Teaser
Does writing the theory of relativity from memory make one a math genius?
Let us distinguish between outstanding memory capabilities and phenomenon of art, as we do between crafting the rook and playing chess…

…”Stephen Wiltshire, ma main man”

Do the innate absolute criteria of fine art judge Stephen Wiltshire’s art, or is it only the jealousy of one private subjective ego?
Stephen Wiltshire became famous after appearing in some TV show where he presented his remarkable photographic memory abilities. First, I would like to honestly state, that I am truly empathic and happy for his success and have nothing in person against him. He really seems like a cute guy. What I am more concerned about is the definition of art in regards to Stepen Wiltshire’s abilities. I’ll break this down to art’s three basic components, as I perceive them.

The three aspects of fine art

Formation

Stephen Wiltshire’s art scales from basic sketching lessons to advanced architectural drawings at the most. Some of his works are no more than elementary car design sketches or urban views. No innovation of technique and no originality in the perception of reality and it’s translation to art. Just plain sketching you might see scattered abundantly around the internet.
Have you ever seen an architect or a car designer selling their sketches as works of art for prices ranging up to 13,000 pounds? I suppose not.

Content

Plain urban views or different motive transportations. No depths of issues, no message, no meaning, no purpose; just some “pretty things” to gaze at.

Awareness

Having evaluated the first two ingredients of fine art and concluded that they sum up to nothing in Stephen Wiltshire’s case, we are left with the most important one of all.
How does an artist approach a work of art? Well, I assume that there are numerous subtle nuances which define each and every artist of the past, present or future, but the basic grid is the same: you approach art with deep awareness.

What is the motive, the purpose, the essence, the meaning? What is it that which you want to say and what atmosphere will help you convey that message? How will you create that atmosphere and how will the compositional architecture, color scheme, shape formations, light, textures and perspectives influence the atmosphere you are trying to create?

The deeper the awareness the deeper the message will be and the more profound the essence is. So also, the more subtle the philosophy and the more complex the theoretical aspects behind the art work, that much more spiritual awareness and conscious self-awareness must be respectively present in order to realize that work of art.

Let’s see…

On the other hand, when all you want is to copy something from one place to another – with no emphasis on the technique and style, with no intent of purposeful content, with no awareness to the derivative criteria of creation – all you need is the hand-eye coordination awareness, hence the basic instinctual human consciousness.

So far as the context of art is concerned, there should be absolutely no meaning to whether the copying is from another picture using a translucent paper or directly from nature, or as in Stephen Wiltshire’s case using the memory as the copying source. I mean, does writing the theory of relativity from memory make you a math genius?

…”So, you…you’re the Rain Man?”

Being the artist an autistic-savant automatically boosted the value of his art, simply because there has never been in the recorded history of art another one like him. People might have said to themselves: “Well, there is nothing unique about his art, in neither venue, but hey, he’s autistic and he remembers stuff… Oh hey, and it’s just like that guy in that movie… I mean, wow!”

Well-greased marketing also helped to obscure from the art establishment and the general public the fact that actually, so far as art and artistic standards are concerned, there is nothing here to make so much fuss about. Had any other non-autistic artist presented such art to any respected gallery or museum in the world, I think that he would have gotten the cold shoulder.

Plainly saying, in this day and age art is mostly a gimmick, which without the appropriate marketing will not see the light of day, not to mention fortune and fame.

findigart.com

Created by findigart On 07/30/09 At 03:17 PM

For those of us who live immersed in the digital world, which certainly includes you as an Absolute Arts blog reader, it is most likely nearly incomprehensible how a modern day artist, or businessperson of any sort, could not be partially, if not fully, connected in the social marketing world. Truly, these days most would think how can anyone serious about getting ahead not be wholly represented on “The Social Marketing Grid” with a Facebook page, Twitter and Linkedin accounts et cetera?

The reality is there are plenty of people with serious careers and serious career ambitions who have not and are not interested in joining the minions on the great social networking experiment that consumes so many others. Is it really possible to be successful or to grow a meaningful career without issuing a single tweet? The simple answer as always remains yes.

Here’s a last century example that remains germane to the argument today. For many years, I sold advertising and show space for Decor magazine and its sister Decor Expo tradeshows. Both served the art and picture framing industry. In the day, Decor’s annual Sources directory and Atlanta Decor Expo shows were huge successes on every level. Quite simply, anybody who was anyone in the decorative art and picture framing business would never consider not robustly participating in both. To do so would be career suicide by being obvious by one’s absence.

There is a direct correlation today between the implied “must participate” in those vehicles as there is in being fully active in the social networking arena. However, then just as now, there were artists and companies that chose not to go along with the crowd and consciously avoided participating in what seemed to all others to be an apparent choice.

Back then, much to my confounded consternation, there were artists and publishers I knew who were enjoying success that would be the envy of many of my regular advertising customers and show exhibitors, yet they were not spending money to promote themselves in the splendid and effective marketing vehicles I represented. It took a long time for me to realize that just because the evidence seemed to irrefutably prove participation in such activities paid results there would be those who would resist the opportunity.

