BURLESQUE 1982 Oil on linen 34 1/4 x 49 1/4 inches 87 x 125.1 centimeters On view now Cheim and Read, 547 west 25th St In a side room during a show of works by Matthew Wong and crossing their tangled paths in the dark woods of the ultra-poetic uncanny — it takes every kind of mettle to survive the journeys to that source marked at the gate — ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE. *** FINAL NOTATIONS .

it will not be simple, it will not be long/
it will take little time, it will take all your thought/
it will take all your heart, it will take all your breath/
it will be short, it will not be simple/ .
it will touch you through your ribs, it will take all your heart/
it will not be long, it will occupy your thought/
as a city is occupied, as a bed is occupied/
it will take all your flesh, it will not be simple/ .
you are coming into us who cannot withstand you/
you are coming into us who never wanted to withstand you/
you are taking parts of us into places never planned/
you are going far away with pieces of our lives/ .
it will be short, it will take all your breath/
it will not be simple, it will become your will.”/ ― Adrienne Rich, An Atlas of the Difficult World @stuartshavemodernart @maruanimercier @thomasbrambillagallery @elujoba @cheimread @phong.h.bui @mr_tranquil_tranquil_waters @hansulrichobrist @johncheim1