When I am painting, I have a general notion as to what I am about. I can control the flow of paint: there is no accident.
—Jackson Pollock
(1930) Alex and Brent Cherry are born in Leavenworth, Washington—Alex some minutes before Brent. The year of the twins' births, their parents disappear during a hike in the Cascade Mountains.
(1931-1948) The Eastern Washington desert becomes the boys' playground after they move in with an eccentric aunt. The woman schools her nephews in creating oil paintings of wildflowers and coyote skulls.
(1936) "Astounding," the Cherry brothers' first-grade teacher says upon seeing the crayon drawing of the baby dragon blasting out of its mother's womb. When asked which is the artist, Alex and Brent reply, "We did it together."
(1950) Intent on becoming professional painters, the Cherry brothers start renting a studio apartment in Seattle's Pioneer Square. Alex reads an inspiring newspaper article linking abstract expressionist painting with existentialism, and writes the following on the inside of their front door: ONLY MAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS FATE.
(1950) With no resume but much charm, Alex acquires a job as a shoe salesman at a downtown department store. He also arranges employment for his brother in the company's warehouse.
(1951) Brent Cherry blushes the color of a bruise at a Halloween party when Alex socks a man in Rita Hayworth drag. Dressed as Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik, Alex calmly explains to the police that the schmuck in lipstick had accused his brother of being "a shameful way."
(1951) Established artist Mark Tobey visits the shoe department where Alex Cherry works, and tells the young man he only needs to try on one loafer. Alex insists on bringing out both shoes, and says, "Two loafers are better than one—kind of like two geniuses."
(1952) Seattle's Z Art Magazine publishes a photo of the Cherry brothers' painting "Skinning Sasquatch." After receiving a copy of the issue and an anonymous note stating everyone loves cherries, local philanthropist Yvette Prill commissions the brothers to create a mural for the city's Convention Center.
(From a 1952 interview in the Seattle Times)
Alex Cherry: I'd say our being twins ups the fascination factor in our works and makes them more original.
Brent Cherry: It's more interesting to create with someone than it is to do it alone.
(1954) The Cherry brothers receive a "Duo Show" at Elizabeth Arkinson Gallery, which occupies an entire floor of the building across the street from their studio. In addition to lauding the twins' pieces, critics praise their appearances—the matching Italian blazers and ties, the symmetrically sweeping cheekbones, the oil-black hair that parts in opposite ways (Alex's to the left, Brent's to the right).
(1955) Americans from San Francisco to Chicago buy Cherry brothers paintings despite the high prices, and Alex and Brent purchase matching red Vespas despite the wet climate. The salesman jokes that the brothers should both ride on one vehicle so people see they're twins, and Alex says, "We're not that close."
(1955) A frightened-looking Brent Cherry trails Alex during the cocktail party at Kirk Douglas' Malibu home to celebrate the purchase of the brothers' "No. 222." A guest at the affair says she would trade all her Franz Klines for the Cherrys' "Cabin Blue," which recently sold to the Rockefellers.
(From a 1956 feature in Sunset Magazine)
Art world insiders are calling these twin painters young turks who may eventually rival such abstract expressionist heavyweights as Willem de Kooning and Clyfford Still. Yet Alex and Brent Cherry's new, largely glass abode in Seattle's prestigious Madison Valley is fit for the champion of any profession.
(1957) The Cherry brothers' "Thoughts Defeat Cells No. 2" receives a slot in "Twentieth-Century Abstraction," a show of outstanding national art at New York City's Museum of Modern Art. Alex and Brent's painting hangs only a couple feet from a work by Paul Klee, and the radiant twins stand just as close the entire evening.
(1957) During "Watch Them Work"—a charity painting demonstration in Central Park—a shapely lavender blonde calls out, "You two can make fancy pictures, but can you kiss a girl?" Alex smooches the female within a ring of applause, and Brent makes a sulky exit across the Sheep Meadow.
(1958) Many of Seattle's most esteemed residents witness Alex Cherry deliver socialite Madeleine Winterbird from a Cadillac convertible into the Valentine's Day Ball at the Smith Tower. One gossipy gallery docent spots Brent Cherry shuffling from a psychologist's office into a taxi.
