Potential

“Mark would have loved this.”

(That is what I said to myself when I passed this object lying near the curb.)

Flash back a couple of years and I would have picked it up and brought it to the studio, or maybe saved it for an anniversary present for him – June 24 would have begun our 13^th year together…

But it is 2014 and I was on my way to meet a friend, so I captured the image and went on my way. This small by-product of recent street work on the block would have been transformed to something entirely different in the studio – a tool (to create one of his final series, Street Markings, Mark set aside brushes in favor of found objects) to resist and apply paint, likely the inspiration for one or more new works.

Untitled, Wed, Aug 11, 6:00:00 pm, 20" x 21.5", mixed media on paper, 2011

In that moment I felt grief not only for Mark, and the fact that I could not give him this object he would have so enjoyed, but all the paintings he did not create, the objects he did not use. The world is a better place because humans are creative, we take the most humble of resources and use them to share feelings, ideas and inspiration.

Did the worker who left that there know he could have been making art? We all leave traces of ourselves, our work, our belongings behind at times, with no real way of knowing if someone else has observed, recorded, acquired them and what they have done as a result. This forlorn piece of pipe with threads, lying in the gutter, had at least once the potential to become something far more.

In that moment, the object also stood for the fragility of our way of life, and the capriciousness of fate. So much human potential goes untapped for so many reasons, it underlines the importance of all that we do, or can do, to support one another, hopefully so we can all realize something more to add to the universe. Mark and I were very lucky to be surrounded by so many who "got it" ( and they still do). We are on this planet and in this world together. Reach out, be inspired, give your spark in return, it could be our only chance... imagine life if no one had noticed that rounded objects could be rolled, if Shakespeare had never loved, or Turner not looked deeply into a sunset.

By the way the piece of metal was still there on my way home, and I later retrieved it.  It may join others in the studio even though it will not be used as a brush. After all, it became a story.

Getting it...

A work of art is not just an object. It performs. It shapes the time you spend with it , spurs emotions and imaginations, and opens the door to a world with a world.

To perform the art must command attention, having the virtue of being superbly executed, visually compelling, and multi-faceted when viewed at different angles and distances. There must be interest in the subject, the substance and even the substrate. Nothing about a fine work of art is truly “blank” -- every surface is a statement, and invitation, and experience.

Art calls to you and pulls you in. There is a reason museums have “don’t touch” rules enforced by lines on the floor and all of those kind, but firm guards…  if you don’t have a nearly irresistible urge to touch, it probably does not belong in a museum!

Art should pass from hand to hand not simply as a business transaction, but via an understanding between artist and owner that it is a secret shared between them for now that is meant as a gift for all who come with an open heart. When you acquire a piece of art, you have something to give to the world in displaying it, and your own discoveries and insights add to that gift.

When you accept ownership of a piece of fine art, you take on a responsibility to the universe. Working with some truly amazing artists I have the privilege to know, every time I look at their work that is in my custody I am in awe, and moved to do whatever it takes to see that work appreciated and cared for for many years to come. If this sounds a bit romantic, think about how much art, music and writing  you have appreciated over the years -- some of it may even have changed your life. What if it had not been there for you because no one had cared to publish, protect or produce it?

As for the “purpose,” or usefulness of art, that is really for each of us as a creator and/or collector to decide, if and when we are ready. My late partner, Mark Wiener, always knew that he wanted his paintings to bring joy in their viewing. This is not to say the content of his work was inherently happy, it was not always and that was not a goal. But he created paintings of great depth and intricacy, each gesture from the heart, because he did want someone to stand before his work and feel engaged, embraced, even loved.

The art before you depends on you to reach its full potential…

painting and photo by Mark Wiener (c) beauarts, ltd.

At the Fridge Art Fair -- Thinking Outside the Booth

Q Presents Large-Scale Installations by Danny Licul, Sasha Meret and Dean Radinovsky

Update: The Q installation and the Crash Art Ferrari presented by Dorian Grey Gallery, as well as works by Kazuko Myamoto, David Fenn courtesy of Gallery OneTwentyEight, The Secret Sticker Club and Street Art NY presentations, neon by Kenny Greenberg, and a stealth installation will be on view Saturday and Sunday, May 17 & 18 from 12 - 6, alongside "The Crew"  (featuring assistants from Matthew Barney's studio in performance, installation and a group exhibition ), and the Holocenter Pop-Up Exhibit,  at 5-25 46th Avenue as part of the LIC Arts Open. Opening reception Wednesday May 14, 5:30  -- 8 pm and the "Big Whirlygig" on Saturday, May 17 from 6 - Midnight.

As some of you may have heard, Fridge Art Fair was displaced from its original venue when Angel Orensanz Center was shut down by the NYC Department of Buildings on March 31. Not only is this a sad, and I hope temporary, loss to the Lower East Side and the arts community in general, but it sent us scrambling to find a new space and at least 2000 sf to house our fair, and walls, which had been provided by the Center, for our committed exhibitors.

