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Tristan Meinecke, known for his stunning art as well as his two-fisted, mercurial personality, created gut-wrenching works from whatever tools and materials he found at hand. For example: Once he used the actual tar from the street taken hot from the bucket in front of his Lincoln Park property, as it was being resurfaced during Mayor Richard J. Daley's "Urban Renewal" project. Much of his work was delicate and fragile, much was anything but. He could build anything with his hands -- from tiny ornate boxes to complete buildings. Some of his art reflected this visceral desire to wrench a creative work from the fabric of the world he found himself in; from the realities he encountered; some of which were real in the common definition, others which were likely a product of his "over-clocked" mind. In any case, Tristan was making found art before the term was coined, though he created in every medium known, including some he created, such as the split level medium. Among his peers were many artists and musicians; including to name a few: Briggs Dyer, Hugo Weber, Robert Bruce Tague and Aaron Siskind who rented an apartment from Meinecke in the early sixties. Many came to Meinecke's frequent and extended pool parties on Cleveland St., in the heart of Lincoln Park, which he and his Angel hosted from about 1959 to about 1968. Many also observed him at work, because he would work and play as close to simultaneously as he could manage. Some say these artists were influenced to varying degrees by the manic creativity that radiated from Tristan like the after image of a lightning bolt (as Briggs Dyer was said to have quipped). Meinecke created music and literature in much the same fashion as he created art; straight from the core of his being, manic as a tornado, with little editing and zero concern for remuneration, guided only by his intrinsic need to experiment thereby achieving his goal of pushing back whatever boundaries existed in whatever medium he chose to work in. Click here for a short story Tristan wrote after hearing a woman upbraiding her child on Chicago's lakefront. Lots more lurks within <Smile>.
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Below are the paintings in the state found by Ms. A.E. Hogh in September of 2013 |
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One of the first works to be rescued from its basement entombment. |
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The same piece still covered in superficial dirt and soot, but intact and savable. |
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Below: Some of the paintings rescued and prepped for final restoration. |
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Meinecke often created in pencil, charcoal and even crayon. Below is an early drawing of the artist's sister,
Elaine Meinecke, on top of a later charcoal nude. |
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Another Damaged Work With Obvious Cracks in the Paint Waiting for Repair. |
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Below Heterogeneous Icons Waiting for Cleaning and Repair |
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As time goes by the Meinecke Resurrection Project is beginning to resemble an archaeological dig; with each layer removed revealing another layer underneath. In this process not only are the participants finding stunning works of art, many of which are historically significant, they've also unearthed several musical works written by Tristan Meinecke. Additionally, several complete sets of architectural plans, drawings, and renderings created by Meinecke Tague Studios were found under a tarp on the basement floor. These items were created roughly between 1968 through 1975. This period saw Lincoln Park evolve from the desultory urban ghetto it was prior to Mayor Richard J. Daley's Urban Renewal project of the early 60's, into the gentrified upscale community it is today. The use of the word ghetto is precise, not hyperbole or exaggeration. Meinecke and Tague, with their designs, along with other urban pioneers such as William "Bill" Hunt, (whose daughter Susan created Hunt-Wulkowicz Gallery*) and others were in the heart of this revolutionary evolution.
*Though Bill and Jan Hunt were good friends with Tris and Angel, Susan Hunt and T.M. did not move in the same circles and didn't interact in any significant way. Their work and mediums are dissimilar, though in this wirer's opinion both are awesome in their own ways, it is probable that neither influenced the other. |
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Some of the principals at rest and at work. |
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The Work Continues . . . |
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One of many resurrected treasures |
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Asphalt Knuckles -- Eroica -- The Excavation Begins -- The Tomb -- Lost Recordings -- Gold Jazz Mold -- The Cat Story |
An old friend pays a visit. |
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In the beginning -- In their day -- a day which lasted about 40 years. |
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Warren "Baby" Dodds was an old friend of TM and set for the bust shown below. 70 years old, unfired and defaced, still miraculously in one piece. |
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A Dirty Girl and a friend from Colorado who came to lend a hand -- the artist Glenn Schreiner |
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Their day transitions into the 60's -- pictured below is 2022 N. Cleveland where the artist and family lived from 1959 to 1969 |
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Below is the artist's Father: Bruno Meinecke / Accomplished Latin Scholar, Symphony Conductor and Classical Musician: Piano / Violin. |
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Another Interesting Find: Anna Werbe Gallery show 1960 -- Artist's 3 year old son gleefully standing in front of painting. |
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More Unearthed Treasures Below -- Many of the paintings below were unknown even to TM's family. They constitute new art so far as the world is concerned. |
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If one looks closely, they'll see that Meinecke not only signed this piece, he made his signature an integral part of the work. Now, some people confuse the image above with the style and method created by Jackson Pollock -- while both artists were creating concurrently with neither knowing the other or knowing of the other's work, the structure of the piece and the method used above is very different from Pollock*. The painting above has a bottom and a top and the "drips" above were sprayed on with a flocking gun; as opposed to placing the work on the floor and walking circularly around it dripping paint on to it as Pollack did.
*John Corbett SAIC
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The Navy Comes to Town (Ryan and Kyle Meinecke -- Ryan on leave from the Navy) |
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A Treasure Trove of Early Childhood Drawings Saved by John Corbett another person Meinecke liked and respected. |
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Are they paintings, sculptures, both? Melissa Lorraine doesn't care, she knows life is for dancing |
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TUGM pays a visit to have some fun hanging paintings, shooting video, and interviewing some crazy people.
Hey look what we found below . . . |
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Amerika. This notorious assembled (written about in several books) was destroyed by cretins while in the possession of a creditor.
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Update: 2016 -- What the resurrection project accomplished:
- We, the resurrection crew, cleaned and restored over 150 works of art.
- Due to the Resurrection Project, interest in Tristan Meinecke and Lorraine "Angel Casey" Meinecke has been resurgent.
- The Art of Tristan Meinecke is now in galleries, select homes, and on loan for display in select businesses instead of languishing in a basement.
- Friends of Tris and Angel we hadn't seen in years came out of the woodwork.
- We learned the whereabouts and collected digital images of many pieces sold long ago.
- We now know lots of great artistic people that we would likely never have met otherwise, and they know us.
- The Rogers Park branch of the Chicago Historical Society did a show around the art of Tristan Meinecke.
- We found much Meinecke family memorabilia hidden away over the years in the nooks and cranny's of the property on Chase avenue.
- We are promoting The Art of Tristan Meinecke because his contribution was important and largely unrecognized in popular culture.
- In addition to all of the above, we learned much about Lorraine "Angel Casey" Meinecke that previously had been unknown to her children and everyone else, but her very oldest and closest friends. In the mid-1950's, she took a stand for diversity by demanding that the promotional material for her show include a racial mix reflective of her audience. The details of this are thoroughly explained on the website angelcasey.com -- we hope you take the time to visit because what happened next would've destroyed a lesser individual -- Angel triumphed by living a happy creative and eclectic life. Also, she would want us to note that she was married to the same man for over 50 years. She laughed first, last and best. Check out her site and send them a line letting them know you were there : )
Finally, we learned that neither of these two rare individuals ever sacrificed anything that really mattered to them. They never sold out, though they had ample opportunity. They never gave in, they never gave up and they never stopped laughing -- Truly, they were two of the richest, wealthiest, people I have ever met.
BLM July 2016. |
And the beat goes on . . .
Kyle L. Meinecke and his friend Brianna in Wicker Park in front of Kyle's
grandfather's iconic work, American Madonna, April 2016.
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