Art News Blog

Win a Chair for your Studio or Office

2009-07-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting at my computer on an office chair that almost has historical significance and is falling apart as I write, but I'm not eligible to enter the Art News Blog office chair giveaway!

The kind people at CSN Office Furniture will send one of the chairs below to the winner, but you have to be based in the USA or Canada.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post saying which chair you would like and why. The winner will be chosen by my good friend that knows nothing about my blog, art, or office chairs. Make sure your comment has a link to your website or an email address so that I can contact you if you win. My friend is coming around to choose a winner on Tuesday, the 7th of July.

Topstar - Sitness 5 Ergonomic Fitness Stool - I chose this chair because it was very RED and thought it would look good in my messy studio.

Office Star - Backless Stool with Saddle Seat and Adjustable Seat - I thought the saddle seat would be good for whizzing around the studio mixing paints and painting, but also wondered if it would make me walk like a cowboy too.

Safco Products - Black Vinyl Precision Drafting Chair - I figured designers, illustrators and architects might like the drafting chair.

Safco Products - Task Master Work Trolly with Lift Ring Height Adjustment - The work trolly chair isn't the prettiest chair I chose, but I think it would be the most useful in an artist's studio.

Only one of your comments will be eligible though, so don't post a hundred comments thinking that it will improve your chances. And remember that you MUST be located in the United States or Canada. Find more Office Furniture, computer desks and chairs at CSN Office Furniture.

Art Studio of Garric Simonsen

2009-06-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

Here's another artist's studio. This is the workspace of American artist Garric Simonsen. If you like Cy Twombly or Willem de Kooning you'll enjoy browsing through Garric's work on his website.

See Garric's paintings and works on paper at his Website Here.
See more Art Studio photos.

Being in the Flow or the Zone

2009-06-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting quote from Robert Genn's latest newsletter called "Transartistic meditation," which is something like Transcendental Meditation.

"Studies of "flow" and "the zone" have been done using all stripes of artists. This is where the artist gets into a relaxed, intuitive state somewhere deep down in the lizard brain and the good stuff rains down like ripe pomegranates. Tired of rotten apples, I was curious about these concepts as well." Robert Genn

I have never been able to figure why artists would want to waste their time meditating as they drink from the same pond while they have their tools in their hand. It may be an active form of meditation, especially if you're an expressionist of any kind, but you're forced to hang out in places that zen monks would be comfortable in. Personally, I think it's why so many artists suffer from depression or are just downright wacky; as they can't handle being in that space. You have to look at yourself naked in silence, which is why television, radio, and any other distractions are so popular with society.

FBI Top 10 Art Thefts

2009-06-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

Art crime is big business with an estimated $6 billion in losses annually! Here's a list of the FBI's Top 10 art crimes at the moment..

Iraqi Looted and Stolen Artifacts - The significant Statue of Entemena was recovered in 2006 but there are still many pieces missing.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft - Thieves stole as much as $300 million worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston in 1990 with paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Manet being among them.

Theft of Caravaggio's Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco - Back in 1969 thieves stole Caravaggio's Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco from the Oratory of San Lorenzo, Palermo, Italy.

Theft of the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius - In 1995 the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius violin worth $3 million was stolen from the violinist Erica Morini's New York City apartment.

The Van Gogh Museum Robbery - Two paintings by Vincent van Gogh called "View of the Sea at Scheveningen" and "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen" were stolen from the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam in 2002 and have never been recovered, even though the two thieves were caught.

Theft of Cezanne's View of Auvers-sur-Oise - Paul Cezanne's View of Auvers-sur-Oise was taken from the the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England in 1999.

Theft of the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Murals, Panels 3-A and 3-B - Two Maxfield Parrish panels were cut from their frames in West Hollywood, California in 2002.

Theft from the Museu Chacara do Céu - In 2006 four paintings were stolen from the Museu Chacara do Céu, Rio de Janeiro. They included work by Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso.

Theft of Van Mieris's A Cavalier - A self portrait by the Dutch Master Frans Van Mieris was stolen from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney in 2007. It was taken in broad daylight, while the museum was open.

