Press/Criticism

In the age of the art star, the gallery mascot and instantaneous social media fame, there are very focused artists quietly making work, contributing to the silent unknown. Judson Vereen, an American artist whose work spans across several different mediums, is certainly one of them. During the past decade, Vereen has produced significant work in several categories. While he has dedicated the bulk of his creative output to painting, he has also published a work of romantic poetry, as well as an autobiographical novel, released an album of folk songs, which he sang, played guitar and helped produce, and acted in a film which he played the lead role. All of these projects were completed independently, on a shoe-string budget, and in the dead silence of any funding or support.

As a child, Judson Vereen (b. 1986) was a student of the illustrations found in MAD magazine and the political cartoons of Mike Luckovich. At the age of fifteen, he was beginning to paint - and was pretty serious about it. In high school, Vereen says "I practically lived in the art studio during those years. I began to really focus, and all the other elements of my formal education fell away". So much so that by junior year Vereen had decided to leave school altogether. "Perhaps I was taking myself too seriously, I don't know, but I was going to be an artist and if I had to starve then so be it". In 2004, Vereen moved to New York City to the neighborhood of Bed-Stuy to pursue his life as an artist and in his own words he "hasn't put the brush down since". Drawn to large work, Vereen's canvases echo the action painters of the post-war movements, most notably the Abstract-Expressionists. His work is exotic, bold and painterly. When asked why he prefers to work in abstraction, Vereen simply replies "I paint emotions and emotions are very abstract to me". While Vereen had some momentum in the early stages of his career (he had his first solo show at the age of eighteen and his second at the age of twenty), he says most of his career has been a steep, uphill battle, as he puts it "the entire way". When asked why he chose not to attend art school Vereen says "I was a bit sick of school. Everybody goes to art school now. Everybody is an art studen. I think it would have been a mistake". Nowadays, Vereen rarely sells any work but, nevertheless, paints everyday. When asked about his future in painting he clarifies that "I'll never retire and I'll just keep moving". While Vereen's career has long been a struggle well into his adulthood, Vereen insists that "struggle is a big part of the picture but the key is to just survive. To keep making work. You can't worry yourself about it. It isn't about money or success, it's about going to work, every single day, for the rest of your life".

"Ride the soft line between man and beast", reads the introductory verse to Vereen's first published work in the written word, a compendium of poetry titled "62" (TARANTULAPRESS). The work is a collection of writings from the years 2004–2010 and covers the artists early experiences and travels during that six-year period. The book includes literature penned in the cities of New York, Atlanta, and briefly San Francisco. Vereen is extremely revealing in the poems dedicated to friends, lovers and erotic experiences. Written in abstracted and obscured metaphor, the artist unabashedly picks fights with societal norms and expectations, scoffs at higher education, and taunts former lovers with poetry that hugs you warmly and then slaps you in your face. "Everything I do is autobiographical. I like poetry for the same reason I like being on stage", says the artist, "because there is simply nowhere to hide".

"The moon wasn't breathtaking, the guitar sang and followed, a voice that was lovemaking, an angels heart hollowed", reads one of the short haiku/limerick-like poems indicative of Vereen's style. "Humor is an element of daily life for me", says Vereen, "So no matter the poems topic, an element of whimsy within the tragedy can still exist". The writer concludes the chapbook with this last humorous yet devastating line:

"While the universe still ever is,
get your gets and give your gives,
try to take to bed yer' dates,
Don't we all end up in wooden crates?
For it's only the heart, that which falsity breaks"

