I was thinking about Cuba today after watching Abby Martin´s reports on RT and feeling kinna revolutionary and hopeful about the diplomatic thaw when I ran across another report on Cuban artist Tania Bruguera´s arrest, and subsequent harassment and suppression just for an art piece asking citizens to freely speak for one minute – and my fleeting respect for Cuba vanished almost immediately. Not many artists get involved in politics but it’s inspiring when they do speak directly to the ruling elite and run the same risks as honest journalists. Even though I use art more as an escape from the grind of that reality, I applaud its use as political protest and wish more was exhibited. Unfortunately the gilded collectors of our time prefer kitch souvenirs and objects of escalating investment to confrontational art. So where is American art showing outrage over our government’s “… endless War on Terror that seems the sum of its exceptions to international law: endless incarceration, extrajudicial killing, pervasive surveillance, drone strikes in defiance of national boundaries, torture on demand, and immunity for all of the above on the grounds of state secrecy”? That from Tom Englehardt at http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2015/02/24/the-real-american-exceptionalism/. The Obama administration’s slogan of ‘Hope and Change’ has really been a bad joke on the public and I was happy to see Martin express it in one of her artworks – she also paints. But getting back to Tania… what is so threatening to the ruling class about citizens expressing their opinions in public? Isn’t Cuba’s one-party system supposed to be a model for citizen participation in politics as I saw in ‘Breaking the Set’? Tania’s performance is art (and politics) at its most basic and I was happy that Gustavo Buntinx is boycotting the Havana Biennial because of her persecution. If Cuba is really interested in joining the global political and art community it should be inviting Tania to perform her piece as part of the fair, front and center in Revolution Square. Fear of journalists ruins politics and fear of artists ruins cultural exchanges and art museums. In the USA we are living at a time when journalists are threatened by our ‘House of Cards’ – where Frank Underwood pales beside the real criminals promoting perpetual war for perpetual peace and security. But when politicians begin to fear artists as Cuba fears Tania, you know freedom is failing which begs the question – is any American artist challenging the politics of today or are they all ‘appropriating’ the flag? You can sign a petition to support Tania’s release https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1xlV4yidM7UvgdkTrgCtXS29SY35R2k4mhvfZgLYFLqk/viewform. The 12th Havana Biennial will likely feature the international ‘zombie formalism’ prevalent in such now proliferate art fairs but will really feature the cowardly officials who initially approved Tania’s performance in 2009 and now label it subversive. Viva political dissent and the assault by art!
February USGS Solo Show
There is nothing like seeing artwork live so come visit my exhibit at the USGS National Center Art Hall during the month of February 2015. This is my first solo show in the Washington area. I will be showing my latest Acrylic paintings on Yupo paper – still life and landscapes inspired from personal journeys and local excursions. There is a small exhibit catalog on site – the show includes eight still life pieces such as ‘Six Tulips’, ‘Lillies in a vase’ and ‘Three Bowl IV’ as well as fourteen landscapes including ‘Cascades’, ‘Great Falls’ and ‘Billy Goat Trail’.
The US Geological Survey is located at 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston and is open Monday through Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm. The exhibit is free to the public. There will be a reception on Friday, February 6 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. Hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you there!
The Death of POP
Pop is dead. Pop has Popped and Pooped out. It has finally reached the apex of soulless and crass commercialism that inspired it. Pop does not go deeper than the gloss surface and celebrity icons of its images. It is like American action movies based on superheroes – alot of superficial distraction and kitch puns. Where is contemporary art built on the traditions of impressionism and modernism – a contemplative, cerebral, and personal art? Today’s pop art superstars can’t trace their hand… recently Jeff Koons was sued for plagiarism twice in two weeks. If Koons does not CREATE his images (they’re appropriated) and he does not CRAFT his art objects (they are executed by assistants or contractors) then WHERE IS THE ART? Where is the talent attributed to the artist? Aren’t artists at least supposed to know how to draw? Are you really an artist if you only choose an image and market it? I want art based on the Anti-Pop. A personal art that celebrates nature and not human objects. An art that makes us honor and question life and not one that worships bling and empty pleasures. Good riddance Andy Warhol, king of Pop – your art was never personal. Good riddance to eliminating the hand of the artist, to art ‘factories’ and glorifying trite cliches. Good riddance to egoistic self indulgence and overvalued insignificant objects. The Anti-Pop comes from within, not without. The Anti-Pop is cerebral and spiritual – not sensual and material. Anti-Pop is not in your face and based on fads but subtle and enduring. Anti-Pop is introspective, thoughtful and mystical. It is about live people and wild nature – not dead and manufactured objects. It is the inspiration for art that many of us are doing and that the market is not rewarding… but that will change because Pop is dead.
