Art as Authority

Patricia Frischer, is founder of the San Diego Art Prize along with Ann Berchtold and Joan Seifried, and is also the force behind San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN) - an online métropole of artist resources and arts info unique to San Diego. A long time supporter of Art as Authority, Patricia, is debuting on our pages for the first time in a gesture of cultural cross pollination and collaborative exchange, with a review of "Inside the Wave: Six San Diego/Tijuana artists construct social art" on view at the San Diego Museum of Art. We welcome Patricia, and hope you will too. Enjoy! kf





The *particle group*


The San Diego Museum of Art exhibition Inside the Wave was named by its curator Betti-Sue Hertz for its insider view of a new wave of artists not shown at the museum before. I attended the lecture/panel discussion where they all made presentations including a live Skype hook up with Adriene Jenik from Singapore. Brian Dick, Allison Wiese, Zlatan Vukosavljevic and Nina Waisman from the *particle group* and Bulbo presenting Tijuaneado Anonimos were the other five presenters.

Continue reading "Inside the Wave: Six San Diego/Tijuana artists
construct social art - A Review" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In October of 2004, my cousin Paula and I stepped into the Paul Kopeikin Gallery on Wilshire Blvd. and saw a magnificent large painting of an angelic-looking blonde female clothed in a beautifully rendered dress of greens and flowers painted in the style of the Renaissance masters. It was at that time that we "discovered" the artist Julie Heffernan. My cousin was more enthusiastic about Julie's painting at the time than I was (my taste in art veered more towards the abstract, weird, and contemporary). But, I admired the artist's amazing painting skills!

Occasionally Paula, who lives in New York, would ask me if I could find out (via computer - my cousin doesn't do computers) if Julie Heffernan was showing in the NY area. To make a long story shorter, Paula became obsessed with Julie's art, and I had gone onto other things. Fast forward 2 1/2 years. I was checking the Night and Day section of our paper recently to see if a local gallery I was interested in was listed among the chosen few. It was not. However, on that very page, my eyes caught an artist's name that I would normally associate with showing only in LA or NYC. It was none other than Julie Heffernan! AND... she was showing at the LUX Art Institute in Encinitas - a place I had heard about but never been, yet!



Julie Heffernan - Self Portrait with Men in Hats,
oil on canvas, 2007 Courtesy PPOW Gallery


OMG!! Do I dare call my cousin Paula and tell her WHO is showing here?? Would she have a heart attack? Unfortunately, she and her family are struggling financially, and a flight out here to see the show would only add more $$ to their 6-figure debt. But I did tell Paula, and, as upset as she was, wanted me to "claw" all Heffernan literature, postcards, ("oh and if there is a catalog of the show, please please please?!" ) when I go to LUX. Not wasting any time, I phoned LUX for directions (I sort of knew the general vicinity) and was a bit surprised when they told me it was behind a Kindercare - HA! I could see the wee ones skipping uphill behind their facility to get some culture at LUX!

If you read LUX's mission statement below, you see the words - "make art more accessible - see the artistic process firsthand - internationally recognized artists." I like that! So, I decided to go on a Friday afternoon to see this artistic process firsthand by the artist my cousin would KILL to see again, let alone to watch her paint (please email me your donations to transport my cousin out here).

I was captivated by LUX, the building looks like something out of the pages of dwell magazine. I COULD live in it - EASILY - for those of you not familiar with dwell, the building is very minimally modernistic. It was designed by Renzo Zecchetto (oh how I love those Italians, they KNOW how to design). Nestled into a hillside, it is one of only a few "green" buildings in SD county. WOW!! As I approached the gallery and resident artist "studio," I noticed a beautifully draped section of the gallery. Some of the sheer white curtain was pulled back so you could view the artist creating a new work. And lo and behold, there was Julie Heffernan, with a few brushes in her hand, busily sketching onto a large canvas. I could smell the oil paint so strongly, an odor I never get to smell (I paint with innocent acrylics). The radio was stationed on talk radio, a folding chair, a table full of paint tubes, the usual studio accoutrements!

Continue reading "[de]LUX ART INSTITUTE" »

Spun by Maura Vazakas at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

OR is Innocence is Questionable, questionable? Thoughts on "artspeak" and the presumed innocence of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.


