“Kiss the King with Iron Maiden and special guest Anthax” by Glen Slama and Cedric Michael Cox

When my good friend Maya Drozdz, one half of the dynamic design duo VisuaLingual, invited me to participate in Autocomplete: a Collaborative Coloring Book Exhibit, I was thrilled. In Autocomplete, Visionaries + Voices artists created approximately 80 black and white images which were then “colored in” by outside artists and designers using media of their choice. At first I was not sure what to make of the artwork that Maya selected for me to color/complete. “Kiss the King” by Glen Slama is an interesting drawing of random thoughts and gestures celebrating the artist’s appreciation of the 70’s band Kiss and the rock icon Elvis Presley. I for one am not a fan of either but I admire Glens fearlessness in letting his musical taste be the subject of this art. I remember during a critique in college with my professor Wayne Entice I thought it was the artistically cool thing to say that my musically inspired forms were influenced by Jazz improvisation. He disagreed and said he saw more rock in roll more than anything else. Wayne should know, he has written essays and books on Jazz. I was “Caught……….. in the Mosh”, as legendary metal band Anthrax would say in reference to a situation that you can’t get out of. In college I was to working to a define my aesthetic. I was searching and creating images that spoke to my experience and vision. I remembered my high school textbook cover drawings of some of my favorite Heavy Metal bands mixed with renderings of guitars and skulls that created a dense fragmentation of space and form. To this day this reoccurring musical allegorical theme exits in my paintings and drawings. For this collaboration I went back in time to those metal days. I renamed the finished work “Kiss the King” with Iron Maiden and special guest Anthrax” Thanks Glen Slama for helping get the metal back out of me and thank you Maya for including me in a exhibition of diverse styles and visions. Autocomplete will be on display at the V+V Northside Gallery May 10th – June 29th. RSVP for the Opening Reception on facebook