Bitwise Operators
Art as Authority
avril 30, 2010
avril 28, 2010
Janet Cooling: Still Life Meditations
avril 21, 2010
New Contemporaries III
from the press release
Opening reception: Saturday, April 24 | 7 - 10 pm
SD Art Prize: Recognition of Excellence in the Visual Arts
Every year the SD Art Prize committee nominates emerging artists as possible suggestions for the SD Art Prize established artists to mentor.
Artists selected:
Greg Boudreau, Robert Nelson, Kelsey Brookes, Julio Orozco, Stephen Curry, Allison Renshaw, Steve Gibson, Lesha Maria Rodriguez, Brian Goeltzenleuchter, James Soe Nyun, Wendell M. Kling, Stephen Tompkins, Heather Gwen Martin
Join us for a PANEL DISCUSSION featuring artists and their nominators: Saturday, May 15, 6 - 8 pm
Additional information: www.SDVisualArts.net
Show runs: April 24 - May 22, 2010
M - F: 9 - 5; Sat 11 - 4; Sunday by appointment
320 South Cedros Ave | Suite 500 | Solana Beach, CA 92075
(858) 792-9685
The Project X: Art gallery space is located in Solana Beach, on South Cedros Avenue, across the street from the Solo building, up the big driveway directly behind Coles Carpet
avril 19, 2010
UC Irvine MFA Thesis
avril 17, 2010
A Reason to Celebrate
by Marilyn Mitchell
Deborah Butterfield
Friday, April 9th, marked the new beginning for a wonderful art space downtown managed by SDSU. The new gallery’s name is “SDSU Downtown Gallery” but don’t let the generic quality of its name make a bland first impression. This is a top notch exhibition space because it is well lit, there are few distractions and the inaugural exhibit highlights nationally known names. This show is well installed and it calls attention to SDSU as an art school through association with those exhibited.
“Divergence: The Work of John Baldessari, Deborah Butterfield, and Andrea Zittel” was organized by Catherine Gleason, the Associate Director of the gallery. There are only six pieces in the show because each one is rather large. Deborah Butterfield’s sculpture is a signature work from her horse series called “Conure” and it is full of life. This horse makes you think it’s absolutely natural for horses to be painted in primary colors.
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel’s work is explained as an “exploration of our relationship to personal space”. They are intriguing wall mounted sculptural environments that evoke the 1960’s style wood paneling and sport an odd assemblage of objects, including a Tivoli radio (which is known for excellent sound quality for its small size). One personal space they explore is the space of art exhibitions. By creating rambling wall pieces, they command authority without telling us what, if anything, to think. The two exhibited are titled “Raugh Furniture” and I’m not sure what the spelling indicates. Her knitted piece, “Single Strand Shapes: Forward Motion”, is an installation wonder. The irregular shape and linear arrangement of color had a calligraphic quality without calling to attention any known language.
So celebrate!!! Given the fact that San Diego has lost a number of wonderful galleries in the past few years, having a new one that is truly about art is cause for glee! Welcome SDSU Downtown Gallery!!
Family Matters
by Richard Gleaves
RG discussing the show with Uncle Brian in Oscar Prinsen's art. Photo Lori Lipsman.
Part I
Family Matters is a series of multimedia events centered around a key curauteurial idea: the ineluctably social nature of what passes in our culture for art.
The event series — curated by visual artist and teacher Brian Goeltzenleuchter, and presented at Sushi — has included a music concert, film screening, panel discussion, and visual arts exhibition. The time-based events are now past, but the art remains on view at Sushi until April 24.
Why curauteurial? Because the themes and ideas embodied in Family Matters are part autobiography, and part prone to the same sorts of eccentric category slippages as the ones in Institutional Wellbeing, Goeltzenleuchter's 2009 show at the Oceanside Museum of Art.
In essence, for Family Matters Goeltzenleuchter the artist commandeered the role of Goeltzenleuchter the curator and assembled a meta-event with aspects unmistakably similar to Goeltzenleuchter the artist's own work: specifically, the deadpan proffering of a set of propositions purporting to explain the work, which in turn are subverted by a second set of propositions immanent in the work itself. The result is a semantic instability characteristic of the finest satire.
