In his drawings, the funny and fantastical elements collided always with the menacing ones, as they must have in Kendallman himself. “He was professional in his work ethic, reliable and excited to be part of the exhibition,” remembers Tachmes about his show. “But I got the feeling that he was also yearning for recognition and attention to his work; I think he was … frustrated.” Frustration entered into his feelings for one of his last projects, says Matamoros, who recalls that Bartlett / Kendallman never really knew how to sell himself to the hyper-political and clique-ish art world.
That project was Web-based, and loosely involved a cyber invasion of Puerto Rico, his much-loved former home. It of course involved planes, and flight plans for Kendall-Tamiami and San Juan’s airports, and it was supposed to be interactive. But apparently not many visited his site. The heartfelt artist may have felt the world had just become too heartless - but no one ever knows what makes people check out of this life. All we know is what is left behind, and that was an art worth seeing.
One of his most recent interventions occurred at a big satellite fair during Art Basel, Scope. Tachmes had a booth there, and he remembers Kendallman’s spectacular crash of the party, when he set up his own “booth” that was an installation of another version of an invasion of Puerto Rico. “It was really fun and spontaneous. Adults and children alike would stop at the booth and just watch and listen to the music. Kids would get down on the floor next to him and play with the tiny airplanes, ships and soldiers that he had created, laid out over a map of Puerto Rico. It was nice.”
Nice, too, that Miami got to experience the art life of the man from Kendall. Jorge Bartlett, 1957 - 2008.
teo
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the kman
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2008-09-12 12:00:18
this to me was one of the most important artist in Miami, he was able to make a creative statement for so much time with all the hard ship of being an artist in Miami, he is one of a kind and made Miami his own, an artist from Miami and the Caribbean he will be miss dearly and we still love him and his art.
miss you kman
Robert Pellegrini
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.Standing alone in a crowd.
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2008-09-12 19:36:00
Few know the level of bravery , of a man so consumed and driven by his art . He was unique .
Peter
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Family Art
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2008-09-14 14:48:09
Let us not forget the support his wife Ana,an artist in her own right, gave to Jorge over the years...
