POST POST GLUE IT

I Can Burn Your Face

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:03:00 +0000

I have spent a lot of time on museum websites this week as The Aldrich starts to think about how to create a strategic plan for it's media efforts.

This means mostly that I have been watching a lot of videos on the "Tate Channel"

Here is my favorite.

Exhibition: Jill Magid: Authority to Remove

Jill Magid talks to TateShots about her exhibition 'Authority to Remove' at Tate Modern
16.10.2009

Art or Design? Form or Function?

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:23:00 +0000

We have come to the end of "art for art sake" era. Artists are blurring boundaries and creating work that is socially conscious, moving, and interactive and even functional as long as the function goes along with the content. While designers of functional objects are injecting them with creativity and a conscience. Going "green" where ever possible and creating custom pieces that focus on the individual. At the same time curators are putting these works on display side by side and daring the viewer to think about the objects as they relate to one another...

And it's awesome! I couldn't wait for the "shock them until it hurts" artists to be over and done with. I'm not saying what they created wasn't valid in it's time but I was so bored. It feels really great to know that a lot of the work I see now was made for a reason. It creates connections and even solves problems. I am very happy with the art world right now.

It's time I condensed my internet presence. First things first...

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:06:00 +0000

Taking stock: 1 etsy account

1 wordpress account (used as a web site)

2 Blogger blogs (confusing)

1 flickr account

1 twitter account (ok 3 but only one is really mine)

1 tumblr account (new I was curious I've heard nice things)

1 facebook account

1 society6 account

2 email addresses (not counting work ones)

1 youtube account

1 utterly account (used it for a week maybe)

1 museum 3.0 account (this also gave me a profile on the host site but I'm not counting that.)

This list makes me sleepy I'll write more later...

How we talk about art.

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:06:00 +0000

The Aldrich is an interesting place. Rather than give facts and history to it's visitors it gives questions. In doing so it functions rather more like an art history class than a museum. Upon walking in to a docent guided tour you are asked "well what do you think"? or If you ask the guide "what does this mean I don't get it"? You will most likely be asked what You think it means. No this is not an attempt to drive you mad with a circuitous conversation. It is an attempt to make you think, and hopefully help you realize that art is what you make of it. The second an artist let's their work out into the world they open it up to every one else's perspective and there intent however interesting is not the only meaning a piece can have.

Personally I like stories, and a work of art that I may initially find dull or just not my style may gain something once I know the artists intent. This is more a credit to the idea that the final work of art however and that opens up a whole new category of questions. For instance, Which is more important the idea or the final work? Is the work still valid at all if the only thing carrying it is the idea or the process? What do other people see in it? Is every one as bored as me? Or is the work moving and enlightening for others?

On the other end of that a work of art I love can also be enhanced by it's back story. There are times though when knowing that back story first can stifle my imagination. I like the way art theory is going, it's less fact and more feeling. Rather than talking in a way that intimidates every one, artists and historians are speaking in a way that is much more interesting and open-ended.

Think before you socialize!

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:23:00 +0000

I don't know if it's because Underground Art School has been asking about simplicity recently or because having 5 jobs is super complicated but, I feel like people need to try to simplify more. When You get a cool idea it's awesome but, before you decide to go thru with it please think about the simpler options for getting the affect you want. Especially where technology is concerned. Just because there is a cool new toy out there wether it be for social media or a new hand held device that doesn't mean you should jump into using it with out thinking.

In art as in life you have a message you are trying to convey and the tools you use will affect that message. Think about where you want your visitors to be when they see or hear your piece. If it's only audio do you want them viewing other people's work as well as yours or, would you rather create an enclosed environment. All of the decisions you make will then help you pick which device to use. Not every device can preform every task so you have to think about it.

For social media it's the same thing. Not ever host is useful for every single person or company. You have to research, try them out, and see which ones suit you. This is something I'm just learning because like any one else I have my favorite sites. Facebook and Twitter are what I am most used to and the thought that any other platform could be better for some one else was hard for me to understand. Right now though new social media platforms are popping up every day, many of which are specific to a certain demographic. Things like ArtBabble which is all about art and the videos come from well known museums, or Society6 which is also all about art but hosts artists and grants to create a community gallery of sorts.

