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Post Magazine
This Week:
You Can't Eat Art
Hosted by Darragh Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, Oct. 16, 2001; 1 p.m. EDT

Critics agree, John Grazier is a wonderful artist. So, why is it so hard for him to keep a roof over his head? Darragh Johnson, who, in Sunday's Washington Post Magazine, wrote about the life of the starving artist as personified by the 55-year-old Grazier, was online Monday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. EDT to field questions and comments about the article.

Johnson is a reporter in The Post's Anne Arundel County bureau.

A transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

washingtonpost.com: Darragh should be with us momentarily.

Darragh Johnson: Hi everyone. Sorry I'm a little late here. We've got lots of good questions -- so let's get started. Thanks for being here.

Baltimore, Md.: Is Grazier a neighbor or aquaintance?

How did you get to know him or was it his resourcefulness that found you? I could relate tremendously to his predicament. I am a single parent, on the heels of fresh divorce, lacking adequate credentials. I am also a self-trained artist but nevertheless exhibiting internationally, and recently moved back to the U.S. after living in Germany for a very long time and am struggling and challenged to my very core. His story gives me renewed hope not to give up on my work as an artist.

L. Haas

Darragh Johnson: That's good to hear -- John'll be thrilled to know his story is an inspiration to others. I found him through one of the art critics on the Post's staff, Jo Ann Lewis, who's been writing about him for years.

Bethesday, Md.: Do you think Grazier's problem is just that he's no good at managing money?

Darragh Johnson: Yes. Even he admits this is a bit of a problem, and his friend, Wally Dickson, has since founded a sort of "trust" fund -- so that Dickson helps John manage the money. Like many creative people, I think, John's energies and strengths lie in areas that have nothing to do with finances.

Wilton, Conn.: Why didn't you publish contact information for Mr Grazier? I will buy a painting.

Darragh Johnson: He's got a site at www.artnet.com -- if you go on, you can do a search on his name. (Although I'm pretty we also, in the middle of the story, published the more explicit website for him.) Thanks.

Arlington, Va.: Good article, but, the subject struck me as a bit unstable and eccentric. Which could be true of a lot of artistic, creative folks. However, there are hundreds of incredible artists in the area who hold down full-time jobs and are socially responsible enough to provide a steady source of food and care for their children while still trying to make an art career work. Not all of us live in vans.

Darragh Johnson: This is a good point -- and one, I think, that makes John this much more unique. He considers art his No.1 passion -- and that he'd be cheating himself and his art if he spent his energies elsewhere. He also admits that he's a terrible employee. I don't know if there's a right or wrong way to be an artist: John's is just all-consuming.

Arlington, Va.: Darragh, after spending time with Grazier, did you come away liking him or not?

Darragh Johnson: Oh. This is a good question. John is incredibly intense, and very very needy, and he's different from anyone else I've met. He's also funny and insightful and a great storyteller, though I think I appreciated him most when I thought back on what my time with him had been like.

Arlington, Va.: How do new artists get started in this town? It doesn't seem as open an art scene as L.A. or New York. Are there any galleries that will give shows to good, yet unshown artists?

Darragh Johnson: This is a good question and one I'm afraid I don't have a good answer to. Artists and dealers in DC told me it *was* a hard art town -- definitely not as easy as NY or LA. Does anyone in the audience have a better answer to this?

Washington, D.C.: Does Grazier expect to see a spike in sales as a result of the article?

Darragh Johnson: I think he'd love to see a spike in sales, though I have no idea what will happen, and at heart, I think, neither does he. Someone else asked whether he would consider doing cheaper works, such as lithographs, and I don't know the answer to that, either.

Washington, D.C.: John Grazier may be a good artist, but my god, he's a nut. I don't think his problems with success are his choice of field. I think he'd fail to spite himself in any field because he's not even interested in mildly playing by the rules.

Darragh Johnson: You're right -- he's eccentric. But I think that eccentricity is so much of who he is, and I think the art world is one that (more than other professions) embraces the offbeat and offkilter.
Also, he's been very successful in many ways, and I think he's willing to pay the price to live the life the way he wants -- i.e., he'd rather sleep sometimes in his van and eat pudding for dinner than put up with someone else's version of how he should live his life. He's extraordinarily independent.

Washington, D.C.: How did Grazier go from having shows at huge museums and an agent to selling his paintings out of a van? And why do these lawfirms, etc... let him in? Is that common, for artists to cold call firms?

Darragh Johnson: Good question. Grazier, as many readers have noticed, has a demanding and difficult personality. He tended to wear gallery owners out. And DC is a tough town -- its art-buying scene is small, and once a gallery owner ran through his or her client list, there weren't many other places for selling art. I'm not sure how many other artists work, but John is not like many other artists. And no -- it's extremely unusual, I think, to cold-call law firms, trying to sell art.

Arlington, Va.: Can you talk about the health of the D.C. art scene?

Darragh Johnson: This is another good question and one I'm afraid I'm not an expert on. Can anyone else out there comment on this?

Millville, Del.: I worked with John Grazier's mother in the '70s. It doesn't sound as if he has changed a bit in all these years. Too bad with all that talent he can't get the art community to give him a boost. He was the apple of her eye and could do no wrong even if she never hugged him.

Darragh Johnson: This is a good comment and one that does not ask for a response. Thanks for writing in.

Washington, D.C.: I read your article and very much liked what I saw of Grazier's work. I don't particularly care if he's a pain in rear... Has he sold what he had since your article? I'm intrigued. What's still available?

