artPark

The distant places of Arturo Mallmann

In a new video, we are treated to some insight on experiencing an Arturo Mallmann painting. Arturo, the ever quiet and modest artist, gives us another peak into the personal motivations and methods of his work. Enjoy.

Arturo will be opening an exhibition of his newest paintings at Craighead-Green Gallery in Dallas on September 12. Contact me for more information.

Taking a look back

From "Do One-Night Stands Lead to Permanent Relationships?" by Richard W. Walker (Summer 1984):

Before the museum directors took the podium, Bess Myerson, New York City’s commissioner of cultural affairs, opened the conference with a report on the impact of the arts on the city's economy and a rousing call for greater business support of arts organizations. After 20 years of unprecedented growth in the arts in the United States, she said, "we are at a plateau, entering a generation of consolidation, of reaffirming commitment and reexamining goals." In New York City, said Myerson, "... more must do more" if the city is to maintain its cultural leadership. "Darwinism is abhorrently inappropriate when applied to the arts," she stated. "There is no reason to suppose that the fittest will survive. Indeed, without adequate, nurturing support, it is dangerous to assume that any cultural institution will survive."

It's a 25 year old observation that is as accurate now as it was then.

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Disposable Houses by NICOLE GAGNER

In my vigilant perusals and reviews of new work, I think I just found a real gem.  I recently came across the photography of Nicole Gagner - specifically, her body of work called "The Houses" or (what I prefer) "Disposable Houses". 

 

I found the visual narrative of Nicole's photos to be deep and relevant, the social consciousness stimulating, the look well executed, and, I enjoyed the worm's eye view which has taken a small idea and  made it hugely meaningful... and a little bit fun.  In my book, those ingredients make a successful piece of art.

 

Here are some of her shots and her artist statement.  What do you think?  

 

   

 

 

 

Artist Statement:

My latest series of photos are loosely called "the houses."  The shapes of the houses are crude and inspired by the drawings of children.  In childhood, the idea of "home" is clear and comforting; it gets convoluted with age.  The choice of media is always important to me.  Cardboard is a ubiquitous material, used to keep precious cargo safe then discarded.  We are surrounded with disposable materials; very few things are thoughtfully constructed.  The worm's eye perspective can make a tiny passing moment seem monumental.

For additional information about Nicole and her work, feel free to contact me.  I'll pass along her contact info.

My kid could draw that

The Independent reports that forgeries of Russian Avant-Garde paintings and drawings are on the rise. More and more fakes are appearing on the auction blocks, and unsuspecting (i.e. uninformed, nouveau riche) are spending millions on them.

After reading the article, my first reaction was to stick it in the "My kid could draw that" file. But after a little thought, I think it belongs in my "Caveat Emptor" file.

I am a monstrous fan of the Russian Avant-Garde. It was an era (albeit brief) when paintings were created in the crucible of social turmoil. Their sharp blocks of color and abstract geometric forms signified a bold new direction in art and society. Unfortunately, a large amount of the value of their work is in the underlying manifesto. As the interest in these paintings grows, so do the number of forgeries (geometric forms + primary colors = easy to copy).

As reported:

For years, their artists – who believed that art should have a social, rather than purely decorative purpose – have been largely forgotten. Now Russia's new rich have rediscovered the Russian avant-garde, and have turned it into one of the most lucrative art markets in the world.

But William MacDougall, of the specialist London Russian auctioneers MacDougall's, said that more than half of the works submitted to his auction house are fakes. "It's a particular problem with Russian art," he said. "There are wealthy people who have made great mistakes. Your typical Rembrandt collector would have started at a young age with etchings, then moved on to lithographs and would have 25 years' experience before buying an oil painting. A Russian collector has a £100m fortune, aged 35, and starts buying a great deal at once. The prices are huge, big enough to motivate dishonest people."

He added: "There are more fakes around than genuine works. Half of the work we receive we reject on grounds of authenticity. The most difficult period to authenticate is the avant-garde art of the 1920s."