This quality is amplified by Goeltzenleuchter's presentation of self in everyday life: against type he radiates the same sort of earnest Boy Scout vibe as his crypto-archetype Jeff Koons, but minus Koons' signature smarm and plus an order-of-magnitude increase in the conceptual complexity of his work.
Which, in the case of Family Matters, consists wholly of the show's superstructure and support information, given that the primary information — songs sung and artwork shown — is the work of seven seriously good artists, at least four of whom are Goeltzenleuchter's colleagues or former students.
Part II
Lately, creative people of all stripes have been referring to what they do as a practice. Artists, dancers, poets, they all do it. The unselfconscious use of the term can be borderline annoying to those who have thought about how to classify what exactly they do in the creative domain. Is it a practice? An occupation? A discipline? A passion? A therapy? A calling? For some of us, what you call it provides an important distinction because it frames the way we think about what we do, and it suggests our relationship to the public at large.
For instance, if art is an occupation, which is to say an activity that serves as one's regular source of livelihood, then why is it that so many first rate artists seek out teaching contracts at colleges and universities? Do these great artists share a common benevolent attitude about shaping young minds? Or maybe it’s that these first rate artists are not by definition successful at their occupation. So how do they refer to what they do? God knows that with every utterance of that word, “occupation”, the great art professor is reminded of his failure to live up to its meaning. And that would inevitably chip away at his self-esteem.
So maybe he calls what he does a practice. A practice — like law or medicine is considered a practice. A practice implies a rich history of practitioners innovating within or pushing against historic precedents. Hmmm. Discipline without guarantee of remuneration. We’re getting closer. But in this scenario of the university subsidized art professor, the use of the term practice functions as a sort of euphemism. What I do is a highly respectable, though economically unviable activity. So I’ll call it a practice. But then why not just refer to it as a calling? Maybe we’ll see the artist colony reemerge in the form of a cultural monastery.
To be sure, graduate study in the arts is, in many ways, a leap of faith. In her essay Work Ethic, Helen Molesworth cited the following statistics compiled by Howard Singerman for his book Art Subjects. In the early 1940s, there were 60 candidates for graduate degrees in studio art enrolled in eleven American institutions. By 1950-51, there were 322 candidates at thirty-two institutions. The trend continued through the end of the century. Thirty-one new Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs opened in the 1960s, and forty-four in the 1970s. From 1990 to 1995, ten thousand MFA degrees were awarded in the United States.
Well… that’s a lot of culture. How is it organized? Having directed an MFA program during my tenure as that university subsidized art professor, I can speak personally to the fact that advising graduate students in career management and professional practices is a precarious responsibility. The university educated artist is so often aware of the critical domain (or the precedents) surrounding his or her work, but often so unaware of the tactics involved in situating his or her own work in that critical domain. How do I get what I want?
Enter nepotism — a word which has taken on an overwhelmingly derogatory meaning: Favoritism granted to relatives or friends, without regard to their merit. I would like to suggest for the duration of this film screening and panel discussion that we consider the optimistic potential of nepotism, as just one of many tactics that can be productively used to develop and sustain a creative practice.
And I would like to frame the term in a specific way. I offer the following four propositions to which I hope our panel and you the audience might comment on, add to or otherwise test:
First: Nepotism is not inherently bad. Consider that the latter part of the definition of nepotism, favoritism without regard for merit neither confirms nor denies incompetence on the part of the beneficiary of nepotism.
Second: You can fool the fans but not the players. By this I mean that in the pluralistic art world(s) that have emerged since the 1960s, art has often been created for highly specific audiences. It stands to reason that those at the forefront of creating elite art cultures are often the ones best equipped to distinguish merit.
Third: Nepotism is not necessarily partial. All that is required to profit from this kind of opportunity is a willingness to take advantage of it. To make friends. And if one is meritorious but not well-liked, well, whose fault is that?
