01/16/2024
A few years back, while on a job I got a call from a local artist Larry Fuentes who needed three pieces moved to the Grace Hudson Sun House Museum in Ukiah about 35 miles over the hills and maybe 600 or so bends and turns, the pieces were late and he couldn't find anyone to transport them for the opening. I heard stories about Larry's art, seen his decorated car in the 4th of July parade but didn't have the pleasure of getting up close and personal with his work. Well, we love chalanges so of course i jumped on the opportunity to be a part of the process. Needless to say, once i've seen the pieces I had to scratch my head for a while trying to figure out how to protect and secure them for the very bumpy trip agead. For those of you who haven't seen Larry's work up close I have to say pictures don't do it justice. "surface ornamentation" and "psychedelic art" are a couple of the adjectives attempting to describe his work but fall somewhat short of the mark. Mona Paloosa was by far the most chalenging covered in hundreds of not thousands of, you name it antlers, buttons of all colors, bullets, meticulously arranged and glued in place, and a wide range of not sure what repurposed items that covered the body of a other then that ordinary manaquin. Couldn't pad it or shrink wrap her nor could we strap her to the wall, any contact would have inadvertently knocked off some of the pieces. we had to figure out a way to pin her down to the middle of the truck and secure her in a cradle of straps as best we could. Make a long story shorter, we made it to the opening in time, Mona Paloosa wasn't any worse for the trip and everyone was happy. I never really thought about asking about the value of the piece before loading and transporting it but was curious so i asked, "ohhh for insurance purposes i'd say $250,000 but she's not for sale". I'm very glad I didn't know here value going into it, i would have been scared to move her which in my experience usually leads to a mishap. these days i'm much more cautious, you never know what some of these items are worth.