Help came, first in the form of a major sponsorship from Plaxall for use of a 7000 sf space in Long Island City, as well as what could be termed an angelic intervention by fair exhibitors Secret Sticker Club to construct walls. One of the coolest things about the waterfront venue is that it retains an aged industrial patina, and salvaged materials have played a major role in the buildout.

In keeping with the look and scale of the new location, Q is presenting 3 artists who accepted the challenge to install large-scale work that does not need walls yet will actually create one of the boundaries of our event space. They are Danny Licul, Sasha Meret, and Dean Radinovsky. We will all see tomorrow what they have devised.

Additionally, Fridge has invited other artists to install around the space: Kazuko Miyamoto and David Fenn ( both courtesy of Gallery Onetwentyeight) and Kenny Greenberg of Krypton Neon will all be featured at Fridge. Last but not least, exhibitor Dorian Grey Gallery will present a Ferrari (yes, vroom-vroom) painted by Crash!

Fair hours are Friday - Sunday, May 9 - 11 at 5-25 46th Avenue (enter thru the parking lot), opening gala Thursday from 6-9 featuring singer-songwriter Michelle Fury benefits City Critters, Inc.

Tickets at  Eventbrite... here are some installation night photos:

Soft-Serve in a Hard-Sell World: Eric Ginsburg on the Ice Cream Sundae Project

We all know the art world can be a cold, hard place. It can be difficult to see beyond the hype and high prices touted in the media, especially when considering the money machine and feeding frenzy every “big” art fair week, as in New York and Miami, has become. But one man hopes to turn this ponderous tide by thinking – small!

When Eric Ginsburg founded Fridge Art Fair (yes, the name is a play on Frieze) in 2013, in tiny Gallery OneTwentyEight on the Lower East Side, he sent out a challenging call for exhibitors  -- “Can you fit into the Fridge?” They did… and answered the call again when Fridge’s winter fair, dubbed “The Miami Popsicle Project,” made its December debut in Brickell.

While most fairs are founded by dealers, Eric is a young artist whose work is beginning to get recognition at the highest levels of the art world. So why an art fair?

“Karma.” The seed of Fridge came from an earlier exhibition project that did not go as well as he had wished, he explains, adding, “And of course for the fun.”

Fridge, like everything Eric, is a highly personal creation infused with his energy and personality.  With the Fair returning to New York May 8-11 -- this time sponsored by Plaxall in Long Island City after being displaced by the March 31st closure of Angel Orensanz Center --  he has named this edition “The Ice Cream Sundae Project,” because “”the art world can be so stiff!”

“People should not be afraid to go and see art, and it should not cost a fortune. Let’s have fun, life is short!”

 

Eric at his opening at Dorfman Projects, photo by Lois Stavsky

What does Ginsburg’s perfect art fair look like?

“A cross between Disney World and a Dr. Seuss book, the happiest place on Earth! I want people to be happy, we want everyone from all walks of life to come to this fair and say, ‘that was really cool!’”

The fair is small but growing, thanks to the loyalty of returning exhibitors, the enthusiasm of dealers and artists new to the fair, and the determination both of the Fridge team to make it the best little fair in New York while retaining its unique character, which is perhaps best described by Eric’s response to an exhibiting artist from the inaugural fair who finally found a way to participate, after previously telling Eric it would not be possible. 

His reply:

“Welcome home”

Fridge opens with a gala benefit for City Critters Inc May 8 from 6-9, followed by regular fair hours and special events May 9-11 from 12 - 8 pm. More information and tickets at http://fridgeartfair.com

The Emperor’s Tailors Strike Again...

Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the art world (in a grocery store)

Once again I must shake off negative vibes due to members of art world and media once again oohing and aahing over an exhibition I really wish just was not there. No, I am not a critic so not naming names, I am sure there are several just in Manhattan that fit the bill actually, but as a lifelong lover of art, an awestruck admirer of artists, and what they can do, it pains me that the viewing public is being what I strongly feel is misled, and encouraged to make poor judgments, about the nature of art being made today.

As writers and exhibitors of art, we take on the responsibility of deciding what people will see. If those getting their feet wet in the art scene turn a blind eye to all the good that is out there because we showed them the first work they saw for the wrong reasons, we are damaging the present and future of art – if no one buys from artists, how can they go on? Can the market afford any more losses? More important, can humanity afford to lose the vision of great artists?

My main issue with the work I saw was simple – it represented an attempt, albeit an almost technically perfect one, to communicate in a way that others (I immediately thought of 2 artists I know personally) are doing better with less notoriety. By successfully I mean that the technical ability is there to make the difficulty of their choices transparent to the viewer, providing an experience of seamless enjoyment and understanding of highly personal work that, while edgy, also flaunts an irresistible beauty, and elicits an immediate reaction of “Wow!”