(1958) When Alex Cherry is late in seating himself beside his brother at a dinner to promote racial integration in Southern schools, attendees notice this is the first time the Cherry brothers' clothes don't match at a public event. Alex's solid white sweater contrasts sharply with the pink and black checkers on his brother's vest, just as his sneer is in opposition to Brent's twitching lip.
(From a 1958 Northwest Canvas editorial titled, "Why'd We Stop Painting People?")
Our region's Alex and Brent Cherry called the human body a bore, something painters should leave to Vogue photographers and Hollywood's cinematographers. I found the brothers' own figures fascinating, particularly their drastic differences: Alex gestures spasmodically while Brent has settled into a solemn slouch, and their jolting success (or an equally jading experience) has caused them to appear more like weathered business partners than brilliant young twins.
(1959) Breaking his cake plate and dancing in a manic fashion, Brent Cherry is the spectacle of his brother and Madeline Winterbird's engagement party. He causes Alex to glare when he snatches the microphone and dares guests to find a photo of "Mother Cherry" so they can see how much she resembles Madeleine.
(From a 1959 public radio interview that ends suddenly due to Brent Cherry's explosive exit from the recording studio)
Interviewer: I'd like to touch on your and Alex's fields of color—Mark Rothko has said his fields of color are a way for him to step out of this world.
Brent Cherry: Are you implying that I have a reason to leave life?
(1960) "Kiss the bride," the minister says at a sunset wedding ceremony, and Alex Cherry smashes his lips against those of Mrs. Madeleine Cherry. Come reception, Brent repeatedly punches the trunk of a pine and tells those who watch fist turn to pulp, "We forget that if you hit Nature He strikes back, and usually a lot harder."
(1960) At the poorly attended opening of "Red Paintings"—the Cherry brothers' last duo show—a reporter asks Alex, "Aren't you concerned about the state of abstract expressionism when the CIA calls it a haven of free thought?" Alex shakes his head and says, "Who would we trust if not the authorities?"
(1960) When Alex Cherry enters the police station to retrieve his brother, the officer informs him that Brent was "engaging in homosexual revelries" at an art gallery where the twins used to show. The officer also states that Brent's repeated response to questioning was that he was with his brother the entire night.
(1961) I NEED TO EXPOSE OUR TRUTH are the words on the note that coaxes the Northwest Canvas editor to visit Brent Cherry. Yet when the editor steps inside the slovenly Pioneer Square condo, he receives a viewing of a limp effort at Pop-style painting and a vague statement from Brent: "This is the problem with acrylic—it cracks."
(1961) With an aching voice, Alex Cherry requests that the police remove an intruder from his and his wife's home in Madison Valley. The operator asks if the man has been violent, and Alex mutters, "Brent isn't strong enough to hurt; he's sobbing on our bed."
(From a 1961 Seattle Times article titled, "Cherry Twins Split") While Brent Cherry never returned our phone call to comment on this development, Alex Cherry invited us into his living room for a tasting of his wife's pink lemonade and a showing of his collection of paint-by-numbers landscapes. He told us, "There's a time when you need to drop from your family tree and root in your own patch of soil, especially if any part of that family tree has begun to rot."
(1962) One bored critic scratches the words rectangular trap after viewing the tame paintings that make up Alex Cherry's solo show. Other attendees gasp when Brent bursts into the space and kisses his brother on the lips.
(1962) Without word to the media, Alex Cherry moves to Los Angeles with his pregnant wife. Brent Cherry receives a ticket for swerving into the oncoming lane during a drive to the Cascades.
(1962) The park ranger would check for a pulse, except that Brent Cherry's skin is a pale blue by the time he finds him face-up in the creek. A perplexed doctor in an Eastern Washington town determines that Brent died by an overdose of sleeping pills and some swallows of Turpentine.
(1973) Alex Cherry never reaches the stage at the Guggenheim Museum to accept his Artist Achievement Award. He hurries out the building when two infamous Pop artists brazenly hold hands at the next table.
(2001) Strolling beside his grown daughter at the Seattle Art Museum's "Century Retrospective," Alex Cherry looks at his and Brent's "We Stopped the Moon" and asks, "Why has it taken me so long to see it's just paint?" This is the last time Alex enters a museum or gallery; come spring, he succumbs to throat cancer.