Theft from E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich - The E.G. Bührle Collection in Zurich, Switzerland had 4 works stolen in 2008, with two important painting by Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas still missing.

The FBI top ten list has changed a little from back in 2005.

Art Studios and Workspaces

2009-06-24T20:41:00.000-07:00

I enjoy looking through artist studios so much that I decided to make it a semi-regular thing. So if you have a few photos of your art studio or workspace and would like to share them, please send them to me.

Make sure the images are under 1mb in size as they don't have to be MASSIVE and my inbox clogs up. Include a short paragraph about your space if you wish and your website address if you have one. Artist studios from all creative people are welcome and it doesn't have to be a beautiful working space.. it just has to work for you.

Here's the studios so far (listed alphabetically so that my studio is conveniently placed at the top..lol)

Dion Archibald's Painting Studio - Working space of an Australian artist.
Jessica Burko's Artist Studio - Mixed media artist based in Boston, MA, USA.
Gail Sauter's Painting Studio - American painter working in Maine, USA.
Garric Simonsen's Art Studio - Studio of an American artist in Washington.

I'll add to the list as artists send them in (I have a few other studios to add at the moment)

Gail Sauter's Painting Studio

2009-06-18T23:57:00.000-07:00

Here's another artist's studio. This one belongs to Maine artist Gail Sauter.

So many artists that I know have dogs hanging around their studios. Painters seem to be dog people more than cat people.

And little gems like this come out of her studio..

Update: Here's a few more photos of Gail's art studio (which was originally a Victorian Dry Goods Store) and her studio pooch. Gail says "I don’t get a lot of foot traffic here in Kittery, but that allows me to work and hanging out my welcome flag does draw in a sale now and then. I do think that we, as artists, are largely invisible to the public and that it is good to have open studios etc."

Outside view of the studio with the welcome flag out.

See more paintings by Gail Sauter at her website here and/or read her blog here.

Jessica Burko's Art Studio

2009-06-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

Jessica Burko is an artist based in Boston, MA, USA and creates photographic mixed-media works on wood, and is currently working on a series of paper quilts called "In Stitches".

She has kindly sent in a few photos of her studio. It looks much cleaner and more ordered than my studio.

To see what comes out of Jessica Burko's artist studio see her website here.

Artist Studios

2009-06-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

I have been spending quite a bit of time in the studio lately, which is one reason why I haven't been updating the blog as much (the other reason is laziness). I'm painting a bit of everything with no real focus, but I'm having fun which is the most important thing. I counted the paintings I'm working on at the moment and found that I have 21 pictures in various stages of completion, so I'm definitely not starting any new ones until I start finishing a few!

What does your studio look like? If you send me a few (smallish) photos of your art studio I might post them. I love seeing other artist studios, it's like reading the artist's diary.

Here's a few pics from this afternoon..

T-bone steaks, mince meat and potatoes.

Paintings and easel.

Paints, brushes, and phone.

Tiger comes down to check on me and remind me that I have to feed her while her owner is away.

Landscape, Melbourne scene and meat.

Self portrait (in need of a shave).

Portrait and box of canvases.

Sydney cityscape.

Here's some of my older paintings online.

Madonna Nude

2009-06-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

The nude Madonna and Guy Ritchie painting by Peter Howson ended up selling this week. It failed to sell at a recent contemporary Scottish art auction by McTear's Auctioneers in Glasgow but has since been sold for more than the £15,000 reserve price.

McTear's employee Brian Clements told the BBC "We were very confident we would find the right buyer for 'Madonna and Guy' and we are delighted to have secured such an excellent price for the painting. Although we cannot divulge the name of the buyer, we can confirm that the painting will be leaving Scotland."

The 2005 nude portrait of Madonna and her ex husband Guy Ritchie is one from a series of the famous singer by Peter Howson. It's not what I would call a flattering naked portrait of Madonna. She looks like a transvestite with funny fingers if you ask me.

Also in the UK, in Brighton, England the Impure Gallery (which calls itself "a naughty little gallery") is showing some nude photographs of the young Madonna from 1979. New York Photographer, Martin Schreiber got Madonna to pose naked for just $30. I'm guessing that he would have to add at least a few zeros to that price to get the now super-famous Madonna to get naked.

Madonna Nude by Martin Schreiber

Madonna Naked by Martin Schreiber

Top 200 20th Century Artists?

2009-06-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Times and Saatchi gallery have compiled 1,461,523 votes from the public to come up with a list of the 200 top artists of the 20th Century. It's a method that has flaws as some artists will be missing and other artists will get more attention than they really deserve, but any list compiled by anyone is flawed as lists are an art rather than a science. They're not meant to be taken too seriously.

1 Pablo Picasso 21587

2 Paul Cezanne 21098

3 Gustav Klimt 20823

4 Claude Monet 20684

5 Marcel Duchamp 20647

6 Henri Matisse 17096

7 Jackson Pollock 17051

8 Andy Warhol 17047

9 Willem De Kooning 17042

10 Piet Mondrian 17028

11 Paul Gauguin 17027

12 Francis Bacon 17018

13 Robert Rauschenberg 16956

14 Georges Braque 16788

15 Wassily Kandinsky 16055

16 Constantin Brancusi 14224

17 Kasimir Malevich 13609

18 Jasper Johns 12988

19 Frida Kahlo 12940

20 Martin Kippenberger 12784

21 Paul Klee 12750

22 Egon Schiele 12696

23 Donald Judd 12613

24 Bruce Nauman 12517

25 Alberto Giacometti 12098

26 Salvador Dalí 11496

27 Auguste Rodin 8989

28 Mark Rothko 8951

29 Edward Hopper 8918

30 Lucian Freud 8897

31 Richard Serra 8858

32 Rene Magritte 8837

33 David Hockney 8787

34 Philip Guston 8786

35 Henri Cartier-Bresson 8779

36 Pierre Bonnard 8778

37 Jean-Michel Basquiat 8746

38 Max Ernst 8737

39 Diane Arbus 8733

40 Georgia O'Keeffe 8714

41 Cy Twombly 8708

42 Max Beckmann 8690

43 Barnett Newman 8643

44 Giorgio De Chirico 8462

45 Roy Lichtenstein 7441

46 Edvard Munch 5080

47 Pierre Auguste Renoir 5063

48 Man Ray 5050

49 Henry Moore 5045

50 Cindy Sherman 5041

51 Jeff Koons 5028

52 Tracey Emin 4961

53 Damien Hirst 4960

54 Yves Klein 4948

55 Henri Rousseau 4944

56 Chaim Soutine 4927

57 Arshile Gorky 4926

58 Amedeo Modigliani 4924

59 Umberto Boccioni 4918

60 Jean Dubuffet 4910

61 Eva Hesse 4908

62 Edouard Vuillard 4899

63 Carl Andre 4898

64 Juan Gris 4898

65 Lucio Fontana 4896

66 Franz Kline 4894

67 David Smith 4842

68 Joseph Beuys 4480

69 Alexander Calder 3241

70 Louise Bourgeois 3240

71 Marc Chagall 3224

72 Gerhard Richter 3123

73 Balthus 3090

74 Joan Miro 3087

75 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 3084

76 Frank Stella 3078

77 Georg Baselitz 3048

78 Francis Picabia 3046

79 Jenny Saville 3034

80 Dan Flavin 3024

81 Alfred Stieglitz 3017

82 Anselm Kiefer 3010

83 Matthew Barney 3005

84 George Grosz 2990

85 Bernd And Hilla Becher 2980

86 Sigmar Polke 2966

87 Brice Marden 2947

88 Maurizio Cattelan 2940

89 Sol LeWitt 2926

90 Chuck Close 2915

91 Edward Weston 2899

92 Joseph Cornell 2893

93 Karel Appel 2890

94 Bridget Riley 2885

95 Alexander Archipenko 2884

96 Anthony Caro 2879

97 Richard Hamilton 2878

98 Clyfford Still 2864

99 Luc Tuymans 2862

100 Claes Oldenburg 2843

101 Eduardo Paolozzi 2839

102 Frank Auerbach 2836

103 Dinos and Jake Chapman 2827

104 Marlene Dumas 2827

105 Antoni Tapies 2825

106 Giorgio Morandi 2824

107 Walker Evans 2823

108 Nan Goldin 2819

109 Robert Frank 2818

110 Georges Rouault 2818

111 Jean Arp 2817

112 August Sander 2809

113 James Rosenquist 2808

114 Andreas Gursky 2804

115 Eugene Atget 2802

116 Jeff Wall 2790

117 Ellsworth Kelly 2789

118 Bill Brandt 2787

119 Christo And Jeanne Claude 2782

120 Howard Hodgkin 2781

121 Josef Albers 2781

122 Piero Manzoni 2777

123 Agnes Martin 2771

124 Anish Kapoor 2768

125 L.S. Lowry 2761

126 Robert Motherwell 2754

127 Robert Delaunay 2747

128 Stuart Davis 2742

129 Ed Ruscha 2731

130 Gilbert & George 2729

131 Stanley Spencer 2720

132 James Ensor 2719

133 Fernand Leger 2718

134 Brassai (Gyula Halasz) 2717

135 Alexander Rodchenko 2715

136 Robert Ryman 2711

137 Ad Reinhardt 2709

138 Hans Bellmer 2700

139 Isa Genzken 2699

140 Kees Van Dongen 2698

141 Weegee 2698

142 Paula Rego 2695

143 Thomas Hart Benton 2689

144 Hans Hofmann 2684

145 Vladimir Tatlin 2679

146 Odilon Redon 2653

147 George Segal 2619

148 Jorg Immendorff 2611

149 Robert Smithson 2435

150 Peter Doig 2324

151 Ed and Nancy Kienholz 2293

152 Richard Prince 2266

153 Ansel Adams 2262

154 Naum Gabo 2256

155 Diego Rivera 2239

156 Barbara Hepworth 2237

157 Nicolas De Stael 2237

158 Walter De Maria 2229

159 Felix Gonzalez-Torres 2228

160 Giacomo Balla 2225

161 Ben Nicholson 2221

162 Anthony Gormley 2218

163 Lyonel Feininger 2216

164 Emil Nolde 2213

165 Mark Wallinger 2211

166 Hermann Nitsch 2209

167 Paul Signac 2209

168 Jean Tinguely 2209

169 Kurt Schwitters 2209

170 Grayson Perry 2208

171 Julian Schnabel 2208

172 Raymond Duchamp-Villon 2208

173 Robert Gober 2208

174 Duane Hanson 2208

175 Richard Diebenkorn 2207

176 Alex Katz 2207

177 Alighiero E Boetti 2206

178 Henri Gaudier-Brzeska 2206

179 Laszlo Moholy-Nagy 2205

180 Jacques-Henri Lartigue 2205

181 Robert Morris 2205

182 Sarah Lucas 2204

183 Jannis Kounellis 2204

184 Chris Burden 2204

185 Otto Dix 2203

186 David Bomberg 2203

187 Fischli & Weiss 2203

188 Augustus John 2203

189 Marsden Hartley 2203

190 Takashi Murakami 2203

191 James Turrell 2202

192 Isamu Noguchi 2201

193 Robert Mangold 2201

194 John Chamberlain 2201

195 Charles Demuth 2200

196 John Currin 2200

197 Alberto Burri 2200

198 Arnulf Rainer 2200

199 David Salle 2200

200 Hiroshi Sugimoto 2199

Find out more about the top 200 20th century artists over at the TimesOnline and at Saatchi.

A Guide to North American Birds by Matt Sesow

2009-06-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

Before I went on my recent road trip I received a painting by Washington, DC. artist Matt Sesow called "A Guide to North American Birds." I have a thing for birds and a thing for quirkiness so I really like the painting. I also buy art that I couldn't or wouldn't paint myself, so I end up buying bright, bold and colorful paintings which are in contrast to my own paintings that are almost colorless.

Guide to North American Birds - Matt Sesow

I bought these smaller works from Matt too..

Traumatized - Matt Sesow

Cardinal - Matt Sesow

Matt Sesow's website can be found Here. I also mentioned a video by Matt Sesow earlier.