So, despite my eloquent presentations and urgent pleas to not miss the ship about to sail, there were holdouts that steadfastly refused to be motivated. Their reasons were not always the same, but I think the primary reason is not unlike what you see today, which goes like this: “Yes, I can intellectually grasp there is opportunity in what is being offered. However, I’m doing just fine without the bother. And, despite the powerful lure those things have for many people, they have no interest for me.”

It was harder then for me to grasp their choices. Perhaps this was so because then I had a financial stake in persuading them. Being more involved and invested in their participation made me more passionate about my attempts to evangelize them into partaking. Today, with more maturity and less at stake, it’s easier to accept there are those who have no interest in getting a Facebook page and who are equally willing to suffer the consequences of not playing a part in the social networking revolution.

The question for artists today is can they have a successful career without having a Facebook page, a blog, a Twitter account and so forth? Despite what current proponents of these and other social marketing tools have to say, I believe it is completely possible. Admittedly, I am one of those proponents. You can find plenty of articles among the 200+ blog posts I’ve published on my Art Print Issues blog that encourage artists to get involved with these tools.

Despite what I think and promote regarding advancing an artist’s career, I deem it is possible for an artist to achieve notable success without having much more than a phone and an email address. While I think it makes the proposition of attaining success more difficult for most, I am convinced that it’s not impossible or even implausible to gain notoriety and perhaps even museum collectible attention without being a card carrying member of the social networking movement.

Of course, if the artist is not a willing participant, it still would be a great benefit if his or her benefactors, i.e., gallerists, reps, dealers and collectors promoted the work in online social spaces mentioned here. But, at the heart of it, a long running successful art career is built one brick at a time. And, that can be done in a variety of ways, not all related to the digital world. In fact, in spite of my cheerleading for Web 2.0 type involvement, I think it would be foolhardy for most artists today to focus exclusively on social marketing while ignoring traditional forms of marketing.

When I was repping Decor and Decor Expo, a regular question was, “How do I decide where to allocate my marketing dollars?” It remains a viable question today. My answer has not changed much. That is, decide what you perceive to offer the best return on investment and give it the biggest chunk. Then spread the rest available, within the realistic constraints of what an individual or small business can do with time, financial and personnel resources, among all the rest.

For artists to achieve success the goal, whether in the 21st Century or the last, remains the same: Seek to build a viable dealer/gallery/collector base to grow your business. Then nourish and replenish with vigor. Make it part of your business plan and every work day in some fashion. If you are fortunate to have someone working for you, make sure it is an even more important part of their working day. The slow steady pace of the turtle in the race is still the sure way to succeed in business. To do otherwise is foolish. For instance, hoping to become an overnight success is the equivalent of buying lottery tickets as a financial plan.

Adding a dealer or gallery here, finding a few collectors at a show there. Digging up media support with press releases and participation in charity and other notable events and sending direct mail can all be done without ever tweeting a word. An artist who has motivated quality reps on the road making old fashioned cold calling presentations still works. While advertising in consumer and trade magazines and tradeshows may not deliver the same impact as when I was in my heyday with such vehicles, they nevertheless offer opportunity for artists who effectively utilize them.

Although I offer an alternative perspective, I still encourage artists to join me on my Art Print Issues blog, to get a website and blog of their own, and to exchange tweets with me at www.twitter.com/barneydavey or to friend me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/barney.davey. I will fully understand if you choose not to engage in social marketing. Further, I will happily support you and may even be one who chooses to publicize you for the quality of your work and for achieving success while going your own way.

Barney Davey
www.artprintissues.com

Created by Barney Davey On 07/16/09 At 03:16 PM

Phil and Kat Taylor are husband and wife art collectors. They live just outside Toronto, Canada which is a cool art city. One day, out of the blue, Phil emailed me and we started chatting about our common interest. I thought that he would make a great interview subject. He has a forthright, down to earth, yet very polite air about him. To me, this makes him “Clearly Canadian.” Read on and you’ll see.

MICHAEL: Hi Phil. Thanks for talking with me. You and your wife Kat (Katherine) are collectors. What got you into collecting? How did you begin?

PHIL: Well, my parents were both professional actors in Canada, so I grew up in an arts saturated environment – literature, music, acting, and of course visual arts. My early passion was photography since I could not draw very well, but I was always drawn to the fine arts of painting and sculpting. As a young adult I started to buy prints of popular master works though I always kept an eye on the contemporary scene as well. But it took many years to figure out what I really liked. We are bombarded with so many opinions and views on art that it can be very confusing. And when you start to buy original art, you really want to be sure of yourself, because it usually costs quite a bit more to buy good originals, even from unknown artists. And about 10 years ago I bought my first quality original by a fine Quebec artist named Louise Dandurand. The art dealer knew it was my first buy and could see I was nervous. When we completed the deal he said “I know it’s a bit scary buying your first original, but it gets easier.” He was right. I married my wife a few years after that and found that we have similar taste in art, and we have been buying new works from living artists ever since.

