gauvin: “i couldn’t see the bored”
I always loved this mixed media artwork of gauvin’s …the inventiveness of it and the message…
It was my favorite so you can imagine how pleased I was when he gave it to me as a thank you for believing in him… and for being his friend…and for all I had done for him.
that’s Eartha Kitt in the right corner sitting in for gauvin’s mom…and there’s a red rooster in the far right bottom…
My nearly nine year old son is fascinated by the mixed media–how he incorporates the pieces of toys and that he’s actually painting, screwing, and gluing the parts onto a chalkboard.
You can imagine my disappointment when he told me he wanted it back. I was afraid he’d try to sell it to get drugs. He finally told me he wanted to give to his mom…that’s her down there in the right corner at the house (probably sitting on the edge of the bed with her red bedspread).
We made an arrangement for mutual friends to ship it to his mom. But that didn’t happen before he died.
I so can relate to this piece that I selfishly still want it. I will offer it to his family on Sunday at the Memorial. If they want it, I will freely give it to them. If they don’t want it, I will offer to buy it back.
I spent much of yesterday afternoon researching this post–taking photographs of the piece, looking for the original of the Eartha Kitt image, listening and watching videos of gauvin, Earth Kitt and Chuck Willis to choose which to feature in this post. I also listened to hours of Nina Simone today: gauvin was a huge fan.
Here’s gauvin doing a piece about his mother:
And here’s Earth Kitt doing the St Louis Blues:
Finally, Chuck Willis “What’s Your Name”:
3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura, CA 93003
Related articles
- r.i.p. mister warren gauvin b.11/26/61: celebration of life this sunday (artpredator.wordpress.com)
- renee zellweger & basquiat hit the road (artpredator.wordpress.com)
art predator 
Some of us couldn’t make it to Bell Arts today (I’m 2,000 miles away). Please tell us about gauvin’s celebration of life.
…and I have a correction; a SERIOUS correction: Warren Gauvin never was, never had been and never would be a junkie. He would be highly offended to be labeled as such.
I deleted “since he was a junkie” for you. But he was an addict and junkie is the jargon that describes an addict to me. Because of his addiction, and because of my family, I had to distance myself from him. It was painful, but necessary. I could no longer trust him. I could no longer be friends with someone who chose his addiction over his friendship because it was hazardous to my family.
We are shipping artwork to the family. Please get in touch with me and I am happy to ship it free of charge for you. Thank you for respecting one of our dying friend’s last wishes. Call me at 901-6773. Thanks Gwen.
Thank you Gwen for posting these beautiful tokens of the individual. I’m sorry I could not be at Gauvin’s memorial. I’m more sorry for the loss. May all hearts be comforted. xoML
Thank you Margaret…it was a beautiful event. I wrote about it for the Reporter; it will come out tomorrow. But I will post an expanded article here.
Warren was a Ventura treasure.