She has the ability to "transform huge quantities of prosaic manufactured materials — Styrofoam cups, pencils, tar paper — into sculptural installations that suggest the wonders of nature." Really cool stuff, and here is just a hint of what to expect (made out of styrofoam cups).
For a strange article about painter/filmmaker Julian Schnabel getting ready to paint famous Mexican tenor, Plácido Domingo, check out this article here. He talks about his process approaching a subject and a painting in brief, and what inspires him. He is the humble painter who once said, “I’m the closest you’ll get to Picasso in this life.”
(HERE) is an interesting article about the artist Damien Hirst. He is an artist who likes attention and making waves (famous for suspending a dead shark in a plexi-glass box as art). The art market typically works by artists showing their work through galleries, and getting a commission from sales at these shows. Eventually, some art-buyers sell their art investment at art auction houses, often at a profit. Hirst recently decided to bypass the art gallery establishment (galleries) and go directly to Soethby's Art Auction.
.jpg)
Gallerists are not pleased. Its a novel idea, but I see a trend today where art is treated more as business and less as passion by artists, dealers, critics, buyers, and historians. Perhaps it is a product of our times.
Take a look at the (Jeff Koons) show that the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago just had. It was filled with shiny and beautiful sculptures, paintings, and photographs, and probably most of them painted and cast by his assistants. Yes, I do believe Koons directed the assistants, and developed the ideas and maybe this is a product of conceptual art. However, in conceptual art, the idea is more important than the product.
(Jeff Koons, Michael Jackson and Soap Bubbles, 1988.)
Usually that means, we spend more time admiring the idea, because the product is not necessarily aesthetic. In Koons situation, there is bling, shine, and gloss. I think we are attracted to the product. It makes the art of painting and sculpting feel more like skilled labor than a creative act in the hands of Kitsch-Master, Jeff Koons (c).
Are we to feel glad for the artists who are now making a killing in money from their art,with artists like Takashi Murakami collaborating on Album Covers for Kanye West, and designing purses for Louis Vuitton, or should we be concerned that many of the art stars are role-models for taking a more materialistic approach to art and its purpose?
I guess that this is a question for future artists and dealers and appreciators to decide.
No comments:
Post a Comment