Fourth: In a period of globalization, in which access to systems of communication and distribution are becoming increasingly affordable, nepotism can extend its purview globally. In so doing, it can avoid the inbreeding common to regionalism, and instead open itself up to hybrid cultural sources.
— Brian Goeltzenleuchter, A Defense of Nepotism (talk transcript from the Family Matters panel discussion)
Part III
The concert component of Family Matters consisted of the Canadian musicians and visual artists Dan Wong and Mary-Anne McTrowe, who — performing as the musical duo The Cedar Tavern Singers — sang self-penned folk songs about art-historical knowledge of the sort acquired through a typical undergraduate art program.
This event was arguably the most popular part of Family Matters, with a full house in the Sushi performance space singing along with the performers.
Part IV
The film screening/panel discussion — titled Nepotism and other character flaws — was more problematic (and thus more interesting). The panel consisted of Goeltzenleuchter as moderator and four artists from the show (Lisa Hutton, Andrew Kaufman, Lauren Tyler Norby, Donna Stack). Each of the artists had been asked to introduce and then screen a short film of their own, followed by another short film made by someone "to whom you owe something or from whom you want something." The event format was as follows:
< opening speech> < talk_1> < film_1-1> < film_1-2> < talk_2> < film_2-1> < film_2-2> … < talk_4> < film_4-1> < film_4-2> < panel discussion>
The film screening alone stretched to well over an hour, with the result that by the time the event reached the panel discussion and Q&A, the audience had been so thoroughly film-saturated they'd forgotten whatever had been said by the panelists in-between. This cognitive overload was amplified by the criteria used for film selection, which effectively resulted in a Cagean mini-fest of random cinema. All of which conspired with a light audience turnout and bad acoustics to make for an evening of tough sledding.
A week after the panel discussion I buttonholed Goeltzenleuchter about the event format, and in particular what he thought of audience members' efforts to make sense of it. Here is his response: [Regarding] K's critique of the videos as self-indulgent, and your desire to try to find common ground between the presenter and his or her chosen artist(s): neither comment was germane to the panel as advertised. Merit and rationale mean little or nothing to the concept of nepotism. That's why I made the comment that if I were a panelist, and I knew that by showing a WalMart commercial I would reap some favorable relationship to WalMart, then I would cheerfully show it.
Part V
Finally, the visual art exhibition, which resides in Sushi's gallery space: a small group show, it includes work by all seven artists in Family Matters, and is billed as referencing "the esoteric legacies of the avant-garde through work that is formally — if paradoxically — influenced by popular entertainment."
I know of two art-savvy people who actively dislike this show, but I think I know why: they're not seeing something that is both unusual for a contemporary art show and (characteristic of a Goeltzenleuchter production) far more interesting than the thing the show is billed as doing. What I'm referring to here is a strong performative aspect which ties together an otherwise disparate set of works: to experience the show the viewer is invited to climb a ladder; to sit on the floor and watch a video; to put on headphones; to wipe their feet; to put on a new set of clothes; or to avoid spilling the water.
In other words, the art is for doing something — anything — other than standing on one's ass in a gallery. In this respect it has as much to do with a typical show at the New Children's Museum as it does with anything that happens in the adjacent Sushi performance space. The popular entertainment influence is there as advertised — but it's the wrong one.
The most interesting work in the show is Oscar Prinsen's seating sculpture (shown above) which has been acquired by Sushi as a permanent addition to its gallery space. I can highly recommend venturing up the ladder to enjoy the view.
avril 14, 2010
Kelly Schnorr
avril 10, 2010
SDSU Downtown Gallery
avril 09, 2010
Richard Reyes and DeDe Harter
from the press release
The Garage Presents: Stories
Saturday, April 10, 2010
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Garage Gallery
4141 Alabama Street
In The Garage Presents: Stories, sometimes the words are drawn for us, sometimes we are asked to provide penned words to the image, and inevitably we bring the words we think we already know by heart to the picture that is written.
San Diego artist Richard Reyes exhibits Goldilocks and the Three Bears written in graphite illustrations to depict a story so iconic that the observer brings the requisite words to the images. We believe we know this story, but under Reyes’ guidance the story transforms.