In 2014, Vereen was cast and featured in "Vacation", a short film by San Francisco filmmaker Tracy Brown. "Vacation" follows a day in the life of a young chain-smoking bohemian living on the brink of existential collapse. Part inner-city dweller, part poet and part petty thief, this unnamed lead played by Vereen nabs purses, picks up loose, like-minded women, and alludes the cops while providing commentary on the trappings of modern day life. Yearning for a way out, the character has dreams of escaping a role in society he does not want and did not ask for. "He's a thief, yes, but he is much more than that. To me, in my mind, he is an artist", says Vereen, "he expresses himself in childish ways, and is prone to tantrums and impulse. He is being suffocated by a society that sees little in him and he is sick of trying to please it" . In one of the more surreal scenes, Vereen plays both hunter cowboy and indian prey underneath the blaring glaze of a burning peace sign. He then poses the dilemma: "They say war is not the answer. . .", he whispers calmly, "I believe that highly depends on the question". Director Tracy Brown was introduced to Vereen by another actor, Mark DiRuzza, and as Brown says, "I could see the raw talent immediately. Judson is an artist of a very high, capable calibre. He had no acting experience, but I liked it that way. We worked together extremely well. It was amazing to watch him fill the screen with so much character and intrigue". Others happen to agree. The film, just over ten minutes long, features cinematography from Michael Duffy and was screened at several festivals, including New Filmmakers LA, The DEADcenter Film Festival and the European Independent Film Festival.

After Vacation's release, Vereen's attention was once again turned emphatically to the literary world. His autobiographical novel "American Pleasure" exhales bohemia and grit while making a passionate reflection upon his experiences living in San Francisco and his former relationship with a rapidly rising adult film star. It's a work with a vibrating level of honesty that manages to keep things tasteful and elegant, no matter how obscene you can expect such a story to be - and it is obscene, in the best way possible. References to Vereen's passion for self-excavation and introspection are made quite evident in the book, that sits at 217 pages. With an introductory quote by James Baldwin, which encourages the artist to "tell the whole truth" and to "vomit the anguish up", Vereen once again shows his determination to tell all, leaving no stone unturned. In "American Pleasure", Vereen writes unflinchingly about his own struggles with substance abuse and his grappling with sexual desire amid the realities of the inner city. "I was living destitute in San Francisco. It was a busy city and I never broke out as an artist above the big city noise. So, I kinda gave up and in a way, I let the demons take me over. It is a rather vulgar book, but my life at that time was rather vulgar". Although the book could be considered a scathing critique of his former lover and the not-so-subtly veiled pornography empire which dominated San Francisco's porn scene, and the antics of hardcore pornography itself, Vereen insists that the book is all about his demons, and not a bashing of his former partner. "I wrote the book more or less as a love letter to her and the time we spent together. I never judged her for her profession, to have sex on film for a living, but she was getting into humiliation and disgrace and I learned I couldn't go down that road beside her." While the novel was exhaustedly promoted by its author, at the time of this writing, it has sold less than 100 copies. Vereen says of the book "I wanted more for it, of course. But that is how it goes. Perhaps someone can find it later. I've already moved on".

Informed by his poetry, Vereen is also deeply rooted in songwriting and stage performance. Starting to perform in his early twenties at the bar beneath his apartment in the small town of Newnan, Georgia, he began busking in the subway stations and street corners of San Francisco soon after his arrival. Shortly thereafter he made his way to the cafe scene. "I played a lot at this cafe on Market Street right in the mix of the city. But there were very few people who came. I think they payed me twenty dollars a night and gave me lasagna and a beer on the house. I was happy. I got to play whatever I wanted and to get paid anything at all, well, I felt really grateful about that. That was pretty cool, you know?". After a year playing in the cafe's, Vereen eventually graduated to having shows of his own at smaller venues around San Francisco. After writing and performing for nearly three years alongside his brother, the two recorded a series of Vereen's own songs, as well as covers, in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. On the recording, the folksy howl of Vereen's voice and harmonica and bluesy guitar melodies are backed by Stefan's delicate movements on the piano and organ. "An introduction to the songs of Judson Vereen" is the songwriter's first record to the public in the medium of songwriting but certainly not the last. The brothers intend to record a "A little something in between", another album of mostly original songs. According to Vereen, "My background is painting, but around 2010 I began writing songs and playing the guitar. I used to read my poetry aloud and still do, but I feel the need to raise my voice and sing them as well. My music is rather mathematical and simple. It doesn't need to be anything else. On the album I sing "You do what you want to" and "Heart in the city" as originals of mine. I cover the Stone's "Cocksucker Blues", which they wrote as a finger in the eye to the recording company, but I've always taken the song quite seriously. I sing Bob Dylan's "John Brown" and "Someday you'll call my name and I won't answer" by Hank Williams Sr. The songs I sing on the album are personal, even the one's that weren't written by me. I believe in showing the origins of my life's work. You can see exactly where I come from. Like I said, there is nowhere to hide".

