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Show An Interview with JOHN DEPUY "The Madman G Seer, Painter of the Apocalyptic" John DePuy: Let me read you something. It says it all. It’s all I have to say. "Madman and seer— Painter of the Apocalyptic Volcano. Campafiero, I am with you forever in the glorious fraternity of the damned." Jim Stiles: That's what Abbey wrote about you... JD: There’s nothing else to say. JS: But I have to ask you some questions. Chronology and anecdotes... Where did you come from? How did you get into art? When did you come out West? JD: Oh God. JS: What's wrong John? : : JD: Oh nothing, it’s just a very strange question... JS: Well, John we all want to know where you came from because no one really thinks you came from this planet. JS: So, when you got to Taos, just what kind of trouble did you cause? JD: Well, I didn’t really get into serious trouble until Abbey arrived in ‘59 and then the shit hit the fan. I had met him before briefly at the university, but then in ‘59 we got together with a vengeance. The developers were moving in and that was the origin of what they call the Monkey Wrench Gang. This company in Las Vegas, New Mexico put up six huge signs north of town, big 40,50 foot signs. We decided to remove them and that was the beginning of a long story. But we wanted to save the world. We each pursued our own craft, Ed was a peer. We had a bond that went beyond just friends, we were brothers and we fought like brothers. We went down Thunder River and made an oath to paint and write the Southwest in ‘59 or early ‘60. He went back to the lookout there... JS: John you need to speak up... JD: Yeah, it’s this damn phone. That’s what happens when you drop out, go solar and so JOHN DEPUY in the 1950s & the 1990s JD: Well, what screwed us all up was World War II. It formed us. We were formed by the 40s and the 50s. forth. Anyway, I stayed in Taos until ‘75 and then I went down for a while to join Ed in Tucson. In 1972, I went to Europe to study and England and New York. I had the GI bill so it kept you going; filled the fridge. JS: Tell us about the time Abbey burned the house down in Taos. eae JS: So you were born in the late 20s? JD: It wasn’t in Taos; it was in Albuquerque. He was a student and a caretaker at a house JD: I didn’t. I came from a wolf. It was an immaculate conception. JS: That's good to hear. fe JD: Yeah, 1927. Don’t remind me. Anyway those were the formative years. Somebody called JD: It made me very angry. The whole mess: the Depression, World War II, Korea, which I had a first hand experience with. outside of Albuquerque. I guess they had a party and they left and when they got back the place was burning to the ground. It wasn’t my place, but he wrecked my place in Sante Fe. That was our neighbor's house. Within two weeks both our wives left us and took all the children. JS: Do you want to talk about your personal life at all? JS: What was your experience in Korea? JD: Well, what can I say? I paint. Like Ed said, "All artists should sew their mouths shut." it the beat generation and we were pretty beat. JS: How did it affect you personally? JD: I was a medic and I tangled with an mine. It was a blessing because it gave me a pension for the rest of my life. I retired at age 22. JS: You were critically injured, weren't you? JD: I have an artificial hip and part of an artificial femur, a lot of metal, but it’s alright. It was a blessing because I could do what I wanted to do which was paint. I always wanted to paint, but this society doesn’t like artists so everything was against me. With the GI bill, I went to the art students league and studied with Hans Hoffman, an old bauhaus type. Hitler hated them and gypsies equally. I grew up with Henry David Thoreau, Emerson, John Muir, Catlin and the land...that was it. The land. : JS: Where did you grow up? ; : JD: My grandfather’s buried in New Mexico. But unfortunately he lost everything in the Depression, so I was born in the East. God help me. He’s buried nearby and my mom and dad are here near Taos. The 50s are really the formative years, good time. I always related to European paintings, especially the German Expressionists. They were a mad lot and had passion, which some of our art here lacked. JS: When did you come to Taos? : : JD: I came twice. I came when I was very young in the 30s briefly with my grandfather. My parents came back in the late 40s. I came permanently in ‘52. JS: So right after you got out of Korea? JD: I went out even before that. I took somewhat of a leave of absence and went out to Navajo Mountain and spent some time with an old shaman. I was a navy medic. I went AWOL fora short time afterI got back. My mind was burned out. So, I went out and spent some time with an old medicine man at Navajo Mountain. His name was Long Salt. He was ' what we call a medicine man. He had quite an influence. Stewart Brand, who started the Whole Earth catalogue, spent time with him too. He was an incredible person. I started out very involved in the European and New York scene, then I came back to my root right here in the Southwest and the land. The land is my root and my being. Everything I am is the land and I spent 50 years interpreting it in painting and fighting lost causes. JS: You and Abbey did have tumultuous personal lives. How has that shaped you as a person? JD: You mean our personal lives with women? It depends. It depends on which woman. Ed and I were both in love with the same woman at one time. She was a revolutionary. She fought at the Bay of Pigs. She and Ed fought it head on; an Anarchist and a Marxist, so she ended up with me. She was an incredible woman. She was la passionaria and a great artist and sculpture, but devoted to the revolution. JS: So you married her? : JD: Yes, more or less. JS: That was your first wife? JD: No. My granddaughter by my first wife is 16 and she is devoted to the canyons; devoted to the Southwest. Good kid; she wants to go to Mars. She wants to be an astronaut. But you know it turns a painting. I grew up in bedroom with Van Goghs all over the walls. It was just something you’re born with. I just couldn’t conceive of doing anything else and I've done it with over 4-thousand works here. JS: Going back the chronology. You had gone to Tucson in 1978. JD: About that time, I rented a studio from Ed and lived out near Saguaro National Monument. And we hiked and we walked in the Cabeza Prieta. And we spent a lot of time in the Sonoran Desert and back and fourth. We wandered all over the place from the 50s Tight up to the time he died. He'd sit on a rock and write and I’d sit on a rock and draw. You know Ed's original love was to be a painter. He was torn between writing and painting. |