New York artist Walter DeForest is in Morecambe for the Morecambe Bay Art Fair this weekend, where he will exhibit a portrait of heavyweight champion Fury among his works.
And he hit back at people who weren’t impressed with Fury’s new contemporary sculpture unveiled by local artist Anthony Padgett earlier this week. Walter, who will channel Vincent Van Gogh’s work when he appears at the art fair at The Platform over the weekend, said: “I think artists are some of the strongest people there is.
“Artists are constantly pushing for the truth, whether it’s in character, writing, painting, and even sculpture.”
Walter quoted Theodore Roosevelt in criticizing the negative comments online about the unique artwork.
“It’s not the critic that matters; not the man who shows how the strongman stumbles, or where the perpetrator could have done them better,” he said.
“Merit belongs to the man who is really in the arena, whose face is stained with dust, sweat and blood; who fights valiantly; who is wrong, who fails again and again, for there is no effort without error and without failure; but who really strives to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasm, great devotion; who spends himself for a good cause; who at best knows at the end the triumph of the high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails by daring a lot, so that his place is never near those cold and timid souls who know neither the neither victory nor defeat.
During Walter’s stay in Morecambe, he suffered some of the damage from Storm Arwen and helped recover a piece of art by Bob Pickersgill that came from his stockades in Yorkshire Street. It has now been housed in the nearby Edgelands Gallery.
Anne Holloway and Rob Lever of Edgelands have also decided to book Walter’s award-winning show Van Gogh Find Yourself in the New Year.
During a hectic stay at the resort, Walter was also part of a group of artists who helped playwright Sarah Green – whose show Liking Me Liking You was playing at the West End Playhouse – after she fell. seriously on the ball during the storm.