Reflecting on the process of making the album, Vereen emphasizes how special it was to have his brother play on the recordings. "I was also very fortunate to have Kyle Leslie's help in the studio. He was a gifted and dedicated friend". Kyle Leslie, the noteworthy music producer in San Francisco, known for his gentle spirit and expert ear for detail, died of cancer shortly after the album's release. "Kyle was practically a legend to local musicians in San Francisco and his legacy will continue to shine on through the artist's that he influenced". Vereen is currently writing songs for a new album and hopes to release more projects in collaboration with Stefan. The pressing of the album only printed fifty copies, that Vereen gave to friends. "I didn't make any money with it and almost nobody listened to it", Vereen shrugs. "But I never tried to sell it. Sometimes you have to give yourself away in a sense".

Ask any artist and they will tell you that creative work needs some amount of support - before, during and after the production of the work itself. Artists today are scrambling their dealers, their studios, their managers and producers, all for the right amount of support, (i.e money) to get what their projects done. Are Vereen and the others like him independent of this system any different? "I do believe in support systems. It's nice to know when someone is behind you, but I only had that support officially for about a year, but that was almost two decades ago. I was with a gallery once, back in Atlanta. I was exhibiting my paintings, I was selling some of them occasionally, I was being interviewed, reviewed and all of that. Then I was fired. I haven't stepped into the gallery scene since. Artist's must learn to make work independent of others, of money, and of institutional support systems". When asked why it is so hard to get one's work out to the public, Vereen says "there's is just too much noise. The world is a noisy place. Big publishing houses, studios and galleries have the money to scream, the independent artist can really only afford to whisper".

Vereen relies now on the support of mostly himself: "There are a few people that have always supported me. My mother for one. My brother Stefan. I could not have released an album all by myself. Tracy Brown and Kyle Leslie were a great help in regards to the film and the album. I knew nothing about making a film and Tracy guided me through the whole process. The same goes for my work with Kyle Leslie on the sound of the first record. Kyle was needed in that project and he was there all the way. This is an awesome example of how good work can be made independently of big budget studios and steady cash flow. This is an age where people are steady busy just being busy. I prefer to be steady busy making work, and I have the goods to prove that. If I have to make a project work on a shoe string budget, that is just what I'll do. Artist's are fortunate in this day and age. We can become dualists. Even if you have no money, you can still produce work".
Judson Stacy Vereen, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, dropped out of The Woodward Academy, a prominent preparatory school, in his junior year of high school, and moved to New York City to dedicate his life to his creative pursuits. He then lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles. When asked about his time in Los Angeles, Vereen says "Los Angeles was not easy. I struggled, lived in my car, didn't get very far in that town. But I did what I always did. I painted, I made work, I kept moving". After his time spent in Los Angeles, Vereen moved to a location he would rather not disclose. "Nobody knows who I am, but after years in the big cities, I guess I'm kinda hiding out for a while", the 34 year-old artist says with a grin.

Vereen's upcoming projects include "Through San Francisco, DARKLY", a second anthology of his poetry, which includes short stories and song lyrics, and a book of correspondence, "Letters from a Jeep Cherokee", based on his experiences living in his car and his struggles in Los Angeles. With so much work in his past, and so much work in his future, it seems Vereen will not be persuaded by lack of success and vows to never retire from being an artist. Whatever the case, Judson Vereen makes work tirelessly, whether we listen, watch, read - or not. Either way, the work will be there for us, whenever we're ready.

Inquiries about Judson Vereen and his work can be submitted to: Tarantulapress@gmail.com
For more information about Judson Vereen's work, visit judsonvereen.com

Yasmin Vereen is a freelance writer and lover of good art.
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