THE KISS; 6'x 6', oil painting on canvas, Jim Foster.
I've done so many kiss paintings I can't remember when I did this one, surely it has a date?
One of the most common questions asked is- Is this two women or what? I never answer, just saying How Appropriate- whichever way.
One of my last trips to S. Korea, the gallery world, there, flipped out over my Kiss art works. They wanted a return with one-man shows of nothing but KISS artworks. In S. Korea, they don't kiss, ever, out in public view. So- they would let a westerner bring what they won't do in public to show them, a westerner's view of what we do without thinking of social pressure. And it brought out the notion of how much the world looks at us, Americans, with complete awe over " who we are " and it is all settled by their connection to Hollywood Movie Stars in roles in which we play a part in a script that describes a story. Those personalities studied become who they can understand that we are. They thought I was exactly like John Wayne when I wore my Stetson silver belly hat. Everywhere I went they yelled, Ride Um Cowboy !!!
Truly the Kiss artworks come from my own fascination with the instant of magic we have inside us that decides to merge with another being and to become a new entity of life with a spark to ignite everything in our path with love and chaos and what will come next. Who would ever dream of what is coming next when we can only know from the past- it is all unexpected and deliberately set to be a creative act with who knows where we will land.
I enjoy these paintings as an instantaneous moment when wild things are about to happen. And l love to use words in the painting connotating the mindset and what each side thinks.