[Image above: Kazimir Malevich, Composition No. 56 (1936)]

Visual Overture

I got a little treat in the mail today: the inaugural issue of a new magazine called Visual Overture. Some background info about the publication (pulled from its website and pages) is:

Visual Overture Magazine promotes and empowers the emerging artist, and connects that artist with galleries and collectors. Our aim is to introduce exceptional emerging artists to galleries, curators, and art collectors worldwide with an emphasis on the Southern Atlantic region (VA, NC, SC, GA, FL).

Visual Overture Magazine was created by artist Arlissa Vaughn to meet the needs of both the professional artist and the gallery or collector seeking new work.

Believe it or not, I get a lot of these kinds of mailings. Most are filled with kind of kitschy, low quality work. I flip through them but am usually disappointed. This one was much better than most.

Knowing that the initial call for submissions for any endeavor like this tends to attract a lower quality of entrants, I was very pleased to find an exceptional grouping of featured artists within the pages. Specifically, I am particularly like the portraits by Taiwan born (now attending school in Boston) artist, Kathy Liao. Take a look at these:

   

For artists, I would recommend considering submitting work - it has potential for some good exposure. But I think the real value in the magazine is for the new (or experienced) collector looking for some fresh work from some of the newest, talented artists out there. I always have my eye open for emerging artists, and now I have a new resource to find some.

[Above Images by Kathy Liao include: Left, De Mask (2008), 54"x54", oil on canvas; Middle, White Plaster (2008), 48"x62", oil on canvas; Right, Scream (2008), 30"x40", pencil on paper]

Dog gone Charlottesville

Although I live in Charlottesville, Virginia, I have never intended for this blog to be about the Charlottesville art scene. My general goal has been to give exposure – through my eyes - to the art (and art related issues) from around the country. However, I do live in Charlottesville, and I often talk about what is going on in the central Virginia region. The result has been a number of followers (from far and wide) mentioning how they have enjoyed learning about our lovely little hamlet through artPark. With that in mind, I’d like to go ahead dish out a nice resource for everyone to get a full taste of what Charlottesville has to offer.

Each year, the local arts & entertainment weekly newspaper, C-ville, publishes a list of the "Best of C-ville." In short, it’s a list of the readers’ choice for their favorite things like restaurant, music venue, coffee shop, auto mechanic, shoe store, etc. Go here for the online version. In addition to the local art tidbits I write about on this blog, "Best of C-ville" should paint you a pretty good picture of all that Charlottesville has to offer.

Now, I have to admit, this post is a bit self-serving. Yes, I’m happy to share info about my home town, but in this issue of C-ville, the theme was Top Dog. For each "Best of" category (Food & Drink, Retail, Recreation & Fitness, Entertainment, and Services) there was a dog themed photo shoot. Here’s the self-serving part… Laura’s and my newest dog, Blue, was selected to pose for the Food & Drink set. Here he is (on the left) dining with his blind-date Charlotte.

 

Self-serving reason #2: All the dogs selected for the various photo shoots are former shelter dogs. As a supporter of the SPCA (see left sidebar), I thought the dog theme was a great idea. Model dogs don’t all have to be purebred and pedigreed. The infinite variety of mix-breeds found at shelters around the country make some of the very best pets… and top models. Hopefully, the playful pictures will inspire more people to choose their next pet from the SPCA rather than from a breeder. Here are the other pictures:

  

  

To stay up-to-date on what’s going on at the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA, follow their blog. You’ll get great introductions to some of the dogs and cats available for adoption.

A special shout out goes to Karen Quillen of All Things Pawssible for pulling together this terrific group of dogs. In addition to Blue, the other models were Charlotte, Trina, Poke, Astro, Grady, Dana and Sage. All of them are worthy of their splashy magazine spreads.

And many thanks to photographer Ashley Twiggs for her patience in dealing with these not quite professional models… and for her talents in capturing each of their "good sides".

Wordless Wednesday

 

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