In her Community Comix series, Tallahassee artist DeDe Harter creates public art, displayed in public bathrooms, allowing the observer to interpret her cartoons and asking them to write the dialogue with the pen she provides as a means of outreach and intervention through art. Harter provides a yet-unscripted Community Comix for this exhibit, and invites you to participate.
avril 07, 2010
Here Not There Artists Announced
by Richard Gleaves
If your name is on this list, and you meet the residency requirements, you will be in Here Not There.
If your name is not on this list, and you have not already shown at MCA, then all bets are off.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to the historical information contained herein, this post contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ substantially from those referred to herein due to a number of factors, including but not limited to risks associated with: acts of grace and/or caprice on the part of MCA curatorial staff; lax enforcement of industry standards on the part of the director; costs incurred by Art as Authority in connection therewith, including potentially damaged relationships with customers and operators who may be impacted by association with the exhibitors or their intermediaries; our dependence on major customers and licensees; our dependence on third-party manufacturers and suppliers; our ability to maintain and improve operational efficiencies and nonprofitability; the development and deployment of the Art as Authority web site; the development and market acceptance of the IntelligentArt® remote sensing technology; foreign currency fluctuations; the Heisenberg uncertainty principle; strategic investments and transactions in social capital that we have or may pursue; as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in our posts, including the report on CCA dated September 24, 2009. Art as Authority undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement or risk factor, whether as a result of new information, future events, force majeure, or otherwise.
avril 04, 2010
Stippling
by Richard Gleaves
avril 03, 2010
ED FOSMIRE APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
from the press release
Ed Fosmire
The Board of Trustees of Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) today announced the appointment of Ed Fosmire as Executive Director. A start date of April 15, 2010 is anticipated. “I’m thrilled to be the incoming executive director for OMA. This museum is truly a class act. Its programs and exhibitions are completely top-notch. I have been so impressed with everybody and everything I have encountered at the museum. Skip Pahl, the staff, board and volunteers have done an amazing job building OMA into what it is today—this beautiful, vibrant cultural gem. Skip’s will be big shoes to fill. But with the leadership of board president, Beate Russe and vice president, Carolyn Mickelson, the rest of what is a very supportive and dedicated board, a great staff and motivated volunteers we will build upon Skip’s legacy and present a variety of programming for everyone in the community—programming whose one common denominator will be excellence.” Said Mr. Fosmire.
Mr. Fosmire comes to OMA with a strong background in arts fundraising and over 17 years experience in the arts. He has most recently been a Director of Development at California State University, Long Beach. Under his leadership his programs raised almost $1.5 million over the last year.
Mr. Fosmire began his career in the arts almost 17 years ago in arts education and as an instructor of art history and art appreciation. As an art historian and educator currently at Chapman University he has a deep understanding and appreciation of the benefits of formal and informal arts learning across the age spectrum and its importance in bolstering success in critical thinking, appreciation of diversity, and creative risk-taking. His specialty is in Asian art with a particular interest in the arts of India, Tibet and Japan. With Oceanside on the Pacific Rim Mr. Fosmire believes there are significant opportunities to explore East/West dialogue through the visual and performing arts.
“I’m a proponent of the notion that a museum should be responsive to and engage its community. A museum should also challenge and educate visitors and promote local and regional early- and mid-career artists. I believe that museums and other arts organizations are vital partners in creating safe, vibrant communities and at generating local revenue. Arts organizations shouldn’t be isolated from other parts of the community-they should partner with social, educational, religious, and community organizations for the benefit of local citizens and the organizations themselves” said Mr. Fosmire.
Before becoming Director of Development at CSU Long Beach, Mr. Fosmire was Director of Development and Marketing at Long Beach Museum of Art. He oversaw and facilitated the Museum’s 10-year AAM Reaccreditation Self-Study and the 5-year strategic planning process. He developed the concept and oversaw implementation of the popular LBMA After Dark program, and developed and instituted fundraising strategies supporting the Museum’s exhibitions, educational programs, and general operations. Mr. Fosmire also managed the LBMA’s annual giving and end-of-year campaigns and oversaw the museum’s membership department. Additional non-profit positions he has held include Director of Grants at the Arts Council for Long Beach, School Visits Coordinator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and Education Associate at the Orange County Museum of Art. Mr. Fosmire holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from California State University, Long Beach.
