www.montereycountynow.com july 11-17, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 19 eeply rooted in antiquity and ignited by its rediscovery, the Renaissance, David Ligare’s art soars above centuries, far from conventions of contemporary art. Ligare is not a realist, he insists, because realists have to make paintings about now. His representative art lives in a different world, that of Homer (from the 8th century BCE), Plato (circa 429-347 BCE) and Polykleitos (5th century BCE), but also mythical gods and heroes like Apollo, Achilles and Penelope. It doesn’t matter which of them are historical figures and which are mythical beings; after all, Homer’s identity is also unconfirmed. Ligare is on intimate terms with all of them, deeply familiar with their stories, forms and concepts. These are depicted in his prolific output of oil paintings produced over 40 years, featuring images of figures and objects in landscapes or suspended in space. In his new exhibit, Spheres of Influence, now on display in the Monterey Museum of Art, Ligare is coming back to the form of the sphere that he started exploring in 1997, the favorite form of the universe and the best representation of the concept of infinity. “My exhibitions are becoming more and more didactic which, like early abstraction, requires some explanation and getting used to,” Ligare says. “I do feel strongly that, for our time, art that expresses humanistic values and ideals is greatly needed. I’m hoping that my exhibition in Monterey will convey that message.” Illinois-born Ligare moved to California as a child. He moved to Big Sur in 1968, followed by 30 years in Corral de Tierra. Now he lives in Carmel Valley, where his studio is located, but he also spends a lot of time in Florence, where he is a member of the Accademia del Disegno (“Academy of Design”), established in 1563 by the grand duke Cosimo I de’ Medici and Michelangelo himself. To Ligare, Florence is the center of humanism, his crucial interest. “Ligare’s work is steeped in classicism,” says Patricia Junker, an art historian with a specialty in American painting. “I was always interested in California as the New Athens, the last place to realize greatness. Classical ideals have shaped California. They also have shaped Ligare’s work. It’s a literary art, superbly crafted, with poetic layers of suggestions, little messages and subtexts. It engages you to learn.” Ligare’s thrown drapery paintings were inspired by Hellenistic sculptures, physically dismantled by age and transport. Legs and arms were often missing, and sometimes all that was left was a drapery, Ligare points out. He made several of them, named after Greek islands of Syros, Delos and others. Another aspect of his work are lonely rocks and rock arches (see “Arch with Setting Sun” in the current exhibit), that symbolize the “idea of wholeness” and that “historic concepts possess valuable insights into modern problems such as the need for more humanistic thought,” he says. Numerous still lifes show pomegranates or wine and bread, commonly presented on the background of the sea, pastoral landscapes, naked male bodies, beautifully composed shrines and scenes from classic mythology, such as the desperation of Cassandra of Troy or that of Cretean princess Ariadne, abandoned by Theaseus on the island of Naxos. Monterey County landscapes are also there, immortalized, often combined with ancient concepts. David A. Laws of Carmel Valley Manor wrote in an email that he recently updated a story, published 10 years ago, about how Ligare’s early work was influenced by John Steinbeck’s descriptions of Monterey County. He added Ligare’s recent thought: “One of my favorite exhibitions was the one at the Steinbeck Center called Paintings from the Pastures of Heaven, where my paintings were paired with quotes from John Steinbeck.” When living in the Pastures of Heaven (Corral de Tierra), he was acutely aware of being in Steinbeck’s world. In the 1986 painting “Achilles and the Body of Patroclus,” Ligare compares the tragedy of Achilles, who lost his dearest companion and lover because of his pride, to something modern. (In the original story, Achilles, mad at the commander in chief of the Greeks, King Agamemnon, refuses to fight and so Patroclus decides to fight instead. Ligare’s painting shows a group of men despairing above Patroclus’ body, referring to deaths in the AIDS epidemic. Ligare emphasizes that the spread of AIDS had much to do with unaware or prideful partners who let down their lovers. His most recent comment on Achilles is even more provocative, proving that Ligare lives both in the times of the Trojan War and in the 2000s. “I hesitate to compare Trump to the beautiful and brave Achilles, but he is also willing to destroy all that is moral and good to suit his overriding pride,” Ligare says. In this vision, President Joe Biden is like Priam, “an able and beneficent leader who, because of his advanced age, is unable to hold off the vicious invaders and his shining city on a hill is destroyed. Homer is, once again, a warning.” A visitor entering the current exhibit sees themselves surrounded by spheres on almost every wall: white, golden or presented “Penelope”, 1980, David Ligare
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