"WHY is so much curatorial writing so dreadful?... My first assumption is that there's a generation of curators who went to college and grad school in the 1980s and '90s, when the congested language of Deconstruction, Critical Studies and so on still seemed important, intrepid and even a little glamorous."
--Richard Lacayo, critic, TIME magazine. The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization, April 1, 2008.

"Turgid"
Main Entry: tur·gid
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin turgidus, from turgēre to be swollen
Date: 1620
1: being in a state of distension : swollen, tumid [turgid limbs]; especially : exhibiting turgor
2: excessively embellished in style or language : bombastic, pompous [turgid prose]
--Merriam-Webster

"Noyer le poisson" (lit. "to drown the fish")
French slang
1: to cloud or dilute, blend. hide truth [fish tale]



Egyptian; Lisht North - Gold, beryl - ca. 1981–1640 B.C., The Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Ancient Egyptians called fish amulets like this nekhau and gave them to young girls to wear as a charm against drowning."


FACT #1: I've been hesitant to tresspass upon an exhibit, that, I am simultaneously involved in as public spectator (art critic, if you will) and unpaid participant, insomuch as my participation is not related to the show's organization, but its support.

FACT #2: I haven't picked up a copy of TIME magazine in over 10 years. I stopped reading TIME - I never read the whole magazine anyway, just the art reviews - when Robert Hughes left his outpost as the magazine's art critic. Born in Australia, Hughes, among other professional and literary activities inbetween, moved to New York in 1970 to become TIME magazine's leading and most influential critic of the arts. He is an obvious hero of mine, a major influence, and a consistent inspiration to this day. I still recall, screening The Shock of the New on VHS, in the University's (UCD) lecture hall during a class entitled, Art Since 1945.

FACT #3: Ignorance is bliss, and so, I have not read anything by TIME magazine's (new?) critic Richard Lacayo, until now. I'm going to start though, if his recent article, The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization, and the quote referenced above, are any indication of the commentary I'll be viewing.

Continue reading ""Noyer le Poisson" & The Decline and Fall
of Western Civilization*" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The COPY exhibit currently on view at the Simayspace Gallery downtown got some copy, today, in the form of a nice article and review of the show, by San Diego Union Tribune's art critic, Robert Pincus. The long hours of planning, ideas and physical work that went into the organization of this exhibition, paid off. I'm grateful.

This show of course, couldn't have been possible without the help, good faith and excellent work provided by the artists who participated. I take this opportunity to thank all those who helped in the planning and execution of this event (and if you think this is sounding like an acceptance speech for an Academy Award, you would be right - I'm elated.)

Thanks to the artists: Richard Gleaves, KAI1, Joey Burns, Tom Torluemke, Herve Crespel and Bret Barrett; gratitude for Doug Simay at Simayspace Gallery and the Art Academy of San Diego for the invitation and letting me be the "first;" Mark over at BodyMarks Tattoo on El Cajon Blvd. for playing a major role in the performance; Patricia Frischer for being a sounding board to last minute ideas; Elliott Linwood for curatorial advice at a crucial moment; and finally, Robert Pincus from the San Diego Union Tribune.


Freitas follows the rabbit down the hole
Curator strives for an 'Alice in Wonderland' feel to exhibit at Simayspace

By Robert L. Pincus
ART CRITIC
March 30, 2008

Kevin Freitas has placed a big desk in the current exhibition he's curated for Simayspace downtown. It even has his nameplate on it, with his title (art critic) in French ... more

Continue reading "Critical COPY or A Critic Critiques a Critic
This is how I roll." »

Spun by Art as Authority at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Julien Colombier at Art Produce Gallery


Can't say I didn't warn you but I did, and now we have a perfect case (several) of what a lot of us have been preaching these past several months - consistency, integrity, vision and how to put on a good show. March has turned out to be an excellent and exciting month in North Park, particularly on that hallowed art ground we call Ray St. I believe one should lead by example, especially when it comes to exhibiting in the art world. Lead they have and remarkably well, both Spacecraft and 4 Walls have exhibits ranging in style and temperament with rock solid performances. At Spacecraft Matt Wedel is showing some large scale glazed ceramic sculptures of quirky and delightfully charming Polar Bears embracing or dancing, and colorful singular slices of flowering plants clinging to angular stacked boulders. The photographer Bill Dane and the mixed-media artist Kimberly Tomney round out a beautiful and compelling show of works at 4 Walls. Bill Dane, for those of you like myself who are learning about him for the first time, is a longtime Bay Area photographer who has received critical acclaim during his long career and who has also received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts each twice. Impressive for work rich in metaphor that combines straight non-manipulated photos of juxtaposed layers of "common" everyday life - bus stops, billboards, window panes, advertising etc. - mixed in with the folk who inhabit that environment, reflected and shadowed oftentimes by the artist's own shadow in a domino effect of us as viewer/voyeur, the artist, and then the subject (photographed). They are stunningly simple and beautiful.

