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A+ Art Blog I have a feeling I am not the only one who was thrilled by the storms of mid-January. The lightning electrifying the atmosphere and the thunder and pounding rain filling my senses was so exciting and reminded me of my Wizard of Oz roots in Kansas. Over 500 people amazed me by filling the gallery for the reception of the Movers and Shakers 2 exhibition at Art Expressions Gallery ( 2645 Financial Court, Suite C, SD, 92117 Link for map to gallery) in the middle of that onslaught of weather. I prefer to think they braved the storms because the draw of good art and the energy of the arts community when it comes together create the same excitement. January reflections and predictions are still on my mind when I look at the two Movers and Shakers exhibitions (2008/2010) together as a whole. We set out to mark a cross selection of those who help the visual arts community depicted in a wide ranging portrait format by some of those artists who are aided by their efforts. On line, you can learn about the start of this project,a couple of introductions to the show Id, Ego and Superego, Movers and Shakers 2, and a forward by David Lewison or find all the information in our catalogs one and two. In both exhibitions those VIP s were asked to state their vision for the future of the visual art in our region. SD Flash Forward: Movers and Shakers Speak Out is a summary of those visions in the first exhibition by Kevin Freitas and myself. It is interesting to see how some of these visions have progressed. A way to promote San Diego outside of our geographical area has been started by the Beyond the Borders International Art Fair by bringing an outside audience to the city. Perhaps September, when the fair is scheduled for the next three years at the new Hilton Hotel Bayfront, can become the month for all galleries to concentrate on promoting local art. Massive collaborations were made to put on the Little & Large project with 41 local galleries and over 120 artists included. We are so cheered to see the Space4Art project with the possibility of an art center in Barrio Logan/East Village. We hope you will think about these visions and those of your own and then create some real action to make dreams into reality. Patricia Frischer Patricia Frischer is a founding member and coordinator of the San Diego Visual Arts Network, Frischer has taken on the roles of gallerist, curator, writer, teacher, website coordinator and artist. Her many metamorphoses make it difficult to fit her into any of the usual art world categories. She is author of The Artist and the Art of Marketing and has lectured extensively on marketing for artists. She is a trainer of artists’ agents, art dealers, consultant and collectors. Her own art work (www.DrawsCrowd.com) has been shown internationally and her most recent one person show was at Oxford University and The Mesa College Art Gallery. To leave a comment about this blog or see other comments, please go to the BLOG SPOT LINK Dreams and Visions: Movers and Shakers 2 Dreams and Visions: Movers and Shakers 2 I have a feeling I am not the only one who was thrilled by the storms of mid-January. The lightning electrifying the atmosphere and the thunder and pounding rain filling my senses was so exciting and reminded me of my Wizard of Oz roots in Kansas. Over 500 people amazed me by filling the gallery for the reception of the Movers and Shakers 2 exhibition at Art Expressions Gallery ( 2645 Financial Court, Suite C, SD, 92117 Link for map to gallery) in the middle of that onslaught of weather. I prefer to think they braved the storms because the draw of good art and the energy of the arts community when it comes together create the same excitement. January reflections and predictions are still on my mind when I look at the two Movers and Shakers exhibitions (2008/2010) together as a whole. We set out to mark a cross selection of those who help the visual arts community depicted in a wide ranging portrait format by some of those artists who are aided by their efforts. On line, you can learn about the start of this project,a couple of introductions to the show Id, Ego and Superego, Movers and Shakers 2, and a forward by David Lewison or find all the information in our catalogs one and two. In both exhibitions those VIP s were asked to state their vision for the future of the visual art in our region. SD Flash Forward: Movers and Shakers Speak Out is a summary of those visions in the first exhibition by Kevin Freitas and myself. It is interesting to see how some of these visions have progressed. A way to promote San Diego outside of our geographical area has been started by the Beyond the Borders International Art Fair by bringing an outside audience to the city. Perhaps September, when the fair is scheduled for the next three years at the new Hilton Hotel Bayfront, can become the month for all galleries to concentrate on promoting local art. Massive collaborations were made to put on the Little & Large project with 41 local galleries and over 120 artists included. We are so cheered to see the Space4Art project with the possibility of an art center in Barrio Logan/East Village. We hope you will think about these visions and those of your own and then create some real action to make dreams into reality. Patricia Frischer State of the Arts 2010 -The Future of Art Publications I believe that Art is the beginning of change. There are always other ways of seeing, thinking, acting, being. There is more than one reality and of course, more than one choice. So I set out to ask my art writing colleagues Seth Combs contributing to San Diego CityBeat, Keli Dailey stirring things up at SignOnSanDiego, Kevin Freitas posting on Art as Authority and resident art critic Robert Pincus writing for Union Tribune about the future of art publications and what they see on the horizon of this industry. Do people read about art in depth any more? It seems like we are all being bombarded by words on the internet. We assume that the attention span of the young is limited to 300 words at a time so fundamental to this discussion are the reading habits of the future. Keli Dailey reminds us that you have “…. to see a lot of good art to recognize the limitations of not-so-good art, and this swallowing and absorption of the good vitamins makes your eyes stronger.” Robert Pincus has faith that “…people want to read good writing about art. My evidence for the continuing viability of informed and passionate art criticism is anecdotal.” as he gets comments sent to him regularly about his column. “The writing needs to be succinct with less art jargon, treating the reader with respect and realizing that the audience has a multitude of choices…” is Seth Combs take on this question. Kevin Freitas takes a contrasting