is god's weirdest invention.)

3. Robocop 1987. (The original one. The other best social satire. Oh, besides Doctor Strangelove.)

4. Roadhouse 1989. (Swayze teaches us men what it means to be a MAN.)

5. Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory 1957. (Kirk Douglas teaches us how to be men in war!!)

6. Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries l957. (Victor Sjostrom teaches us what men should think about before they die.)

7. Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity 1944. (Fred MacMurray teaches men about women that should really be avoided.)

8. Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill, Jr 1928. (Buster teaches us how to survive a hurricane with artistry and aplomb.)

9. Jiri Menzel's Closely Watched Trains 1966. (Male coming of age during war, Czech style.)

10. Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures 1994. (The downside of being creative and imaginative.)

Some Television?

I'm obsessed with AMC's Breaking Bad (The only show I've been obsessed with since Deadwood.)

I also enjoy the Marty Stuart Show on RFD, Johnny Qwest reruns wherever I can find them, and local Fox News broadcasts, especially Libby Weaver's aztec sundial jewelry and Leland Vitter's beloved hair and laptop.

The best novel I've read recently (on Cd, of course) is Jonathan Miles Dear American Airlines, which is really funny and also terribly moving..Non fiction book (not on Cd). Umberto Eco's On Ugliness.

And finally, I also tune in to KHOW radio's Dan Caplis almost every afternoon so I have something to direct my substantial hatred towards. Keeps a fellow young and vital!