An Artist’s Tale
by
Jennifer Mays

This article was written by Jennifer as a college writing assignment, based on an interview with me that took place on September 27th, 2000. Whatever the grade she actually got, I give it an A+ :)
—Warren
IT IS indeed a rare occasion in life that one stumbles upon true eclecticism, raw talent, and pure uniqueness. To those searching for these, an invitation: please, come spend an evening, enjoy a cup of coffee, with Paducah artist Warren Farr.

Come prepared to spend a while. Bring your camera, your favorite mug, and an eye for the aesthetic. Leave your fears and any pre-conceived notions about the state of the world behind. There is learning to be done, and ideas to be explored behind the walls of the little white house with the simple façade and the overgrown lawn.

When the door opens, expect the unexpected. The small house is transformed from an average home to a museum, walls hung heavily with a blend of abstract paintings, the artist’s own enigmatic works, and a fully restored Italian Renaissance piece worthy of a space in the Louvre. The curator will invite you in to examine each, offer you a steamy beverage, and enthrall you with his artistic philosophies, his vast knowledge, and perhaps, if the mood strikes him, a magic trick or two.

Warren Farr’s domain is a rare find in a small town. He is himself a rarity. A native of Indianapolis, Farr has been an artist, writer, and philosopher his entire life. His family settled in Paducah following the death of his father and his mother’s remarriage and has lived here since, though the artist admits that he would eventually like to experience life in a big city. “It doesn’t matter where you live. Art can be created anywhere,” he admits with a sheepish grin, “but I’d like to live in New York, to feel the real ‘art atmosphere.’”

The atmosphere of his unassuming house, then, must be comparable. The smell of coffee, mixed with a slight scent of oil paint fills every room. These in combination with the visual feast for the eyes speak of a different place, one permeated by artistic sensibilities and the flowing of creative “juices.”

At first glance, Farr appears to be anything but the sensitive artist he is. His waist length brown hair, graying slightly at the temples, his striking blue eyes, and casual jeans and flannel shirt style of dress are more reminiscent of a hard-working blue collar laborer who might perform in a band on weekends than of a quietly intellectual artist. As he sits in his studio, surrounded by a multitude of books on topics ranging from religion to architecture, he speaks about his newest series of paintings, one of which is perched behind him. His latest works, his “Car Series”, are views through a windshield. They represent dreams, childhood memories, and the vastness of the world on the open road. The work in progress is a lined road with a cityscape in the distance, and a dry field of grass and sand in the foreground. “I wanted to include various architectural elements in this,” he states. One of Farr’s great interests is architecture, having been a draftsman during his early explorations into pencil-drawn still-life. He participates actively in the preservation of local landmarks, most recently having contributed to a Paducah Sun article on the demolition of Pete Kappas’ 1911 prairie/Italianate masterpiece on the corner of Fountain and Jefferson. “Tearing that house down was an awful thing,” he says of it, looking rather sad.

Farr’s perspectives, shaped by his love of antiquity, architecture, art, and philosophy, bear striking contrast to another of his current projects: the construction of two websites. Zan-E.com (now gurf.com) features his humor and artwork in the form of cartoons. Namedance.com is a domain naming site. “There are so many millions of websites,” he states, “that a website dedicated to naming them is a necessity.” He receives another form of enjoyment from designing using electronic media. With the mouse, he can draw in a different manner. “I’m an artist who can’t draw fluid lines…the mouse does it for me,” he explains matter-of-factly, taking a sip from his green stoneware mug.

Fluid lines, then, must be relatively unimportant to his works, because galleries and museums are paying attention. Along with several private and public collections, Farr’s paintings are on display currently at Paducah’s Yeiser Art Center, and various pieces have been shown at the Mobile Museum of Art, the Atlanta College of art, Nashville’s Cheekwood Museum of Art, the Columbia Museum in South Carolina, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the National Arts Club in New York City. But Farr refuses to boast, rather, he maintains a simple point of view and a single goal. “In all my work, the viewer is invited to explore increasingly difficult but potentially more rewarding levels of interpretation. Only through art and imagination can we expand our reality,” he theorizes.

The reality that the artist wishes to expand for his audience is one upon which he expounds readily in his speech and writings. His essay, “Popularity and the Badness Edge,” is a rant about people and the search for freedom to be oneself in society. “Within the self-constraints of the free individual, as well as the social constraints of a free society, two extremes mark the boundaries of choice— on one hand that of the Milquetoast or goody-goody, on the other, the bad boy (or girl.)” He goes on to conclude: “These poles demark a palette of infinite division, any selection from which carries some degree of maleficence. So why not make selection of this level— our badness edge— a conscious choice, thereby claiming that self-empowerment capability.”

If the idea seems oddly true as the coffee begins to grow cool, then you’ve gotten it, and your trip to Warren Farr’s studio will have been as enlightening as it was a trip out of the ordinary. He’ll happily invite you back for more good conversation, and you will leave knowing that you’ve found an oasis in the desert of normalcy.

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© 2000 Jennifer Mays (used with permission), revised 9/18