With all of the options out there today it is really important to have clear simple reasons for doing what you do.

Internships and Paying Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:11:00 +0000

As I climb out of the world of internships and into the world of paying jobs (slowly, very slowly) I'm beginning to see how diversifying ones self is the best possible way to get a job. There are lots of artists out there and art historians all looking for the same jobs in a market the size of a pin head. My most recent internship involves new media. I have always been interested in computers and the like but never to the point of seeing it as a career path. However the internship was there and I could not pass up the opportunity to bring twitter and blogging to my favorite museum.

I have come to realize that this is where I belong. I may not have to skills to build a computer or design a new operating system but, I do have the skills required to use web 2.0 to discuss content and update people on cool events.

Thanks to these skills (and the ability to explain wed 2.0 to people who think they hate computers) I now have a job at a music publishing company (I also still intern at The Aldrich).

So todays lesson: Asses all your skills and see what you can apply them too. You may be surprised at what ends up getting you a job.

HGTV

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Erinn Valencich

Erinn Valencich
Omniarte Design by Erinn Valencich
Email: erinn@omniartedesign.com
Website: www.omniartedesign.com

My mom watches HGTV constantly, and I used to laugh at her for it all the time. I just didn't get it, why was watching other people get new homes and decorate them so entertaining.

Even when I lived off-campus I never had the urge to decorate or even fully unpack. Knowing I was going to leave in a few months. The most I ever did was paint and that was only because my room was two different shades of pink (a color I have disliked since childhood).

Now I find myself in a perfectly wonderful apartment ( My bathroom is pink and black tile but I can't change that, and I may be growing on me uh oh), complete with window seats, high ceilings, and an archway. Suddenly I get the HGTV bug. All I want to do is get a job that will pay enough for me to buy curtains and a really cool striped chair. I want to go to flea markets and antique shops, and I scan Etsy constantly for new things.

In collage I started to give up a lot of my belongings, trying to fit my entire life into one bag. Granted this only worked when leaving for Ireland junior year, and my parents had to send me a huge box of things I forgot to pack. Not to mention the extra bag I had on my return home. But I did attempt it. Now I can't seem to fill my house fast enough. I keep driving to my parents house to pick up more books and watching "organizing your home" shows to find creative ways to store it all.

Is every one like this or is the HGTV bug genetic?

I'm not in school

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:05:00 +0000

As many people I know head back to school I feel slightly left out. Not that I really need the stress of college again just yet, but I will miss classes. It's odd to think that for the first time since I was two and a half I will not be attending school in the fall. I am forced to wonder if I'll be able to stay away. What is it about school that I am suddenly so attached to? Is it the academics? the people? belonging to something? or is it simply that I was a student for such a long time that I feel a pull to remain so.

Today I missed art history. I really just want to go to a room and sit down and listen to an expert talk about art. I know I can get this from pod casts and videos but, there is something about a college lecture. Especially when the professor is really excited that there are people willing to listen to them talk about something they love. You can tell by the questions they ask and the way they sometimes smile and jump a little when come to their favorite artist.

Well I hope every one is having a wonderful time at school. For now I will have to adjust to not attending classes.

First segment of... The Internship Diaries...ok that's a dumb name.

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:43:00 +0000

It's hard for many people to understand but when your in the arts you very rarely get paid for what you do. At least not until you've put in about a million hours of volunteer work. (I'm not there yet.)

The thing is if you are in this amazing field, you put in the work any way. Even when teachers and advisors tell you that you'll need at least 4 internships in a museum or gallery before any one will actually hire you, and even when you submit work to exhibition after exhibition and don't get accepted.

The thing you must never forget is, there are perks to being an intern.

The most obvious is the free education. If you pick the institution that suits you best you'll learn things they just don't teach in college.

Tip: If you pick a small museum like a historical house or local art gallery you will get to do things that larger museums leave only to the professionals.

My first internship was at a house museum in the town I grew up in. There was one full time employee, one part time employee, and a handful of very dedicated volunteers. This meant they needed any help they could get. It also meant that I was taught to use Past Perfect (it's a software for cataloging artifacts) and to accession artifacts and send letters of thanks, and I even illustrated a coloring book.

