'I can't pretend in my art, if I could I would be an actor not a painter. We are faced with so many unanswered questions, so we hope for the best and create illusions. Religion is but one example. It's human nature to look for answers, to investigate, but in developing answers, we create illusions, I try to go beyond illusions...to tell the truth.' Irving Norman
"Truth Be Told: Irving Norman and the Human Predicament" profiles the life and work of San Francisco Bay Area Social-Surrealist artist, Irving Norman (1906-1989). Though he was born with a natural artistic talent it wasn't until his first-hand experience of the horrors of war during the final, violent year of the Spanish Civil War that sparked his fifty-year creative effort producing over 250 drawings, watercolors and oil paintings. Norman's works are tough and uncompromising to look at yet they have such a technical virtuosity it's not difficult to become mesmerized by their sheer size and intricate detail.
The film contains more than 80 of Irving's images most all in great detail. Along with an original music track composed by Half Moon Bay musician Maikel Garcia Despaigne there are seven interviews including: Dr. Patricia Junker, Curator of American Art, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA:, Hela Norman, Irving's wife (1954-1989); Dr. Scott Shields, Associate Director and Chief Curator, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Michael Bell, Curator, Visual Art Access; Daniel Gundlach, Artist, family friend; Reverend John Beverley Butcher; and John W. Carr, Retired Curator. Though they all portray Irving as an exceptional artist they also flesh him out as a complex human being as well.
Though still quite relevant today Irving's work can so easily fade into obscurity especially with paintings and drawings as challenging as his. People tend to want to turn a blind eye to the reality of a world rapidly growing smaller and smaller and seemingly more violent around them. Irving's work calls for them to open their eyes. "He's holding up the mirror for us to look at. So here's the choice we have, either to look at it, avoid it, or do something about it, those are the choices we have. But the truth, he still speaks the truth - and hopes that we will pay attention." Reverend John Butcher.
