Body of Work Show and Sketchbooks

In the next few weeks, readers of this blog are going to hear a lot about an upcoming show Body of Work which opens May 18.  The figurative show will include work of nine local artists exhibited in two rooms at the Art Center.  One room will be these artists' sketches and pages from sketchbooks.

More on published sketchbooks

Page from one of Picasso's sketchbooks.  Picasso's numerous sketchbooks are a visual diary of his work

It is common to see sketches and drawings included in art exhibitions, but this was not always the case. The idea of publishing a sketchbook is recent.  Many artists of the past kept their sketchbooks and sketches very private.  They were guarded from the outside world and considered a studio secret.  These drawings were used in the big studios for creations of new paintings, collaborators used them to assist their the master, and pupils copied them as instructional material. These sketches were seen as precious, as is evident in the testament of Peter Paul Rubens who stipulated that his drawings be passed to his son or son in law if one were to became a painter. 

With the internet, it is now possible to see artists’ sketchbooks. Many museums and other institutions are documenting famous artists’ sketchbooks and preliminary drawings and putting them online, such as a huge imaging documentation project at Harvard.  

One of the things that contemporary artist James Jean did to broaden his reputation from illustrator to fine artist is publish his sketchbooks.  Although Jean is a fantasy artist, Jean's book PR3 includes figure drawings and life drawings from observations in café’s or on planes. Some drawings have vivid color.

Drawing from the sketchbook of James Jean

Drawings from the sketchbook of James Jean

A giant traveling show, The Sketchbook Project, includes amateur and professional artists from around the world.  This year’s theme is “Everyone we know” with 3,000 participants. At galleries in six cities,  sketchbooks are often spread out across tables so that people may look inside. The project encourages participation. (From The Sketchbook Project website):  In March, your book will rock out at the SXSW festival in Austin, TX.  Your book will spend July tasting all the food Chicago has to offer, and in August, your book will make new friends at the Portland Zine Symposium.

One stop for the project: The Brooklyn Art Library's storefront reading room

Body of Work Opening is May 18 at 7:00 at the Arts Center

Nerd Nite and Palettes of Famous Painters

We're going to Nerd Nite tonight at Pachamama's where we will hear three speakers including Nick Spacek who will talk about record collecting.  Doors open at 7:30.
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Abstract expressionist artists' retrospectives are in demand and their paintings are selling for high prices at auction.  Yesterday, a Mark Rothko painting made a record for the most amount a contemporary painting has sold for at auction, around $87 million. The buyer is anonymous.   Other artists of this era are also fetching high prices.  Recently, Jackson Pollock's Number 28, painted in 1951 sold for $23 million.

Rothko's Orange, Red, Yellow 1961

Pollock's Number 28 painted in 1951

Meanwhile, here are some pics of the palettes of famous French painters via the website La Boite Verte.

Eugene Delacroix

Auguste Renoir

Degas

George Seurat

Gustave Moreau

Paul Gauguin

Vincent Van Gogh

Grace Chin art at the Kansas Union and Nerd Nite

Recent drawings and monotypes by Grace Chin are at the Kansas Union.  The title of her show is "Regaling You with Tales of our Jubilation and Lamentation."

Chin at Wonderfair

We know Grace from her zines at Wonderfair. The reception for the show is this Thursday at 5:00.  The show will be up until Sunday, May 13.   See more of Grace's work such as this etching below at her website: www.gracedchin.com

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We are very excited for Wednesday's Nerd Nite at Pachamama's.  There are three presentations, but we are especially looking forward to Nick Spacek's talk :"Vinyl Nerds and Collector Scum: Record variants and the obsessive collectors who chase them."  Doors for this event open at 7:30. 

What happens to art work once it is created?

We were intrigued by news that someone has discovered what is believed to be an early Andy Warhol drawing.  BBC News reports that British tourist and collector Andy Fields found the work at a garage sale in Los Vegas and bought it for $5.00.  It's estimated value is over one million dollars.

The sketch is of 1930's singer Rudy Vallee that Warhol drew when he was nine or ten.

Although the article is short, we are curious as to why someone in Los Vegas would have an early Warhol drawing.  What happens to art work that is not recorded by a museum or other archivist?  How much art, especially works on paper, has been lost or thrown away?

Early Warhol drawing

Warhol's Marilyn 1962

Warhol's Liz, 1965

Pic of Warhol at studio 54

This week, another item was discovered that is believed to be ancient pottery that was dropped off at a Goodwill donation trailer in western New York.  A note stuffed inside the pottery said it had been found in a burial mound in Oklahoma in 1970.  The pottery could be more than 1,000 years old.  Goodwill says the pottery is being given to the Caddo Indian Nation. 

New York artist Amy Sillman and Looking at Art

We love the work of Richard Diebenkorn.  We came across the artists Amy Sillman who lives and shows her work in New York.  Although the works are very different, the compositions and grids remind us of Dienbenkorn's Ocean Park Series. 

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In a recent Art News article "How to Buy, Sell, and have an Aha Moment", Micheal Findley, Christie's international director, has written a new book The Value of Art. 

Here are some statements made in his book: 

“No two persons looking at the same painting, sculpture, or drawing are having the same experience. . . . Neither you nor I may be judging the quality of the work in any commercial sense; we are bringing our own experience to bear, and that is not only inevitable but part of the process of experiencing art.

“The more we look, the greater our confidence in the validity of our first impression, our gut response, and the likelihood that it will be confirmed or increased by continued engagement with the work of art. . . . Looking again and again at works by the artists who most appeal to us increases our ability to access what is truly intrinsic to a particular painting, sculpture, drawing, or print.”

The Emperor’s New Clothes: “In some critical quarters qualitative judgments are considered to be old hat, and in this topsy-turvy world bad art is good. Connoisseurship is condemned in favor of philosophical gamesmanship. . . . Voices crying from the back of the crowd that the reigning art emperors are bare-assed naked went unheard by the speculators and their fellow travelers who took charge when the auction houses started to serve Dom Perignon champagne and Beluga caviar at their preview parties.

http://www.artnews.com/2012/05/02/how-to-buy-sell-enjoy-have-an-aha-moment/

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Related to the above article, we loved this article via Leslie Von Holton "I'm sick of pretending: I don't get art": http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/im-sick-of-pretending-i-dont-get-art

Open Drawing on Saturday and new show at Henry's

Warhol working in his studio

The last open model session is Saturday, May 5, 11:00-2:00 in room 405.  Bring drawing supplies.  The session is free and open to anyone who would like to come.

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A new art show at Henry's caught our eye.  "Seacreatures" is a solo show by Giselle Ghadyani. The show has small works on paper.  The reception is from 7:00-9:00 on Saturday.  The show will be up until May 31.

Matthew Obrakta at Pachamamas

pic taken from Obrakta's website

We went to the opening for the new show at Pachamamas.  Matthew Obrakta has impressive photography that is based on nature, but appears very abstract.  The photo process is complicated, but involves taking negatives and experimenting with processing chemicals and sun exposure.  You can see more of his work on his website under his fine art section : http://matthewobrakta.com/


Obrakta's work will be up until the end of May.

Here are some pics from the opening: