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Thursday, April 27th
THE XUL SOLAR MUSEUM: ADVENTUROUS ARCHITECTURE
 “…a small project, secret and intimate, but also exemplary, sensitive, and extremely pampered by its architect.”
Located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Barrio Norte, this small, almost tiny, museum exhibits the work of renowned Argentine surrealist painter, Xul Solar. The work of Solar is fascinating, filled with religious and mythological symbolism and references to astrology, numerology and the tarot, and the 86 paintings and objects housed in the museum make for a deliriously entertaining tour of the artist’s peculiar “cosmovision”. But a visit to the museum unveils a second entertaining surprise: the museum itself.
Veronica Caminos on 04.27.06 @ 09:14 PM EST [more..]
Wednesday, April 26th
Theoryland: Canto - IV
Theoryland, an epic poem by artist/writer Bruce Price:
The
story so far: our hero--an ambitious professor--traded with dark
forces to gain the gift of Lit Theory. In Canto III he enjoyed his
success. But now...
IV: CRACK-UP
In my dreams I see their youthful eyes,
their guilty surprise....
"But what," one asks, "are lies?"
A loss of sense? A sense of loss?
Never mind! I am the boss.
Stroll and nod, nod and stroll,
look at me, I'm on a roll.
This career is hot,
like the dry wind....
as I promenade....
a very god.
CHORUS
In the modern geiss,
Theory is prosthetic device;
The amputeed are all agreed,
more Theory is all we need.
Bruce Price on 04.26.06 @ 08:59 AM EST [more..]
Monday, April 24th
Maastricht - Portland - Los Angeles - Chicago
Maastricht to Hamburg
 A visit over spring break with my Belgian beau, coincided with his interest to visit TEFAF, Europe’s largest “luxury” fair, and my desire to meet artist/curator Anke Mellin, who lives north of Hamburg. Given the distances between U.S. cultural centers, the concept of driving an hour to Maastricht in Holland, followed by another 90 minute drive to Cologne in Germany, is a convenient wonder. Having never visited Maastricht, I was totally shocked by its apparent wealth as compared to other Dutch cities. Had we not checked out the town center first, I might have considered a “Dutch luxury fair” a juxtaposition in terms! Decked out for TEFAF in a red gabardine Margiela skirt, grey woolen leggings and gold sandals, I felt fine afoot on this wintry Thursday. Strangely, I received scores of indignant stares from the black-boot faction, as if I had broken some local taboo.
Sue Spaid on 04.24.06 @ 11:40 AM EST [more..]
Friday, April 21st
Visiting Artist, Santa Fe
Some say you’re not a real artist unless you make the pilgrimage to Santa Fe and New York City. Well, OK, maybe the Big Apple. But not known to the majority of wannabes out there (financial support from one's artwork), Santa Fe claims to sell the most art after New York. OK, some experts claim the Southwestern small town (population of only 60,000 folks) is also behind Los Angeles. Two of the competing locations fighting for bragging rights as best art markets of America have populations in the millions. Versus Santa Fe, again, with a miniscule 60,000 residents. When I found out just how major a presence the town has on the art world (Windows desktop design of turquoise window, stucco wall, pottery, and red chili peppers hung out to dry portrays Santa Fe!), I just had to split and go check out the art scene (and opportunity) of that desert town in northern New Mexico. I told my foreign-born wife not to be concerned about a visa, that N. Mexico was a part of the U.S.A. Funny how many Americans don't know it is located between Arizona and Texas.
Pygoya on 04.21.06 @ 01:49 PM EST [more..]
Wednesday, April 19th
David Smith
 I was going to write a follow up to my last blog but decided that since it was more timely I’d write about David Smith. While I was in New York over spring break back at the end of March I managed to make it into the city to see the David Smith sculpture exhibition at the Guggenheim. (It is important to note that this is not Tony Smith who was working a little later and definitively in a more formal and minimalist style. I like Tony Smith‘s minimal work much more than David Smith‘s late minimalism.) I’ve never been terribly interested in sculpture much at all except as it might influence my drawing by understanding more fully the relationship between 3 dimensions and the 2 dimensional surfaces one marks upon. I often do studies from sculptures at museums when I travel.
Walter King on 04.19.06 @ 08:23 AM EST [more..]
Monday, April 17th
Bookstores
They're great escapes from the everyday hassles of the world.
