Coming Soon! The Triptych Series

Melinda Camber Porter states in her Introduction, “The Triptych Series consists of a series of twenty-seven large oils on canvas exploring the triptych form as both altarpiece and sculptural shape.” Triptych derives from the Greek meaning “three folds.” 

In the Foreword, New York gallery owner Walter Wickiser states, “As an artist, Melinda Camber Porter’s use of line and form is completely original. Her artwork could be defined as ‘figurative abstraction’, because she pioneers new territory in both the abstract and figurative domains. Her extraordinary use of color would inspire a composer. Melinda Camber Porter faithfully pursued her own ‘cosmology,’ which was constantly evolving, evolving, evolving.”

The Triptych Series

Peter Trippi, Editor of Fine Art Connoisseur, “compares Melinda Camber Porter’s own ‘cosmology’ to that of Michelangelo, whose conflation of the spiritual and the material, the chaste and the sensual, horrified and aroused his contemporaries even as it communicated his highly personal understanding of God, man and their interrelationship.”

Melinda Camber Porter’s Triptych Series will on exhibition at the John A. Day Gallery at the University of South Dakota from September 19 to October 14, 2016.

Robin Hamlyn (1947 - 2016)

We were sad to learn that Robin Hamlyn, curator at Tate Britain for over 30 years and an expert on the work of William Blake, died in London on August 14, at the age 69. 

Robin and Melinda were great friends. In 2004, he gave a lecture at Oxford University on the occasion of Melinda's exhibition of her Luminous Bodies watercolors.

Robin and Melinda in New York, 2006

The lecture is included as the forward to Luminous Bodies: Circles of Mourning, one of two volumes of the 90 watercolors recently published by Blake Press.

"Her works are Blakean not only in form but also in their philosophic relationship between the spiritual and the material worlds." - Robin Hamlyn, from the forward.

Don't miss Luminous Bodies at the Melinda Camber Porter Exhibition of Art, Books and Film at the University of South Dakota September 19 - October 16.

All of Melinda Camber Porter's books are available at amazon.com

MelindaCamberPorter.com

Melinda in Conversation with Jean-Paul Aron

In 1976 Melinda sat down with Mr. Aron in Paris. There conversation was included in her book Through Parisian Eyes, in which in the French writer, journalist, and philosopher had a lot to say:

On the search for novelty that has invaded art and literature: "I am not against modernity, and I know that each epoch produces its own new truth. But I am against these impostures of modernity, that's to say, these 'new' systems of thought, which become like commodities...People say that America produces literary works like commodities. But it's true of France. At the moment we have new products, or books, that glut the market, each one destorying the validity of the previous 'new' book."

On structuralism: "People take to these systems of thought when they want to avoid living, meaning, and feelings. There's a curious taste for objectivity...What I mean is that people are under the illusion that you can transcribe a so-called objective view of the world...so you don't have to actually experience life."

The full interview between Melinda and Jean-Paul can be found in the book Through Parisian Eyes available on Amazon

MelindaCamberPorter.com

Melinda in Converastion with Marcel Carné

Carné criticizes French directors for dealing with the sordid aspects of everyday life: "I think French directors ought to be more ambitious in their choice of subject. They should treat more elevated, general subjects, instead or resorting to the usual themes of adultery, human relationships, the trials of everyday life."

Carné's absolute distinction between good and evil,his rejection of any form of compromise, and his escape into fantasy give [La Merveilleuse Visite] a naive, almost adolescent quality. His absolute uncompromising attitudes pervade his behavior. He seems to evoke similar attitudes on others: "People either love or hate my films; there seems to be no middle reaction. The Parisian critics dislike whatever I do."

The full interview between Melinda and Marcel can be found in the book Through Parisian Eyes available on Amazon

MelindaCamberPorter.com

Melinda in conversation with Alain Robbe-grillet

Despite self-imposed periods of abstinence before the completion of a film, Alain Robbe-Grillet is well known for the bouts of theorizing that follow.

"The camber records surfaces and the 'meaning' of the images does not interest me. I don not use symbolism in my films."

"My films are not erotically stimulating. There is a complete difference between my film and a pornographic film. They aim to excite the audience. I intend to deprive these images of excitement and hope to reveal their banality."

"I never make films for a particular audience, and when I started directingI felt my films did not cater to any existing public. But I seem to have created one myself."

The full interview between Melinda and Alain can be found in the book Through Parisian Eyes available on Amazon

MelindaCamberPorter.com

Melinda in Conversation with Wim Wenders

The conversation between Wim Wenders and Melinda Camber Porter (1953-2008) took place on location in December 1983, while Mr. Wenders was shooting his first American Film, Paris Texas. With this publication, we have an opportunity to listen to Wim Wenders discuss his approach to filmmaking, in conversation with Melinda Camber Porter, during the development and filmmaking process of Paris Texas. America was a place of European immigrants, German immigrants, and a vast land stretching to California. Men and women were becoming disillusioned and seeking that something just out of reach.

Click here for a PDF preview of the book

Melinda Camber Porter asked Wim Wenders: “When you say men have certain expectations of women, what exactly do you mean? Wim Wenders explains, “We still have to find out what we mean by that, because ‘the character’ hasn’t really understood that yet [in shooting the film, Paris Texas]. The character is getting ready to confront the issue. I do not work so a film is laid out and people can spell it out. I work much more on intuition … Sometimes film making is very much based on very subconscious choices or intuitions.”

MeilndaCamberPorter.com

Melinda from the Set of Paris, Texas, Written by Kit Carson

"[Kit] Carson...said that the story of Paris, Texas, mirrored his own in many ways: that of a father who leaves his child and wife and returns in order to bring about some new relationship or family bond. How the father creates this new bond, and the way he transcends his own confusion and disintegration, is the basis of this ever-changing screenplay"

Read the full article here.

MelindaCamberPorter.com

Coming Soon: A New, Fully Illustrated Edition of Badlands

Blake Press is excited to be reissuing a fully illustrated edition of Melinda Camber Porter's novel Badlands this fall. The New York Times called Badlands "A narrative with weighty sensuality that carries the reader forward in a kind of drunken, dreamlike state." Joyce Carol Oates called Badlands a "very strong, very intelligent and very intriguing novel.” Joan Didion said, “In Badlands, Melinda Camber Porter has focused her English intelligence on America and rendered it as an uneasy dream of sex and death and abandonment, a mirage with the power of possession.” Peter Matthiessen called Badlands "an achievement." Melinda Camber Porter in a South Dakota hay filed, 1991. Badlands is a love story set in the awe-inspiring landscape of the Wounded Knee Reservation in South Dakota. The narrator, a young Englishwoman, discovers her own history of abuse as she plunges into the poignant destinies of the Lakota people. She forms a passionate bond with a Sioux girl and her charismatic father, Blackfoot. An intoxicating love emerges between them that transcends politics and destiny. Don't miss the Melinda Camber Porter Exhibition of Art, Books and Film at the University of South Dakota September 19 - October 16. All of Melinda Camber Porter's books are available at amazon.com