Kimberly's amalgam aluminum and pen & ink drawings on paper of suburban swimming pools have that definite Southern Californian feel to them, reminiscent of Edward Ruscha's black & white photos of the same subject in "Nine Swimming Pools and a Broken Glass" and they even retain the same dead-pan humor and irony of his images. What sets Kimberly's drawings apart is the elegance, simplicity of line and form, and the almost religious atmosphere she creates and worships upon such a banal luxury.

4 Walls Gallery

Spacecraft Gallery


Finally, French artist Julien Colombier from Paris has orchestrated a spectacular installation of painted paper bags at the Art Produce Gallery. Derrik Chinn, online editor of the Nightlife & Visitors info at SignOnSanDiego.com, has written a nice little article about Julien's exhibit complete with several photos and a series of questions & answers for the artist. You can read an excerpt from the article below:


POP BOMB: Julien Colombier at ART Produce

Graffiti sprayed all over the sides of city trains, buses and walls. Entire sides of skyrises draped with advertisements. Digital billboards towering over the interstate. Urban decor has exploded with such an intensity that megalopolises such as Sao Paulo, Brazil (population: 10,886,518), are beginning to ban all forms of public advertisements. Imagine ... continue.

If this isn't enough to get you into Spring with a light heart and a head full of images, I can't help you then...

Spun by Art as Authority at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Andi Brandenburg - "Besos not Bombs"


I recently had the welcomed opportunity to give 350 words to CITYBEAT and saw them published today online and in hard copy. What was about? - a review of the current exhibition on display at Art Produce Gallery entitled "Endeavor," a group show of 15 San Diego artists under the collective umbrella of Bill Pierce and Radioactive Future. While I was generally disappointed in the range of work presented, I did find a handful of artists that have consistently "stepped-up" and produced works over the months that continue to innovate and delight. The above work by Andi Brandenburg does not. This may seem unfair but what I do know is this: we're all in this together. We all have our assigned role as artist, curator, gallery, critic, collector, public, museum et al. - as stereotypical and mundane as that might appear on the surface - which has a significant impact on how we go about demonstrating that responsibility. Some of you might be unaware of this added burden or are simply uninterested. This is certainly your right and choice.

I believe to a very large degree that the days of "art for art's sake" are finished - we no longer have the luxury or the time (or the money perhaps) to mess around in the studio and let the art mature and age with grace. Life, society, politics and the world in the 21st century are accelerating past us at an alarming rate which leaves no time for a craft that requires reflection and intuition. Too bad. So as much as I call for some changes in the how and why artists exhibit their works in San Diego, I would also ask them not to speed up the production of those works but to slow it down. Make it count. By making each and every work that you make count, not only are you building a stronger and more diverse community - definitely more exciting - you're also fulfilling the obligations and right to be an artist. Please don't take it lightly - an audience is out there watching and waiting.

You can read the full review here in this week's CITYBEAT. KF

Continue reading "Art Review - San Diego CITYBEAT - "Endeavor"" »

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We're excited to have Paul Klein as our Special Guest on Art as Authority, graciously accepting to let us reprint his latest Art Letter - an online open letter of sorts covering the galleries and museums in Chicago, Illinois. Writing as if to an acquaintance, Paul is often direct and never afraid of strong opinions, speaking freely and directly to the reader in his unfallible support of Chicago artists. It takes a certain "vecu" and knowledge to understand fully an art community as varied and vibrant as Chicago's. Paul knows this because he has been a large part of its history as gallery dealer, collector, arts writer and corporate art advisor. Paul is a rare breed of those who dedicate themselves to art; we hope you'll dedicate yourself to reading more of his reviews. Enjoy! kf


Art Letter(1/25/08) [#57] Warming Up

I haven’t been writing because there’s been a dearth of good art. Finally that trend is being reversed with the opening of 4 superb exhibitions.

