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Featuring one of a kind clothing designs by Christine Freitas and paintings by Jasmine Worth. December 2, 2006 / 4pm - 10pm
Sugar Clothing Boutique
3723 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA 92116
619.283.2611
http://www.myspace.com/sugarltd
FLASHBACK or DEJA VU: For those of you my faithful Art as Authority readers, who didn't know the Abel Joseph Gallery or myself "back in the days," here is a recent photo and montage of the Tower Building at the corner of Milwaukee, Damen and North Avenues in Chicago (Wicker Park). The gallery - outlined in red marker - was located on the ground floor and spaned both sides of the "point" of this lovely early 20th century architectural wonder. Those were the days...
Earthmart Ice Cream Truck, Poor Al
Nice little mention in the San Diego Union-Tribune today, by Robert Pincus - the Tribune's and San Diego's only credible art critic, in the Monday Currents section D2 under Essentials about the Humeurs expo currently on view at the Art of Framing. Here it is in its entirety, short but sweet:
DISCOVER THIS
Group shows are treasure hunts of a sort, and "Humeurs," in the small confines of Art of Framing in Normal Heights, is one with a few genuine rewards. Maura Vazakas has made glistening versions of State birds, Bradley Streeper's "Red" is an elgantly executed abstraction, and the robotic vendor in Poor Al's "Earthmart Ice Cream Truck" serves up scrap-metal cones for robotic customers.
OK. So with limited time on my hands (good), I was on my way to see some great art at SDMA's Personal Views Regarding Private Collections in S.D. show........NOT! As I approached the museum, I passed a family eyeing a Nikki de St. Phalle serpent sculpture in the garden. One of the members blurted out to the other, "Hey Jane, you could do one of those for our backyard!"
I am NOW convinced that the average person hasn't a clue about great let alone good art! Well, so I thought, what about San Diego's major art collectors? Do they have a clue about what great art is, or are they just keeping up with the PaineWebbers?? I am not going to waste my words and time talking about this entire exhibition. But with what I do talk about, I think you will get my drift as to why. I will only mention the collectors by their last names, unless otherwise explained.
As I entered the beginning of the exhibition, The Smiths were first in line. They collect tribal art from New Guinea, New Zealand, and New Calendonia. But the NEWest art piece was from before 1820! The Potikers went for the BIG names in the art world - Kline, O'Keefe, Albers and Hoffman were "in the house"! I LOVE Milton Avery's art. A few years ago, I was priviliged to see a wonderful retrospective of his works at the Hammer Museum in L.A. (I wish it were closer). The Potiker's Avery, "Nude on the Beach" was a very poor representation of the artist's work. A much better Avery, "Pool in the Mountains" hung in the next room as part of SDMA's permanent collection. I believe Hans Hoffman was on drugs when he painted "Woman Seated". The O'Keefe painting, "My Autumn" was a close up of yellow and red leaves. It was painted the year she made her life-changing trip to N.Y. I doubt she had a good time if this painting is an exmaple of her emotions. And don't get me started on the Potiker's Albers painting. I won't even go there!
The Rogozienskis collected art from the 17th century with some good examples. The Jamiesons collected Greek and Italian 1st-4th century marble torsos and heads. The Neeleys collected Brazilian and Mexican Contemporary art (wow! something after 1960--I was getting a little worried!). The steel and paint sculpture was god-awful, but I did like the small Yeshai Jusidman "Sumo Wrestlers" and the British born artist, Melanie Smith's very large painting titled "Concrete Jungle". The Dr.'s Ramachandras collected Indian limestone reliefs fromt the 3rd century - they payed it safe! The Thorntons (now I can really see what having big bucks can do to your art collection) had, Pissaro, Monet, and Tissot (NOT the watch Co.). But contemporary art was NO where in sight in their collection.
The Figis collected well-known Mexican art from the mid-century, a Tamayo, a Kahlo (a small but nice drawing) and a BAD watercolor by Diego Rivera of the back of a clown figure in a crowded square. The Jacobs displayed only two works from their collection - Ruscha and Ruscha. The first, a large painting of various tree trunks painted in 2005, was the winner for the most contemporary artwork in the exhibition! The other Ruscha was titled "OURS" - that I wish I had and NOT them! The car people, Hoehns, had the Rembrandts - now of course, it's obvious from their collection that they are not selling Chevrolets!
Joyce and Ted Strauss liked photography. Among their collection, a BAD Matthew Barney photo, but the Strausses were redeemed with a GREAT Nan Goldin photo! Across the room, were the other Strausses, Iris and Matthew, with a collection of absolutely terrible paintings by Elizabeth Murray, Baselitz, and de Kooning, but again saved with a great Ross Bleckner titled, "9th Examined Life." A wonderful black and white series from the late 1990's before he switched to his "cell paintings" and when I stopped liking his art. I really had wished that Iris and Matthew had spent their hard earned millions on something else, like maybe a really cool loft in Chelsea!, where they would be closer to Contemporary art galleries that might teach them a thing or two and put a nice dent in their "bad art" collection.
All in all, I was not impressed with the collector's collections. Except for a very few wonderful pieces, the exhibition showed their lack of good taste in art. If one's $$ cannot buy a really great example of a really great artist, then buy a Bentley, or better yet, spend the money on emerging contemporary artists who might just make it into the "Big League" one day.
photo: Christine Fricaud
"Sea Study"
Sea Study larger view
NATURAMA, or any other noun combined with “orama” is if my current understanding is correct, essentially an inverted suffix taken from the Greek word PANORAMA, PAN (all) and ORAMA (a view) or in this case NATURE – ORAMA. It is also an apt title for the new exhibit of works by San Diego artist Maura Vazakas currently on view at Art Produce Gallery. The show is indeed a smorgasbord of texture, color, style(s), obsession, patience, contemplation and repetition. Accent on the repetition.
View of "At Sea"
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Maura has many talents from a published poet to a classical pianist and brings this rigorous training and approach to orchestrating words on a page or playing Tchaikovsky that she also brings to her artwork. Nothing is out of place in Maura’s world of imagery, not a line, not a brushstroke, not a false note anywhere. Each mark, each imprint is as direct as the next, converging line and color, butted together, taking hold on the canvas or on the paper, building, stacking like Tinker Toys in some Mondrian “Boogie Woogie” patchwork quilt of line and color. It is the simplicity and the freshness of the result that boggles the mind. It is pure alchemy taken to some mystical and iconic level. It just works and you don’t know why, and honestly, you shouldn’t care – everything you’ll ever need to know is before your eyes. Pure joy.
Art Produce Gallery is one of the few galleries in San Diego that requires its artists to think. It is beautiful space, seductive space with a large narrow alley of a concrete floor, a large white wall and an equally large floor to ceiling storefront window that parallels University Avenue. If you close the large folding doors that lead into the back half of the gallery, imagine if you will an “L” lying on its side, you’ll lop off the shorter leg and transform it into a fishbowl, an aquarium, a vacuum ready to be filled. It is also vicious space; cruel space if the artist refuses to work within the confines and insists and/or falsely believes his work will overpower and dominate. I’ve seen a couple heroic battles lost in vain because the opponent was underestimated. Thankfully, Maura understood this and has managed to pull off a simple and exquisite installation of two not so different bodies of work that roll across the gallery walls.
The first part, “At Sea”, is according to Maura, “a graphite on paper installation that depicts the rise and fall of a wave, abstractly done in very complex doodling patterns. I want the viewer to feel the rhythm and flow of this wave in the same way as I have, getting immersed in the complex detail of the drawing and visually following the calming repetitive patterns of waves either figuratively or experienced actually in nature. I feel a strong link in the repetitive pattern of ‘At Sea’ to the repetitive sounds of the music of composer John Adams.” For those of you not familiar with John Adams, here is a brief excerpt from the Wikipedia Encyclopaedia:
Initially known as a minimalist, Adams has in his mature work harnessed the rhythmic energy of Minimalism to an extraordinary harmonic palette and fertile orchestral imagination, with the strong influence of late-Romanticism evident. Concurrently he has introduced references to a wide range of 20th-century idioms — both 'popular' and 'serious' — in works such as his operas, the wittily eclectic orchestral piece Fearful Symmetries, which touches on Stravinsky, Honegger, and big-band swing music.
“At Sea” in its current state comprises twelve 11” x 14” sheets of paper mounted horizontally with approximately a quarter inch of space inbetween each panel, mounted subsequently on a rich light marine blue vinyl background that bleeds out from underneath and frames the drawings into one long continuous wave of line and pattern. It is indeed a panorama of an abstract wave building, cresting and falling onto the paper’s shore. If Eadweard Muybridge had photographed mother nature instead of his fellow man, we would have enjoyed the same frame-by-frame inqusinetiveness and discovery, that we discover in Maura’s drawing. It is this cinematic framing, cell by cell, that is the power and force of “At Sea” crashing upon the gallery wall in a vivid blue gash, as we the spectator lost perhaps at sea, are a lone survivor riding each and every intersecting and colliding prismatic wave. But wait, there is so much more to these drawings. If looking at the drawing from afar, the contour of each successive wave rising a few centimeters at a time, might ressemble a series of mountains and valleys that peak roughly in the middle, touching the paper’s clear sky only to descend in rythmic undulating waves smaller and smaller. I suspect that there is no right or wrong way to read the drawing starting either from left to right or from the opposite direction.
