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" »

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Simayspace @ the Academy
The Art Academy of San Diego
840 G Street
San Diego, CA 92101
619.231.3900

COPY features installation work and collages by San Diego artists Richard Gleaves and Joey Burns, drawings by French artist Hervé Crespel and by Indiana/Chicago artist Tom Torluemke, and a mural by Arizona graffitist KAI1.

Exhibit ends Friday, April 25th - HURRY!

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(sculpture pictured above) El Anatsui - "Earth Growing Roots"
Collection of Nancy and Dave Gill
Courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery, New York


Well, miracles can happen it seems, and having El Anatsui's work on exhibit here in San Diego is, it appears, one of those times. I saw a larger show of his work in the Fowler Museum at UCLA last year, and have been a devoted fan ever since. El Anatsui is originally from Ghana and is currently Professor of Sculpture at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

"Earth Growing Roots" was organized by Tina Yapelli, director of the University Art Gallery at San Diego State. This show, much smaller in scale than its counterpart in UCLA, only contains seven works, modest in size, with the exception of an untitled work measuring 123 x 195 inches. Yapelli writes, in a small exhibit brochure (for those of you unfamiliar with El Anatsui's pieces), "Using copper wire, El Anatsui joins together foil bottleneck wrappers and metal bottle caps - refuse from empty liquor containers - to create colorful, fabric-like wall sculptures that juxtapose the social, political and cultural history of Africa with the stylistic and conceptual idioms of Western art practice... They (also) refer to the traditional woven kente cloth and stamped adinkra symbols of Ghana, the reductive imagery of geometric abstract painting, the pressing ecological issues of consumerism and waste, and the historical and ongoing impacts of the global marketplace."

I'm not so sure, that one or any, artwork, can possibly make so many claims, but even so, these smaller pieces appear to be more formally "self-conscious" and structurized, moving from the traditional motif to the more stylized, literal, and graphic. For example, a work like "Bleeding Takari," riddled with square holes of red metal, pours out brightly colored hemoglobin ribbons, down to the metal fabrics edge and beyond, as they appear to cling and drip onto the polished gallery floors.

Still, this exhibit is stunning in it's presentation and will likely leave you asking for more. It should not be missed; hurry though, it's only on view until May 7th.

Continue reading "El Anatsui at San Diego State University" »

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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*" »

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SD Art PRIZE: Recognition of Excellence in the Visual Art

Performance Slam multi-genre Invitational, April 20 from 5 to 7 pm in support of the exhibition, Innocence is Questionable

Featuring 2006/2007 SD Art Prize Artists:
Raul Guerrero and emerging artist Yvonne Venegas
Jean Lowe and emerging Artist Iana Quesnell
Ernest Silva and emerging Artist May-ling Martinez

Performers:
Art criticism - Kevin Freitas, Art as Authority
Dance - Sara Plaisted, Urban Tribal Dance
Instrumental - Zuriel Waters
Poetry - Jaysen Waller
Performance art - Ted Washington, Pruitt Igoe
Satire - Ed Decker
Theater - Marilyn Klisser and Aura Thielen, Emerge Art Center
Stage Manager - Mercedes Casey

Continue reading "Performance Slam - SD Art Prize
California Center for the Arts, Escondido" »

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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." »

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BEFORE

AFTER

Last chance to see Julien Colombier's "90 Grammes" exhibit at Art Produce Gallery in North Park. Show ends Sunday, April 6. Please stop by, and afterwards, have a coffee in the newly opened Caffe Carpe Diem right next door. You won't regret it.

Continue reading "Last Call - Julien Colombier and "90 Grammes" @
Art Produce Gallery" »

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Monday March 31st
KOOR "BACK TO THE ROOTS" (NYC)
From 7:00 -10:00pm. all ages

Chuck "KOOR aka KOOL KOOR" Hargrove started writing graffiti in the south Bronx in 1976. After participating in virtually every important exhibition on Graffiti Art in New York City his dynamic artwork took him on a journey exhibiting in galleries and museums around the world. You can find KOOR in famous collections such as The Metropolitan Museum, Chicago Renaissance Society, The Butler Museum, Wihelm Hack Museum in Germany, The Groninger Museum in the Netherlands and an impressive list of others. Today gallery 151 is pleased to welcome KOOR back for his first solo exhibition in NYC since over two decades. Titled "Back to the Roots" KOOR is reflecting on the symbolism and architecture in his artwork, taking us on a journey into the past then straight into the future. Exhibition runs from 1 through 14 April

Gallery 151
151 Wooster St., 2nd Floor (off Houston Street)
New York, N.Y. 10012
Please call Gallery for exhibit hours at 212-375-0151
1 train to Houston Street, C and E to Spring Street, R and W to Prince Street.