Continue reading "Paul Klein's Art Letter - Chicago" »

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©MURAKAMI — now playing at MOCA — is the blockbuster retrospective of artist (and Walt Disney reincarnate) Takashi Murakami.

The show has earned notoriety for including not only the usual museum shop stuffed with artist merchandise, but also a gallery which is a fully functional Louis Vuitton store selling thousand-dollar Murakami handbags, and another gallery configured as a retail display case for the artist’s lower-end products.

Framing MOCA as a traditional museum space for presenting art objects, the show represents not only yet another crowded blockbuster but also a new low in the commercialization of visual culture.

But reframing MOCA as a neutral site which can be temporarily transformed into any kind of social space, the Murakami show functions not only as a presentation of visual art but also as a representation of the social phenomenon of commercial art.

In this perspective the viewer experience crucially depends on the presence of a crowd looking at the art, watching the anime, and — depending on their class — buying handbags from the boutique or knickknacks from the gift shop.

And so it does: for those with ears to hear, the ka-ching of a cash register in a museum gallery is not the same as one in a mall outlet. The sound gets neatly delimited by critical air quotes.

This is supported by a comment from the curator, who has said about the boutique that “the visitor’s relationship to that part of the show is the action that takes place in it."

Additional support comes from a nice bit of temporal assemblage by the MOCA programmers: the show immediately following Murakami’s is a retrospective of Allan Kaprow, who would rightly identify the show preceding his as one big happening.


©MURAKAMI
10.29.07 - 2.11.08
MOCA @ The Geffen Contemporary

Allan Kaprow - Art As Life
02.23.08 - 06.30.08
MOCA @ The Geffen Contemporary

Spun by at 03:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Prawech Pranaprom


I met Prawech Pranaprom at a coffee shop in downtown Manhattan after being fascinated with his recent series of work which he calls his “bubble paintings”. Even amongst the large group of people festering on the city streets I intuitively recognized him instantly. He carried a small portfolio of paintings and drawings under his arm and had his very pregnant wife in tow. Just like his paintings she looked like she might pop at any moment. I was lucky to get to get to chop it up with him for a few minutes about his painstakingly detailed pictures.

Continue reading "Introducing Prawech Pranaprom" »

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“Leave no stone unturned” – Euripides
“No good deed goes unpunished” – Clare Booth Luce (for Doug Simay)


What constitutes a good deed in art? Having the idea, being the artist, making the work, selling it, or a good crowd for the opening?



"Shims: Thousands of Uses - Use #3" (detail) - Christine Lee


Does a good deed in art mean that you were a success; the show was a success, tout était compris by the viewer or a viewer, the public, a friend, a lover, an art critic – you? Do good deeds in art or in life make up for all the bad things we’ve done or the bad art we’ve shown? Is there a bad deed that is never punished? Should artists be punished – and for what you ask? I say for all their good deeds, their artwork, their desire to create and fabricate images and objects out of thin air, and for their blasphemous cries of “this is art!” Or does this punishment for an artist come in the form of a show “missed” closed the weekend before you could get to it, or maybe a bad review or none at all? Is a good deed really enough to absolve you, me, and her from our daily responsibilities and moral and ethical – social – upbringing(s)? Isn’t it better for an artwork to be punished by the questions it leaves unanswered than to be complacent and all knowing?

Continue reading "Christine Lee - "Shims: Thousands of Uses - Use #3"
at Art Produce North Park" »

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This concludes the review of David Adey's exhibit at Spacecraft Gallery - KF



"Pump" - David Adey


If you look around the incredible display of works by Adey in this his first solo exhibition, you might deduce that he likes to work in series. This makes a lot of sense of course given the stamina and patience he brings to each and every work, stubbornly(in my view) by methodically finishing and drawing out the last breath of each sculpture’s essence. What I do know in asking him directly, is that this working methodology is part and parcel responsible for the greater success of all of his works. Aside from the one “lamb” sculpture in the exhibition and the other two I spoke of which are not, there are two separate bodies of work (loosely) that employ the use of black drywall screws and craft punches – no less compelling I guarantee.

