Modern Man, the late, great Fargo artist, will be honored with an upcoming exhibit curated by his friend, Stanley Hoglund. Art fans can now view the exhibit, MODERN: A Modern Man Pop-Up Art Show, on Fridays from 5-9 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at 618 Second Ave. N. in downtown Fargo. The art will be on display from September 11 through September 26.
High Plains Reader spoke with Stanley about his lifelong friendship with the visionary artist. The two met when they were in seventh grade, which led to almost 60 years of friendship. Stanley said his friend had always been a visionary and matter-of-factly stated that Modern Man was born with that creativity.
Modern Man was a dynamic artist, whether he painted, sculpted, experimented with scents, sound, music, video installation or writing. His canvases ranged from divine portraits on potato chips to 14 foot canvases. Some glowed in the dark. Others might have involved more organic media.
Stanley had a showroom in the KRJ building, located on Roberts Street behind the Cathedral of St. Mary. Modern Man also had a studio there — and often had exhibitions there as well. Stanley reflected on Modern’s art shows, remembering that not only would his art be on display, he provided an atmosphere of sound and light as well. The were songs written or mixed by the artist, a reflection of the mood and his humor. He also had more practical talents.
“If anything happened in that building — whether it was the elevator, electrical, heating, you name it — Modern fixed it,” Stanley said. “He could just figure stuff out. And he made things that just blew you away.”
Stanley mentioned renderings made with unconventional media, such as a painting in the artist’s own blood. Another was a series of “kiss paintings.”
“He put paint on his index finger, on the side of it, and then he took his lips, and he kissed it, then he went up to the canvas, and…’That’s for you, baby,’” he said, describing Modern Man’s unusual process. “I estimated that it took him two years to do it. He kissed that painting probably around 80,000 times.”
One kiss painting Stanley described was of a rose and measures around one foot by two feet. The other piece (depicting an atom bomb) is larger: six feet by ten feet.
Stanley remembers accompanying Modern Man to a meeting at the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks in the late 90s. The board was looking to commission him to do a piece themed around the flood. When founding director Laurel Reuter asked Modern Man, “he stood up and said, ‘I’m not a commercial artist’ and turned around and walked out,’” Stanley recalled.
“And she goes, ‘I hope we didn’t upset him. We didn’t mean to, you know, hurt his feelings or anything,’” Stanley continued. “And I said ‘No, that’s okay, he’s just probably going outside to have a cigarette. He’ll be back.’”
Modern Man eventually did come back. And he came up with a piece which kickstarted yet another series in a whole new medium.
The piece depicted a National Guardsman saving a dog from the river. The day before he was due to drop it off in Grand Forks, Stanley came to check in on his friend, only to find him painting over the finished artwork.
“I just about flipped out — ‘Modern, what are you doing? Are you nuts?’” Stanley recalled.
“‘Just settle down. I’m just about done,’” the artist replied. He was as calm as Stanley was frantic.
“And I was just biting my tongue. He painted a pair of muddy boots, like they just came out of the river,” Stanley continued. “We went into the hall, into the closet, and there’s a big, bright light in there. And he sets it down on the shelf, and he’s just sitting there looking at it. I’m going, ‘What are we doing in here?’ Finally, he said, ‘Just give it a couple more minutes.’”
The pair stayed where they were. Time ticks by.
“I think that’s gonna be it,” Stanley said. “He shuts the light off. The muddy boots disappear, and there’s the National Guard guy. That’s the first time that he discovered that. I was with him.”
At that moment, Stanley realized that Modern Man had developed a phosphorescent technique that allowed two images in one piece of art. One image could be seen in plain light, and the other — when charged — glowed in the dark once the lights were off.
Modern Man was a prolific artist. So naturally storage would become an issue, especially when he was forced to relocate.
“It was probably back in the 80s or something, I bought him a semi trailer, so he could put his artwork there, because where was he gonna put it?” Stanley recalled. “He had that showroom where I was, in the same building, and was able to put stuff there. But pretty soon, we had to get out of there, so we moved everything into his trailer.”
Modern Man’s younger brother Rick had helped build shelves in the trailer. Soon the shelves would pile up with artwork. When Modern passed, his family turned the collection and the trailer over to Stanley. They spent countless hours here sorting and going through the works.
“I wish I could just bring that semi load in there, it’d be a lot easier,” Stanley said. “But over the years, the tires went flat. We had to put vertical timbers flat up against the bottom of one side of the semi, because it looked like it was ready to tip over. We caught it in time, so it hasn’t moved since we did that.”
But eventually, Stanley will rent a U-Haul and back it up to the trailer. From there, he’ll share his friend’s work with the community. It’s a rare chance for fans to see such a broad selection of the celebrated artist’s work.
“It should be really an opportune chance to get it around the world that Modern was really something,” Stanley said.
IF YOU GO:
MODERN: A Modern Man Pop-Up Art Show
618 Second Ave. N., Fargo
September 11-26
Fridays 5-9 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