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However, if you look closer you’ll discover an infinite amount of delicately drawn lines in various thicknesses and density, light grey wisps to darker bolder shades of consecutive and repetitive patterning. Imagine the scales on a fish, how they are stacked, not exactly over layering one another but not exactly separate either – they move in unison and flow across the curve of the body giving off different shades of light and dark. This is how each and every mark from Maura’s pencil has been caressed onto the paper. They expand and contract never breaking like some Knight’s protective maille. View image
I don’t suppose that Maura suffers from any form of Horror Vacui but I do believe her when she says that in the process of creating the drawing, it was not a tedious and exhausting exercise in futility – there are sections in the drawing that are so delicate and so small that they are almost imperceptible to my eye, but rather calming, therapeutic, relaxing, a murmur, a whisper, a musical constant, never ending never faltering – like the sea. But Maura pushes it even further. Within each flattened abstract wave are divided “sections” or continents of these pencil strokes that collide into one another like some primordial plate tectonics each pushing in their own direction of various degrees and intensity. Surprisingly, the overall effect is soft and muted like the underbelly of a serpent gliding through the tall grasses. Contained controlled chaos.
“At Sea” is a beautiful work in progress that can be altered and expanded, or further condensed depending on the mood desired. The beauty of the work lies in its intimacy and the infinite simplicity of its line and the artist’s experience in rendering it. In several ways, it reminds me of a series of "Blind Drawings" Robert Morris did with just printer's ink and his fingertips on white paper while blindfolded. Drawing in general is as close as any artist can become direct and intimate with the chosen surface without the distance imposed by say, a paintbrush. We too can witness and feel Maura's hand in these drawings. We are grateful to have never been bored by our journey at sea with her. View image
moi j’aime chanter toutes les nuits en vrai Baby Carni Bird. Monocorde dans ma nuit d’hiver en vrai Carni Bird.
Jean-Louis Murat
Nebraska (Western Meadowlark)
"State Birds" comprises the second part of the NATURAMA exhibit. Maura writes: “the series documents birds that are linked to the states that they inhabit. The only true identity of the bird is seen in the bird's outline, which is done in china marker. The birds take on a feminine side, with the flirtatious colors and play of the paint and glitter, atop of a very masculine 'business suit' raw linen background.”
The series of seven State Bird paintings, representing such diverse states as Arkansas to Connecticut, are some of the freshest and most exciting contemporary painting I’ve seen in awhile. Their smaller 12” x 12” format works perfectly with the very cartoon-esque child like rendering of the bird, its contour filled in with a myriad of colorful clashing thick impasto brushstrokes. The birds are very jewel like in appearance, basking in the gallery’s artificial lighting, their glittery surfaces and bright colors “sing” against the rather bland raw surface of the unpainted canvas that supports them. The contrast is striking and convincing. Maura has once again captured the essence of the subject she is depicting. Each bird’s characteristic feathering and/or distinctive markings have been rendered into a gestalt of color field and abstract painting. Their beauty and uniqueness has remained intact.
Alabama (Yellowhammer)
Much like the “At Sea” drawing, Maura has broken up the interior surface area of each bird painting into what are now, intersecting blocks of patchwork quilt color and texture. They are rich and complex paintings, their flattened Egyptian perspective and abstract rendering intrigues the viewer’s sensibilities as we look for clues to the nature of their beginnings or for that matter, their respective homes. They can also be quite tongue-in-cheek.
Arkansas (Mockingbird)
The State Bird from Arkansas is the Mockingbird. And mock she does Maura, but it’s all in good fun. You still have to know your art history a bit to get the joke, and not being one to spoil it, all I will say is that it is one of the late great Pop artists of the 60’s – and before you yell out Warhol, it’s not him. I can only imagine what a Warhol Mockingbird would look like…
D.C. (Wood Thrush)
Nevada (Mountain Bluebird)
Maura Vazakas is an excellent painter. She understands painting and what it means to an artist who paints and the spectator who looks. Her rich vocabulary of imagery is always fresh and compelling, simple and elegant, direct, and infused with enough magic to embody her vision into one clear and resounding voice. Don’t miss the opportunity to see the show; I promise you, you won’t be disappointed. Through December 3rd, 2006
Kevin Freitas
ART Produce Gallery
3139 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92104
619.584.4448 phone
619.584.4478 fax
lynn@artproducegallery.com
Also through November 30th at the Art of Framing, other works by Maura Vazakas, Brad Streeper, Bruno Lavelle, Hervé Crespel, Joey Burns, Michael Arata, Poor Al, Régent Pellerin, Richard Gleaves and Tom Torluemke.