About KOOR's ART

KOOR creates artwork that makes us feel that life as we know it is not real at all, there lies several other levels of reality that we choose not to see. Each reality tragically effecting another. We feel this because we can see that other side in his artwork. Tension of his every day struggle to exist in this world becomes clear in the reality of his artwork. Architectural structures bend and twist like strands of nerves in human anatomy, Like the mind fighting to calculate a difficult equation. The use of robotic forms reminds us that there is still a link to a our reality. Like in the works of Mobeus we discover deep transforming perspectives in KOOR's drawings relaying to us that even these new worlds are not yet fully defined. It is here that we find the key to the power of KOOR's work. The rules are being made along the way. However definite they may be, even the artist has to play by them. The longer we look the more it all comes together. We are discovering frame by frame the projections of the meaning of life as it radiates on the surfaces of another reality. A reality where we want to return to, or one where we very well may belong.

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The Wonderhaus and Voice 171 (formally Voice 1156)

To hear Monica Hoover tell it, she needs your help and now!

It's unlikely that there is someone left in San Diego who doesn't know who Monica is - artist, lifestyle photographer, "creative activist" and co-founder of Voice 1156. I've known Monica for about a year now after reviewing one of her solo shows at the Rubber Rose Gallery on Ray St. That show, like everything else Monica does was/is perfection. She is un-relenting in her pursuit of bringing artists together, showcasing their works and bringing the public into the fold through exposure, dialogue and education. She is tireless and dedicated to the Arts in general and to the larger artistic community here in San Diego. This is where she wants to be, this is where she wants to stay and she's asking you for your help to achieve that goal.

Monica is in the process of re-locating and re-establishing Voice 1156 in its future location within the Wonderhaus or former Wonder Bread factory, built in 1924 and located in the Ballpark District of downtown San Diego. She has this to say,

"The opposition we are up against is the city, and the laws and regulations the city represents and enforces. I am confident we will get what we need, but it will speed things up a great deal if we show the California and San Diego community supports VOICE as well. We need to show the city that a venue like VOICE is wanted and needed in San Diego."

For those of you who are not familiar with Voice and what they do, here is a brief Mission Statement:

VOICE is a mixed use art and culture facility. Offering art shows changing monthly paralleled with a music venue featuring live music performances. The space will also include a small retail store that sells art related merchandise and a café that will dual as a full kitchen to be utilized for catering special events. The motto of VOICE is “Practice Creative Activism”. Gauging from our experience at our previous facility VOICE 1156, our current goal is to take our grass roots origins to a more mature, professional level by creating financially stability to support our establishment. Additionally we are in the process of setting up a non-profit “YOUTH VOICE” - that focuses on sharing art education to youth through tours, lectures and workshops. VOICE’s intent is to be the leader in the urban, young and progressive arts movement in the emerging downtown San Diego scene. It's not that the lack of people in San Diego – creative individuals and creative patrons, it's the lack of proper facilities. Voice’s intention is to be a part of the contributing leaders whom want to change our San Diego’s scene and reputation.

Monica asks, "It would be AMAZING - if you could print out the 'Signatures for VOICE' sheet - have people sign it - and mail mail it back to me. Monica Hoover P.O. BOX 1017 Jamul, CA 91935"

Won't you please help Monica and all of us who are committed to a vibrant and dynamic arts community in San Diego? Become a Creative Activist and take responsibility for the future of the Arts, you'll be glad that you did. Further information and the "Signatures for VOICE sheet" can be be found below.

VOICE Press Kit (please email me at artasauthority@artasauthority.com and I will send the .pdf document to you.)

Signatures for VOICE sheet

Wonderhaus

Monica Hoover

Thank you.

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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...

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COPY


The present age … prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, fancy to reality, the appearance to the essence … for in these days illusion only is sacred, truth profane.
-- Ludwig Feuerbach

Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.
-- Tom Peters

No.thing Works
-- Gordon Matta-Clark

Continue reading "COPY @ Simayspace" »

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An American in Paris? - but of course! A Frenchman in San Diego? - splendide!





Paris artist Julien Colombier stands in front of a graffiti mural by Arizona writer KAI1, freshly painted behind the Art Produce Gallery where Julien is having his first solo exhibit in the US. Both artists, KAI1 and Julien, blew into San Diego to participate in their respective expositions with great fanfare and success.

Julien's show entitled "90 Grammes" will be on view through April 6, 2008 at the Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Avenue, San Diego, CA 92104. Please call 619.584.4448 for more information and gallery hours. Or check out the review of the show at SignOnSanDiego.com here for a taste of what awaits you.

