Father of 8, Grandfather of three. Turning 56- strange
Been in the art scene seriously for the last 30 years. My last daughter (7 DAUGHTERS AND 1 SON) is starting full time school soon (after 27 years of child rearing), so now I will go in to the next phase with the work, and only God knows where that may go. Your guess is as good as mine!!jan 2 2015 last article circulated
HomeSt. Paul Winter CarnivalStory Woodbury artist reimagines Winter Carnival legend By Bob Shaw [email protected] POSTED: 01/02/2015 11:59:50 AM CST | UPDATED: 15 DAYS AGO
Woodbury artist Richard Hubal works on his piece "The Tyranny of Tradition" on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in his home studio. Hubal will be Woodbury artist Richard Hubal works on his piece "The Tyranny of Tradition" on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in his home studio. Hubal will be showing his controversial painting at the 2015 Winter Carnival in St Paul. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Juan Pablo Ramirez) RELATED STORIES Jan 18: Winter Carnival: Ice harvest kicks off Royal Courtyard construction A Winter Carnival mystery, and a place to find an answer Dec 26: St. Paul Winter Carnival adds ice courtyard in Rice Park Nov 29: St. Paul Winter Carnival unveils 2015 buttons For those who missed out on Minnesota's history, there's Richard Hubal.
"Unfortunately, no one listens in history class," said Hubal, 58, dabbing at a painting in his dark Woodbury basement.
Hubal has a mission -- to tell Minnesota's story through art, for those who didn't read about it.
"I love history," he said, as he put a spot of pink on a woman's face. "I have been to Europe, and there they preserve history. Here, we just knock it down."
Hubal has created thousands of works, some as small as a fingernail, others as big as the five-story-tall mural he completed in the Bahamas. He is one of the area's most prolific mural painters and has sold pieces to Garrison Keillor, Yoko Ono and B.B. King.
But his artistic soul is rooted in the past.
A typical Hubal work decorates the side of a restored gas station in St. Paul Park.
It's a civic portrait with a twist -- featuring vanished buildings including a liberal arts college, opera house, mansions and factories.
Some wealthy St. Paul citizens, he explained, migrated to St. Paul Park in the early 20th century. That's why the main street is called Summit Avenue -- an echo of the original Summit Avenue, home to St. Paul's most impressive mansions.
Instead of a normal street scene, Hubal's mural depicts a road straight out of a "Twilight Zone" episode -- on which a driver begins in a horse and buggy, which becomes a Model T and finally morphs into a modern car.
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Hubal has done dozens of other historical murals, indoors in places including Wilebski's Blues Saloon in St. Paul, and outdoors on the walls of several businesses.
One mural is as big as a highway billboard. It's also in St. Paul Park, on the side of the city's oldest building, now occupied by Franke's Bar. This one shows the city circa 1900, as seen from the Mississippi River.
Hubal makes sure his art is acceptable to the community -- which sometimes gets him in trouble.
Recently, a Somali man wanted a mural on the side of his restaurant. The man's orders were clear -- he wanted a huge collage of melting ice cream cones and scenes from "Beach Blanket Bingo," a schlocky 1965 movie.
Hubal refused. Eventually, he talked the owner into something that would be more meaningful to Somali neighbors -- a seascape from the Horn of Africa.
Hubal's art helps keep historic traditions alive, as when he works with the 130-year-old St. Paul Winter Carnival.
Since 1996, Hubal has produced hundreds of carnival-related pieces, many to be auctioned at fundraisers.
Last year, he created 30 works for the carnival. "It gets pretty crazy," he said. His Vulcan-themed chess set sold last month for $1,100.
This winter, Hubal is taking his art to the next level -- not just to retell old stories but to create new ones.
Lurking in his basement is a work that will up-end the mythology of the carnival.
Standing over the 2-foot-by-3-foot canvas, he explained the Winter Carnival legend in which King Boreas and his Queen of the Snows battle Vulcanus Rex, the cave-dwelling leader of the Vulcans.
The work will be unveiled at an auction Wednesday, but Hubal gave a sneak peek last week.
The painting depicts an act of betrayal in St. Paul's Rice Park. King Boreas is shown offering his queen's crown to Klondike Kate, a big-voiced hottie who vacillates between the two sides. In the background, the bare-headed Aurora, Queen of the Snows, howls in protest.
Woodbury artist Richard Hubal sits in front of his painting "The Tyranny of Tradition" on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in his home studio. (Special Woodbury artist Richard Hubal sits in front of his painting "The Tyranny of Tradition" on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in his home studio. (Special to the Pioneer Press: Juan Pablo Ramirez) The implication is clear: Boreas is dumping his wife and making Klondike Kate the new Queen of the Snows.
How did Hubal have the chutzpah to mess with a decades-old tradition? "It's sacrilegious. It's horrible," he said, gazing at the work. But he laughs as he says it.
"If I see things in a different way, or with some kind of twist," he said, "why not?" by Bob Shaw/ S.Paul Pioneer Press