Continue reading "David Adey - "Atomic Particulars"
Spacecraft Studio Lands in North Park - Part III" »

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“A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me.”
(Dr.) Victor Frankenstein

“I was benevolent, my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone?”
Monster



"Lamb of Man" - David Adey


David Adey could be a modern day Dr. Frankenstein. He is very fond of the literary genius of Mary Shelley and I would imagine, fond of any work of genius whether it be in literature, art, music or relevant discipline if somehow he could break it down, dissect it, and put it back together into his own vision of order. The world according to Adey. He is not a dictator and this is not about power, it is about structure. Adey doesn’t give you much wiggle room when looking at his oeuvre; you’re almost always reacting to or against the very visceral content laid out before you. The work is emotionally charged and spiritually complex, it assaults the viewer’s sensibility by controlling the viewer’s intake of what is being looked at. It is sensual, deceiving, mischievous and humorous. It is also obsessive, maniac, and perfection at its core. It can also be process, repetition, manufacturing, design. It is Adey’s penance for having created so “many happy and excellent natures” that owe their being to him.

Continue reading "David Adey - "Atomic Particulars"
Spacecraft Studio Lands in North Park - Part II" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"To boldly go where no man has gone before" is indeed a lofty mission statement by which most of us know by now is the stuff of science fiction; much like the exuberant proclamations of the Administration’s equally enthusiastic “The Way Forward” or “Mission Accomplished”. The upside of the adventures of Capt. Kirk and the USS Enterprise is that their journey has never really ended, boldly moving forward exploring every nook and cranny of the universe. The downside of the political quagmire we find ourselves in today is that we are truly stuck, hardly advancing and sinking deeper.

A bit like the current art scene here in San Diego, wouldn’t you say? There’s the stuff that floats on the surface, bobbing for attention and then there’s the stuff that is already starting to decompose, shedding its superficiality and exposing its heart and soul. Not all bad art sinks and not all good art rises to the top, it takes a certain blend of ooze, time, permutation and quality of the ingredients – yes, the good art – to get a residue worth staining the knees of your pants as you dig down to pull up some of that primordial muck we call art. (All allusions to Peter Morgan’s recent expo at Spacecraft is intentional) But where do you know to dig? Call it Lady Luck, the environment, experience or just plain boredom, call it what you want but sometimes you needn’t drive from Houston, Texas to Orlando, Florida to find what you’re craving for. Sometimes it’s bubbling right up in your own backyard and sometimes it just lands there.

Take Emily Fierer and Christopher Puzio for example. They land in San Diego, stardate 2003, but it takes a meeting of the minds in Boston so to speak, via a voyage on their way here plus a long layover in Detroit to make it happen – that is to say, the building and opening of their design firm and gallery known as Spacecraft Studio in North Park. It is an interplanetary adventure that merits a closer look.

Continue reading "Spacecraft Studio Lands in North Park - Part I" »

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(Roman De Salvo - photo: Crissy Pascual SD Union Tribune)

Three “emerging” artists Allison Wiese, Lael Corbin and Pamela Jaeger have been selected for the San Diego Art Prize. If you recall, these were three artists that were participants in a larger group exhibit at the Simayspace Gallery downtown, chosen from 14 others hoping to be selected for a future exposition and potential mentorship with three established or career artists living and working in San Diego. Those career artists, according to Patricia Frischer – coordinator of SDVAN and the Art Prize – had free reign to choose whomever they wanted and even had a “Get out of jail” card to use in case they wanted to choose someone else outside of that group. Luckily that didn’t happen. Marcos Ramirez ERRE, Roman De Salvo and Elanor Antin took on the responsibility and challenge to select their future partners and exposants. ERRE will team up with Allison Wiese, De Salvo with Lael Corbin and Antin with Pamela Jaeger.

Continue reading "And the winner is... SD Art Prize unveils" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is the third and final review of the "New Contemporaries" exhibit currently on view at the Simayspace Gallery, downtown San Diego.




"Paint #30" - Brad Streeper


Brad Streeper’s (www.streeperart.com) paintings are brash, large unflinching pieces that are robust, solid and fought out on the wood panels they’re painted on. Painted might be too romantic for the swirling orbs of material used to construct these abstract icons of solidified acrylic paint, gesso, glue and ink that create an aura of muted pastel colors bathed in faint reds and blues, charcoal blacks and titanium whites. The works are fluid by the nature of the materials used, poured on in layers of hide and seek washes, utilizing an all over approach to the surface often laying the panels on the floor. The effect is a topographical (maybe) satellite view of the land, sea or atmosphere.