Art Jobs Board

2009-06-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

ArtInfo's jobs board is now online. They're listing art jobs, internships, artist residencies, artist opportunities, artist calls for entry and more.

Here's some more info from Art Info..

"One of the strengths of ARTINFO is our network and our commitment to institutions and individuals within the art world. Because we realize the months ahead will continue to be challenging, we extend this offer to you to post your opportunity free of charge.

ARTINFO has a targeted audience of engaged art world individuals who interact on many different levels and within many different regions of the world. We have a global focus, but advocate a localized point of view. During this time, we would like to help you - our network - connect with potential opportunities" View their art jobs board here.

Art and Spirituality

2009-05-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

Brian from MyArtSpace has asked some interesting questions on his Spiritual Side of Art post..

"Has a specific work of art touched your soul? Can you recall a specific work of art that helped your through a difficult time or defined a time of joy for you? I know that some people suggest that there is no longer room for the spiritual in the art of today-- do you agree? Or would you say that the spiritual aspects of art surround us just as they did in other periods of time? In your opinion, why does visual art have this power-- why do viewers establish these personal connections?" My ArtSpace

I think most of the spirituality in art is in the making of art, with the artwork simply being the byproduct. So a painting can be of something unspiritual, if there is such a word, but the artist may have felt that he/she was touching god while painting it.

I have never seen an artwork that has "touched my soul" or moved me to tears, even though I have looked at lots of art and think of myself as a reasonably sensitive person. Installations and moving images have come close as they have more tools to play with. A painting or sculpture has to work harder to affect the viewer as it simply sits there with no movement or sound, so we have to do all the work ourselves if we are to end up in tears. Film on the other hand has more tools available to press our emotional buttons at will.

Art affects us on a more subtle level, it seeps into our soul rather than blows our mind on the spot. Good art will linger, it will hang around for weeks and months after viewing it, but it probably won't make you cry or save your life. I think the viewer has to be content with knowing that the artwork is just the waste byproduct of something spiritual, which doesn't necessarily make the finished piece spiritual. Sometimes that waste product works as a mirror or points to something greater and it affects a person deeply, but usually it just ends up as something pretty hanging a wall.

Mary Cassatt

2009-05-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

Google is celebrating the birth of the American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt with a Cassatt-ized Google logo.

It's one of my favorite artist tributes from Google. Google does loud and colorful logos well, but this Mary Cassatt logo shows that they can do subtle and neutral colors too. See more Google logos here.

Mary Cassat was born on the 22nd of May, 1844 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania and died near Paris, France on the 14th of June, 1926 at the age of 82.

The Mary Cassatt painting in the Google logo is "The Child's Bath" from 1893. It is owned by the Art Institute of Chicago.

Travel Photos

2009-05-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's an art blog and doesn't have much to do with travel, but such is life. I have been ping ponging all over the place lately but I keep forgetting to take my camera with me. I managed to take a few snaps though.

(Click to see larger images)

In a hotel in Canberra I had this trippy ceiling that didn't let my eye rest. I think as an artist you just let an image take you where it wants to go, but this wallpaper on my ceiling just made me dizzy.

Most trees at home are green all year, so I found these trees interesting. There was something romantic about walking down this path, even if I was alone.. and freezing.

See the parrots in the grass? That's why they're called Grass Parrots I guess. I have always loved birds and get pretty excited when I see them in the wild. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Here's the view from my hotel in Melbourne.

Here's another view of Melbourne.

One more photo of Melbourne city.

Then I felt like I needed sun and warmth so I jumped in the car and headed North again. I have landed in the commercialized hippy town of Byron Bay. It's a strange combination of weekend hippies, far out hippies, wealthy retired people, surfers, and BMW driving yuppy types. Along with lots of Germans, Brits, Japanese, Americans, and a number of other nationalities.

Everytime I go to the Byron Bay lighthouse I seem to get wet.

One more Byron Bay photo.

I haven't decided what I'm doing or where I'm going next, but I check out on Wednesday so I better hurry up and figure it out ;-)

Vincent van Gogh Poem

2009-05-09T03:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know who wrote this poem as it was left by "Anonymous" on an old Vincent van Gogh Quotes post. The only details he/she left was.. "A friend of mine wrote these words today after we spoke of the life of Van Gogh and the recently published book on his history."

