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Wednesday, June 29th
Where do Artists' Live?
 Rembrandt lived and worked in the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, Picasso and Braque on Montemartre near Sacre Coeur, and the Abstract Expressionists in Greenwich Village and the East Village because it was cheap and near where everything was going on. I always find it interesting to hear about how other artists manage to survive and succeed. My brother, also a painter, has arranged an exhibition of our work at 33 Collective in Chicago. The Collective is an interesting space. It is truly a collective of half a dozen artists on the South Side of Chicago. The South side has recently begun to poke its head up above decades of poverty, corruption and violence. I’ll talk a little later in this blog about how artists help gentrify run down areas of cities-- an aspect of the value of the arts that city planners, bankers, investors and politicians rarely tune into. We are a valuable motivating factor that is often sadly misunderstood, neglected and under-valued. Perhaps it is our own fault in that we don’t learn how to talk to those who count when it comes to money and other practicalities. But to some extent they bear half the blame for not being bright enough to see what it is we do so well. In many respects we, that is the artistic community, are an important civilizing factor. That is part of what culture is...a civilizing blanket, an attitude, that covers society...or not.
Walter King on 06.29.05 @ 08:51 AM EST [more..]
Monday, June 27th
Art World Economics Part Two: The Current Crisis
What does the term, 'fine art' really mean? Or, simply, 'art'? We can look it up in the dictionary, or study its etimology, and if we do, we'll find that today's meaning as we use it has lost most of its inheritance. If I tell you that originally, it meant 'master craftsmanship', would anyone jump up and deny such a lowly past? Like for a ball hit into the stands? And if a contemporary artist creates an image which through its title or through its context addresses contemporary issues without relying on craftsmanship, is it finer art than a pretty picture painted well academically?
Andrew Wielawski on 06.27.05 @ 08:28 AM EST [more..]
Friday, June 24th
Hi sculptor...I mean you!!!
 I visited Legoland in Billund, Denmark this weekend.
As I do every year.
A family tradition.
Any in our family, who wants to go join us.
This year one worked at Greenland Home Rule.
One was busy writing a term paper at the University.
One was at work making sure Telia survives in the cell phone market.
The rest of the family joined our Legoland tour.
Grandma paid.
I go to Legoland for numerous of reasons.
My children and their children love it.
My children's spouses have to love it.
I love it.
My spouse has to love it.
Asbjorn Lonvig on 06.24.05 @ 03:58 AM EST [more..]
Wednesday, June 22nd
The state of Art in the modern world
 Do the virtues that have, in the past, shown an artistís greatness - talent, expressive force and original artistic research - still count, even when it seems that they are no longer fashionable? If we consider Italy today, my homeland, which has always been so profoundly divided (about everything, not only politics) into black and white, or red and blue, I am surprised to find that there seems to be apparent agreement in the world of art: above all, those artists who cannot agree to conduct their artistic research at the command of others, and who are unwilling to operate within the limited scope of commonly accepted norms and regulations, have been entirely excluded (from the
national and international scene).
Alberto Sughi on 06.22.05 @ 09:29 AM EST [more..]
Friday, June 17th
Famous Schmamous!
Is there anyone out there who doesn't want to be rich and famous?
I doubt it.
From the outside, it seems like such a cool gig. Especially for an artist.
Galleries calling about one-man (or woman) shows, collectors oohing and
aahing over your work, paintings selling like hotcakes, money pouring in,
media interviews, constant first-class flights to Europe and back, hot babes
in limousines, art show openings. Madness!
Michael Corbin on 06.17.05 @ 09:09 AM EST [more..]
Monday, June 13th
Holland, Belgium, Midwest...
Fortunately, my freezing-cold trip to Holland and Belgium, visiting friends and checking out art, was followed by three driving trips to warmer destinations (visiting friends and checking out art). A westward trip to Pontiac, Illinois, facilitated my stopping en route at the recently reopened Indianapolis Museum of Art. I also drove northeast to Granville, Ohio, home to www.absolutearts.com and southwest to Louisville’s Abbey Road on the River.
Sue Spaid on 06.13.05 @ 09:17 AM EST [more..]
Wednesday, June 8th
The Art We Like. But Why?
Throughout the history art changed as much as our lifestyles. Human concepts about the world, life and meaning while remaining as important as ever, acquired new images. Technological innovations somewhere along the way managed to strip few outer layers of visual art. The shell that was rigidly tied to certain skills that an artist had to posses before he/she tackled any conceptual work has disappeared. Those skills sometimes could dominate the whole work of art. With every step of advancing technology artists had to dig deeper and wider to express true emotion, to reflect life in a new, different way. This process inevitably brought to life the use of new tools, creating powerful new language of expression. In a sense modern art of the day is the art created on that day, reflecting latest technologies available to the mankind on that day and expressing the ideas and emotions of that time.
Ausra Larbey on 06.08.05 @ 06:57 AM EST [more..]
Monday, June 6th
Why is Mona Lisa Grinning?
What makes art contemporary? Is it the fact that it was created today? Two
years ago? 20 years ago?
From my standpoint as a collector, all art is contemporary.
Yes, this includes even the "ancient" Egyptian wall writings. Even
"ancient" Roman sculpture. All of these things were contemporary in their
day. Can you imagine Da Vinci being hip and edgy? I can!
I think that it's all about relevance. It's about art having a voice.
Making a statement. Trust me, if it's still around to be seen, it's
contemporary. If it has withered away and exists only in art journals and
textbooks, then it is ancient, in my opinion.
Michael Corbin on 06.06.05 @ 03:16 AM EST [more..]
Friday, June 3rd
Art World Economics
A New York artist’s studio, 1983. The director of one of New York City’s three largest contemporary art museums walks in the door, and tells the artist he’ll have a better chance of being in a group show starring **, if he changes his paintings by superimposing words over the work. The artist had been preparing for a year, after having won his place in a selection process for his biggest gig ever. The star’s paintings have words superimposed on them, and today sell for a lot more than they did then.
A New York collector’s apartment, 1989. The hottest female gallerist of the moment sits down with the collector to plan and promote the career of an as yet unselected artist. The only criteria for the selection is that the artist must be dying of AIDS.
Andrew Wielawski on 06.03.05 @ 04:07 AM EST [more..]
Wednesday, June 1st
A tragic comedy in three acts.
 1 – Mutiny
One week into our voyage together mutiny struck and the project ‘[x?] artists /one boat’ lost five of it’s vessels. The currents of discontent had been growing stronger, as you may have gathered from the blog before last, but the final straw was the unexpected rearrangement of the project’s lay-out and the inclusion and admission into the gallery of two pieces by someone afflicted with the dreaded ‘bored-house-wife* syndrome’ by the gallery director, herself afflicted with the even more worrisome ‘once-bored-house-wife-currently-with-a-mission disorder’. *[or should I best say house-keeper to be politically correct and encompass the male element?]
Jose Freitas Cruz on 06.01.05 @ 11:35 AM EST [more..]
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