MICHAEL: Phil, I’m so glad that you got over your fear about how did Kat become a collector? Kat, are you there?

KAT: Hi Mike, this is Kat. Phil does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to our art … but here is a bit about myself. I am a professional singer/actor, and I have been active in the arts generally throughout my life. During my undergrad degrees at Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario. I studied in Europe … “Music History and Performance Practice”. One summer the course was offered in Venice and the next it was in Vienna. During this time I saw a tremendous number of masterpieces. Certainly I never imagined that I would live in a ‘gallery’ of original art! Phil’s enthusiasm has made this possible for me.
MICHAEL: Phil, it seems that your enthusiasm has conquered your early fear of art. I think that fear is the number one thing that keeps people from even visiting art galleries let alone becoming art collectors. Much of society has been brainwashed into believing that art is so far above their comprehension that they dare not aspire. What do you think?

PHIL: I agree with you Michael, but it’s more than just fear. Many people are turned off by art today because they simply don’t like what they see. I am speaking of course about much of the art created since the beginning of the 20th century. And it certainly doesn’t help that the larger art establishment swoons over work that leaves the average person scratching their head. And I have to confess right up front that I am pretty average too. The vast majority of art I see today seems amateurish or uninteresting. The truth is that I have to force myself to go into galleries. I know that most of what I see will not interest me in the slightest, but I do it because I never know when and where I might find a gem. It doesn’t surprise me at all that many people don’t even make an effort. But for me its like a treasure hunt.
MICHAEL: Art is a treasure hunt for me as well. The last time that I went gallery hopping in Chelsea (New York City), I was stunned by some of the crap that I saw! You don’t have to be an “expert” to recognize junk. Fortunately, Chelsea has more than 200 galleries, so there was also some truly fantastic work to see. What really bothers me is when it appears that the artist/curator isn’t interested in trying to engage or inspire us. Not long ago, I visited a new contemporary art museum that staged a BIG exhibition, but I felt that the curators intentionally made it the opposite of what had been promoted. I think it was their way of saying, “We’re beyond caring what you think because we’ll never allow you into our club!” Such a disservice.
PHIL: Well it’s hard to know exactly what many curators, gallery owners, art critics and artists themselves, are really thinking about the average person. But sometimes they let their guard down. I read an interview with a gallery owner who said she only shows art she really hates. I wonder if she tells prospective buyers in her gallery how much she hates the work she is trying to sell them? Fact is I stopped caring what the art establishment was saying or doing, years ago. I keep my eye on the ball – the ball being new art. I make my own judgments and keep moving forward. And you hit the nail on the head. I look for art that inspires and engages me.

MICHAEL: So, what kind of art do you and Kat collect? How would you describe your collection? Is there a common thread?

PHIL; Well Michael, I thought you would never ask. Our taste is quite eclectic in that we do not look for a particular style or theme. Most of the work is two dimensional and all of it is by living, working artists. They are mostly Canadian, but we have also bought pieces from American, French, and Chinese artists. There are four essential elements we consider when buying art, and in no particular order they are:

1. Technical mastery by the artist in his chosen medium. As you know the importance of mastery has taken a beating in the last century or so. The message is all important now, but there are still artists who strive for the kind of excellence that we saw during the Renaissance for example. And mastery takes years, so most of our artists are in their 40s and 50s. We keep an eye on promising young artists,

….

Created by Michael Corbin On 07/06/09 At 12:31 PM

Four years have gone by and it’s getting harder to keep time from slipping by. Is it age-related or just the fact that I’ve been keeping busy? I really don’t give it much thought, it’s just a fact I’m confronted with now that I’ve packed up my studio and shipped my things off to a new destination where I’ll start all over again.

In the past year, though, keeping busy had something to do with it. One of the reasons I decided to stop posting on aa was because there was too much I needed to tend to, and the lure of the ethereal world was sneakily keeping me away from the real one. But I also felt that a break from blogging and commenting might actually be a good healthy thing. Too many things kept popping up on my screen asking me to join and I needed to distance myself from my computer ‘routine’ to be able to focus on the concrete things I wanted to achieve at the studio. What’s the point of being on 8 different sites if you can’t get anything worthwhile completed in the real world to talk about?

So let me tell you about some of the few things I was able to help out with apart from my own production and input at OD?

In this past year OD – oficina do desenho – came a long way. From being a small independent art school where Rui Aço gathered his students and I helped out as tutor and developed my own projects as artist in residence we have become an association and have since started to engage our community in a more pro-active way.

The snowball had been picking up momentum but it was really only after we presented our collective project at the Cascais Cultural Centre [Dec 08 to Feb 09] that we started to realise the impact OD seemed to be having and that we became fully aware of the opportunities and responsibilities we could expect in the coming years.

The project 3 Men on a Boat in which Rui and I teamed up with Fernando Vidal – before he distanced himself for professional reasons – was not a commercial exhibition but nevertheless it was one of the most successful projects I ever took part in. The reward was not monetary; it was much more valuable than that. I think I can safely say that it enhanced our presence as artists and as trustworthy partners within our community. It opened doors for future exhibition possibilities and collaborations with the local authorities both as consultants and as active creative participants in cultural activities. And, because it went on for over two months it exposed us to a greater audience, as a matter of fact it was one of the least publicized yet most visited exhibitions at the cultural centre ever.

