In 1890, Edvard Munch, the Norwegian expressionist who would paint The Scream three years later, released some of his writings as the St. Cloud Manifesto, which served as his artistic credo. “The young Munch voiced his desire to represent love, hate, longing, despair and dreamy erotic connections as if they were sacred subjects,” the Art Institute of Chicago notes about the text. “In doing so, he suggested what would become his larger strategy of subtly transforming the profane into the eternal.”
The writings contain an oft-quoted passage from Munch that begins to explore where he was artistically at that point in his life and career: “From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them, and that is eternity.”
Another Life, oil, 16 in.
It sounds more grim and gruesome on first impressions, but deeper examination suggests a more abstract idea about life, with one interpretation being that life is circular as energy and matter endlessly bounce from one being to another.
The quote had been percolating within the head of Logan Maxwell Hagege, who was drawn over and over again to ideas about flowers, growth and rebirth. “It’s such a morbid, and yet beautiful, quote from Munch,” the California artist says. “It makes me think of the cycle of life and death. There is so much meaning in it that you can go crazy thinking about it. I was even drawn to this larger idea about how an artist’s legacy will remain after their death. That translated into some of my hollyhock paintings, especially ones where I show them withering up and drying out. ‘From my rotting body…’—it just opens up so many opportunities as an artist.”
The Fall of Day, oil, 30 x 30 in.
The Munch quote and Hagege’s own interests in the plants of the Desert Southwest allowed him to paint into a theme that will also serve as the title for his newest show, Flowers Will Grow, opening April 8 at Gerald Peters Gallery in New York City. It will be the painter’s second major East Coast show with the gallery. “I love the idea of giving myself a theme to work within, or even some boundaries. It’s interesting when you can challenge yourself that way,” he says. “I’ve done shows that haven’t had themes and they can have a randomness to them. But when an idea stands out, it can be fun to explore it more.”
The idea of challenging himself for Flowers Will Growis not only reflected in the subject matter, which often included the yellow rabbitbrush and blooming hollyhocks that have appeared in his work before, but is also reflected in his color palette. For instance, on some of the works he would limit how many color options he could use to complete a painting. “Telling myself I could only use three or four colors was an experiment with those challenges. I might even choose colors that are not attractive to work with, something like brown or a muddy yellow, and then force myself to work with these ‘ugly’ colors,” he explains. “Searching for those boundaries is where I found that I was pushing myself. Limitations can produce something great.”
Flower Jungle, No. 1, oil, 10 x 8 in.
The thought of bringing artwork back to New York City is thrilling for Hagege, who remembers his first Gerald Peters show fondly. People were stacked into the gallery shoulder to shoulder. An excitement rippled through the room as collectors laid eyes on each new painting. “I had people of all types in the room, including many people I see at all the big shows around the country. There were also New York collectors there as well, which really blew me away because I want my work to be seen by everyone.”
Dotted Sky, oil, 8 x 10 in.
Hagege is delicate when talking about this because he doesn’t want to alienate collectors, many of them friends and acquaintances from throughout his career. He’s a Western artist, but he’s also an American artist. That’s not discarding the West, but rather adding onto it. “My work naturally falls into the Western scene by nature because of the subject matter. Culturally, I’m not Western. I didn’t grow up on horseback or on a ranch or as a cowboy. I’m mostly inspired by the subject of the West. I don’t try to question that, but rather just keep it that simple,” he says. “So when I have an opportunity to show work at what is largely the center of the art world, I take it because I think the work is looked at in a different context in a place like New York City. A Georgia O’Keeffe out West and a Georgia O’Keeffe in a museum in New York…they are on different stages with different contexts.”
The work for the new show has a mixture of ideas and a variety of compositions, from Another Life, a round painting with a hollyhock against a distant storm, to Flower Jungle No. 1, showing a figure against enlarged petals. Dotted Sky is a union of flower and clouds, though none are touching because they are meticulously arranged like a jigsaw puzzle against the blue sky. The larger piece The Fall of Dayis classic Hagege with his Native American figures in a desert setting.
Logan Maxwell Hagege in his California studio. Courtesy the artist.
The artist is slowing down his studio these days, not because he’s slowing down, but because he’s taking more time on the work he starts. “I get slammed pretty quickly, so I’m trying to do less work, but also putting more time into each one. Producing less allows me to catch up and really live with these paintings,” he says, adding that several unfinished works have been ongoing for years. “[Ernest L.] Blumenschein was notorious for starting a piece in 1930 and not finishing it until 1940 or later. He may have even exhibited a painting one year only to take it back to his studio to work on it more. I don’t want to do that, but I do want to take each piece very seriously, and very carefully.”
The new show at Gerald Peters will continue through May 3 in New York City. —
Logan Maxwell Hagege: Flowers Will Grow
April 8-May 3, 2024
Gerald Peters Gallery, 24 E. 78th Street, New York, NY 10075
(212) 628-9760, www.gpgallery.com
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