Gene L. Hamilton, October 2, 1997

about those fish....

While at Drake U., I was influenced by my sculpture professor, John Balsley. He turned me on to Pop Art and to such artists as Ed Kienholz, master of shocking sculptures involving social issues. Balsley's work was gutsy and provocative too, and I wanted to inject that same attitude into my own art.

This was in 1972-3, and the public at that time didn't seem too interested in environmental problems, at least not like they are now. I chose water pollution as a theme and created "Hamilton Trout" as a visual vehicle to affect the thinking of anyone viewing my work. The earliest fish included black tar dripping down the sides of their bodies, suggested a filthy fish plight. Little did I know that in the late '90's we'd have enormous water pollution problems, especially with the corporate hog lots.

Hamiton Trout was a highly successful series and during a trip out East with Professor Balsley I was accepted by galleries in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Back in Des Moines I was given a major one person show by the director of the Des Moines Art Center, who at that time, 1978, was Jim Demetrion.

I got into other topics after the seventies, and other media, such as serigraphy. But in recent years I would often hear requests to bring the trout back. So, bowing to this slight pressure, I resumed production on a Hamilton Trout revival and have produced sculpture and two-dimensional works for my show at Percival Galleries with the grand reception scheduled for October 24th.

By the way, my current aim is as much to show humor as it is to convey the original theme of a reaction against environmental abuse

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Gene L. Hamilton, Still Fishy After All These Years

About Gene and Carlie.

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