I've just returned from a bookstore that's within walking distance (although
I never do) of my home. There's no need for me to name it. People know the
name and the store certainly doesn't need the free publicity. They get
enough of my money as it is.
Anyway, on this trip, I bought two relatively recent books. One is "Artists
at Work," by David Seidner. It takes you inside the studios of some famous
artists. Love it. It's insightful, yet down to earth. The other book is
"Alma Thomas: A Retrospective of the Paintings." It's a wonderful
documentation of the work of an unsung abstract expressionist artist. While
flipping through the pages, all I could think was, "I'd sure like to own
that one! And that one! And that one!"
I own practically enough art books to start my own bookstore. Not a week
goes by when I'm not inside one ... twice.
Michael Corbin on 04.17.06 @ 10:48 AM EST [more..]
Wednesday, April 12th
Art for Art's Sake
I tore an article out of my favorite magazine Vanity Fair because it featured a so called artist, whose name I cannot remember because I use a memory system of identifying one thing with another and I cannot put this so called artist into the same category as art.
You probably know who I mean. I think his latest art project is a giant rabbit.
Of course his main subject is himself and how he has managed to prove with a loud and irreverent voice that anyone can call themselves an artist and convince anyone that what they make is art. (There is that word again.)
Oh yes, I believe the fellow's me is Koons. Or it could as well be Basquiat or Kosabi or Keene. Or it could be any number of individuals classified as artists whose names I cannot remember either. There was the creator of the Kewpi doll, the first guy who drew Kilroy Was Here and others I can't remember. There have been attempts to immortalize the art made by graffiti perpetrators.
Hyacinthe Baron on 04.12.06 @ 09:56 AM EST [more..]
Friday, April 7th
Abolish the NEA
Sacrilege. Abolish the largest, most powerful organization for the arts in the United States of America. How could Senator Jesse Helms ever have dared to voice such an opinion? As artists, we must hold hands and stage candle lit vigils to preserve what is surely thought of by many to be our best means of cultural salvation.
Only it isn’t. If you’ve ever written a letter to the NEA, as I have, then you will recognize the form letter response that you will receive, unless you’ve offered to donate money, as a non-answer, as an insult to your integrity as a vital and important contributor to the culture of our nation. So if they don’t support artists like you and me, who do they support, and why does their name contain the word ‘endowment’?
‘Endowment’ in the sense they use it, means that they spend money to accomplish their mission. While their guidelines specifically forbid them from making contributions to individual artists, they also explain that a big part of their mission is to increase the public’s awareness of the arts, and make it accessible; this is mostly what they supposedly spend their money on.
Andrew Wielawski on 04.07.06 @ 11:30 AM EST [more..]
Wednesday, April 5th
Winter Lecture Circuit
 My winter lecture circuit didn’t take me to so many states as last fall’s, yet I managed to drive as far northeast as North Adams, Massachusetts, to drive as far west as St. Louis, and to fly as far south as Houston. As luck would have it, I even got caught in the Blizzard of 2006.
January
Having heard that the Indianapolis Museum of Art had finally opened its Contemporary Art Wing, I stopped by on a return trip from Chicago. One Ernesto Neto installation there resembled a Sandy Skoglund “stage set,” while another hanging sculpture featured words like “naő (no)” embroidered on it, which several disenfranchised women agreed to sew in exchange for wages. Neto’s participatory nest (a cleaner version of Helio Oiticica’s sand boxes) inspired many viewers’ comments, yet the museum effectively squelched it. Despite the high number of positive and grateful notes scrawled in casually sited Neto catalogs, his catalogs contained notices requesting people not to mark them. It’s a rather small price to pay for an artist to receive such an unsolicited outpour of appreciation.
Sue Spaid on 04.05.06 @ 08:50 AM EST [more..]
Monday, April 3rd
Huge sculptures in spectacular places - How?
A member of a council of commerce asked me to design a motif for plastic bags.
The intention was do promote the city.
To visualize the city.
At the same time a major motor way was under construction.
A motor way that passed by this city.
I told the member of the council of commerce that it might be a better idea to erect a huge metal sculpture close to the new motor way.
Sure it would be a much more expensive solution than the plastic bags.
I would never suggest this to the council of commerce.
But.
You yourself can have 15 minutes to tell the council about the idea at the next council meeting, the council of commerce member said.
I told the council about my idea.
 
Asbjorn Lonvig on 04.03.06 @ 03:59 AM EST [more..]
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