14 May 11–17, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents A Giant Among Men Artist Vernon Fisher died a few days before the premiere of a documentary about his life. BY DANNY GALLAGHER A rtist Vernon Fisher became who he is on his own terms. He didn’t fly out to New York or Los Angeles just to get no- ticed. He became an artist because he was obsessed with the process, says longtime friend and artist Dennis Blagg. “It was like most of us, obsessive compul- sive order,” Blagg says with a laugh. “Of course, he could be very obsessive compul- sive about his work, as I am too, and I think a lot of artists really are, but I think more what he was drawn to was the ability to do a piece that had both a visual context and a narra- tive context that gave it another dimension.” Fisher, who also worked at the University of North Texas as a regents professor of art emeritus, died at age 80 on April 23, following a long battle with bone marrow cancer. His death occurred just days before a documen- tary about his work and life called Breaking the Code was scheduled to premiere during the Dallas International Film Festival. Fisher’s works veered between silly and satiric and explored a number of different media, but through it all he wanted his work to tell a story and he didn’t care if he was the one directing the narrative. “Like he says in the film, he wants his work to be entertaining but not entertaining like Kong vs. Godzilla, but entertaining in the sense that it encourages you to work out the meaning, to work out what it possibly could mean,” says Michael Flanagan, the film- maker who directed Breaking the Code. “I think he was interested in having an audi- ence engage with the work and he was just as interested in something he could engage with and stimulate him.” Fisher grew up in Granbury and settled into a studio in Fort Worth. He never pur- sued his art outside his geographic home, but his works found their way into galleries and showings at venues like the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Solo- mon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. “He just preferred a base and something that had more air in it,” Blagg says. “He did it on his terms. He didn’t have to go chase it. He’s one of those guys who worked every day in his studio practically. He talked about that a lot. For us, it was like a case of OCD. We just had to go do it. It was an itch that had to be scratched.” Fisher’s works were displayed all over the country because of their mix of styles and irreverence. “He uses a lot of images from pop culture,” says Holly Hutzell, a former student of Fisher who now works as the registrar for the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas. “You see a lot of recognizable fig- ures in them like Mickey Mouse, Frankenstein and Little Lulu. He uses layers of imagery in a very cerebral way. He does a lot of wordplay, and because of that juxtaposition of whatever images he’s collaged together, that’s where they can be cerebral. He works in a very play- ful way but there’s also some deeper meanings in hidden in his work.” Blagg, a fellow Fort Worth artist known for his breathtaking paintings of the Big Bend National Park, knew Fisher more than 40 years after Blagg’s older brother Wood- row introduced them. Blagg says they were golf and Scrabble partners, took long walks together and went to lunch every day at a nearby Luby’s Cafeteria. “He could be both [quiet and outgoing],” Blagg says. “He had an enormously wise wit about him.” Fisher had no fears about using his wit in his art. One of his most famous pieces is “Man Cutting Globe,” in which a suburban- looking dad and his son carve up a globe like they’re preparing a Jack-o-lantern for trick- or-treaters. “I would say his personality is similar to his art,” Flanagan says. “It had a lot of depth. Certainly there was a serious side to him and an imposing intellect but there was also a lightheartedness.” The only thing he took seriously is the ef- fort he put into his work, Blagg says. “He said something that really hit home with me,” Blagg says. “A painting takes time and you’ve got to give it some time when you’re working on it. That means you’ve got to be ready for the long haul because most likely, there’s going to be a long haul in- volved if it’s an ambitious piece.” Courtesy of Michael Flanigan ▼ Culture Fort Worth artist Vernon Fisher died in April . o DIGITAL MARKETING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE INTERESTED CANDIDATES PLEASE SEND YOUR COVER LETTER AND RESUME TO [email protected] D
