Description
Kenneth Patchen’s life was haunted by a devastating spinal injury that left him bedridden for much of his adult years. After a botched surgery in the 1950s, he endured chronic pain so severe that even sitting upright was excruciating. And yet, out of that physical confinement came an explosion of creativity. From his bed, Patchen painted wildly expressive picture-poems using tempera and ink on paper — visual manifestations of inner struggle and outward rebellion. His work refused pity or prettiness. Instead, it howled with color and conviction. That so many of these pieces brim with motion, wit, and riotous joy is a testament to his will — and a challenge to anyone who equates limitation with silence.
This card, titled The Best Hope…, is a classic Patchen inversion: apocalyptic, surreal, and delivered with a wink. “Is that one of these days the ground will get disgusted enough just to walk away…” reads the poem, nestled among hybrid animals, blooming heads, and otherworldly stares. The line ends with a jolt: “people with nothing more to stand on than what they have so bloody well stood for up to now.” Painted in Patchen’s signature style — thick, expressive strokes and deep, off-kilter colors — this card reflects both Patchen’s pain and his demand that we stand for something — even if the earth itself grows tired of us. It’s a vivid reminder that he made art not in spite of suffering, but through it.
Patchen’s burst of fierce and funny poetic apocalypse from the edge of his bed
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