Born Again

A piece I made about now.

I'm like this guy. Pondering and looking into the future while holding onto what is beautiful and important in my world.

The classic artist's tale of everyone telling me I shouldn't pursue what makes me tick. Well, no matter what, I'm a fucking photographer. Ugh. Sometimes I wish I wasn't. I wish I could just be satisfied by normal things like, how many likes I get on my selfies, or getting promoted in my copywriting job, or getting high. 

Artists, you know what I'm talking about.

I tried to ignore this feeling for a while and live a normal life, but I've never been so anxious in my life. Funny, huh? 

I'm scared to not be scared. 

Every time I ignore my instincts, it bites me in the ass. So, I shan't ignore them any longer. 

Opening - "Other People's Paintings" @ Torrance Shipman Gallery

What
Artist-run space Torrance Shipman Gallery is asking a slew of their resident artists to curate group shows. Last night was the opening of group show "Other People's Paintings", curated by painter Matthew Fischer.

Who
The show included works by Fishcher's "friends, near friends and almost strangers", and ranged from paintings to charcoal to ink caulking on canvas, with the token group show "sculpture" done by Nora Griffin (linen, wood, nails.)

Thoughts

If there's one thing I notice most about group shows put together by friends that you see in the likes of community/artist "galleries", is the lack of depth in most (not all) pieces. The above piece by MacGregor Harp is listed as "oil and acrylic on canvas", and I can't help but suggest listing it as some oil and acrylic with canvas. Feel free to call it a personal pet-peeve and disregard it, but it just feels/looks like Harp didn't want to take the time and wait for paint to dry to give his piece emotional layers.

Or the pieces below, also by MacGregor Harp, continue the theme of a nice idea, but executed with apparent lack of richness and depth. There is more to a painting than good design and color balance, and it's that extra thoughtfulness that makes a piece worth _________. Put in the hours, days, months to create pieces that make schlepping to Sunset Park in the freezing weather worth me getting a fucking cold the next day.

To Fischer's credit, there were pieces to enjoy, or at least think about...(below)

The above piece by Nikki Maloof (oil on canvas).

This was my favorite piece in the show.  Shara Hughes' "Sneak Peek" takes an unconventional subject and color combination to create something that offers a playground of exploration and depth.

Finally, some detail and beautiful, thoughtful shading.

Then, I left.

And took these on the subway with my iPhone. Inverted and color adjusted in Photoshop Express app.

On Starting Out as an Artists - An Hour with Risa Needleman

via ArtInfo

Holy fuck, five minutes with this woman and I already learned something; Thursdays = Chelsea, Saturday + Sunday = Lower East Side. A telling five minutes of the factual hour that was to come. 

Invisible-Exports Gallery co-owner Risa Needleman recently shared a glass of bubbly and her wisdom of the art world with me. We laughed, made nods of agreement over points on the art world, and I took notes like a little school girl as Needleman doused me with ideas, inspiration and knowledge I would give my left nipple for.

But, that's enough of an introduction, now for the good stuff... what I learned.

Things I'm Doing Right

1. Going to openings and other art events, like Shared Spaces
2. Networking at these events and keeping up with other artists, critics, writers, curators, etc.
3. Reading about what's going on in the arts via art publications, like Hyperallergic, Art Info, Art in America, etc.
4. Learning more about art history, via books like Will Gompertz's "What Are You Looking At?"
5. Creating or working on my practice every day

Things I Should Do

1. Studio visits to other artist's studios
2. Inviting curators, critics, gallery owners to a studio visits once I am ready with a strong body of printed/tangible work
3. Get in touch with non-profit art organizations like Momenta, Nurture Art, Art in General, and White Columns.
4. Research art residencies at places like Governors Island, NY Studio School, ISCP, and others around the country and world.
5. Enter in the Affordable Art Fair and the PS1 Book Fair
6. Realize that what is selling at art auctions isn't representative of the contemporary art market
7. Find galleries that speak to my artistic expression and I feel good about... find a fucking match.

On Cohesion of Work(s)

As a young artist, I am nearly tormented with the thought of bogging down to a single aesthetic that is recognizable as "MY" work. But, Needleman explains that I don't necessarily have to stick to a uniform aesthetic, but a cohesive idea and back-thought that will guide my work.

