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by: Abrams,
Harold |
James Hubbell Partial List of San Diego Projects Site Name: Rainbow
Hill House Site Name: Hubbell
Residence Site Name: Davidson
Residence Site Name: Wishing
Well Hotel renovation Site Name: Triton
Restaurant Site Name: Davidson
Residence Site Name: Hubbell
Residence Expansion Site Name: Hubbell
Large Studio Site Name: Boys
House Site Name: St.
Catherine Laboure Catholic Church (sculpture) Site Name: St.
Leo's Catholic Church (sculpture) Site Name: Sunshine
Elementary Playgroundd Site Name: University
Christian Church (windows) Site Name: Pt.
Loma Nazarene (details) Site Name: St.
Andrews Episcopal Church (windows) Site Name: Vint
House #2 Site Name: The
Greenery A
Conversation with James Hubbell JH: It doesn't fit either. I think you're right about the art historical thing. There's a painter who used to paint black on black and white on white. I remember in school we used to talk about him. This was back in the '50s. About twenty or twenty-five years later I read that this guy had finally become really important. And the reason was that there were four of five other people doing it. He'd become a movement. The writers and critics are trained to see things that way, not in terms of individuals, but movements. My problem more particularly is that when I went to Whitney Art School in Connecticut, I had this great teacher. In about a six month time, he gave you the whole world. We went through every style, every method. We stared with four straight lines. When I got through I realized I could do whatever I wanted. It was all part of the language of what I could do. That's very confusing to the artworld. This teacher also said, "If you want to be famous, find something that is easy to recognize. Every time you paint a picture, put red dots around it. That way anyone can walk in and from the other side of the gallery can say, 'oh that's a so and so'." RW: Who was this teacher? JH: Lou York. I think he taught at Yale for a long time. He was just a really great teacher. But in other ways, it's given me a huge amount of freedom, so I wouldn't trade it for anything. RW: You mentioned someone else who made a big difference in your life. JH: Sim Bruce Richards. He'd worked with Frank Lloyd Wright in the '30s. When I was about 21, I did my first job with him on one of his homes. Over the next 25 years I probably did something in every one of his buildings. Windows, doors, columns, pools. RW: You said it was unusual for an architect to hire an artist. JH: Yes. I don't know why. I think architects think that artists are just another problem. They bring in stuff that isn't standard. In Berkeley I think, the architecture department is in the science department. It's not in the humanities where it should be. RW: And people don't know how to categorize you, I suppose. I first heard of you as "an architect." You've pointed out that you cross categories, and that's an interesting thing in itself. JH: I'm not even an architect. For more of this
interview:
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