The Art of Framing
3333 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA. 92116
619.563.9770
"Transdesignstudio" est un projet conçu par l'ÉSAAT (École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et du Textile de Roubaix) dans lequel les différentes formations : Design Produits, Design d'Espace, Espaces de Communication, Communication Visuelle option graphisme, édition, publicité et option multimédia, Design de Mode Textile et Environnement, option textile, matériaux, surface, Cinéma d'Animation sont regroupées, pendant 3 jours, pour démontrer leur savoir-faire en matière de création. Dans cette édition 2006, le carton est utilisé comme élément principal pour définir l'espace, construire le mobilier, recevoir les projections vidéo. Support de création, il nous permettra au cours de ces 3 jours de proposer un espace sans cesse en progression, en renouvellement. L'évènement est en temps réel diffusé par internet sur le blog http://transdesignstudio.free.fr
La création actuelle ne peut plus se penser de manière statique et figée. Le défi relevé par les étudiants et les professeurs de l'ÉSAAT se veut une réponse à cette situation. Nous ne recherchons pas une proposition définitive à ce projet, mais beaucoup plus un partage de compétences et une interaction avec le public. Dès lors, dans cette
perpétuelle évolution formelle, nous passerons par des phases d'émulation, de chaos, de construction ordonnée, de création débridée et d'invention spontanée. Sans directive forte, la créativité de chacun réagit aux propositions du groupe pour se fondre dans le projet global "Transdesignstudio".
Les métiers préparés par les étudiants demandent des compétences variées, spécifiques et parfois contradictoires. L'ÉSAAT dans ce projet veut montrer qu'à travers ses différences, quand elles sont partagées sur un projet commun, la créativité et la création se trouvent stimulées et reflètent la réalité des agences de design actuel. Intrinsèquement, un tel projet ne peut se penser terminé. Nous invitons le public à surfer sur notre blog http://transdesignstudio.free.fr, à prendre toutes les informations sur notre site internet http://www.esaat-roubaix.com et à venir visiter l'école lors des journées Portes Ouvertes (16 et 17 février) afin de se faire une idée plus précise de la richesse créative, des particularités et du dynamisme des diverses formations.
A film by Wim Wenders. Powerful.
"Kitty Bomb" - Michael Arata
C'est la BOMBE bébé! Humeurs expo-vol2 opened with a bang a few nights ago, with a diverse collection of works by some of San Diego's finest artists, a couple of garçons from France, my man Poor Al from LA, Régent from Orcas Islands and my good friend Tom Torluemke from Indiana. Quite the showing it was, guaranteed to turn a few heads in passing. Check it out until the end of November.
"Peace Piece" - Régent Pellerin
"Peace Piece(detail)" - Régent Pellerin
"Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns
"Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns
"Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns, "I Love You Too" - Michael Arata
"I Love You Too" - Michael Arata
"Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns
"Untitled(Red)" - Brad Streeper, "Nice Object" - Hervé Crespel, "New York" - Maura Vazakas, "Natural Lube" - Tom Torluemke
"Untitled"(Red) - Brad Streeper, "Nice Object" - Hervé Crespel, "Sea of Barges" - Richard Gleaves, "Earthmart Ice Cream Truck" - Poor Al, "Arizona" - Maura Vazakas, "After Image" - Richard Gleaves, "Kelly" - Tom Torluemke"
"Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns, "After Image" - Richard Gleaves, "Kelly" - Tom Torluemke, "Arizona" - Maura Vazakas, "Earthmart Ice Cream Truck" - Poor Al, "Sea of Barges" - Richard Gleaves, "Nice Object" - Hervé Crespel, "Untitled"(Red) - Brad Streeper, "New York" - Maura Vazakas, "Natural Lube" - Tom Torluemke
"Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns, "After Image" - Richard Gleaves, "Kelly" - Tom Torluemke, "Arizona" - Maura Vazakas, "Earthmart Ice Cream Truck" - Poor Al
"Colorado" - Maura Vazakas, "Tending the Garden" - Tom Torluemke, "Hi" - Tom Torluemke, "Wrestlers" -Tom Torluemke, "Untitled"(noir) - Brad Streeper, "Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns, "After Image" - Richard Gleaves, "Kelly" -Tom Torluemke, "Arizona" - Maura Vazakas, "Earthmart Ice Cream Truck" - Poor Al
"Colorado" - Maura Vazakas, "Tending the Garden" - Tom Torluemke, "Hi" - Tom Torluemke, "Wrestlers" -Tom Torluemke, "Untitled"(noir) - Brad Streeper, "Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns
"Colorado" - Maura Vazakas, "Tending the Garden" - Tom Torluemke, "Hi" - Tom Torluemke
"Illinois" - Maura Vazakas, "Tom as a Jack" - Tom Torluemke, "Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns, "Far from Eden" - Bruno Lavelle, "Colorado" - Maura Vazakas, "Tending the Garden" - Tom Torluemke, "Hi" - Tom Torluemke
"Illinois" - Maura Vazakas, "Tom as a Jack" - Tom Torluemke, "Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns
"Natural Lube" - Tom Torluemke
"Untitled"(red) - Brad Streeper
"New York" - Maura Vazakas
"Nice Object" - Hervé Crespel
"Sea of Barges" - Richard Gleaves
"Sea of Barges" - Richard Gleaves
"Sea of Barges"(detail) - Richard Gleaves
"Arizona" - Maura Vazakas
"Earthmart Ice Cream Truck" - Poor Al
Hilarious piece by Poor Al, if you press on the the bottom right side of the frame, it declenches a sound track that plays Ice Cream vendor music - Kiddies! come and get your Kevlar Cones
"After Image" - Richard Gleaves
"After Image"(detail) - Richard Gleaves
"Kelly" - Tom Torluemke
"Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns
"Wrestlers" - Tom Torluemke
"Untitled"(noir) - Brad Streeper
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"Colorado" - Maura Vazakas
"Tending the Garden" - Tom Torluemke
"Hi" - Tom Torluemke
"Far from Eden" - Bruno Lavelle
"Illinois" - Maura Vazakas
"Tom as a Jack" - Tom Torluemke
"Untitled"(collage) - Joey Burns
"Kitty Bomb" - Michael Arata
The Art of Framing
3333 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA. 92116
619.563.9770
Floyd Landis and the "Administrative Error" from the Associated Press.
