mactruque (pronounced mac-truck) is an artist and the executive director of Brooklyn Center of Art & Design.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
mactruque is his actual given name. He legally dropped his last name and began spelling his first name in all lower case. “In general, it comes from the old 1940s song ‘Mac the Knife.’ It was my father’s idea. People think it’s Scottish or something.”
WHAT DO YOU DO AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR?
“I coordinate the staff. I spend my time getting artists [for the center]. We are only interested in seekers.”
GIVE ME (ARTISTIC) LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH
“Brooklyn is a semi-academic atmosphere where we’re not a gallery trying to produce work or a college trying to produce passing grades.”
WHAT IS YOUR LATEST ENDEAVOR?
“My current project is getting outside galleries to represent my artwork. I don’t want to show at Brooklyn because that doesn’t seem fair [to the other artists]. I’m almost finished with a book [on philosophy] and I have a CD of spoken word and techno-folk music coming out.”
DEPTH OF MUSICAL TALENT
mactruque plays the violin, flute, keyboard and guitar. He also provides the vocals and lyrics on the album.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AN ARTIST?
“I have been painting professionally for almost three years. I was raised in an artistic household. I quit my job at CSX as the assistant to the head of the crew management department to start painting.”
WHAT OTHER JOBS HAVE YOU HAD?
Restaurant operator, magazine editor and minister of a local non-denominational church.
WHY GO INTO THE MINISTRY?
“Living in the South, there’s a very strong tendency to polarize, which is understandable. There’s a polarization between the general population and the well-churched. They tend not to cross paths. The context is of very strong, well-organized, jump-in-and-hold-on churches and organizations that do not, in my opinion, have a long enough question and answer time. There are not many churches that would admit they’re hypocrites and people are confused by the false piety. Most people I know have been hurt by the church system at some point. According to my faith, those are the people Christ targeted because those are the ones that are aware and awake enough to look from the outside. Most people are looking for a relationship with God but don’t know where to start. I wasn’t raised in a mold. I was taught that I do not have to fit a perfect mold. Christ certainly didn’t use one. People want to push their background and beliefs. I lead a faith-based fellowship that has a lot of different influences with people who are looking for a real relationship with God and not pomp and circumstance, not what people put on to feel reverential. I volunteer at Murray Hill Ministries, helping out with whatever they may need.”
EDUCATION
“I was home-schooled. I have a few college degrees but I’m avoiding it because it takes a lot of discipline to stay with it [a career in art]. I’m trying to be a visionary but sometimes my bank account prefers less vision and a little more flow. Two weeks before Sept. 11, I was offered $250,000 as a graphic designer in a building next to the World Trade Center. I would have been looking at initial public offerings and putting together packages for first-time investors. I turned them down.”
WHY BOW OUT OF CORPORATE AMERICA?
“As a child, I remember my father as an amazing painter and I was very influenced by what he did. He’s also a great writer. A few years ago I wanted to do something that only I can do instead of a job that others are equally capable of.”
HOMETOWN
Columbia, Mo.
RESIDES
Riverside.
AS AN ARTIST, WHAT MEDIUM DO YOU PREFER?
“I am working towards being a multi-media artist. I do graphics design, digital photography and video. People tell me to focus on one thing but I don’t think that’s necessary. What sets apart artists that survive are those that can show they’re multi-dimensional.”
HOW MANY GENRES OF ART DO YOU WORK IN?
Oil, acrylic, pastels, mixed media with paint, photography, sculpture, music, graphic design/computer art and penning out short stories, essays and old English writings. His next experiment will be with film.
WHAT PERFORMANCES DO YOU TAKE PART IN?
“Different forms, everything from musical presentations to a series of soliloquies. I tie visual art to a conceptual message.”
HIS MESSAGE
“Everything I do has a specific connotation. Few people realize where I come from. Visual artists these days are geared towards just beautifying the environment; I’m geared towards people beautifying their spirit. If they can relate to it on a spiritual level, then it is something that has worth to me.”
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
“I did a piece called Suiticide, a series of comical pictures with a guy in a suit hanging from a light bulb by his tie. Some people in Orlando ripped off my idea.”
WHAT IS THE UPSIDE?
“Finding the few who understand everything I’m saying. Everything I do has a consistent thread throughout.”
PAYING HIS DUES
“A number of the major galleries in town didn’t even consider me to be an artist in the past because I was so focused on learning how to present ideas that perhaps the integrity of my work suffered for it. The presentation of my work has caught up. My style is more to the standard of a refined visual crowd now. I don’t need to follow the rules everyone else follows. I challenge all artists to not go with just what’s comfortable.”
WHAT’S MOST CHALLENGING ABOUT BEING AN ARTIST?
“The amount of time you spend alone. I work 20 hours a day now and most of it is by myself. I feel like Robinson Crusoe. Secondly, not letting people improperly influence you; they want you to do what makes sense to them and not what makes sense to you.”
OUTSIDE OF THE ART WORLD
“I like to visit coffee shops and bookstores around the world. I love to read, especially creative philosophy.”
— by Monica Chamness