You should love a piece of art because someone has done something remarkable and irreplaceable and it has opened a door in your life. You should not embrace art because someone else thinks you should, no matter what that someone’s name is, and you should not dismiss all art just because others say you are supposed to like something that you know just sucks.

As in "The Emperor's New Clothes," Andersen’s cautionary tale of a vain emperor conned into parading about naked, sometimes it takes an innocent to call attention to a fallacy that those entangled in the system fear to point out. My epiphany came several years ago, while checking out in Trader Joe’s. A youthful cashier was making pleasant conversation as he packed my groceries, but when I told him I wrote about art he came to a dead stop, looked me right in the eyes and asked:

“Why is all the art in Chelsea so bad?”

It isn’t, of course, but there are always enough dubious presentations to give would-be art lovers like this young man pause. And we all pay a price for that, the viewers who don’t get to see the best, and the great artists who get lumped in with the less talented and inspired simply because they do not have the means or political pull or desire to forcefully push to the front of the pack.

Another caution, just got an email from a suburban gallery with lovely images of work that is simply highly commercial and decorative, often these objects are fabricated for the artists. Saving this for another post, but décor is something you can create yourself with objects from many sources and you can obtain them without paying a high cost for those objects and have fun doing, and re-doing, it. Art is a living offering of love and insight that exists in your space to have an intimate and dynamic relationship with you. Before acquiring an object that matches the sofa from the nearest storefront, please look at what is out there in terms of cost and value.  When I speak with people about this they are often dismayed to learn that they could have made a purchase from a significant body of work in an artist’s own hand for what they spent on something they will probably toss in a couple of years or give away on Craigslist.

One thing I really hate seeing is an artist with a gallery and following presenting a new concept in their work that someone else has been doing better for a while. It starts to feel like art is a closed shop union for those who are already making money or can buy in to publicize themselves, and we all know that is not healthy for the future of art. Great artists, famous or not, struggle and reach and dig to find the next vein to mine, and it pays off in highly original and soulful work that is new yet unmistakably theirs. I feel sad walking into a show of new works and thinking, “Hey, that looks like…”

Artists never give up. You should not either, keep searching and looking and walking through those gallery doors. Something is waiting for you, it just may, like true love, take time and commitment.

Q arranges private and group studio and gallery events featuring a very select group of artists, to join please contact me at beauartsltd@gmail.com and tell me about the art you dream of… Linda

image via wikimedia commons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes

A Pear Market for Art

“Pear Market Value”

An interactive exploration of the complex relationships between art and money.

What is your art worth?

What you paid for it? What you gave up to get it?

What you can sell it for?

What it would cost to make you as happy as the art does?

To help you plug this into your own perspective, I am giving away small pieces of original art, life cut-outs of pears* in colored paper (hand-cut while viewing not model, not traced on the paper).

Given my pricing, if for individual sale each would be worth approximately $20 (USD). Could call that “Pear Market Value”...

Everyone is invited to keep their pear if they love it -- frame it, mount it, place it in a personal collage or on your fridge or mirror… even read something in print for a change and use it as a bookmark!

Whether or not you love it, your are also invited to return it to me for a $50 (USD) discount on any piece of art, purchased either directly from me or any sale made by me as a dealer for other artists, for $500 or more. Artists and dealers are welcome to honor the same terms, in keeping with the notion of art as a form of currency, no matter if it changes hands each pear will still be redeemable for a $50 discount on my sales, and those that come back to me will be distributed again. Each holder is encourage to sign the pear!

“It’s a pear market.”

* Why pears? http://peartheapple.blogspot.com/2012/05/mixed-messages.html

Gratitude Parte Dos...

Painting by David Fenn presented by Gallery OneTwentyEight

Miami, you are beautiful… not the scene, the beach, the parties, truly I had to focus on the Fridge Art Fair at Pax, nestled in its little green on Calle Ocho (Por favor don’t call it SW 8^th St. como una turista!) between Brickell and Little Havana.

The beauty was the people, both the welcoming community we relied on to feed an house us, and especially those who came to our booth, which featured New York artists Danny Licul and Dean Radinovsky’s paintings in a micro-exhibition (see previous post) and really engaged the art, asked questions, gave intelligent and insightful opinions. They changed my experience of fairs, where I have often felt like a hungry leopard in a zoo ready to spring at the rare passerby who happens to be drawn in. It was an experience of knowing where I was supposed to be, and I also have to credit the Fair itself for encouraging a showing-not-shopping concept.

Paintings by Danny Licul (top) and Dean Radinovsky at the Fridge Art Fair Miami

When I stopped to pet a man’s dog outside (he did not know who I was) and he told me how he had accidentally wandered in and loved the fair, it reminded me how important and rewarding it can be to get out of the districts and take art “on the road.”

Til next year…