Landis lab made 'administrative error'
PARIS - The French anti-doping lab that tested American cyclist Floyd Landis' urine samples made an "administrative error" when reporting its findings on his backup "B" sample, the French newspaper Le Monde reported Wednesday.
The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory gave the wrong number in its report about Landis' second sample. Tests on the rider's two samples indicated that Landis had elevated levels of testosterone in his system when he won the Tour de France in July.
In its report, the lab wrote that the "B" sample tested was number 994,474, while the actual number was 995,474, Le Monde said.
While awaiting the opening of a new space for the exhibition of American and European artists, after just moving to Paris in 1994 and the closure of my gallery in Chicago (the Abel Joseph Gallery), I started a transatlantic journal of art - sort of like your modern day blog - that would allow me to continue to work with and expose the artists I had been working with in Chicago, and to find new ones in France and Europe.The name of the journal was La Lettre d'Abel - litterally "Abel's Letter" which was entirely typed, designed and photocopied by hand with each issue featuring a guest artist cover. Each issue was limited to 50 copies. It was an enormous amount of work, a true labor of love, that produced some interesting results. La Lettre d'Abel is no longer in production, perhaps it will someday see another edition run, but for the time being here is a sample of an essay written by Ron DeLegge - formally of Skokie, Illinois who now lives in my neck of the woods in Carlsbad, CA. The essay was written in 1998 as an insert to the fifth edition of La Lettre d'Abel (cover by Illinois artist Susie Brandt), modeled after the popular "Series Noires" of crime novels, mysteries and who dunnits in France. I will from time to time, post excerpts from the various letters for you're reading and visual pleasure.
THE DEATH OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Ron DeLegge - 1998
Introduction
am not a writer, no am I aspiring to be one. I have written this essay out of necessity, because of the numerous changes affecting contemporary art(1). Contemporary art as I see it, is terminally ill and well beyond recovery. Since its inception, it has progressively sunk into a lacklustre mode of operation, which has paralyzed its progress. Rather than summarizing the tumultuous events that have overtaken contemporary art, I will point them out and comment on them. Some of these key points are already taking place. The points that have not taken place yet, will soon commence. Together, these events will heavily contribute to the overall demise of contemporary art.
The contemporary art world is filled with a bunch of snobbish elitists and is no different from other fields of study.
The art world(2) is always the first to complain about how it wants to be treated differently. The reason this will never happen is because it doesn’t act differently. It has been infiltrated with pious pseudo-intellectual elitists posing as “humanitarians” with a save-the-world through art kind of mentality. This type of elitist snobbery thrives on other levels in various communities such as the movie industry, the musical arts, the political arena, the business world and most country clubs throughout America. The only difference from snobbery in art versus snobbery in these other fields, is that the art world earns less money and complains about it.
People, particularly Americans, have become completely alienated to contemporary art and its “scene”. In more dramatic situations, like what happened a few years ago at a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition in Ohio, the public openly expressed its disgruntled feelings toward the art world. Can you blame them? How can the average blue-collar worker possibly relate to institutions like Mary Boone or Larry Gagosian (galleries in New York) for example, that show contemporary art and perpetrate its elitist agenda? These places are not viewer friendly. On the initial visit the general public most likely isn’t familiar with the artist being shown. Also, the general public may not know that a “hip scene” of high glamour art exists. In turn, people are made to feel stupid or ignorant for not understanding a post-minimal work, or some other contemporary work after having left the gallery. With this kind of snobbery in most galleries and even museums, is it any wonder why the public doesn’t care about NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) cutbacks?, or about another gallery closing its doors?, or about how lousy the art market is fairing? Isn’t it plain to see why the public doesn’t care to learn about contemporary art? Then, why would they remotely be interested in collecting or better yet, preserving the work of a bunch of pontifical semi-czars that think so much of themselves? If they happen to work in the corporate world, the general public typically deals with individuals of the same snooty character mode Monday through Friday 9am – 5pm at work. Perhaps they don’t want to go to the museum or a weekend gallery opening for fear they may come across the same kind of elitist snob that they work under. The public’s point of view is valid. What is the difference of snobbery in art versus snobbery in musical arts?, or snobbery in the political world?, or snobbery in the movie industry?, or snobbery in anything? To the public there is no difference, and they are entirely correct. Snobbery is snobbery, and even for the sake of art it is unacceptable behaviour.
