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JACK SAVES THE DAY
I was asked to hang Lynda Benglis’ exhibition. She was making these cheese cloth and plaster knots, which she had gold leafed. The were heavy and fragile. She had these large, 20 penny common nails that someone had sanded the heads off of, making them more like huge finish nails. The problem was Riko Mizuno had the space before Rosamund and some of her artists, Robert Irwin, Larry Bell, Doug Wheeler, Ed Moses, Richard Jackson and others had ‘remodeled’ the space, again and again, resulting in walls of drywall 4 inches thick. Lynda and Paula had given instructions as to height and had placed the pieces on the floor exactly where they were to be hung. Easy enough. Except I immediately realized that the nails were not long enough for this most unique and bizarre situation. Paula and Lynda sat in the office chatting over coffee. I intruded, interrupting their conversation to report the problem, They looked at one another then proceeded to dress me down, in no uncertain terms... “Those nails were made specially to hang these pieces. They work. Use them." I tried to explain the situation, but the two of them were overwhelming. I capitulated and did as I was instructed. Ever so carefully, I located the studs, measured the height required and very gently drove Lynda’s “Special Nails”, into the incredibly thick drywall. The nails were 20 penny commons, with no heads. They were perfect, for anywhere in the world, except here. By the time they bit wood, there was little left to hang the work on and Lynda’s plaster knots were substantial. Ever so carefully I placed all the nails. Then, one at a time, ever so slowly, I placed the knots onto the nail stumps. I held my breath and prayed. When I had them all hung I went to get Lynda and Paula. I waited behind as they entered the gallery door. They immediately began congratulating one another on how wonderful it looked. A gold leafed plaster knot dropped and crashed to the floor, ruining the celebration. I raced in and quickly began taking down the remaining knots. Lynda was in tears, incredibly distraught. She was wailing, “It is ruined! It is destroyed!” I didn’t know Jack Brogan well, but we had met and I knew how highly all the guys thought of him. He was a materials genius and the guru behind a lot of the minimal sculpture being made in Los Angeles. Jack was tall, soft spoken and a master at repairing damaged work. I explained all of this to Lynda and Paula. They agreed to allow me to run the damaged knot over to Jack’s studio. Jack was operating out of a small, store front, shop on the south-west corner of Lincoln and Pico. I called, explained the situation and Jack agreed to take a look. I had packing blankets in the back of my Power Wagon. I gently placed all the broken plaster pieces into the blanket then raced to Santa Monica. It was late Thursday afternoon. The show was supposed to open Saturday afternoon. I carefully took all the pieces, large and small, and placed them on a table top Jack had prepared. I had no idea if Jack, the materials wizard could salvage Lynda’s golden knot. I returned to the gallery the next morning with larger nails. I had ground the heads off just like the originals. I rehung the show, lit it and left for home. I didn’t know how our little drama ended until I wandered into the opening Saturday afternoon. I saw the joyous faces and all the knots, neatly hung, like Christmas Stockings and without the slightest trace of damage. Good as new! Jack had saved the day. ____________________________ James Hayward is a painter. His the author of the highly recommendable Indiscretion, Selected Stories. His visual work can be found at Roberts Projects.
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