A lifelong obsession with painting a unique box-like shape, or “cloud chamber,” led to the name of Malibu lifeguard and painter Norton Wisdom’s “Cloud Chamber: A 40-Year Journey,” the latest art showing of his work at the Patricia Correia Gallery in Santa Monica, where a reception took place on Saturday.
Unlike previous shows, “Cloud Chamber: A 40-Year Journey” presented a larger view of Wisdom’s vision by including his most recent works along with works that have been in progress for the last 25 years.
In 1967 Wisdom attended UC Berkeley and discovered the physics of Edward Teller (the H-bomb maker) and Fritjof Capra, author of “The Tao of Physics.” These scientists introduced Wisdom to the reality of nature as seen in the lines left by ions as they pass through enclosed receptacles containing various gasses, called cloud chambers. The patterns of these lines also influenced Wisdom’s use of color as line, because, he said, “Color can also show direction.”
In addition to painting, Wisdom has worked as a lifeguard since 1968. “I spent my whole life in the Lower Topanga area of Malibu,” Wisdom said, explaining Malibu’s influence on his work. “Living in Malibu puts you so in touch with nature and weather that you become tied to them. It’s like you have no skin. You sense everything. People think Malibu is all about rich people and celebrities, but really it’s about the insanity of being this giant barometer, and I try to express that in my paintings.”
Wisdom’s excessive use of oil paint adds passionate feeling to his canvases.
For his show, he collected and restored several paintings that had been abandoned for the last 25 years in his Lower Topanga neighborhood. “These are the paintings that were walked on, used to build walls, left in the rain . . . the ones that nobody wanted,” laughed Wisdom, who now sells paintings for as much as $16,000.
During the course of Saturday evening’s reception, rock musicians Willie Waldman, Lili Hadyn and Nels Cline all gave their own intimate musical interpretations of their favorite Wisdom paintings. At the end of the evening, a band of eight incredible musicians rocked out while Wisdom did a live performance painting dedicated to the astronauts who were killed earlier that day on the shuttle Columbia.
Wisdom, his wife, and their two daughters were recently relocated from their Lower Topanga home by State Parks, which bought 1,659 acres in Lower Topanga Canyon in 2001 to convert to state park use.
“I was very sad to leave Lower Topanga,” Wisdom said. “It was always such a creative place. And it still is.”
Wisdom and his family now live in Mar Vista.
Wisdom studied art at Chinouard Art School in Los Angeles from 1963-1967, and at UC Berkeley from 1967 to 1972. His paintings have been exhibited at The New Museum of Modern Art in Oakland, the University Art Museum in Berkeley, the Milwaukee Art Center, the La Jolla Contemporary Art Museum and at the Santa Clarita Museum. Wisdom has exhibited internationally at Galeria Carla Fuelr in Munich, Germany; Pyong Taek City Museum with the International Arts Festival in Korea; and the Lalit Kala Academy in India.
Wisdom has performed his live improvisational screen painting in collaboration with well-known bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction, and at various venues including the 2002 Winter Olympics. His live paintings have also been performed internationally.
Norton Wisdom’s show, “Cloud Chamber: A 40-Year Journey,” can be seen at the Patricia Correia Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica from Feb. 1- March 8.