The contemporary art world is as political as any other industry and has become too regionalized.
In the art world there are several things to do in order to speed up your “success”. One thing is to patronize rich art collectors. Another thing to do, is move to New York or Los Angeles. Though for me, New York has never been new – it has just been York or Yuck, take your pick. As for Los Angeles, it seems to be a city perennially groping for its identity. As if this wasn’t enough to confuse a young artist, there’s one more thing to do, become politically wired with the “big wigs” that run the art world.
If you are one who lacks political clout you better do the first two items mentioned, or you’ll have to wait until death to sell. In any field including contemporary art, if a person isn’t in some way “connected,” failure is gladly awaiting. In this way, contemporary art is not any different from the rest as it always tries to be, but is the same.
Another item of concern is the fact that contemporary art has become a East coast versus West coast phenomenon. In this way contemporary art in the United States is no longer contemporary, but regional. True contemporary art is not from New York or Los Angeles, but is universal and supersedes all national and cultural barriers regardless of where it was produced. However, contemporary art produced in the United States lacks international appeal. Why? Because it lacks international concerns. Art dealers have been the primary culprits of this narrow mentality. Blinded art collectors have been mislead and misinformed about the status of contemporary art coming out of cities other than New York or Los Angeles. Contemporary art in the United States is not about where the art is going, but about where the art came from. Once individuals know the art is either from New York or Los Angeles, it becomes more readily validated.
In the long run, the general public doesn’t care where contemporary art comes from. Interestingly though, it still makes a difference and it affects the daily decisions of most art dealers, collectors, curators and critics. It’s a strange wonder that this confining mode of operation hasn’t caught up with contemporary art sooner – but those with a minimum of insight see it already coming.
The contemporary art world has no real answers and lacks meaning for most people.
The general public won’t turn to contemporary art anytime soon for solutions to their problems. Would you turn to an entity that is inhabited with pompous oafs who alienate you with their uncalled for behaviour and then dismiss your alienation as ignorance on your part? Would you look for answers from a system that benefits only a very select few? Would you be interested in learning more about a field that constantly whines about its lack of attention? Would it make you happy to spend your valuable free time with individuals that make you feel like an outsider?
Looking at contemporary art won’t solve the average person’s problems. It won’t pay the bills or feed the kids – so why even bother? I’m not saying that the general public’s viewpoint when it comes to contemporary art is entirely correct. But think about it for a moment. To the general public, there is nothing that contemporary art has to offer that will benefit them. When they enter a museum or gallery and see things they don’t understand, a two-fold problem unveils itself. First, the viewer becomes close minded. Second, they unfortunately probe no further than their initial reaction because they can’t relate, and therefore, the art becomes useless because it lacks meaning for them. The public needs to change its perception of contemporary art. (Indications are that this won’t happen anytime soon.) But, unless contemporary art can get off its podium and start relating to average people and benefit them somehow, it will continue to go unnoticed.
The art world has misbehaved and therefore merits no special treatment.
I use the word misbehaved because it reminds us of how children have the tendency to act when things aren’t going their way. In many instances, the art world has adopted juvenile mannerisms. An example, the public is accused of being too narrow minded when it comes to contemporary art. Yet for no explicable reason, the art world still cries to them like a baby to its mother for support. Would you support an entity that hurls accusations at you? The fact is that the art world has not done anything special or profoundly important to deserve noble treatment. It lies, it steals, it complains, it accuses, it fights, it eats, it sleeps and it can die just like every other institution known to mankind. Has the art world made people smarter? Has it lengthened the lives of people? Has it made them more peaceful and brought them closer to their fellow man or to their families? Has it made people change their lifestyle to a better one? Has the art world made people less materialistic and more personable? If it has done any of these things, it has been on a very limited scale and most certainly not well enough to avoid obscurity. Therefore, the art world and contemporary art deserves no special honor or privileges. For this community to expect special treatment from anyone (the general public or the government included), is at best, ignorance magnified.
The contemporary art world should quit complaining about its lack of support from the general public.