Mr. Fosmire replaces James “Skip” Pahl, who retires April 22, 2010 after 12 years as OMA’s founding Executive Director. During those years he led the $6 million capital campaign to expand the museum, culminating in a soaring addition designed by internationally known modernist architect Fredrick Fisher. During his tenure he increased the size of the exhibition schedule and the permanent collection, strengthened the mission of the museum and instituted significant public programs. He led a Capital Campaign to retire OMA’s construction debt raising a total of $750,000.
Over the past two years, OMA has seen a period of extraordinary growth in exhibitions, the operating budget, programs, facility rental, and maintenance. The museum is in a great place for transition with a $700,000 annual operating budget and a stunning new building full of potential. Mr. Fosmire, who will lead OMA as it grows and strengthens its mission, is looking forward to enhancing the museums resources, collections, and membership.
Oceanside Museum of Art is located at 704 Pier View Way in downtown Oceanside within walking distance from the Oceanside transit center with Amtrak and NCTD Coaster stops. For questions call 760.435.3720 or visit the website at www.oma-online.org
2nd Annual Environmental Art Exhibit
from the press release
In collaboration with Green Spring Encinitas and the Cottonwood Creek Environmental Film Series.
Exhibit: Look at everyday objects, found items and reused or recycled materials in a new way through
this juried exhibit at the Encinitas Library. Presented by the City of Encinitas Commission for the Arts.
Dates: Earth Day, April 22 thru Environment Day, June 6, 2010.
Theme: Recycle, Reclaim, Repurpose.
Environmental Art Definition: Submitted work may be reasonably considered “environmental art” if it is entirely, or primarily, composed of at least 85% material(s) that would otherwise have been disposed of in waste streams. This can include 2 or 3-dimensional artwork as well as functional items that fall into the realm of industrial design or wearable art.
Categories
1. Mixed Media—Wall Hanging (2-D)
2. Mixed Media—Free Standing (3-D)
3. Function—Waste Materials into a Working Invention
4. Fashion—Wearable Art
Awards
• Best of Show
• First Place
• Honorable Mention
Opening Reception: Awards will be announced at the Opening Reception for the artists and the public, to be held on Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 5:00 –8:00 PM in the Community Room of the Encinitas Library.
This event will also include the Opening Celebration for Green Spring Encinitas—more details to come. All are welcome to attend.
More info and application here
Colby Jackson's Milky Way Galaxy Shop
from the press release
We are very privileged and excited to have Colby Jackson showing his work at the Lab from April 3-25. The "Milky Way Galaxy Shop" will host nearly 500 works that have filled the lockers and the landscape at Palomar College for years! Colby is possibly the most diligently creative artist we know. To see his work in person is really to take a trip to places in yourself you may not have visited for years... or even forgot existed. (Not to sound to forward... but we highly recommend bringing your checkbook too... not only is most of his work able to live indoors and out, but prices are recession friendly, and we'd say there's a good chance you might fall in love with an alien in need of a new home...)
Opening reception: April 3, 2010 from 5 - 10 pm
LINKSOUL
530 S.Coast Hwy
Oceanside, CA 92054
An Interview with Artist Colby Jackson from linksoul on Vimeo.
High Maintenance
from the NY Times
The insurance industry uses the phrase “mysterious disappearance” to describe a missing item when the owner does not know how it vanished. This is not all that unusual if the missing item is an earring, but a painting by Marc Chagall? That was what happened to one collector who had had a Chagall painting displayed on his yacht.
In fact, it took the owners months to realize the painting was not on the wall. “The original had been replaced by a poor copy,” said Katja Zigerlig, assistant vice president of fine art, wine and jewelry insurance at Chartis Insurance. “The yacht had been to 30 different ports in the past year, changing crews, hosting charity events — there was no way to figure out the culprit.”