Words And Wanderings With Anthony Hassett

by Dahr Jamail

On Saturday, January 21st of this year, Tony welcomed me into he and Erin’s warm home. Greeting me at the door with a big hug and smile, Tony, despite his ongoing lengthy battle with cancer, was his usual self: cracking gallows humour jokes about his health, about the newly inaugurated President Trump, the cop-rotten planet, and so much more. 

We went out to breakfast, as though it were old times. I’d spent much time in Santa Fe a couple of summers years before, during which one of the highlights was also getting to go share coffee, breakfast, talk, and joking with Tony, and sometimes Erin. After breakfast, Tony took me to his show. I felt honoured and privileged, and carried those feelings alongside sadness, knowing this was in all likelihood the last of his shows I would get to see, and certainly the last I’d get to see with him giving me a personal showing. I savoured every moment, oftentimes standing shoulder to shoulder with him while looking at a particular piece. 

While viewing his sublime collection, I began asking him to tell me more about particular pieces. Being acutely aware of the aforementioned, I decided to take out my camera and begin taping his comments, as well as snapping photos of much of his work for my personal album. Here are these now very precious clips of Tony discussing his work:
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