Darragh Johnson: Hm. I'm not sure what he's sold since the article came out. Most of his stuff he posts on www.artnet.com, and I'm pretty sure there's a link on the website that allows you to email him directly.

Washington, D.C.: Why is the only thing that can save Grazier his art? Do his artistic skills exempt him from getting a job to pay the bills for his children?

Darragh Johnson: I don't think he'd say his artistic skills "exempt" him from getting a job to pay the bills for his children. They moved in with him only recently -- so he's spent much of his life responsible only for himself. And he's been able to live his life devoted to the one thing he thinks is more important than everything else: his art.

Helsinki, Finland: From your article, it seems that Grazier is an intense and ambitious self-promoter who should be doing very well for his efforts. Is his inability to sell on a regular basis due to his lack of gallery/dealer representation? He's good, why aren't dealers and galleries picking him up? Is his personality a problem? Is he hesitant to let them have a chunk of the profits? Thank you, nice article.

Darragh Johnson: Bingo on all accounts. His personality has managed to alienate much of the DC art scene. And, many gallery owners told me, he demands too much money for his artwork -- which makes it hard to sell. His friends say he doesn't like doing the self-promotion stuff (the cold-calling, the visiting, the lugging his portfolio all around town) so he really waits until he's desperate for money before he sets off on the promotion binge, and then he's sort of forced, in many cases, to have a fire sale. Thanks for your note.

Washington, D.C.: I think this is where the confusion over this article is coming in. Folks are taking it as a commentary on the life of artists when it isn't. It is a commentary on the life of ONE artist.

Darragh Johnson: This doesn't ask for a reply. Thanks for writing in.

Washington, D.C.: How old are Grazier's children? If they're old enough to have an opinion on their father's way of life, any idea what that opinion is?

Darragh Johnson: His kids are -- if I remember correctly -- 21 and 16. His daughter, the 16-year-old, is like many 16-year-olds. She thinks her dad is annoying and goofy, and she rolls her eyes at him constantly. I wasn't able to spend much time with his son. This is a good question, though. Sorry I don't have a better answer.

20906: John Grazier could take a lesson from the thousands of immigrants who come to the D.C. area every year and without education and make a living. They make up beds in hotels, cook food and build houses, all without the attitude of Grazier. No one owes him a living as an artist, but he does owe his children a decent lifestyle.
My gross income in 1990 was $30,000, and I paid my mortgage and all the bills necessary to run a household. Even assuming he was in the top tax bracket, how in the world did he spend all that money? Too bad he couldn't have bought himself some common sense.

Darragh Johnson: This is more of a commentary and doesn't ask for a response. Thanks for writing.

Sacramento, Calif.: If D.C. is such a tough art town and Grazier has worn out his welcome there, why doesn't he try New York or Chicago or Philly or other metropolitan areas within driving distance? Is it because he has name recognition in D.C. and not many other places?

Darragh Johnson: He'd like to try New York, but he's convinced it's a vicious arttown, and he's not sure how he'd break in. Which is probably the same story with Chicago and Philly -- I don't think they've got the same reputation as New York, but I don't know that he's got the contacts there, either. And he's a namebrand in DC. He's been collected here, and people know him. That gives his stuff cachet.

Virginia: How did this article happen? Did you decide to write an article about an artist and then choose Grazier, or was it the other way around?

Darragh Johnson: A few questions have come in about how this story came together. The magazine was doing this issue about the art world, and one of the editors put me in touch with John. The original idea was to write about how artists are using the Internet to market their stuff and how that new frontier was changing the artworld. But John's story was so compelling, in so many unusual ways, that the final article wound up being a bit different from the original conception. I spent a few long days with John and spoke to him and emailed with him regularly -- over the course of a couple of months.

Washington, D.C.: Excellent piece.... I went to Grazier's online gallery, and all the works I saw were listed "sold." Is this a new development, or is he posting older works? Or is it a marketing move?

Darragh Johnson: John is pretty savvy. I'm sure if they are all sold right now, he's painting madly. The last time I talked with him, he was busy sketching out a new one: "Dream of the Piebald Mare," I think he was planning on titling it.

University Park, Md.: I really enjoyed your story, and came away with a much greater appreciation for artists. That such a talented artist should not be able to maintain even a minimally comfortable life is amazing! Like many of your readers, I found myself wishing I were wealthy enough to buy one of his wonderful paintings. Is there any hope he might produce his art in a more affordable form -- as lithographs, for example?

Darragh Johnson: I think I answered this question in an earlier form, but I'll post it because, if John is reading along, he'd be thrilled to see this commentary. And again, I'm not sure what his plans for producing cheaper art might be. He'd first need to be assured the lasting interest was there, I imagine. Thanks for writing in.

Washington, D.C.: Has Grazier ever been treated for mental disorders?

Darragh Johnson: I don't think it's so much a question of him being mentally unstable as it is he's quirky. He's different, and he's been able to lead a life that allows him to continue being different.

Texas: What a fascinating article! My sister is a starving artist painter who can't hold a straight gig. Folks constantly ask her why she doesn't get a job; they don't understand; art IS her job. I'm going to send her your article -- it will inspire her to keep at it.

Darragh Johnson: That's a nice comment. Thanks for writing.

Darragh Johnson: Looks like we've run out of time. Thanks to everyone for their questions, comments and interest. If there were questions we didn't get to, feel free to email me at johnsond@washpost.com, and I'll try to be helpful. Thanks again -- Darragh.

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

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