KAI1 is participating in "COPY" which is also on view at the Simayspace Gallery located within the Art Academy of San Diego, and features local San Diego artists Joey Burns and Richard Gleaves along with Kevin Freitas, Herve Crespel, Bret Barrett and Tom Torluemke. The Academy is located at 840 G Street downtown San Diego. Call 619.231.3900 for more information and opening hours. Check 'em both out, you'll be glad you did!

Continue reading "We Came. We Saw. We Kicked Ass." »

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90 Grammes - the weight of kraft paper ....

Continue reading "Julien Colombier - "90 Grammes" - Art Produce Gallery" »

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Continue reading "KAI1 @ Art Produce Gallery" »

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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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Pisser de l'oeil or literally "Piss from the eye" in english, is rather vulgar slang (argot) that is meant to capture an emotion of looking at something visually that causes your eye to erupt in a stream of optical ecstasy in an almost involuntary reaction to something that is really really good. Pisser de l'oeil is very different in meaning from our colloquial expression here in the US of "seeing red" or being so angry our eyes become gorged with blood - Pisser de l'oeil has nothing to do with anger and is only concerned with beauty. What else would you expect from the French other than amour and passion when their language and culture, their art and poetry is awash in it? The French have many more colorful expressions that utilize the eye, a favorite being, Rincer l'oeil or "rinse (wash) the eye" when a beautiful woman passes in front of you.

Helas, on to more important things such as a new section to the Art as Authority blog, an artist project space where you can test drive your latest ideas, experiments and expressions. I invite you to submit your latest project(s) in the form of images, video, text, flash, sound or any other web based media to be included on the new blog devoted exclusively to experimental ideas. The goal is to offer the public some insight into the creative process and to witness some of the most contemporary of contemporary works being produced at this moment. This will also hopefully establish a dialogue and incite commentary from peers and readers alike.

Art as Authority is proud to present work by Lisa Ann Wilson, local San Diego artist who has exhibited in many galleries here and abroad and is currently working on a series of "cut-outs" collaged on to graph paper. They are exquisite little drawings that are simple, direct, and joyful laced with a twinge of bittersweet. I hope you will enjoy them as much as we do and leave your comments of encouragement or construtive criticism.

You'll find our new section here by linking to: www.artasauthority.com/pisserloeil

To see work by Lisa or to learn more, please go to: www.myspace.com/artoflisaannwilson

Please send your projects for possible inclusion on the blog to: artasauthority@artasauthority.com
There's more to it than meets the eye. Thank you.

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XLARGE Los Angeles presents:

Andy Howell
Monkeym@n, Octopu$$y, and The Bad Hands
an Exhibition of New Works and Prints

Opening Reception: Thursday Dec 6th, 2007
7-10pm

X-LARGE Upstairs Gallery
1768 N. Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323.666.3843
www.xlarge.com
www.andyhowell.com
info@artsprojekt.com

Continue reading "Andy Howell @ X-LARGE L.A." »

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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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Contributing writer to Art as Authority Maura Vazakas has a new show of her new work, not to be missed!





Art of Framing Gallery
3333 Adams Avenue (Normal Heights)
San Diego, Ca. 92116
through November 30, 2007

Continue reading "New Work - Maura Vazakas" »

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Freddi C and Crash


A LESSON IN LAB101

First let me apologize for the long delay in any ‘recon’. The last Collabro show that I curated kicked my ass, and honestly I still am just recovering. However I am ‘back in action’ now and will have many more articles coming as I check out some new spots that have caught my eye in LA and Orange County.

Continue reading "RECON - "A Lesson in Lab101"
an art column by poor al" »

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ART Produce Gallery
3139 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92104

Opening reception: Oct. 13, 2007 6-9pm

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New paintings by Matthew Offenbacher.

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(Cover San Diego Business Journal - detail Volume 28, Number 37 Sept. 10 - 16, 2007)


A special report was published in the San Diego Business Journal today entitled "Artists Flourish in a Lesser-Known Market," written by special report editor Pat Broderick, who presents her findings just as she collected them - straight-up. Covering several points of view from local art dealers and players such as Mark Quint and Joseph Bellows, Hugh Davies (David C. Copley director of the MCASD), Carlsbad artists Dennis Batt and Nanette Newbry, Patricia Frischer and Joan Seifried from Art Girls, Inc. and co-organizer of the San Diego Art Prize and yours truly - Kevin Freitas amongst others, Broderick's article will hopefully stir up a potential (and much needed) discussion about San Diego's sustainability as an art market and art community. In fact to further assist you in this debate, there are three other articles to be gleaned about San Diego's art scene which can be found in print at your local newstand or online here, here, and here.

San Diego Art, Fact or Fiction - you decide.