Anyway, here's a Vincent inspired poem by "HK"

Hands of colors Dutch

Swirl like a painter’s hand gone mad
Canvas of face and time reflect
Bristles of lead give hues of past
Brushes like swords are in array.

I stand in front of the easel like a jury
Words like paint on white torture my hands and eyes
They taunt me like an old pavement princess
Wanting to believe that the brush is still gold
Music I hear or is that the ringing from glimpses of you

Paint away the now. Paint with colors only seen by angels
Colors that hide and feel like a blanket on a cold day
My stand in a broken seal, trembles with dread
Hoping to cure the demon that makes me paint away the now in me

I taste the colors of your soul. I wish that I could write the words that are
In my soul. Words of color and hope. Words that make the pain stop.
Paint. Paint away the pain.
My canvas is my life, and I give you the colors and brushes of me.

HK

Nicole Danes is a Scammer

2009-05-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

I received a few emails and comments left on the art scammers list about Nicole Danes nicodanes@live.com

She/he must be hitting a lot of artists at the moment. So I'm just publishing this post so that her name and/or email address shows up on Google, letting artists know that she is a scammer.

Here's an example of an email sent by it..

From: Nicole Danes <nicodanes@live.com>
Date: May 7, 2009 10:45:58 AM EDT
To: <----->
Subject: artworks purchase

Good day to you.

I am so excited that I came across of your work on internet search,I am interested in purchasing these creative artworks from you.....................

Construct Series 7,Construct Series 1,Slab,juncture and evanesce

Let me know their various prices.and how much discounts are you going to give?I will be happy to have these selected artworks hanged in our new home in South Africa. As well, I want you to take out the shipping cost.I have been in touch with a shipping firm that will be shipping other house decoratives.

We are traveling from our Dallas home to our new apartment as soon as possible.On Paying for the artworks,I will be glad to pay you with a Money Order or Cashier`s check in US funds that can be easily cashed at your local bank,please let me know on how to proceed for the payment of the creative artworks.

I will await your advise on how to proceed.Have a wonderful day.

Take care,
Nicole Danes

>> List of Cockroaches

Painter Riding on the Back of Photographer?

2009-05-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

A photographer recently asked an interesting question on an old post called Painting from Photographs.

He asks..

What should a photographer do after receiving a request from a painter who wants to paint loads of his images?

- a fee per image?
- % when painter sells this painting?
- just agreement about a credit line for the photographer?

I consider my photography as art on its own and somebody would like to do his/her art with my art.
Any suggestions?
I have no problem with 1-3 images painted and a credit line but more than 20???

ArtPrize.org - The $250,000 Art Prize

2009-05-04T05:27:00.000-07:00

ArtPrize has created some debate among artists recently. The Grand Rapids, Michigan based art prize is offering the winning artist $250,000, 2nd place $100,000, 3rd place $50,000 and $7000 for the next 7 artists.

That much money on offer gets a lot of attention from artists and the media, but the thing that artists are discussing most is the judging process; there is none. OK, not none, but the public vote for the winner. This has made many artist afraid, especially conceptual artists, and I think they have good reason to be afraid as most people have no reason to be in a gallery. I know that I wouldn't be a very good judge of hairy footed pheasants at a cock show as I don't know anything about them, which is the same reason that people who wouldn't know a poster from an oil painting wouldn't be very good at judging art.

It seems to be an experimental art prize though, which hopes to involve the public and get them looking at art, so it's all good. It will be interesting to see the winning work. The choices of art experts often have me scratching my head, so the public can't do much worse in choosing a winner.

ArtPrize is open to artists worldwide and judging is open to anyone that attends an exhibition space throughout Grand Rapids, Michigan. See the ArtPrize website for more information on entering the art competition. They also have a blog discussing the prize.

Thanks to Susan and those that let me know of the art prize.