The whole process of contemporary art is one of complaining. Collectors moan about high prices if buying or deflated prices if selling. Art dealers moan about lack of sales. Artists moan about lousy dealers or about bad reviews. Critics moan about terrible shows. Curators moan about the difficulty of putting up quality shows that will have meaning for the public, without going over the allotted budget. Museums moan about lack of revenue and public indifference. So what’s the general public’s reaction to all of this complaining? When thinking about viewing contemporary art, is their immediate feeling one of unceasing enthusiasm or jubilant joy? Not likely. Since everyone else is complaining, they have a right to complain too. Well, except their complaint isn’t about lack of sales or about bad reviews or even a lagging art market. Their complaint is about the lack of meaning that contemporary art has for them and their lives.
So, then why does the art world expect people to hail it as something wonderful? It cries about how no one pays attention to it, it cries about how it hasn’t been treated fairly, it cries about its lack of support from the private sector and cries about its lack of support from the public sector. It cries and cries and cries. Interestingly, not much different from the cries echoed by most convicted killers on death row completely convinced of their entire innocence. Would you go to personally see or listen to an entity that was constantly complaining? Then why should the public make a “prison visit” out of going to see contemporary art? Why should they have to support an institution that accuses them of indifference? They no longer care to listen what contemporary art has to say because the majority of what it is saying, has already been said.
Contemporary art is on course for complete oblivion, which will lead to its eventual and soon pending extinction.
The problem with most things that become extinct is we didn’t realize that it was happening before it was too late. Even if we did realize it though, our reaction would likely be one of denial or complete disbelief, as opposed to taking the necessary precautions to prevent an atrocity from occurring. Is it any wonder then, why contemporary art enthusiasts would scoff at my assertion that contemporary art will become extinct? Their preference is the road of denial. They’d rather not accept that their art form is dying, and especially have it revealed to them by complete strangers. But the art world’s dismissal that contemporary art is dying and will soon be laid to rest, won’t change the facts.
All trends seem to indicate that contemporary art is not growing, but on the contrary, shrinking. Insightful individuals realize that shrinkage in any business spells danger. To the general public, contemporary art has already become oblivious and it will continue into further oblivion. The general public simply does not care about contemporary art. But then again, does contemporary art care about the general public? In both cases the answer is no. The only difference is that the general public always wins. It’s true in government, it’s true in business and it’s true with contemporary art. The art world simply cannot match the public in numbers, power and money. On a certain level, contemporary art is controlled and directed by its clergy class, which is composed of a few very powerful individuals that have clout and money. Since they have no interest in contemporary art in the first place, why should they care about seeing it, regardless of how large or exclusive a certain collection appears to be? If the public’s interest is not in contemporary art, why should they have to build or support public facilities with their own tax money for it? If it’s a contest between mall shopping and going to see an exhibit, I think all of us know which one wins. Contemporary art is in deep trouble, and it is coming to a culmination. If there is any one major problem leading to its eventual demise, lack of interest could very well put the nail in the coffin.
Contemporary art is ending.
Contemporary art has many problems, as the foregoing has clearly shown. For example, it is a plethora of contradiction – saying one thing and doing another. In the United States, it has become too regionalized. The art is about where it came from, New York or Los Angeles, and not about where it’s going. Nor does it have universal concerns. In this way, it is no longer contemporary, but regional art. This is no different from other fields of study. Contemporary art needs to be sufficiently different from other fields if it is to succeed, but sadly it is not.
Another major problem with contemporary art is the elitist crowd that it has attracted, courted and fornicated with. The art world has become like a prostitute. It sleeps with whoever will benefit it at that particular moment and then with no advance notice, it jumps into bed with someone entirely different and new. In real life, prostitutes are among the highest at risk group for contracting the AIDS virus. It is my opinion, that the art world has contracted the AIDS virus in a figurative sense. It has slept with so many different beasts, that it can no longer keep track. For me, it has never been too difficult to realize that prostitution plus contemporary art is a bad combination. In any field, prostitution is not good and in most cases, spells disaster. What makes contemporary art and its avid supporters think it can avoid this fate? It is them who have slept with the art world and that are more interested in themselves and their own agenda, let alone the general public or even contemporary art itself. The general public, whom the art was supposed to be made for in the first place, can’t even remember the names of the ones making it. How can a power driven art dealer or art collector possibly hope to make a name that the public will remember? Does anyone really remember or care who sold Kokoschka or who collected Modigliani? The point is, contemporary art has lost its focus on the art and the artists. It’s only about showcasing the monetary wealth of art dealers and art collectors. To illustrate this, two powerful art dealers recently opened up spaces in Los Angeles and they were heralded by many within the local art community. True, they may be known by an “elite” few, but these character types have never been and never will be popular with the general public. Will anyone even remember the names of these galleries in 150 years or so? Probably not. Even if they heard those names spoken today, the public would most surely respond ask “who?” Galleries like this have done such a wonderful job of remaining incognito that even the general public doesn’t know of their existence. It is institutions like these that have made contemporary art a mystery. Gallery openings are closed to the public and for exclusive guests only. Sometimes, openings are so secretive that nobody knows when they are. If you’re not a rich collector, don’t dare ask to see what’s in the back room. It’s this kind of elitist behaviour that turns the public off to contemporary art. The art world has been tainted by its close association with the “elite” crowd. One thing is sure, private country club mentalities will not further the causes of the art world or contemporary art.