Tip: Each opportunity will help you find your place in the art world. Take the time to visit the museums where you are thinking of applying, to see what there mission statement is and maybe talk to past interns. It's kind of like picking the right school to go to.

Niamh O'Malley

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:54:00 +0000

Amiens St 'vignette" (2007)

Any one how knows me knows I love experimental techniques and if you mix media and traditional painting you've got me hooked. Niamh O'Malley is a Green on Red Gallery artist. Her work is all about illusion and altered reality. She also has a really good eye for color and composition. Pretty sweet right!

Contemporary art needs more press

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:04:00 +0000

Question: What springs to mind when you think of Contemporary Art?

Popular Answer: Um... Jackson Pollock and that guy Warhol?

I have come to the realization that lots of people think Modern Art is Contemporary Art. We should fix this. Call to all artists/art lovers get your non-artist friends books and magazines and more importantly buy (or make) them some Contemporary Art!

You know what even just talking about it would be great.

It really bums me out that most people think they aren't smart enough to enjoy art. Even some of the smartest people out there, when brought into a gallery or museum will often state that they just don't understand. Who convinced the general population that art is just for an elite group of super smart people, who's goal in life is to talk over every one else's head? Or is it that as a society we are more attuned to text than to still visual images?

What ever the reason we have to work to bring contemporary art into the lives of the people we know. We need to explain that not every thing out there is made to confuse us, and that often art is simply meant to create an emotional connection.

Other wise people will only buy or think about art that comes prepackaged for mass production. Easily accessible in their local department store.

Here are some links to Contemporary Art Museums

A post a day

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:05:00 +0000

"Off Your Shoulders"

Color Offset Reduction Linocut on Rives BFK rag paper

Maria Doering is a crazy awesome print maker. Her work speaks for itself really, but I have to talk about this piece because it's so fleshy. It is really hard to give art a texture and emotion like this. There is a level of ambiguity here as to what exactly is going on which gives the piece a little mystery. It also gives the viewer only the necessary information. It doesn't matter to me who's hands those are or what else is going on, but simply that there is a tension there, a pressure, and a need.

See more of here work @ Maria-doering.com and read her artists statement.

Tips on buying art

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:12:00 +0000

First step: Never Ever buy an ink-jet print of a painting if it costs more than 30 dollars. Especially if it has dabs of real paint on it, you're being cheated. The real thing is always better.

Step two: If you think you know nothing about art but want to decorate your house, go to a student exhibition. You'll be exposed to a wide range of styles and you'll be buying real work, and supporting students who I promise you need the money and encouragement.

Step three: If you want less expensive work of good quality try print department shows. The prices are lower because the medium allows for multiples, but the editions usually number 10 or 20 rather than 2,000 (like the stuff you see in stores)

Step four: Don't be intimidated. Art is personal if you like something buy it even if you don't think you "get it."

Barbican - Heather and Ivan Morison: I am so sorry. Goodbye

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:10:00 +0000

Barbican - Heather and Ivan Morison: I am so sorry. Goodbye

Posted using ShareThis

Heather and Ivan Morison: I am so sorry. Goodbye

19 June 2009 - 18 October 2009
Barbican Waterside

This structure is a restful tea house. It is meant to inspire well being and an escape from trying times. things do seem a little bit hippyish but I think it's hard to deny the value of such a place. I really love artwork that has a function as well as a message. It's nice to be able to clearly see the principles at work and understand the artists intent through ones own experience. I know that this can happen with all types of art work but something special happens when the artist gives the viewer a purpose.

The figure in times of crisis

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:47:00 +0000

I usually don’t write a whole lot on this blog and I definitely don’t make posts with out artwork to show but today is the exception.

I went to an opening at the Aldrich today and there was a panel of artists from the "pretty Tough" exhibition. The exhibition is a collection of works that use story telling and the figure to discus very complex and often painful subject matter. The curator of “Pretty Tough” asked an interesting question. It was something along the lines of “Do human beings turn to figurative work in times of crisis?” This really stuck me because I had always been taught that in times of crisis people turn to more experimental work that is often disturbing, disjointed, and a lot of times really brutal. This theory was always characterized by the work of the abstract expressionists. While thinking about this point however I realized that a lot of the art from post WWI in Germany was figurative and even de Kooning’s work has it’s basis in the figure however disassembled and abstracted. It is quite possible that in times of crisis we turn to the figure because we are wrapped up in the problems we are facing and have to examine our selves to find out what we did wrong, or simply to record the current cultural climate.