The staff at the Centre were tremendous, they fell in love with the project and went beyond the call of duty to spread the contagion to visitors coming in to see the galleries hosting more publicized artists. Maybe this had to do with the fact that Rui and I were present on location most of the time. Indeed, to me it felt like home for those twelve weeks. Personally I didn’t so much see this as an occasion to dump my work, no matter how beautifully presented, but as a privileged opportunity to deepen the much needed connections with curators and the people in charge.

I also invited a few selected people over to lunch at the centre’s restaurant and gave tours, maybe not so much spoken but just to be there with the public lest they wanted to ask questions, and though we invariably spoke about other things it was always somehow linked to the philosophy behind the work and what we aim to achieve with the school.

Local schools, from kindergarten to 12th graders, organized field-trips to see the show and ask us questions… and, sometimes, play with the dangling steel treads of my boat, which, I’ll admit, must have been a temptation for any child [and I caught a glimpse of the odd grown-up having a go!], but it was so inspiring to be caught up in their enthusiasm that it made it impossible to ask them not to touch. I can’t even begin to tell you how rewarding it was to see my installation and video through the eyes of those children. No amount of money can equal that.

Once that was over I slowly entered into a new mode – different tempo, different focus. In January my wife was told that she would be reassigned to a new posting and so when we took down the show my boat came straight back home. I continued to paint and oversee the work of the students at OD up until the end of May but the students couldn’t help but notice how the paintings, art materials and unfinished canvases kept disappearing until there was nothing left but the original concrete space I had added a little colour to over the three years I was there.

I’ll miss those exchanges with the students, I’ll miss Rui’s insight and companionship, our painting styles may seem diametrically opposed but we share much in common and I learnt a great deal from him while I was there. It was good while it lasted, and I’ll always be connected to the school in some capacity or other, I am, after all, one of the founders, but I’ve become more and more absorbed with the move and have instinctively crept into that buffer-zone I know inside of me where I am able to cope with the loss and prepare for the new stuff.

In May, with me half-here-half-there and not being much help, OD organised an event that brought together commerce and art in an attempt to boost people’s morale and get them back on the streets looking at the shops and at the art. The original idea was for 30 shops to allow 30 artists to redo their shop windows with art for two weeks and hand out a prize for the best collaboration [artists and shop owners were supposed to work together on this], but things soon got out of our hands when word spread and we ended up with sixty shops… and minus 30 artists. Ana Grácio and Rita Cardim solved things smoothly, amazingly and in record time, rounding up the remaining artists and getting some of the school’s own students, as well as other art schools to join in the ride. Also, the work they had as coordinators, getting artists and shop owners to get along peacefully while at the same time getting all the visuals ready and out on the streets [banners, leaflets with maps, red carpets for the important guests at the cocktail, etc.] was an important part of the event’s success, contributing greatly to putting OD on the local map.

I won’t go into the details here but it was a tremendous success, with a formal opening by the Mayor and the cultural and legal advisors from the Town Hall and the Cascais Cultural Centre taking their time to see each and every shop, talking to the artists and shop owners [when initially it had been said that there would only be time for a brief overview of the main square area]. From here on I think many things are possible, many doors have opened, both for OD and for each individual helping out to make it what we all wish it to become. And even if in the years to come I won’t be participating as an active participant I still look forward to telling you more about its progress as Rui keeps me informed, because I now think of it as one of my babies as well.

As for me, soon, I hope, I’ll be getting back to the business of setting up a new studio and looking for new projects – starting from scratch… in Japan.

Created by Jose Freitas Cruz On 07/03/09 At 11:11 AM

Combine air, space, track lighting, concrete, glass, metal, a cool king-size bed to rest your sleepy head and you’re totally there.

You’ve got what may or may not be your typical hip hotel. However, as I write these oh so urbane words, I’m not in your run of the mill sleek abode. I’m taking up pricy space in this totally hip place.
21C.
My trip here actually began a couple of years ago when I first heard about it. “When I finally decide to visit Louisville for another art trip, I going to stay there,” I thought to myself.

But of course, time and expenses or lack thereof intervened and my arrival was much delayed … but here I am slumping over the keyboard in a thick groove as Marvin Gaye croons, “What’s Goin’ On” through the speakers piped in overhead.

I’m sitting in what can only be described as an art gallery because that’s exactly what it is … an art gallery. I’m on the basement floor below and adjacent to the main lobby of the 21C Museum Hotel. Within my line of sight are lookers and gawkers who are pointing and chatting and oohing and aahing. Like me, they’re here for the night or perhaps for a just glimpse of what all the talk is about.

