Local artist and rabble-rouser Jeff Madeen stands in a cutout of himself in his piece “Untitled.” That and other works will be on display at “Obedience, Conformity, Apathy, It's All Good!” a show at the DAC that he’s doing alongside his artist-father, Bud Madeen./Photo by Jennaye Derge

All in the family

Madeen, father mount thought-provoking social commentary

by Stew Mosberg

Throughout history, there have been several celebrated artistic families with remarkable talent that passed from generation to generation. It is difficult to determine if their aptitude stemmed from genetics or was assimilated by the offspring as the result of environmental proximity. Visitors to the Durango Arts Center might find an answer to that question in its latest exhibit. “Obedience, Conformity, Apathy, It’s All Good!” is a collection of work by local iconoclastic artist Jeff Madeen and his father, Harold “Bud” Madeen.

Those familiar with the younger Madeen know him as a frequently controversial, but always thought provoking, local multi-media artist. After graduating from the American Academy of Art in Chicago, the elder Madeen, now 87, started his career in the advertising department of the Elgin National Watch Co., winning awards for his creative campaigns and later founding a small advertising company. Taking inspiration from his father, Jeff studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and sometime later moved to Durango. His business, byDesign, specializes in remodels and award-winning, contemporary kitchen design. As an artist, he uses a variety of sophisticated tools, welding and cutting equipment, video and reconstituted high- and low-tech materials.

Bud, who now also lives in the Southwest, suggested to his son they have a two-man show. The idea had cathartic overtones, and Jeff began to seriously consider the idea. He eventually posed it to DAC Exhibits Director Mary Puller, who enthusiastically agreed. Conversely, the concept of collaboration was one thing, finding a theme, other than the father-son connection, was another.

Recently, Jeff reminisced about growing up as a young rebel in defiance of authority, yet always being surrounded by art. “My father always painted or drew and was part of a local art league. Most of his work was along the lines of Andrew Wyeth,” he said, referring to the mid-century painter and a member of quite possibly the most famous American artist family. “My father would paint on the weekends, and it impressed me in such a way that I wanted to be an artist; I respected him for that.”

According to Jeff, in 1966 his father started working on a group of paintings titled the “Freedom Series,” but he never spoke to Jeff about the content or what drove him to create them. “It was like he provided the work and the viewer provides the questions,” says Jeff. “These paintings were hung all around our house when I grew up, and the first one, titled ‘Teenagers,’ was of me. The paintings wormed their way into my psyche where I wanted answers to the questions they posed.”

When Jeff helped to move his father to Santa Fe recently, he took possession of the original series not realizing they would eventually form the platform of the DAC show. The American flag figures predominantly in six of Bud’s nine paintings; perhaps inspired by Jasper Johns’ flag paintings produced a decade earlier. Each of Bud’s images depicts a singular thought or event that he considered a defining moment in the United States the year he painted it.

Although the last of the series was finished in 1992, Bud created another painting, “Puzzled World,” just for this show. An attempt is being made to get him here for the opening reception.

Once again being surrounded by the paintings, Jeff believes he has finally uncovered some answers to the questions they raised. In the show, he shares his responses to each painting and says, “The truth in the answers will get (the viewer) to question your belief system.”

Jeff’s contribution to the exhibition consists of close to 20 pieces using a range of mediums including photography, assemblage, woodblock prints, sculpture, paint on canvas, installation, performance art and video.

Known for his rants against big government and people’s blind allegiances and his abhorrence of the Federal Reserve, Jeff has created his art to personally address what his father started, and also to bemoan the sorry state of affairs we face resulting from the actions of a clandestine few.

Madeen takes a break in his studio recently while preparing for his art opening. “The truth in the answers will get you to question your belief system,” Madeen says of the show, which also features works by his father, Bud Madeen./ Photo by Jennaye Derge

For Jeff Madeen, conspiracy theory is not just some fanciful idea, he lives it and the artwork in this show exemplifies his point of view. For instance, he invited several local artists to create tin foil hats, which are displayed on a hat rack. According to Jeff, the term conspiracy theorist was first used by former C.I.A. head Allen Dulles and by the Warren Commission to degrade and marginalize researchers looking into the assassination of President Kennedy. He derived the metaphor of the tin hat from an episode of Rod Serling’s “Twilight Zone” in which a conspiracy “nut job” wore an aluminum foil hat.

Jeff admits that he creates his politically charged and provocative work to, “make us think for ourselves, and to hone critical thinking skills and go where the questions take you, often in new directions, and (to) draw your own conclusions.”

No stranger to controversy of his own, Bud’s painting titled “Woman’s Lib” (1976) was censored during a solo show of the Freedom Series largely because it incorporates a bare-breasted woman embracing a baby engulfed in “Old Glory.” Adjoining the painting will be some original press clippings of the day, from the Chicago Tribune and local papers, about the work.

“By continuing to engage the viewer and stimulate thought, I’m going to rebut or shine new light about his paintings and his subjects through the written word, placed adjacent to each painting,” Jeff said. 

The titles of some of Jeff’s works, “Face the Truth,” “War and Peace,” “Open Door” and “Violence of the State,” to name a few, are provocative in themselves, and also provide an “Ah-ha!” moment after experiencing them. In one example, a woodblock print called “Mission Accomplished” depicts an aircraft carrier with galley slave oars protruding through the hull. The control tower bares the numbers “322” a numeric reference to Skull and Bones, the secret society of Yale – the alma mater of George W. Bush, John Kerry and many other would-be “controllers.”

Visitors may want to make return visits to the exhibit to re-explore the material Jeff has prepared, as well as study the art for additional symbolism and meaning. Without giving too much away, suffice to say, the execution of all the art in this show is exemplary and speaks volumes about the artistry of father and son. n

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