Continue reading "The "New Contemporaries" @ Simayspace - Part III" »

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The following is a review of 9 of the 17 artists exhibiting in the "New Contemporaries" exhibit at the Simayspace gallery downtown. Part III will follow soon after.



"Shannon Spanhake by Doug Simay" - Shannon Spanhake

Shannon Spanhake (www.shannonspanhake.org) engineer of airBUD - a wireless and mobile device that monitors personal exposure levels to air pollution, and who has also planted flower beds in potholes throughout the streets of Tijuana in a cross cultural and across the border exchange, offers the viewer a conceptual farce for lack of a better description of her work entitled “Shannon Spanhake by Doug Simay”.

Continue reading "The "New Contemporaries" @ Simayspace - Part II" »

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"Industry Need Not Want"(detail) - Allison Wiese



A personal dilemma I have had lately, when visiting an exhibition, is what information am I relying on - meaning what do I exactly see in front of me - and what do I need to fill in with past visual experiences/memories, knowledge or these days, an artist’s website. It’s as if I need some sort of cultural reference guidebook or art historical dictionary to remind me where I’ve seen work like this before let alone getting a crack at, or a glimpse of its ubiquitous meaning. Unfortunately, some of these references hark back to the abundance of imagery in the public domain (freebies) – then appropriately appropriated by the artist or somehow eluding to past art historical movements without fully embracing or challenging them. It is a problem I see in much of the artwork being made here in San Diego. It is also what I’ve seen in the “New Contemporaries” exhibit on view at the Simayspace Gallery, part of the San Diego Art Academy downtown.

Continue reading "The "New Contemporaries" @ Simayspace - Part I - OR
Impressions: soleil couchant à l'ouest" »

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"Make Money B 4 I Die" - Monica Hoover


THERE are very few times (lately) that I’ve walked into an exhibition and have been captivated by what I saw.

Continue reading "San Diego Round-up Part 2 : "A Fine Line"
Rubber Rose Gallery - Ray St." »

Spun by Art as Authority at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Jeremy Wright - "Gruffy Jack Ball"

"This is where the rubber meets the road" I was once told by a gallery owner that I worked for in sales, believing he did that most successes in life and the negotiations necessary to achieve them came not by chance but by persistence and a call to the client. You don’t buy a ticket you can’t win the Lottery and if you don’t call the client you can’t make a sale. Sound advice but does it always work? Well of course not but at least you know where you stand. Persistence, tenacity, hard work all respectable values, some would even call them character traits but do they pay off in achieving your goals? How about in the art world?

Continue reading "San Diego Round-up Part I : "Tenacious"
Zedism Gallery - Normal Heights" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"I remember way back in the days on my block... "

Bill Boyce - downtown Hammond, Indiana (courtesy Uncle Freddy's Gallery)



Couldn't have been any better, good friends, great art, 4 days of vacation in the artropolis of the Midwest - Chicago. And thanks to Tom Torluemke and Linda Dorman of Uncle Freddy's Gallery, you can add Hammond to the list thank you very much.

Continue reading "Uncle Freddy's, Bill Boyce, Kapoor, Artropolis, Wicker Park and Chi-Town" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 09:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I just got back from visiting the newly renovated Jacobs building at 1100 Kettner Boulevard downtown San Diego, the contemporary art annex to MCASD’s (Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego) permanent exhibition space across the street. It was up until recently, the Baggage Express holding area for the Santa Fe Depot train station that is adjacent to it and still in service. It had been empty for several years and then acquired by the museum. According to the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum web site the depot is, “an outstanding example of the classic Spanish Mission-Colonial Revival style of architecture, including Moorish influences.” It also goes on to say, “the Santa Fe Depot is 650 feet long by 106 feet wide, including the Baggage Express building, connected to its north end by arches and a track-side arcade. It's built of wood, bricks, cement and tile on a steel frame, with wide arches, tuscan columns, baroque cornices and heavy masonry appearance. The roof is of steel supported wood, with red mission tiles. Its twin towers have zigzag-pattern glazed tiles with Santa Fe's cross-in-circle emblem. The bricks around the depot were laid without mortar for long wear in a herringbone pattern.”