Whether it be movement, American culture, the difference between the left and right eye, or the letter R... I need to identify what I want to work to be about — not just be.

Shared Spaces @ Whitney Museum - Quotes, Ideas, Thoughts

Last night The Whitney Museum hosted Shared Spaces — a "two-part symposium [that] addresses the transformation of the museum in the age of social media."

Here, were first three key speakers, and biggest fucking takeaways.

First up, Donna De Salvo — Chief Curator at TheWhitney Museum.

De Salvo had interesting things to say about seeing work online vs experiencing it in person.

Notable Quotes

• "The material brings something to the art"
• "There's something about bringing the viewer into the dialogue"
• "We remember art less when we photograph it"
• "People still want to see the real thing"
• "People still want to see the real thing"

Key Ideas

• Sometimes we only see art online, or a photo of it, but it's just not the fucking same as experiencing it in real life
• It's getting harder and harder to control how your art works are perceived, because it's getting easier and easier for others to document it as they wish and share it how they want.

To Think About

• Should we create with this mass re-consumption in mind? Should that now be a part of how work is presented and therefore created?

Next up in Shared Spaces was Jonathan Crary - art critic, theorist and history professor

Crary's presentation felt more like a university lecture than anything else, but if you were actually fucking interested in what he was saying (which I was), then it was a blast to sit through. His key idea was asymmetry between art that is "local" vs the "unlimited resources of images".

Notable Quotes

• "The distance that separates the museum and theme parks is narrowing"
• "We have to know background of museum history to understand how museums are changing"(amen)
• "Online images are allowing for more manipulation and destabilization of museums"
• "There is a totally new kind of access... and modification of art."

Key Ideas

• Museums as a public, accessible space was a new idea in the late 1800's, and we are going through another new way of accessing art today.
• Museums are catering more towards the experiences it gives its visitors

To Think About

• Where do we draw the line with what people want and how art should be respected, appreciated and digested?
• We want art to be appreciated and enjoyed by all, but at what cost to the intention of the art?

Finally, there was Ed Shanken - writer and teacher of art, with a focus on new media and the entwinement of art (whatever the fuck that means.)

Shanken seemed to be looking to the future more, with his key idea questioning; what's next?

Notable Quotes

• "We're in an infancy [of social media and art], so we're acting infantile."
• "It's not going to be interesting anymore, something different will emerge."
• "Where do art and culture reside? Community"
• "People don't know how to interact with the art, so they default to taking a photo of it."
• In response to De Salvo's comment on how people still want to see the art in real life: "Yeah, but just to take a photo of it."

Key Ideas

• We're all still just figuring it out, but know that there's something to community and creation.
• We can use technology to create new and interesting ways of art production and consumption, but it's just the beginning.
• Fuck no to the idea of a customized museum experience.

To Think About

• In a new age of art mixed with technology, where is the line drawn between the two? Could an app be a work of art?
• Who will lead art and museums out of it's social media and technological infancy? 

After the show, I walked down a misty 75th st towards the subway and snapped this baby:

(inverted digital photograph)

Bananas.

Larry Clark - Payback to the Skate Rats

After a near-death health scare, photographer and film director Larry Clark has something on his mind... 

As a photographer who used teenage drugies, skaters, and naked young women as his subjects for photographs that now sell for 10 to 15 thousand dollars a print, Clark has decided to give back to the "skate rats" who he photographed, along with thousands of fans who attend his showings but can't afford his prints.

In an admirable selfless initiative, Clark is selling hundreds of his 4x6 and 5x7 prints he had in his NYC apartment, and donating 100% of the proceeds to Communities in Schools — an organization thats mission is to "surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life."

Clark is truly giving back to the people who lent their drug abuse, physical abuse, underage sex, naked bodies and general way of life to his own personal financial and professional success... 

There are rumors going around that Clark is attempting to "pay back" these people by selling the photos for $100 each for his own profit. 

It would be one thing if this was true and it was just to (rightfully) make money by selling his unseen works. But, since he's been published around the media as saying he wanted to do something for these people, I can't imagine these rumors are true!

That would be a fucked-up marketing ploy. That would be bullshit.

(photo: Helmut Newton)