John Brack in Melbourne

2009-05-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

Two things that I have quickly noticed about the city of Melbourne is their love for AFL (Australian Football League) and their love for Melbourne artists. I passed thousands of supporters dressed in brown and yellow everything yesterday, so I'm glad I wasn't wearing the colors of the opposing team. It's not just guys that are fanatical about the sport, everyone seems to be. If I hang around Melbourne for much longer I might even go to a game to see what they're all so excited about.

After reading a few reviews in local newspapers of the current John Brack exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, it makes me think that they love their artists as much as their athletes. I can't remember the exact words of one glowing review in a major newspaper but it called it a perfect exhibition and urged anyone with an Australian bone in their body to rush down and experience this art utopia.

I wouldn't dare tell this to a Melbournite, but I wasn't that impressed with the John Brack exhibition. Although he does have a few iconic pictures that depict a particular time and place in Australia like Collins St, 5p.m. from 1955 (pictured), The Car from 1955, and The Bar from 1954.

After the 1950s I started to lose concentration. It was like he was trying to be something that he wasn't, trying to be new like a lot of art being produced in America around the same time. I became a little more interested in the 1980s when he was painting pencils, but I eventually returned to the 1950s rooms to leave the exhibition on a high note.

The Battle - 1983 - John Brack uses pencils to depict French and British soldiers in the Battle of Waterloo

I was much more impressed by a room of Fred Williams paintings in the free section of the gallery. Here's some work by Fred Williams online. Fred Williams is also from this area, so I probably wouldn't be hung for admitting that I like him more.

Joan Mitchell Sunflower Paintings

2009-05-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite female painters is showing at the Hauser & Wirth Zürich gallery in Switzerland. "Joan Mitchell - Sunflowers" runs from June 6 through to July 25.

I like paintings that look like they were fun to paint. Art doesn't have to be any more complicated than that for me. Concepts and theories come a distant second. If I can't relate to the painting of a picture, I move on to the next one.

From the exhibition press release..
"Joan Mitchell’s Sunflower paintings count amongst the most experimental and vibrant of all
her works. In the upstairs gallery at Hauser & Wirth Zürich, six canvases dating from the
1960s and the year before her death, etchings and drawings host an extraordinary diversity of
marks with compositions whose ungovernable vitality refuse to comply to the rules of image
making. Mitchell considered sunflowers to be 'like people' — subjects to empathise with
whose life cycles were played out with exuberance but brutal swiftness. 'If I see a sunflower
drooping, I can droop with it,' she explained, 'and I draw it, and feel it until its death.' Like
van Gogh whose precedent she was brave enough to summon, she embraced sunflowers for
their hopefulness as much as for their assertive and undeniable splendour. Her images do not
much resemble the plants themselves: they are blue and red as well as golden, erratically
dancing sweeps of colour that communicate internal as much as external landscape."

Here's a link to the Joan Mitchell Foundation too.

Round About Canberra + Blue Poles

2009-04-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

Posting has been a little light lately as I have jumped in the car and just kept driving. I'm about 5 hours south from home and am freezing. I'm in the Australian Capital Territory, in the city of Canberra to see Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles: Number 11 from 1952 at the National Gallery of Australia.

It was bought by the Australian government in 1973 for $2 million USD and created a lot of controversy at the time. If the much smaller and much less impressive No. 5, 1948 painting was sold by David Geffen in 2006 for $140 million, Blue Poles would easily be worth $150 million today.. even in a financial crisis. I rarely ever put a money value on art when I'm in a gallery, but for Blue Poles I'll make an exception.

Also, I find it funny that a city filled with politicians is based around circles. You can drive around and around and not really get anywhere.. just as politicians go around and around and never really get anywhere. See what I mean on Google maps.

My next stop may be Melbourne.. then maybe Tasmania.. but I'm taking each day as it comes and seeing where the wind blows me. A big gust of wind could even pick me up and take me to London or New York. You just never know what's around the corner when you're a paper bag blowing in the wind.

Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton Controversy

2009-04-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting article over at the LA Times on art, manufacturing, brands, and people that seem to enjoy being in court.