Well, I can’t exactly say it’s the talk of the town because I’m no townie, but it seems that nearly everyone in the art world has heard of this hot spot. Finally, someone dreamed of putting a true, literally down-to-earth art gallery in a hotel … or did they build a hotel around an art gallery? Pick your passion, but both are working like a charm on this art lover. Why wouldn’t it? This is the first of my art trips in which art and lodging didn’t just run parallel or perpendicular, they’re literally hand in hand. The hotel IS the art and the art IS the hotel.

About thirty feet away from me on the opposite wall, I’m drooling over three, long horizontal Mikhael Subotzky (South African) archival pigment photo prints depicting prison situations. They’re “Cell 25,” “Reception” and “Cell 508b,” all studies from inside Voorberg and Pollsmoor Prisons (2004).

In the adjacent room are fourteen of Kara Walker’s refreshingly politically-incorrect framed lithographs. Up until now, I had only seen her work in museums and at the big art fairs, but gazing at them here in a real life setting makes them more accessible.

There are four nice-sized galleries off the main gallery where I’m now sitting. It’s a soaring, brick, steel beamed, white-walled, art loft. Just what the art doctor ordered for inquisitive travelers.

In my time here, visitors have come up and down and criss-crossed the space, marching on the sanctity of my art lodging dream. Their chit-chat is inconsequential, but precisely the point. This is what art SHOULD do. It should force dialogue, however shallow or profound and that chat should happen within the confines of a unique hotel. They just don’t make ‘em quite like this.

PAUSE

As I pause, I’m looking upward at a gigantic, full-bodied, digital print of a mainly nude woman who looks like Bjork from afar, but I don’t think it is. All I know is while the piped-in music plays Stevie Wonder’s, “Boogie On A Reggae Woman,” I’m smiling at this raven-haired, alabaster beauty with her arms outstretched and her taut breasts in full view with a hint of linen loincloth hugging her lovely hips. She’s standing on a white background, perhaps somewhat Christ-like … or is she mocking Christ? That wouldn’t be very nice. Either way, artist Sukran Moral (Turkish) has made what he calls “Artista” (1994) perfection. Is it Bjork? The way I’m feeling now, it doesn’t matter. She’s gorgeous nonetheless.
The long and short of it is you don’t get this everyday in your run of the mill hip hotel. This is art as art should be seen. I want to take each and every one of these works up to my uber-hip room and then out the door as I depart.

But alas, no such deed will I do. I’ll just remember this place and this space and think that finally someone has done contemporary art the justice it’s due. They’ve made 7th & Main the intersection of lodging and art. There’s art on every floor and in almost every nook and cranny … installation pieces too.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that moments before I checked in, I saw a couple of guys decked out in cream colored suits. I didn’t think much about it until I headed up to my room on the fourth floor (401) and the elevator doors opened. Waiting for the other elevator across the hall was a blonde bride looking as lovely and as modern as could be. With that, a light-bulb went on over my head like the artful lights installed in the elevator ceiling.

“Oh! You must be the bride!” I said. “Yes, Hi!” she replied. “You look lovely. Congratulations,” I said. “Thanks!” she replied, beaming as only young brides can beam. Hmm. Maybe she was merely a model at a photo shoot.

In any event, here’s the real point. Should you hold a wedding or any other special bash in a hip, art hotel? You bet your ass you should. Each one gives the other greater purpose.

Assuming it was a true wedding event, the bride and groom probably paid a pretty penny for 21C. I wonder if they got to ride away in that red, bejeweled 21C limousine I saw out front. Even the limo is art!

It’s like I always say. When you bring art into the picture, it’s a kick ass scene … or perhaps I should be a bit more urbane and just say … it’s a no brainer.

MICHAEL CORBIN IS AN AVID ART COLLECTOR AND AUTHOR OF THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING BOOK, “THE ART OF EVERYDAY JOE: A COLLECTOR’S JOURNAL.” CHECK OUT HIS WEBSITE AT WWW.ARTBOOKGUY.COM

Created by Michael Corbin On 06/22/09 At 11:16 AM

This will be my last post from the UAE. In fact by the time you read this I will already be on my way back to gorgeous grey clouds of the average UK summertime. The last two years of living first in Dubai and then in Sharjah, have been a decidedly mixed experience but I have learned a lot and really enjoyed the exposure to the diverse international art I have seen here. What is perhaps most bizarre is that it took me several months to find an actual Emirati artist but now they seem to be everywhere. It has been very interesting to see how phenomenally the cultural sector has grown just in the last two years and how arts development can become a kind of nationalism in the absence of any other type of overt political statement! I actually arrived in Dubai in May 2007 in the final week of the 8th Sharjah Biennale so I didn’t get to see very much of it. However, 2007 seems to have been the key year. Dubai held its first international Art Fair and fringe in March and not to be outdone, Abu Dhabi followed suit with Art Paris-Abu Dhabi in November. Galleries started to proliferate and three very distinct art areas emerged in Dubai which now has plans for a Museum of Modern Middle Eastern Art, an opera house and various other museums and arts dedicated areas. Meanwhile Abu Dhabi is getting a ‘starchitect’ designed Guggenheim, Louvre, Maritime museum and performing arts centre.

