Walking through the mind of a genius

An insight grows into a theory about creative wonders

Museo de Pedro Coronel, Zacatecas, Mexico

Several years ago, I had already roamed the pre-Hispanic exhibits, the halls of the stars of modern art such as Chagall, Dali, Miró and Picasso, as well as collections, both ancient and modern, from Greece, China, Japan and Italy, when the insight happened. The African collection sparked a startling awareness, somewhat like when a central piece of a thousand-piece puzzle with no image as a guide suddenly reveals the pattern.

For hours I had walked through the life-work and collections of one man. Pedro Coronel, featured artist and art collector of the Museo de Pedro Coronel in Zacatecas, Mexico when I thought …

I am walking  through the mind of a genius!

This reaction overwhelmed me. I wanted to know more about him but language proved to be a barrier. Wikipedia describes Coronel as a restless child, a dreamer and very rebellious. He did not like school, often skipping classes taking twelve years to finish his primary education. 

Not having access to more than biographical details, I put this idea away and definitely did not expect to have similar reactions when I returned to the US. However, I continue to bump into similar creative minds and now wonder what made them who they are. Here are brief introductions to three similar experiences and one still on the horizon:

Three creative marvels

But, first, Salvation Mountain

It was four years later and I was living in the mountains east of San Diego when a friend told me about Salvation Mountain, the creation of one man and just a few hours away. I planned a road trip and what I found was slightly off bubble from what I was expecting … well more than slightly.

Colorful, fun, one man’s vision and obsession, but, genius?

Salvation Mountain

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History of Humanity in Granite …

I was expecting that outlaw artist vibe when I later heard about Felicity, California, and “The Official Center of the World.” What I found, once again, was that feeling of wonder that such a creation might come from one mind. Inscribed on 500 granite panels is the history of humanity, designed to tell our story when future archeologists uncover and translate the panels. Click here or on image below for a brief visit to this monument:

“In the late 1950s, after drilling a well and confirming an aquifer, Jacques-André Istel bought over 2,900 acres of near-worthless desert land “to do something with in the future.” Over decades, inadvertently at first, he decided to create a work for future generations.”

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Amargosa Opera House …

I first heard about Marta Becket and the opera house she created in the middle of nowhere for an audience of no one from

Allegra Huston

at Imaginative Storm. The story she told captivated my curiosity and another road trip to the desert began.

You can read more about Marta Becket and her opera house here and get a more in-depth look by clicking this flipbook or the image below:

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The Hermitage Santa Barbara …

The latest example of these poly-math creatives was found right here in Santa Barbara. Theodore Roosevelt Gardner II, writer, sculptor, painter, poet, collector, has created a unique, 18-acre compound of art, whimsy, off-plumb architecture, and exotic plants. Here is a brief description from his website:

“Located in the hills overlooking Santa Barbara, the Hermitage offers an outstanding collection of original sculptures, inspired by whimsy and humor. Works of art are on display in both indoor and outdoor settings, as the museum opens into a subtropical garden with trails winding through the hillside. Our visitors come to appreciate art in new ways – and discover fresh insights into the unfamiliar, the provocative, and the unexpected. The collection includes more than 260 bronze busts:  43 presidents, 126 authors, 72 composers, and 22 others.” —

https://hermitagesb.org/

And, for my take on this wonder, click here or the image below for a flipbook from my recent tour.

Coming in 2025: I am trying to figure out how to make reservations to tour Michael Heizer’s megasculpture ‘City’ in the Nevada Desert … 50 years and $40 million. Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art states “It’s an artwork aware of our primal impulses to build and organize space, but it incorporates our modernity, our awareness of and reflection upon the subjectivity of our human experience of time and space as well as the many histories of civilizations we have built.”

Apparently, there will only be six tickets per day, current price $150. Anyone up for a road trip?

More info at: http://www.tripleaughtfoundation.org/

The Questions

• What prompts these outsized works of creativity and a lifetime dedicated to an art vision?

• Have you experienced current works of art like these? I would love to know about them.

• Does anyone know of any studies of works like this? … they fascinate me so I want to know more about the minds that create these outsized works. I’m gathering descriptors as I ponder them and, so far, have gathered a bunch of “c” words … curiosity, challenge, constructed confidence, control … and cash since it takes resources to create these amazing works. Also, there always seems to be a component of wanting to share with others.

• Is this an American-individualism thing or does it happen everywhere?

• Or could it just be passion as indicated by Mozart in the opening quote?

Comments always welcomed.

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