"They may not have realized it, but the folks who snapped up as much as $4-million worth of limited-edition prints by artist Takashi Murakami two years ago at the special Louis Vuitton boutique inside his exhibition at L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art apparently were getting nicely mounted handbags -- minus the snaps and straps." LA Times

Basically, a collector didn't like the fact that his Takashi Murakami Louis Vuitton prints were just left over Louis Vuitton material strapped to canvas stretchers.

I can't see a problem with it. Takashi Murakami is like Japan's Damien Hirst and he doesn't hide the fact that he's a branding machine in the business of selling products. The exhibition at the The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles was called "Copyright Marakami" which should have given the collector some idea of what the artist is all about.

You don't expect a Damien Hirst spot painting to be painted by Damien Hirst.

Art Galleries and Artists

2009-04-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

Artists and galleries seem to be further apart than I thought. The recent art galleries and Internet post created comments that were anti artist or art gallery. A comment by "anonymous" on Starting an Art Gallery (who usually has something controversial to say) said this..

"..here is the KEY.. own your building... this proves your loyalty to art and separates yourself from the others.. so wonderful! then don't listen to what artists have to say about them having to bear the burden of the costs.. 2 reasons... first. artists (especially abstract painters) are a dime a dozen. second.. it is an artists job to spend money on their lifestyle... so if you were a full time snowboarder, it would cost you equipment, lift tickets,gas to get there, lifestyle clothing, etc..so, being an artist costs, frames, paint, entry fees and The Burden of dealing with art gallery divas like myself."

Ouch.. No wonder artists and art galleries don't get along. I would hate to be an abstract artist exhibiting with this guy! I would quickly start painting cow turds and tell him it was important to you and that you're confident the public will buy, buy, buy.. lol.

Also, the Australian artist Hazel Dooney replied to the recent Art Gallery and Internet post with the following to say..

"But the power of new media, combined with the accelerating decline of traditional galleries, especially in a drastically deteriorating global economy, is such that even the most persistent and grasping middlemen will lose their grip in the near future. While artists will flourish on the net, only a very few galleries are likely to adapt to it, let alone be able transfer offline success online.
As any geek – or record company – can tell you, the web works against any effort to exert control within it. " Read her full post here.

It seems that artists and art galleries live on different planets. Personally, my dealings with art galleries have left a very bad taste in my mouth, so I decided to take a route that allowed me to forgo selling art, but still allow me to comfortably pay the bills. I now hate parting with paintings and I paint what I want, but I guess my storage will run out eventually ;-)

Being an Artist is a Privilege

2009-04-16T23:46:00.000-07:00

Robert Genn's latest Painter's Keys newsletter is an interesting one. He replies to a letter from artist Tom Lockhart talking about how being an artist can be tough. Tom wrote the following to Robert..

"I work 50 to 65 hours per week, teach workshops and serve on the Board of a Local Arts Center. I judge art shows and travel to locations to paint. I earn $75,000.00 to $100,000.00 annually--too much to get a grant. I pay more than my share of taxes, expense out what the law allows and still find it difficult to make ends meet. I'm constantly paying entry fees, dues, advertising, framers, suppliers and travel expenses. I can't understand why the public insists on buying cheap, crappy art from poorly educated artists who suffer for their craft. Yuk! There are constantly retired lawyers, doctors, architects, dentists and other professionals who decide to become painters. They put their work in galleries and sell to the unsophisticated, taking sales away from deserving, serious artists. And now with the economic bad times, it's even harder to sell your art. What do you think about this?"

See Robert's reply here. He basically says things aren't so bad as you are an artist!

I couldn't agree more. Being an artist is a privilege that should be appreciated. Listening to an artist complain about being an artist is like listening to someone with 5 Ferraris complain about not having 6 Ferraris. The quickest way to shut me up if I'm ever whinging about being an artist is to tell me to go get a 9 to 5 job.

I'm not saying that being an artist doesn't have it's ups and downs, but look at the alternatives. Take an office job or get into sales for a while if being an artist ever becomes a chore. If you really are an artist you'll quickly come running back to the studio and the many privileges of being an artist.

I never feel sorry for struggling artists as it's hard to have any sympathy for a person with the equivalent of 5 Ferraris in the garage. I don't care if you can't pay the rent or you're tired of eating 2 minute noodles.. you're an artist!