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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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more info...

Images of the collaborations can be seen here, click on any artist's name on the announcement to view the work.

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From Paul Klein's Art Letter

Art Ordinance Rally Update

The rally is coming together really nicely for 5:30 PM Monday at the Picasso Sculpture in Daley Plaza . Rally for Artists’ Rights.

We are now a consortium of the following art groups: Lumpen, the Chicago Artists Coalition, Sharkforum, Around the Coyote, ArtLetter, Bridge Art Fair, Navy Pier Walk, Punk Planet, and Art Advisory, LTD. Everyone is distributing information. This is an exciting collaboration.

We have great speakers lined up for the rally: artists, aldermen, arts organizers, lawyers, men and women. The whole thing should be meaningful, significant, powerful and not much longer than 30 to 45 minutes. We expect a lot of artists and public support. Children are encouraged to attend. People are making signs. Be creative and upbeat. Face painting is okay. And we may have music.

It is really important that you attend! It’s about the numbers. We need people. Bring your neighbors. I am. This is not just for artists. It’s also for the public, the citizens, you and me – all of us.

There was an article in today’s Sun-Times spreading information about the rally. http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/nance/421377,CST-NWS-art10.article

We cannot let the attitude of the Deputy Commissioner of the Public Art Department become the law in Chicago :

“Public art is a gift to the public from the government.”

“We’re the ones who have been working day in and day out with this process. We’re the ones who are most aware of its issues and we’re in the best position to determine how to address them.”

the “public is not well served by a vote”

That doesn’t sound like Democracy at Work to me! We need you! It’s time to step up or get stepped on.

Thank you very much,

Paul Klein

Continue reading "SOLIDARITY - Chicago style *RALLY UPDATE*" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

SD Art Prize: New Contemporaries

Featuring Emerging Artists nominated for the SD Art Prize 2007/2008
Simayspace at the Art Academy
Opening reception June 22 from 6 pm to 9 pm
Exhibition continues through July 27, 2007
840 G Street, Downtown SD, 92101
619.231.3900
Hours: Monday through Friday 9 am - 6 pm, Saturday 9 am - 1 pm

Continue reading "SD Art Prize: New Contemporaries - Brad Streeper" »

Spun by Art as Authority at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You are invited,

To the first public preview of Jim Bliesner and Paul Vauchelet's monolithic 90' sculpture "FRATERNITY" at the Gustaf Rooth's Planet Rooth Gallery.

This sculpture has been accepted as a finalist by the Shanghai City Planing Administration and the Office of SHANGHAI URBAN SCULPTURE COMMITTEE for consideration as a commissioned work for the SHANGHAI 2010 WORLD EXPO.

There will be Paintings, Drawings, Photos and Models of this monumental work on display at the Planet Rooth Gallery during the Saturday, June 9th Ray at Night Celebration. Festivities begin at 7:00pm.

Planet Rooth Gallery
3811 Ray St.
San Diego, CA 92104
619.297.9663

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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)

May 18th, 2007, Friday 7pm-9pm: Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock is proud to present Something Good To Look At, curated by Michael Arata. The opening reception will be on May 18th, 6pm-9pm. This exhibition features two-dimensional works of art that incorporate collage, painting, and drawing. In Something Good to Look At Mr. Arata has gathered a broad collection of artists selected from the local art scene and internet relationships. The artwork includes personal narrative drawings by Johnny Lieberman and Fort Guerin; documentations of physical events by artist Michael Decker and Christian Cummings (Mr. Cummings and Mr. Decker spiritually conjure images from weegie boards); structured drawings which catalog art in the context of yearbooks by Jeff Zenick; and Joey Burns' work which utilize found images in seemingly random couplings. In addition, Michael Sholer, director of High Energy Constructs Gallery in Chinatown, contributes contextual and compositional collages. The work of Maura Vazakas stylizes state birds on linens with nail polish and glitter. This exhibition is an exploration of innovative art forms that engage in the whimsical, fantastic, and brutally realistic.

At the opening reception The Drawing Club (whose primary members include Michael Arata, Penelope Jones, Johnny Lieberman, Kevin and Luna Freitas) will work on a collaborative DUI (drawing under the influence of creativity). This is an open forum, all members of the public are invited to participate and add to the drawings, which are a synthesis of collective consciousness channeled through collaborative activity and cocktails.

Information and address

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From the Guardian Unlimited and arts correspondent Charlotte Higgins:

An original work by artists and national treasures Gilbert and George would normally set you back many thousands of pounds. But from 11.30pm tonight a piece is being made available to anyone who wants it - for free.

more...

Thanks to Mid Atlantic Art News for the heads up.

Enjoy!

Spun by Art as Authority at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)