The culmination of all this activity seems to have been the launch of the first ever UAE pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale. Actually the UAE had not one, but two pavilions at Venice…. the competitive squabbling between Dubai and Abu Dhabi even spilled over into the most prestigious art platform in the world resulting in one national UAE pavilion organised out of Dubai and a Platform for Venice set up by Abu Dhabi.

However, despite this frenzy of arts and cultural development which has really raised the UAE’s international profile it is still not a good environment for artists on the ground unless they have substantial independent economic means. It is a very expensive place to live (although rents are coming down since the credit crunch), there is almost no studio space and the constant pressure to earn money is just not conducive to artistic output. In two years I have reworked some old paintings, produced four average prints, a digital montage of the Dubai skyline and four towers of trash! However, the towers were a great success and gave me two of the highlights of my time here. They were exhibited first in the Creek Art fair in Dubai and then travelled to the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi where they were part of an exhibition and panel discussion on Art and the Environment. It’s a shame I never got to exhibit anything in Sharjah but another real highlight was working on the Sharjah Biennale catalogue and I am very happy I was able to do that. It gave me a lot to think about on many different levels and I have assimilated (i.e. stolen) ideas about processes, materials, concepts and ways of communicating that I will take back to the UK with me. I don’t know yet how this and all my experiences over the past two years will come out in my work. However, the best thing is that I go back to the UK knowing I have a rare period ahead of me where I simultaneously have the two key commodities of time AND money! This means that I can sift through it all at leisure in my own space and then just focus on externalisation and production. I have (mostly) enjoyed being a facilitator, promoter and reviewer of other peoples art over the past two years BUT I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to just being an artist for while again.

Created by Valerie Grove On 06/19/09 At 11:27 AM

Is art exactly this or something else?

Is it revealed or created?
Is it contained or merely channeled?

Is art natural like the sweat dripping down my back on a hot day?
Is art artificial like a phoney smile from a hypocrit person?
Is art deliberately superficial like arching an arrow to a distant target?

Is it casual yet intentful as the autumn fall?
Is it innocent yet provoking like a nude baby?
Is it bright yet temporary like falling inlove?
Is it straight-forward emotional yet deceiving as a Heroin addict?

Art is an occupation rather than a vocation;
It is a means rather than an aim;
Is is the scenery rather than the path;
It is a tool rather than a Force…

Spontaneous yet controlled;
Truthful yet compassionate;
Deep yet immediate;

Aware art is the face of man;
Spiritually aware Art is the face of God.

Art is nothing without us.

Created by findigart On 06/15/09 At 11:10 AM

It began with a story in Sunset Magazine on a new style of modular home that is compact, energy efficient and eco-friendly.
The story on homes built by Michelle Kaufmann Designs caught the eye of woman I know who lives with her husband in a suburban community in the San Francisco Bay area. For years they have enjoyed spending weekends on the coast of west Sonoma County, an area of sprawling ranches, picturesque towns, and gorgeous beaches on the Pacific coast.
The couple had thought about building a small home there as a retreat from their more urban home in the East Bay. My friend saw it both as an investment and a way to take advantage of the great view.
Early this spring, my wife and I spent a day visiting my friend, who asked not to be named to protect her family’s privacy. Early on our only morning there, we awoke to see the fog curling through the valley below us, filling the gaps in the green hills.

Personal values and the ability to get approval from local planning officials both played a part in my friend choosing a Michelle Kaufmann Designs home. She hoped that its small scale and highly energy efficiency would make the home appealing to coastal planning boards trying to limit development in scenic open areas. And the simple design would enable her to present the plans herself, rather than relying on a developer. “You do better as a homeowner going through the process,” she said. And their hopes were borne out, her husband told me.

Kaufmann brought the modular home into the 21st century by making energy efficiency and environmental friendliness core principles of the design of these speedily-built homes. (Even with the public’s embrace of environmental design, the company couldn’t overcome the housing bust and financial meltdown and just days ago announced it is folding. It had built about 40 homes.)
Compared with their conventional counterparts, modular homes have always been cheaper because they are built in factories and simpler to build, avoiding the uncertainties of outdoor construction.

Kaufmann’s contribution was adapting them to the needs of a nation concerned about energy costs and climate change. Among the standard features of her homes are floor- to-ceiling sliding doors which, when placed opposite clerestory windows, result in balanced lighting and warmth in the winter. And as an architect concerned about preservation of scare resources, many of her homes use flooring made from fast growing bamboo, rather than wood from slower growing forests.
My friend chose a model with clean simple lines called Glidehouse. The 1,600-square-foot home they ordered from MKD is about half the size of their other home. Many of the environmentally friendly features my friend wanted were standard in that model. They ordered a few additional options to suit their tastes and needs.
Three units, each 14 x 48 feet, were built on the factory floor, delivered to the site and set on the foundation. One unit makes up the kitchen, living room and dining room; another the master bedroom and bath and a smaller bedroom, bath and laundry; and the third, another bedroom and half bath, along with a mudroom and exterior patio.
Her model came with sliding glass doors running the entire length of one side and clerestory windows on the opposite side. As an additional energy efficiency step, my friend installed roof-mounted solar panels, which are connected to the grid. “We pay whatever the minimum is to have an account with Pacific Gas & Electric,” my friend said. “There are no bills.”