Continue reading ""Hi, I would like to inform you that there’s no touching allowed" Something not very net about Neto at the MCASD. Are all cubes square? Not if you turn them on their side. Go ask the LACMA and Jeff Koons." »

Spun by Art as Authority at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

WHEN I moved to Brussels to open my gallery, I found a large home with commercial ground floor space and living up above. De-centralized from the downtown arts district, I found myself located in a predominately Turkish and Moroccan neighbourhood with a couple of aging Belgian families too old to relocate or too stubborn to move like some already lost Alamo battle against the rising tide of immigration washing upon their shore. Equal opportunity and issues of class and/or culture over in Europe are a far cry from the problems we’ve experienced and continue to have in America, but it is no less damaging. At the time I truly felt that art could conquer all, turning the whirlpool of ignorance and hate into a positive life altering, food for the soul experience. I don’t believe anyone thought we would see 9/11, terrorism yes but not on that level, and certainly I believe no one felt it less when it did happen, than those involved in a very naïve and hubristic art world – including myself. How ironic that the destruction of the two Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan were the first to fall – art, religion, mankind had suffered the first lance. Don’t get me wrong, art has its place within the society; however it never seems to be in the right place at the right time. I no longer feel art can even remotely solve the world’s problems.

Looking back before the events of 9/11, I recall a few years earlier, opening the doors of the gallery for the first time to the amazement and shock of the neighbourhood – they were a bit amused to say the least. In hindsight, perhaps they felt threatened. I mean who would purposely move into a community that had previously been reluctantly given up to now, second and third generation immigrants with their own children, having taken the place of their parents, now with even fewer possibilities of social and economic success, a “good” education and overwhelming racial inequality at every turn.

Continue reading "Crystal Clear" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 07:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

"Presto" - May-Ling Martinez

There’s Rubber-hose cryptanalysis and the Rubber Rose boutique. Rubber-hose cryptanalysis is a euphemism for the extraction of cryptographic secrets from a person through torture by beating them with well, a rubber-hose. The term was apparently coined by Marcus J. Ranum within the sci.crypt newsgroup, “the rubber-hose technique of cryptanalysis (in which a rubber hose is applied forcefully and frequently to the soles of the feet until the key to the cryptosystem is discovered.” A process that supposedly takes a very short time, is relatively inexpensive to implement and highly reliable given the human being is often considered to be the weakest link in any forceful interrogation. The Rubber Rose Boutique, Gallery and Community Space on Ray Street has from all appearances, taken a much gentler safer approach to obtaining those very intimate cryptographic secrets from its clients. Safe is the new sexy.

Continue reading "A brief history of feminism, Porn is good, and riding the third wave. Does F-O-U-R add up? answers at the Rubber Rose" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

“The Secret Life of Salvador Dali,” published in 1942 against the backdrop of spectacular world events including World War II, the Sino-Japanese War, the Wannsee conference in Berlin which opened the doors to the Holocaust - to name but a few, Dali wrote a manifesto of sorts aptly entitled “My Battle” which wasn’t fought with the Allies against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan but was fought against conformity in any spiritual, philosophical or aesthetic form. It was one man’s fight against the Nine Muses or any Muse for that matter that threatened to level the battle field to a match nul.

"Self-Examination"

Continue reading "Exposé part II - Tom Torluemke - his paintings" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I WAS recently asked by Linda Dorman and Tom Torluemke of Uncle Freddy's Gallery (Hammond, Indiana), to write an essay about Tom's latest paper installation work and current paintings, to be published in a catalog. Here is the following article and some of Tom's latest creations.

In AD 105, a Chinese official by the name of Ts’ai Lun, invented papermaking using textile waste and is considered to be the birth of paper as we know it today. Since then, paper has been used by artists, society, and the government as a very vital and necessary documentary tool that links us to a rich past and increasingly perilous future.

And herein lies the rub. A classic example and struggle between the old and the new, an industrial age versus a technological newer one, craftsmanship versus commercially produced, made in America versus made in China, Taiwan, India, Mexico ad naseum, outsourced jobs that lead to outsourced unemployment in foreign countries outsourcing further still to more cost effective foreign competitors with not surprisingly, lower labour costs. The list is long, yet we still all have a dream no? Is it uniquely an American dream?