In this there is also a question of gender. When you learn about wartime art that depicts turmoil it is always men in uniform and women as prostitutes. In our current society however women can go to war in a much more active sense, and women artists have a greater voice. Does this mean that the figure will be used to show crisis in a different way then it has in the past?

Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:06:00 +0000

Sneak Preview

Today I went to the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield CT and I was given a sneak peak of the new exhibition Pretty Tough: contemporary story telling." The work is from a variety of artists who use handcraft and traditional art forms to create work that is at once intimate and jarring. If you think needlework is all kittens and flowers you are in for a big surprise.

The museum is hosting a panel discussion and opening reception on June 21^st starting at 2pm. I will be there and so should you.

The opening is for five new exhibitions:

Edward Tufte: Seeing Around (June 13, 2009, to January 17, 2010) 

Pretty Tough:Contemporary Storytelling (June 21, 2009, to January 3, 2010)

 Gerard Hemsworth: Hidden Agenda (June 21, 2009, to January 10, 2010)

 Tom Sachs: Cameras (June 21, 2009, to September 16, 2009)

 Charlie White: OMG BFF LOL—Video A (June 2, 2009, to September 20, 2009)

Adults $7, seniors & college students $4; members, K–12 teachers and children 18 & under FREE

Fear The Doily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Fear the Doily 18

Alain Bonder is a Galerie Orange artist. His work is humorous and seems honest to me. It is made up of only essentials, there is no fluff or filler.

Oh my Cavalier

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Badger Shadow box

Julianna Swaney (oh my cavalier) is a graduate of Maine College of Art in portland and lives and works in Portland OR. Her work is like a beautifully mixed up fairy tale combining human and animal forms. It has a distinctly Victorian esthetic.

Find her here:

Etsy

Rareredbirds This is her blog.

Zach Hewitt

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:16:00 +0000

beauty is cat poop music

Zach Hewitt is an awesome illustrator!! He recently designed the Underground Art School website and is an all around super cool guy. This drawing makes me happy because it's really weird and has a very distinct style.

Flickr: Zek

Christina Hamre

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:24:00 +0000

Nyankomne 2006 drawing

Christina Hamre is a Christoffer Egelund gallery artists. Her figures have a ghost like quality to them which is emphasized by her spars use of color. She works in many different mediums including ceramic, fabric, and pen and ink. Check out her website for more of her work. http://www.chamre.dk/index.htm

Lars Tygesen

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:13:00 +0000

Lars Tygesen, Untitled, 2008. 200 x 230 cm. Oil on canvas

Lars Tygesen is another Mikael Anderson gallery

artist and my new favorite!!! His colors are amazing,

there is great depth, and the figures have a

really interesting emotional tension.

Jesper Christiansen

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:17:00 +0000

Jesper Christiansen, Construction of the Memory (Apartments 1955 – 1992), 2005. 180 x 180 cm. Acrylic on canvas.

Jesper Christiansen is a Mikael Andersen gallery artist.

The psychological aspect of the work is interesting and the theater/ maze thing is a personal preference, but I still can't tell if I like the work. The big pink square really bothers me. This is when I wish I could see things in person.

Mary Syring

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Is He Ready

This series is really cute and a little creepy just the way I like things.

queen of the may

Krzysztof Skorczewski

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Krysztof Skorczewski is a JKK Fine Arts artist.

Please ignore JKK's website they have some really interesting artists who should not be glanced over just because their gallery uses papyrus.

Claire Rosen

noreply@blogger.com (Gina_Rafaella) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:04:00 +0000

self portrait, 'classics'

Claire Rosen at Gallery 51 in Montclair NJ. Her work is entirely self portraits and they are really awesome. The detail and use of color in these Photographs is such that they are obviously beautiful, but they also have intense character.