Presenting the Late, Great Carmen D’Avino
This is my very own, a self portrait done in 1947 in a 5th floor walkup in Montparnasse, France, a suburb of Paris.
Carmen went there on the GI Bill and hung out with and made history with other Ex-patriots. There he met Helena and fell in love. They traveled Europe on a Moped…. ah… They moved to the East Village NYC around 1949. He made lots of animated Films and was nominated for Academy Awards. They were good people and lived with joy.
This honorable gent saw more of life than a bohemian whirling dervish, I am proud to have called him my friend.
For Carmen……… I have always fancied old garments more than new. I have always thought that even a borrowed, found or second-hand cloth had few drawbacks. That this cloth on my back, legs or head would still warm the body, yet also warm my soul in unexpected ways. A path of discovery you might say, if you have experienced the feeling. Please remember anyone’s old and faded flannel shirt, its color a pastel fragrance of desert and bloom, a softness nothing new ever knows, yet a clarity you can never forget. I have not always run naked in life and when clothed I have found that I’m best in a used guise, something comfortable, a friendly cloth that lays to the wind, that my cheek might nap against, that my anguish might have it’s slumber. Now comes the moment when all else is lost, when all fails but mortality. I am a devotee before the moment, yet after the fact of knowing. I am lost before I am found. I was not as defined until I found your assistance. Life seems a courtesan that beckons yet I’m never sure. Unenlightened I confess. You are a thread chosen for strength that sews’s a garment that lasts forever with your friends. That some of you may be woven into me, only gives me comfort. Old friend, I must say I love you, as all would say that know you true. But I say I love because I’ve known you. I’ve seen sparks come from you! Yesterday I remember skipping stones on the water. Today I only see the water. Frame by frame, chip-by-chip, stroke-by-stroke, image-by-image, story-by-story, a rhythm griped by intention and softened by humility. In recent years I’ve watched you let forms seem to shape themselves as you a witness preformed the duty, the honorable art. Always excitement and drama, always dedication and a seemingly endless inspiration overflows into those you know. You lived your art, your passion, as a towering standard of human struggle and endurance, yet still open and always kindly approachable.
11/4/04 W.L.S.
“Goodbye my friend”
Short Films
Streaming… Go to- http://www.youtube.com
And search for ” Carmen D’Avino”. Have fun as it brings you to an
interesting group of works from a by gone era! He did the animated
opening of the “Ten Commandments” for one. A few
links below…
Carmen’s last film: Listen to Carmen..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEz438M42yo
“Pianissimo”, The Academy Award nomination ..
The Quest of Carmen D’Avino …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcF8jx67JhU&list=PLY-k46uuJnkwZXTA1GSLo-vfiH_y34ld9&index=7
The Electric Company- “Hydrant” …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrRzeYG76uI&list=PLY-k46uuJnkwZXTA1GSLo-vfiH_y34ld9&index=5
“Vernissage” of American Artists …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9auNWzX1kxY
“Minestrone”…. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ty5_minestrone-by-carmen-d-avino_creation
“Flower”…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a-Enbw6c2U
“Library”…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMCgLb_FIkg
” House”…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNk6W8tH6tQ
” Freak”…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRFDT5RAfEE
” Funny” …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e2liDpmWfo
10/24/14
My Slide Show about Carmen
…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3UwKIM0NVM&feature=youtu.be
Please excuse the quality!
or go to— http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/ Enter – Carmen D’Avino !
Ok, so have you got any Video links / Pictures we could put here? 11/27/14 send to: Thanks
Other; Carmen lover’s works on film: Greg Lago’s “Tilt” engraving. A film by Gary Walts
“Detail” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Dy-OASFDA
Another by Gary Walts, “Fat Red Planet” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0eG5oAztJU