Continue reading "Exposé - Tom Torluemke" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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.

Continue reading "GOOD ART........NOT! (I wonder if Borat would have said the NOT sooner!) My personal View on "Personal Views Regarding Private Collections in S.D." @ SDMA in Balboa Park" »

Spun by Maura Vazakas at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"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.

Continue reading "NATURAMA - New Work Maura Vazakas" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 07:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

COULROPHOBIA
derived from the Greek words koulon(limb) and kolobathris(one who goes on stilts) or in English – the Fear of Clowns – is one of those phenomenon that has probably existed since time immemorial when the court jester had to make the King laugh and has evolved throughout the centuries into carnival freak shows, the circus and later through film.

Continue reading "COULROPHOBIA - The Fear of Clowns @
the Art of Framing" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

According to the exhibition catalog, W. Haase Wojtyla was born in Chicago in 1933. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago from 1952 to 1954, left Chicago for New York in the mid-1950's, and earned his M.A. from the University of Cincinnati in the early 1960's before returning to New York in 1967. He moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico with his wife and child in 1970, left Mexico in 1973 for San Diego, CA where he has been living and painting for the last 30 years. Wojtyla was included in several prestigious shows while in Chicago, notably the Exhibition of Chicago and Vicinity in 1956 and the Momentum Exhibition of the same year, an alternative exhibit in reaction to what was thought to be unfair politics and exclusion of those students desiring to participate in the Vicinity show. Wojtyla was also part of Art in America's New Talent in the U.S. survey of 1957 which included the likes of Helen Frankenthaler and Ellsworth Kelly. The current exhibit at the Oceanside Museum of Art, Ca is the largest retrospective of Wojtyla's paintings in over ten years.

Continue reading "W. Haase Wojtyla: A Coincidence of Paintings @ Oceanside Museum of Art" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Each step I take over moss covered rocks, oozing stagnant muddy waters and prickly scrub brush brings me closer to these mammoths, carrying the weight of humanity like some forgotten Atlas, standing broad shouldered in a successive line, forgotten monuments to the taming of the West, an industrial era and revolutionary building materials.

Continue reading "Art under the overpass" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

INFLUENCES IS THE TITLE OF NEW WORKS BY SAN DIEGO ARTIST KELLY HUTCHISON aka Dark Vomit, on view at the Art of Framing Gallery in Normal Heights. WOW !

Continue reading ""Influences" - New works by Kelly Hutchison
aka Dark Vomit The Art of Framing Gallery, San Diego" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

HALFTOLDS IS THE TITLE OF MAY-LING MARTINEZ’S LATEST WORK ON VIEW AT THE ART PRODUCE GALLERY IN SAN DIEGO and I didn’t like it.

Continue reading ""Halftolds" May-ling Martinez @ Art Produce Gallery" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The invitation reads "Brad / Curtis Together again and better than ever!", a titillating title for San Diegans Brad Streeper and Curtis Gannon, who are obviously friends as well as fellow artists. You might expect some collaborative effort on their part but what you’ll discover are two very distinct and diverse works of art that appear at least on the surface, in opposition. Brad Streeper is exhibiting three large works in the Art of Framing gallery space, and Curtis Gannon provides the links in the maille that weave their way through Streeper’s constructions with smaller brightly colored canvases. If opposites attract, it leaves us to wonder what being the same could look like as this show is seamlessly organized, installed and surprisingly “better than ever.”

Continue reading "Brad Streeper/Curtis Gannon at the Art of Framing" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I was up in Costa Mesa, California the other night for the opening of Collabro at the Subject Matter Gallery. I took the hour long ride or so up there with my good friend Ryan from The Art of Framing gallery here in San Diego. Subject Matter is not really a "gallery" in the strict sense of the word or what comes to mind when we think of a gallery.

Continue reading "Working Together" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Art as Authority's contributing editor, Maura Vazakas, is currently showing new works at the RogerLewisKing Gallery, San Diego. If you haven't seen Maura's new State Bird paintings yet, your very much in for a surprise - they are some of the freshest work I've seen in a long while. However, the biggest surprise might be finding the gallery open, so save some gas and call ahead.

Installation view of new paintings and Matty photos by Maura Vazakas