Archives For Art

Exhibition Philadelphia: Jennifer Bartlett @ PAFA

June 29, 2013 — Leave a comment

This should be a very good survey of Bartlett’s long and great career as one of our most intellectual and best living painters.

Interview with her by the painter Elizabeth Murry on Bomb here:

PAFA is pleased to present Jennifer Bartlett: History of the Universe —Works 1970-2011 organized by the Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York.  Jennifer Bartlett emerged in the 1970s as one of the leading American artists of her time and one of the first female painters of her generation to be both commercially successful and critically acclaimed. When her monumental painting Rhapsody was first shown in 1976, it was regarded as a tour­de­force postmodern pastiche of the history of modern art. In Rhapsody, Bartlett illustrated with unprecedented intellectual and visual acuity her groundbreaking vision, in which all painting styles and forms are equally valid and available for artistic appropriation. Often such early initial success will inevitably overshadow an artist’s subsequent development. In Bartlett’s case, however, Rhapsody became merely a point of departure for an exceptionally prolific and inventive career.

from the museum web site.

In Art, Exhibitions , , ,
 permalink

History Lessons in Art: Kurt Schwitters

June 29, 2013 — Leave a comment

 

Kurt Schwitters called his collages Merzbilder and they are some of the best ever made….

Source: Oxford University Press

German painter, sculptor, designer and writer. He studied at the Kunstakademie in Dresden (1909–14) and served as a clerical officer and mechanical draughtsman during World War I. At first his painting was naturalistic and then Impressionistic, until he came into contact with Expressionist art, particularly the art associated with Der Sturm, in 1918. He painted mystical and apocalyptic landscapes, such as Mountain Graveyard (1912; New York, Guggenheim), and also wrote Expressionist poetry for Der Sturm magazine. He became associated with the Dada movement in Berlin after meeting Hans Arp, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch and Richard Huelsenbeck, and he began to make collages that he called Merzbilder. These were made from waste materials picked up in the streets and parks of Hannover, and in them he saw the creation of a fragile new beauty out of the ruins of German culture. Similarly he began to compose his poetry from snatches of overheard conversations and randomly derived phrases from newspapers and magazines.

via MOMA

 

Merz 50 Composition, 1922
Genre: Collage
Period/Style: Dada
Location: Museum of Fine Arts Budapest

In Art , ,
 permalink

James Turrell Review at Guggenheim

June 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

In her NY Times review Roberta Smith,  missing pretty much everything Turrell’s work is about, stated the exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, “will probably be the bliss-out environmental art hit of the summer.”

What she is also missing in her review is that this is the smallest of 3 Retrospectives and the really great summer exhibitions are in LA and Houston.. See my post

Still there is no doubt this is his largest non permanent work so make sure you reserve a ticket as its gonna be crowded…

Update: I attended the exhibition and was knocked out by the major work that filled the central core of the museum but the rest of exhibition was very small and the final work at the very top of the museum was a complete dud in my opinion. I am not sure it was working correctly that day as it was just a gray rectangle on a wall. No one I was with could get it to pop… All the other works were older and while important to his history are kind of boring in 2013. I really don’t think the Guggenheim did him justice at all by this pick. I don’t think 4 works adds up to any kind of retrospective and certainly not the four they picked.  His newer works have all seemed much more interesting, colorful and intense and it is very confusing why this show is so full of ancient work. Something tells me they did not want to spend the money it would take to get newer more complected works installed.

I give it 2 stars for the work upstairs and 5 stars for the atrium piece (which you need to spend at least 15 min with).

via the New York Times

 

In Art, Exhibitions , ,
 permalink

Buying art online for investment?

June 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

NPR reporter and National Deputy Editor Uri Beriner wades in ankle deep (online) to invest in painting and give us a report about his purchase. The good news is he found something he liked. The bad news is if he was actually going to buy something for an “investment” he should of gone through a local gallery and worked with a pro to find a work of art that might actually be a good investment (or at least by an artist collected by major collectors or museums – preferably both).  The perils of online art purchases and not working with a pro…

For more info on how to collect art see my other post

 

I check in with Price one last time after making my online purchase. Not a bad choice, she says, especially because it’s painted in the style of the impressionists; they’re always popular. But she offers a caveat: “It’s unlikely you’d be able to turn around and sell it tomorrow. This is an emerging artist. This is an artist who is not brand name. That again goes to perhaps there being some difficulty in reselling the work.”

Via NPR

In Art, How To ,
 permalink

How to Collect Art

June 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

Collect what you love and artists that you admire and want to support. Educate yourself so you know at least the bare minimum of what has been produced in the history of art so you know your not buying a copycat art (and quite possibly worthless).

I collect works that move me and from artists I respect and admire. The works also have what I call the “onion effect” which is the more you look, the more layers of meaning present themselves – (as if you are peeling an onion one layer of skin at time).

This is how I make images and this is how I collect but if I did not have years and years of education in the arts I would work with either a collector or a reputable gallery with years and years of experience.  They will save you a small fortune.

If you want to play with the big boys and girls how do you know if a gallery is good and established? Start with ArtNet which is THE site for the art establishment. If you are not on Artnet as a gallery or artist then you are probably not being collected or selling much collectable work. It is the only art world that matters and the only site you can not just “sign up” – and it’s a very small club whether we like it or not. Each major city in the world only has a few of these gallery’s in it. It’s where I go to find new galleries to sell my work and to look at artists and see what their work is going for.

The last place to learn is the major art fairs like Art Basel etc and satellite fairs that follow them. Here is where you can really see what is what. But again there is a ton of junk even at the highest levels. Once you develop an educated eye you can detect it. Until then find an expert and collect artists actually being collected by museums.

 Blogs:

Fairs:

In Art, How To ,
 permalink