view, “As we become increasingly “plugged in” our capacity to reflect and ponder upon the information received decreases – including how art is viewed and understood.” He thinks that the coffee table book may be replaced by the Kindle, but “artist blogs and pod casts will not be the knock-out punch to the jaw of movable type.” The overriding sentiment here seems to be as Pincus states “…..nothing can replace the value of keen insights about art, no matter how they are delivered.” Are websites the future of publications or do they also have to organize events, curate show, etc? As the coordinator of a website directory that has morphed into a media publication with calendar, and events promotions, I wondered how traditional publications are using their websites and how some journal websites are surviving. Combs states that "local publications that are exclusively art oriented have more problems than nationals art periodicals.” CityBeat has a wider remit and covers news, food, nightlife, etc. But size of the editorials at CityBeat are not dependant on advertising generated by the arts as the “publisher recognize that culture adds value to the publication.” Of course, three people with an online blog can survive, but would they be able to progress and reach full potential? Small local online publication, like Latent Print and Sezio are screening movies, supporting poetry readings, combining music with art displays. Dailey recommends Arts Journal as one of the few profit-turning and highly trafficked online arts publications. I personally get my art daily from Art Daily right now. Pincus believes “…that print publications will survive, with online dimensions continuing to expand their scope into a range of media. But new publications may opt not to appear in print at all. More importantly, though, it's always the quality of the coverage that will matter most. The liveliness and lucidity of the writing will set one daily, weekly, magazine and site apart from another. For audio or video reporting, it is the perceptiveness of an interview or the excellence of the footage that is vital” Freitas applauds the rise of self published volumes, which “give artists the freedom and luxury to get the word out at a minimal cost.” He recommends LA based Coagula Art Journal , now in its 17 th year. e-Flux which began in 1999 as an exhibition in a hotel has become “state of the art” officially with its recognition of Anton Vidokle/e-flux, Julieta Aranda & Brian Kuan Wood on the top most powerful people list of Art Review Magazine. (See the whole list in our revised Smart Collector article). e-Flux can be described as a collective, a school, an archive, an advocacy source, a journal, a gallery in Manhattan and a gathering place for projects to incubate and mature. e-Flux even auctions and markets artwork. Frieze is a magazine published 8 times a year, a very successful art fair held in London in October and a non-profit foundation responsible for the curated program at the fair, including artist commissions, talks, films, music and education. The Foundation is funded by the European Commission and Arts Council England. Perhaps our own Beyond the Borders International Art Fair will develop into a publication. SDVAN/SD Art Prize is already the non-profit organization associated with this fair. Are there still movements and if not how do we define contemporary arts? Everywhere I look combined, collaged, collaborated and bigger than life art is prevalent. How do you get a handle on that all encompassing media assault? And how can we use geography to define art where the World Wide Web makes us all one? Robert Pincus says he has, “…never felt it to be any less exciting to be a critic in a post-movement era. Art, whether collaborative or made in isolation, is always rooted in the strength of its vision and convictions. Art that grips us and surprises us will always appear.” Keli Dailey believes there are movements. “ Lowbrow is a movement and there are many micro-movements, which might become major, but the very nature of contemporary art is to morph, and not be static. It overlaps and borrows and competes and revises and reassembles and destroys and sounds intellectually muscular when it tosses the word “postmodernism” around like an ‘ol pigskin.” Seth Combs is hopeful that the new Space4Art Barrio Logan/ East Village art complex will provide a local geography for “…more interdisciplinary, interactivities and cross pollination of ideas.” He feels that North Park never reached that maturity before the rents went up and the artists moved on. Today’s artists must speak, write and publish in city centers, which are the main ingredient to making that soup from which great art emerges. For Kevin Freitas, “The problem is everyone is talking and no one is listening or even commenting. And while artists might upload their work to the internet in an effort to circumvent dwindling exposure in traditional press sources, it is actually hurting them. The idea that art speaks to everyone has just gotten harder to hear over the din of a thousand invisible voices competing on the same computer platform. In the end, the only cure for the arts and its exposure is to keep a copy of the painting you’re standing in front of, firmly imprinted in your mind’s eye.” However, e-Flux has just published a collection of blog threads which they see as the natural developing direction of visual art writing. Could it be that blog topics will emerge and self define categories of interest? Some of the chapter heading include: Politics of Installation (Boris Groys), Is a Museum a Factory? (Hito Steyerl), and Art in the Knowledge-Based Polis (Tom Holert). My advice is to choose a variety of websites and writers to follow and remain loyal so as not to confuse yourself. If you get bored there are obviously plenty of choices so keep your eyes open and your finger on the search button. Finally, remember to keep those comments coming as this is one of your ways to actually affect the future. 2009 Past A+ Art Blogs including 2008 Past A+ Art Blogs including 2007 Past A+ Art Blogs including 2006 Past A+ Art Blogs PATRICIA FRISCHER, author of "The Artist and the Art of Marketing" has lectured extensively on marketing for artists. She is a trainer of artists’ agents, art dealers, consultant and collectors. Frischer has taken on the roles of gallerist, curator, writer, teacher, website coordinator and artist. Her many metamorphoses make her difficult to fit into any of the usual art world categories. She is a founding member and coordinator of the San Diego Visual Arts Network, (www.SDVAN.net ) which funds the SD Art Prize, directory and events calendar and SmART Collector features. Her own artwork (www.DrawsCrowd.com ) has been shown internationally and her most recent one person show was at Oxford University. |
