Top 100 (Remixed): Update

Charles Duvelle
16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas paper, 2017

Deben Bhattacharya
16 x 12 inches, oil on canvas, 2017

The first of two receptions for The Top 100 (Remixed) has transpired at Tempus Projects in Tampa. Thanks to curator Jade Dellinger and gallery director Tracy Midulla the reception was a great success. 323 Top 100 paintings are installed. The exhibition runs through September 21. The second reception, the second First Friday Artwalk in Tampa during the course of the exhibition, will be on September 1st from 7-9 at Tempus Projects. Large sections of what is on view right now will be replaced by other works. So for those who've seen it, the exhibition will look quite different on September 1st. The exhibition is organized in groups of ten, the curator and myself pulled works from the last 16 years and organized these into themes. Top 10s of various topics are hung in groupings. Some sections are serious and formal (like geographical locations), others less so (musicians with beards for example). A 22 page guide is available to identify the paintings and their specs. Since the opening I have been diligently working on the next sections to substitute existing ones, to the point of fixing up older paintings to complete a section or even painting brand new ones. One of the new topics to be displayed on September 1st is Ethnomusicologists. The two paintings above are both brand new, created specifically for this topic. In the case of Deben Bhattacharya I redid a painting that I simply couldn't find anywhere in my archive. Frustrated as that was I did a brand new painting from the same photograph as the lost one. I had spent two hours looking for that painting while making a whole new one only took me an hour-and-a-half, and it's better than the original too. Even though painted in 2017 this painting belongs to the Top 100 of 2013/14. Charles Duvelle's portrait however solidly belongs to the Top 100 of 2017 as it illustrates the recording of Wama Igini Kamu recorded in Papua New Guinea by Charles Duvelle, that was released only one month ago. A site I follow, Sublime Frequencies, published the book with two cds included called The Photographs of Charles Duvelle. Duvelle was also already included in this section but I never really liked my effort for the Top 100 2012.
The full top 10 of ethnomusicologists:

1. Hugh Tracey (1903-1977, South Africa). Ethnomusicologist, founder of ILAM
2. Alan Lomax (1915-2002, US). Ethnomusicologist, directer of Archive of American Folk Song.
3. Bela Bartok (1881-1945, Hungary). Composer, ethnomusicologist (one of its founders)
4. Charles Duvelle (French). Composer and musicologist, founder of Ocora (1958)
5. Paul Bowles (1910-1999, US). Composer, associated with Morocco
6. Pat Conte (US). Musician, collector, founder of The Secret Museum of Mankind
7. Alain Danielou (1907- 1994, France). Historian (of India) and musicologist. UNESCO
8. Deben Bhachattera (1921-2001, India). Ethnomusicologist, UNESCO
9. John Storm Roberts (1936-2009, UK/US). Ethnomusicologist, co-founder of Original Music
10. Joe Bussard (b. 1936, US). Record collector, founder of Fonotone

In case the selection of ten paintings don't work well together, I'm also bring three alternates;

• John Jacob Niles (1892-1980, US). Composer, singer, collector, the "Dean of American Balladeers"
• Sam Phillips (1923-2003, US). Record producer, founder of Sun Records
• Jon Ward runs the blog Excavated Shellac.

 Come check it out September 1st in Tampa if you're in the vicinity (and even if aren't).