David Hutchinson’s “JG on Rembrandt # 2” (2000), paint marker on paper.
It’s a perfect pairing when you come to think about it: I’ll be reading from my new novel “Water Music” May 18 at The Lionheart Gallery in Pound Ridge while the gallery is hosting “Purging Genet,” an exhibit of David Hutchinson’s paintings, drawings and sculpture that were inspired by the writings of the perverse gay writer Jean Genet.
David Hutchinson’s "A Dazzling Pimp Carved from an Archangel" (2003), acrylic on linen.
Perverse doesn’t begin to describe the late French novelist (“Our Lady of the Flowers”), playwright (“The Maids”) and memoirist (“Prisoner of Love”). An abandoned child and reform school student-turned-thief, male prostitute and convict, Genet sought redemption and transcendence through degradation. He was one of the authors I flirted with as a voracious young reader. And while he remains a bit outré for my tastes, I have to wonder if there isn’t a bit of Genet in the games my men play.
Hutchinson, a Pound Ridge resident, considers the play between words and images in color-coded paintings and ink drawings that layer translations over the original French, creating new patterns that “purge” the original.
I look forward to being among them May 18 12:30 to 5 p.m. “Purging Genet” runs through June 1. For reservations and more information, call (914) 764-8689 or visit thelionheartgallery.com.