Her flooring, while not bamboo, is a layered hardwood by Echo that is engineered to take a smaller bite out of the forest, she said.
A feature of an MKD home my friend especially appreciates is the ample storage hidden behind sliding wood doors all along the north side of the house. “They are very well designed,” she said.
Other than the front entry, the patios were of her design. Lining the entire south side of the home, they celebrate the nearly 180-degree view of the hills and coastline.

On an early spring day, my wife and I joined my friend and her daughter for a lunch of chicken sausage, rolls and salad on the patio. Because of unusual early spring rains, the hills were a lush green. We watched as a hawk rode the thermals above the estuary. Beyond, we could see a hint of the foam churned up by the Pacific surf as it pounded the coastal rocks. A tongue of land known as Point Reyes, the most prominent feature of the area, faded into the horizon.

“When it is not windy, I love it,” my friend told me recently. Asked to name a special view, it was the same as mine- fog filling the estuarial valley. “When there is a low creeping fog, you can see above it, so you feel like you are on an island,” she said.

Created by Brian Miller On 06/11/09 At 03:35 PM

Kentucky born and bred artist Brad Everett Kirkman is what some people might call an “outsider artist.” He isn’t trained, but some might say he’s anointed. Looking at his work, you can clearly see that he’s not only driven by art, but also a message. He works full-time for a precision manufacturing company, but art is his true calling and message. Incidentally, we had this chat long ago and begin by talking about his old website which has since changed to www.brevki.com and www.BradEverettKirkman.blogspot.com However, his message remains the same.

MICHAEL: Hey Brad. First of all, your website is called, mainrinse.com. Why do you have a website and where did the name come from?

BRAD: I felt I needed a space of my own that I could have complete control. No ads to distract and no restrictions etc. Main Rinse is an anagram of “I’m a sinner.” I named it this so I would always be reminded that I am no better than anybody else on this planet. I will always be in need of a Savior that can fill the hole in me that nothing or no one else can fill.

MICHAEL: Do you draw (no pun intended, sorry) any connection between your art and “Main Rinse”?

BRAD: I really can’t separate the two. I think of the website as an extension of the art. I can say and do more there to expand on the message I’m trying to relay with my art.

MICHAEL: I have several different representations of your work and I think it’s more driven by your vision rather than even the material itself. How would you describe your art? I’m tempted to say “outsider,” but I don’t love that term.

BRAD: My work is a direct reflection of my life at the moment it’s created. It’s not necessarily “pretty” in a department store sort of way. And it’s not something that a lot of people will want to hang in their living room. My wife would never let me display most of my art in our house. I want to encourage people with my work. If it’s not considered decorator art, no problem. If you want to hang it in your closet and have a private laugh or a secret bit of encouragement that’s absolutely great with me.

MICHAEL: I seem to recall you telling me that you sometimes paint things and just leave them out in public for people to freely take? What’s up with that?

BRAD: I create little sculptures under the name “Prayzine” (like Praising God) and have left them all over the country for people to pick up and keep. I do this as a gift to others. It’s kind of like a friendly street art project. Just another way to try to help people smile and point them to Christ in the process. I leave just enough information for people to Google the name and see what the project is about.

MICHAEL: So, you’re like a wandering, troubadour artist with a message. Where have you left these sculptures? Have you heard from anybody who has gotten one?

BRAD: Mainly east of the Mississippi from Michigan to Florida. I also have friends who leave them for me in places they vacation and travel for business. I have gotten email just saying thanks for the art and encouraging me to continue. Not a whole lot of communication comes back. Maybe people think that there is more to it than it seems. I suppose they think, “Nobody would leave art lying around for free. There must be a catch.”

MICHAEL: Does your full-time job influence your art in any way or do you keep the two things separate?

BRAD: You can say my art is influenced by my full-time job in that there are a lot of people that I work with who need encouragement or just a kind word. I see them as a good cross-section of people, and even though these people have jobs, they still have needs, be it emotional, physical, or financial. Everybody needs to know they are needed and appreciated. This universal need for encouragement is something that pushes me to continue to make positive, uplifting art.

MICHAEL: Many art people might ask you why you live in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. It’s not exactly a booming art center.

BRAD: Hopkinsville is where I grew up. I’ve been a lot of places and I can’t find a place I like better that I can afford. It’s central, not too hot, not too cold, not too northern, not too southern. And it’s easy for me to jet to NY or LA for my one man shows. Ha!

MICHAEL: Oh, okay. Why do I get the feeling that you’ve answered that question before? But I digress. You mentioned something early on about having “complete control” over your work. This is a huge issue with so many artists (not to mention writers). What’s the deal? Is it the galleries? Who is trying to control artists?