From their own perspective, those clearly associated and vested in contemporary art are so high and mighty, that nothing could possibly threaten or overtake their highly prized art form. It’s not an attitude too different from those who built the Titanic, the ship that would never sink. To their dismay, they overlooked the possibilities of failure.
Interestingly, I’m not the only one tired with contemporary art and the lacklustre results it has produced. Many art collectors are also tired of the disappointing results associated with collecting contemporary art, and have decided to dissolve their collections. This is not that surprising, since contemporary art has never really been profitable for the private sector as compared to other forms of investment. This dissolving has created a sort of boom in the auction houses, with many coveted pieces becoming available at relatively affordable prices. For most individuals though, the cost of collecting contemporary art outweighs the profit. In turn, this has meant that only a very select few can engage in this high calibre hobby. This translates into fewer collectors, which means fewer collections, which means fewer works produced by fewer artists that show in fewer galleries and fewer museums. This has resulted in a diminishing audience appeal for contemporary art.
Conclusion
In conclusion, contemporary art has self destructed. It has chosen to drive the road of death and none of us can change its course. The consequences of taking that road are irrevocable and will lead to complete annihilation. This overweight beast has been warned but it refuses to acknowledge. It has become an enemy of itself. Prostitution has become its favourite method of expansion. It is a regime of scandal, gluttony, immortality and is everything it stands for that I am against. It has proven that it knows how to alienate the general public by the way it acts and continues to act. It has shown a consistent pattern of snobbery in addition to constant whining. The general public never cared much for contemporary art and a mass conversion towards it will never happen. It lacks the support it needs to continue to exist. Contemporary art will never be the same again. It will be forced to change, whether it wants to or not. Destruction has happened to world governments that did not change, and it will happen to contemporary art. It is no longer new or fresh. It is no longer contemporary. It must be replaced by something else. Its replacement is imminent and cannot be stopped. Contemporary art will undergo the same kind of death that modern art experienced in the late 1950’s and early 60’s. It is no longer a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen. I’ve never been good at guessing, but my personal prediction is sometime within the next 15 years. What sort of new form will replace contemporary art? Whatever it is, it certainly can’t be much worse.
Stay tuned.
1* When discussing contemporary art, I am making reference particularly to contemporary art within the United States. Perhaps, the same attitudes that affect the art world here, prevail in the international world of contemporary art as well.2* The use of “art world” in the context of our discussion makes reference only to the contemporary art world of today.
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"Naturama" New work by Maura Vazakas
Opening Reception: Saturday November 11, 6-9pm
"Naturama" is a two part exhibition.
"At Sea", a graphite on paper installation, depicts the rise and fall of a "wave", abstractly done in very complex doodling patterns. I want the viewer to feel the rhythm and flow of the "wave" in the same way as I have, getting immersed in the complex detail of the drawing and visually following the calming repetitive patterns of the wave. I feel a strong link in the repetitve pattern of "At Sea" to the repetitive sounds of the music of composer John Adams.
"State Birds", this series documents birds that are linked to the areas(states) that they inhabit. The only true identity of the bird is seen in the bird's outline, which is done in china marker. The birds take on a feminine side, with the flirtatious colors and play of the paint and glitter, atop of a very masculine "business suit" raw linen background.
For more information, please go to: Art Produce Gallery
ART Produce Gallery
3139 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92104
619.584.4448 phone
619.584.4478 fax
lynn@artproducegallery.com
And don't forget, Maura Vazakas is also exhibiting her works at The Art of Framing through November 30, as part of the expo HUMEURS - vol2
The Art of Framing
3333 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA. 92116
619.563.9770
André Mantegna, Le Christ Mort, 1480-1490
LE DORMEUR DU VAL
C'est un trou de verdure où chante une rivière
Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillons
D'argent; où le soleil de la montagne fière,
Luit; C'est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.
Un soldat jeune bouche ouverte, tête nue,
Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu,
Dort; il est étendu dans l'herbe, sous la nue,
Pale dans son lit vert où la lumière pleut.
Les pieds dans les glaïeuls, il dort. Souriant comme
Sourirait un enfant malade, il fait un somme:
Nature, berce-le chaudement: il a froid.
Les parfums ne font plus frissonner sa narine;
Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur sa poitrine
Tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au coté droit.
Arthur Rimbaud
Michelangelo Merisi dit le Caravage, La mise au tombeaux, 1602-1604
OUTSIDE - INSIDE
Julien Colombier lives and works in Paris.
To see the complete image, please click here.
"Forgetting"
Scott Mellen lives and works in Seattle, Washington.