(From a note Alex Cherry writes in 2001) Like his brushstrokes, my brother Brent's love for the world was intense yet sporadic. I've striven to be a man of stability—in my art and for my family—and now I can only hope that people will chisel me into memory as a figure of respectability.
(2001) On the morning of her husband's death, a somber Madeleine retreats to her garden to read the note Alex left between their pillows. After ripping out a rose bush, she rinses the blood off her fingers and begins to revise.
(From a note Alex writes before dying in 2001) Like his brushstrokes, my companion Brent's love was expansive and spontaneous. I've been a man of boxes—on canvas and in life—and now I can only hope that Brent will grant me affection again when death forces me beyond borders.
(1996) Watching his wife powder wrinkles in preparation for their anniversary dinner, Alex considers how he has always loved Madeleine for her loyalty to normalcy. But he also knows the true love is the one who won't flinch from your greatest perversion.
(From a never-used 1966 tape recording of an interview with Alex)
Journalist: Pop artists have criticized the abstract expressionists for not confronting the contemporary world.
Alex: I'm an established painter and you're a muckraker trying to get me to spill about my brother's faggotry and suicide, so turn that fucking device off NOW.
(From a 1962 letter Brent sends Alex) You think you know the process for every transformation in life, but I'll bet you didn't know Turpentine comes from conifers. Here's something logical: We sullied ourselves by leaving the trees, and now the trees are going to clean me to the core.
(1962) Alone inside the cabin he and Alex once shared, Brent lays on the cot and wonders if being in this forest again is enough to bring him peace. Night seeps into the cabin and reveals to Brent he needs perpetual silence.
(1962) Brent continues talking even as Alex yanks him out of the gallery: "I kissed you in front of those people because love has to be our muse," Brent says. He knows the life they've made is shoddy because they've acted like amateur artists—too self-conscious, too distrusting.
(1961) "Breaking into my house isn't going to affect my decision to stop painting with you," Alex says as he directs Brent toward the police car. He holds forth a bottle of depressants and says, "We need to reinvent ourselves to survive, so think of the safest person you can be."
(From a 1961 letter Brent writes Alex during his stay at Willows House, a "retreat" for the mentally ill) "Everyone loves cherries" is what you wrote on the note you sent that rich woman to get us noticed, but now everyone just loves you. People think you're the sweet cherry because of your marriage and I'm the sour one because I'm queer, but "brother," you're as rotten a fruit as I am.
(1960) Alex licks Brent's bellybutton and says, "It's going to be difficult for us to ever do this after you move out of the house." He rises from bed to window to make sure his fiancée isn't returning from her hair appointment and says, "Don't get sensitive, but I've been thinking electroshock therapy might make you as flexible in sex as you are in art."
(1959) Ever dissatisfied on his dates with men, Brent understands he can't structure his romantic life like Alex. Brent doesn't want to execute fleshy, sweaty acts with a slew of people; instead, he desires a blending of self and spirit with his one love.
(From a 1959 note Alex tapes on a can of coffee grinds) BROTHER, my reply to you is that me + her = [GRAPHIC 1: triangle over square (like a house)], and me + you = [GRAPHIC 2: broken square]. Which is more practical?
(From a 1959 note Brent tapes on the bathroom mirror) COMPANION IN LIFE, remember that me + you = [3 GRAPHIC: two squares together], and you + her = [GRAPHIC 4: square with upside-down triangle hanging from right bottom corner]. Which is more symmetrical?
(1958) Brent flinches when the man slips a hot hand beneath his belt in back of the private bar. In apology, Brent brings chilly, shaky fingers to the fellow's cheek and says, "I'm sorry, I've only done this with one guy before."
(1958) Alex opens the door for Madeleine, who has a bruise blossoming on her lip and a sweater tied around her scraped leg. Tears dropping from her eyes, she grabs hold of Alex and says, "Brent suggested I learn to drive his Vespa because he'll only ride on the back of yours."
(1958) Aware that twins with opposite moods are the characters of morose European films, Alex obtains amphetamines for Brent. He pretends to swallow one of the capsules, and then passes the bottle with the instruction, "Up is our only direction in this life."