BRAD: The pressure to make something that you know will sell is always lurking. You feel if you paint what you want, nobody will get it and thus not buy. I have control over very little in my life. My time is demanded, my attention is demanded, my finances are demanded. My art is really the only thing that nobody can tell me what to do.

MICHAEL: Yes, that’s tough. On top of that, most of the time, you don’t even know whether buyers are misinterpreting the message of your art. I also experience that myself as a writer. That must be a real issue with you because your work is so message driven. Still, you must create things hoping that there’s an audience out there for it … otherwise supporting yourself can be extremely difficult.

BRAD: I just try to make enough to pay for my supplies, anything above that is a bonus. I don’t see me supporting myself/family on my art. It would be great if I could pull it off, but right now I can’t see that being even close to feasible.

MICHAEL: So why are you even doing this? Aren’t there other ways to spread the message? Living artists have such a tough time. What good is art to anybody?

BRAD: Creating art for me is cheap therapy. It relaxes me. I have a fairly stressful day job and I need a wind down activity. I tried other things, like golf. AHHH! That just added more stress that I didn’t need. As far as the message, I have reached people around the world with my crazy little creations. I love that people anywhere can view my art just by happening upon it. If they look and don’t buy that’s OK. Maybe they get a little encouragement from just seeing it. Actually making a sale is just icing on the cake.

MICHAEL: Thanks Brad. You’re much more than just an optimist. You’re clearly a messenger.
Endnote: You can visit Brad at his websites at www.brevki.com and www.bradeverettkirkman.blogspot.com
MICHAEL CORBIN IS AN AVID ART COLLECTOR AND AUTHOR OF THE MULTI-AWARD WINNING BOOK, “THE ART OF EVERYDAY JOE: A COLLECTOR’S JOURNAL.” CHECK OUT HIS BRAND NEW WEBSITE AT WWW.ARTBOOKGUY.COM

Created by Michael Corbin On 06/08/09 At 12:00 PM

Over the last three months, the CAPC contemporary art museum in Bordeaux has played host to the French artist Jean-Luc Blanc, organising a vast retrospective of his work.

Born in 1965 in Nice, Jean-Luc Blanc started his artistic career by drawing, gradually venturing towards painting. This picture-lover takes constant inspiration from the numerous media that our society puts forward, gleaning images from magazines, newspapers, postcards, and films. After a frenzied period of collecting and accumulation, several pictures ‘impose’ themselves to Jean-Luc Blanc, and he selects these to paint. Transferring a small picture to a larger-sized painting allows the artist to give a second life to the image – he says himself that photography is an execution, painting a resuscitation. Giving pictures selected from our everyday life a new purpose, cancelling their first meaning, bringing anonymity to stars, conferring new-found glory on John Does – this is Jean-Luc Blanc’s game. With this somewhat simple and repetitive technique, the artist masterfully allows the spectator to come across a new image, free of its past, and open to interpretation. Discovering Jean-Luc Blanc’s work allows us to come to terms with our own personal way of looking at art.

Along with over two hundred of his paintings and drawings, forty-five other artists have been brought together by Jean-Luc Blanc and the Parisian curator Alexis Vaillant to be part of this retrospective.
Indeed, when invited to create a retrospective of his work, Jean-Luc Blanc couldn’t conceive his canvasses without the production of other artists, contemporary or historical, that have influenced him throughout his career. Add to that antiques and anonymous objects, artworks from the municipal museums of Bordeaux, and you have a fully blown ‘Opera Rock’, an eclectic collection of the desires and inspirations of Jean-Luc Blanc, set out in thirteen rooms of the second floor gallery of the CAPC.
Along with sound effects orchestrated by Mr. Learn, and the phantom of the French writer Marguerite Duras hanging over the exhibition, the CAPC has successfully managed to give you the feeling of entering into Jean-Luc Blanc’s mind and understanding his approach as an artist, his world of imagination and creation. This 3D version of his brain is characterised by a diversity of techniques, a medley of generations and nationalities, and a multiplicity of truths.

Works by Michel Blazy, paintings by Dan Attoe, bestial sculptures by Laurent Le Deunff, and photographs by Diane Arbus dialogue with installations by Vidya Gastaldon, hand-crafted objects by Shannon Bool, shotgun paintings by William Burroughs, videos by Brice Dellsperger and lithography by Odilon Redon. All of these accompany the enigmatic paintings of Jean-Luc Blanc, communicating as if old friends.
Portraits face abstract oil paintings, delicate porcelain ornaments sit side by side with ancient mummy hands, wooden silhouettes talk to metal-wire spiders… Almost three hundred artworks share the space of this exhibition, an original and quasi extensive portrayal of the thoughts of Jean-Luc Blanc, a way to understand his art differently and to combine backstage (the inspiration of the artist) with the stage itself (his own production), symbolised here by the tall black screens (as if in a theatre) that accompany the visitor the further he ventures into the exhibition.

Let yourself be drawn into this artist’s space – you won’t be disappointed.

Jean-Luc Blanc, Opera Rock
From the 25th of March to the 14th of June 2009
CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France

Created by Alice Cavender On 06/04/09 At 03:20 PM