(1957) Returning around sunrise to a smoky hotel room and a boozy-eyed Brent, Alex says, "One day you're going to accept the reality that I enjoy it with both guys and girls." He unbuttons his shirt before Brent and says, "Those Manhattan ladies can make quite a painting with lipstick marks."
(1957) Brent poses awkwardly by the metal bird feather sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, constructing a smile as Alex had instructed. The dizzying cameras and Alex's diminishing authenticity make Brent realize why those famous Siamese twins died so early.
(1955) At the Malibu party, the model from the laundry detergent commercial only makes Brent antsier by telling him he's lucky to not have been a "vanishing twin." While showcasing cleavage for passersby, she explains, "Vanishing twins are actually quite common—they're unborn babies that stop growing because they can't compete with their sibling."
(1954) Brent is only capable of receiving pleasure from a completed painting if Alex voices satisfaction with the work. Contentedness eludes the pair, however, as Alex constantly frets over public reactions.
(1951) Terrified by the possibility of finding his splashes on desolate canvas rather than Alex's comforting forms, Brent always insists Alex paint before him. Brent also arranges that Alex is the first to finish in bed.
(1950) Dressed in the pajamas he has worn throughout his teenage years, Brent peers up at the words Alex is writing so officially on the door: ONLY MAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS FATE. Brent squeezes Alex's tush and asks, "Does this mean you don't want me to brew your coffee this morning?"
(1950) Black is more aggressive, they decide at a motel between Seattle and Eastern Washington, so Alex dyes his hair to match Brent's. He then shows Brent how a pursing of the lips and a slight sucking in can give the appearance of cheekbones.
(1949) "If we were twins who painted together," Alex says with glittering eyes, "our work would have double the impact." Brent nods in the dim of the cabin and says, "If we were twins who painted together, it would be unnatural for us to ever be apart."
(1949) After receiving rejection letters from New York City art schools, Alex and Brent flee to the Cascades, where they lay with limbs entwined and skulls pressed together on river bank until the sun burns skin. The woman at the gas station who sells them lotion asks if they're twins.
(1948-1950) Alex Guire and Brent Mills strive to never share store aisles or sidewalks in Spokane. In the Cascades—at the cabin that belongs to Brent's aunt—the young lovers easily spend entire days in the same sleeping bag.
(1948) As they penetrate the depths of the suburbs, Brent says, "I'm scared your parents will look at my face and be able to tell we've been doing it." Alex looks at him with no emotion and says, "Just be conscious of all your muscles and stay as quiet as possible, kind of like a strangler does when he's choking someone."
(1948) Alex and Brent meet and befriend one another at the dump while scavenging for materials to paint. They agree to fairly divide the floorboards they find, and together they check the wood for nails.
(1946) Alex stares through the living room window at the common scene: his boozed-out mother accosting his jobless father in front of their peeling house. Alex drops the blinds and tells himself such parents deserve to lose their son.
(1944) Brent's aunt frowns at the tube of oil paint her nephew clutches and says, "I'd rather buy you acrylic; it causes less mess and it's easier to get out of your skin." Brent ignores her because he pines for rich color to contrast with a pale life.
(1939) Brent wanders down from drawing among the trees to find that his aunt and sisters have left the campground without him. He spots the corpse of a skinny coyote near the picnic area and tells himself he will end up like this animal unless he finds someone mightier than himself.
(1931) Worried about the growth limitations of premature babies, Alex's mother whispers to her newborn, "Remember that it doesn't matter how small you are. What's important is that others think you're big."
(1930) Upon birth, Brent wails uncontrollably, upsetting his dying mother and the many infants that share the ward with him. The one nurse who sympathizes with Brent picks him up and rocks him for as long as her shift allows, knowing that in just hours this tiny man will be in the world.
About the author:
David Massengill's short stories and works of flash fiction have appeared in numerous literary journals, including StringTown, The Raven Chronicles, 3 A.M. Magazine, Eclectica Magazine, Parva Sed Apta, Tonopah Review, and Swell, among others. He lives in Seattle. His Web site is www.davidmassengillfiction.com.
© 2009 Word Riot