EU Red Tape set to tarnish Cadmium
I wanted to blog about the Polish artist who paints Kim Kardashian portraits with his penis, but that’s about the whole story, so instead I am drawing your attention to possible restrictions on the use of Cadmium by the European Union, which means eventually painters might be left without one of their most brilliant pigments – initially in the old continent at least. The ‘Art Newspaper’ reports that due to an environmental report from Sweden claiming toxic amounts of cadmium seeping into the water supply, the European Union is considering banning all cadmium pigments in paint. This is the metal used in high end Cadmium Reds, Oranges and Yellows that are among the most vibrant and brightest pigments available to a painter’s palette. Artists however are feeling like scapegoats for manufacturers who produce Nickel Cadmium batteries, where they claim the real problem lies. The European Chemical Agency (known by its acronym ECHA) will be deciding this month of December whether to institute a complete ban on cadmium in the EU based on the report from Sweden. Aren’t there recycling laws in Europe to address the battery issue or agencies monitoring the battery factories to ensure environmental compliance before punishing artists for such minute amounts? According to Reach, an EU body that counsels on chemicals, the cadmium compounds used by artists in paint is not hazardous. Yet every artist should be aware that cadmium is a toxic substance and consciously include or exclude it from their palette for environmental reasons. There seem to be no equal non-toxic alternative to cadmium pigments – natural or synthetic – just a series of lesser approximations such as Naphthol red. This whole issue however seems more like politicians sweeping artists up with the real culprits in order to lessen the blow against their corporate sponsors. Yes this sounds like politics as usual with artists about ready to get the shaft before corporations are controlled or adequate studies conducted… are you shocked? I am SHOCKED! NOT.
Religious Art Wars
It seems almost incredible that in 21st century Western society there are still religious forces potent enough to attempt to censor art exhibits and dismiss directors who offend their theology. Such is the ongoing case against Spanish ‘Reina Sofia’ museum director Manuel Borja-Villel who is being sued for misuse of public funds by the Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers for exhibiting a matchbox by the collective Mujeres Publicas displaying the phrase “The only Church that illuminates is the one that burns”. The offended justify their rage by asking if the museum’s display would be removed if the phrase instead promoted the burning of mosques or Synagogues so it appears they want to claim the same religious intolerance often on display by zealous Zionists or Muslims. But isn’t this exactly why they should separate themselves from that attitude? It seems that as the Catholic Church of Pope Francis tries to be more tolerant and innovative its flock pulls in the opposite direction. The controversy over the exhibit has generated competing petitions – one requesting the removal of the offending artwork and the museum’s director, another supporting the director and artistic freedom. Not surprisingly the latter is backed by the international museum community and has gathered about 2,000 signatures to the former’s 40,000 so public sentiment is running about 20 to 1 in favor of removal. The exhibition is titled ‘Really Useful Knowledge’ and is scheduled to run from October 29th through February 9th in Madrid. You can sign the petition against religious censorship and in support of the director at this link: https://www.change.org/p/spanish-ministry-of-education-culture-and-sports-support-manuel-borja-villel-director-of-museo-reina-sof%C3%ADa-and-the-team-at-the-museum-in-their-opposition-to-the-attempted-censorship-of-a-work-of-art-in-the-exhibition-really-useful-knowledge?utm_campaign=4cae61afc8-Support+Manuel+Borja-Villel&utm_medium=email&utm_source=CIMAM+NEWSLETTER+MAILING+LIST&utm_term=0_9bed3b7ae9-4cae61afc8-103511041
CEO’s of Modern Art
So the shiny-kitch-for-the-rich Jeff Koons show has led to surging membership at the Whitney museum! That is not a surprise knowing the Corporate Artworld model needs capitalist artists to perpetuate its economic hierarchy and raise its bottom line! How else are they going to pay for their new digs near the High Line? Koons and his incestuous ilk like Damien Hirst represent one of the most disturbing trends in the contemporary art market – appropriation of imagery and outsourcing of art production. This process leaves any ‘artist’ willing to dismiss these moral scruples solely responsible for personal promotion and exploitation of profits from their artworld conspirators. They are accurate in describing their art as ‘conceptual’ because that is virtually the only involvement they can claim with their own pieces. These artists are really only managing and manipulating labor, resources, and talent outside themselves – a mirror of the economic imperialism of Corporate Capitalism under globalization. Call them the ‘Multinational CEO’s of modern Art’! No wonder there is such cynicism in the artworld! I recently read a review of the Koons exhibition in the New York Review of Books where they noted how far the intent of dada ‘readymades’ are from Koons’ art souvenirs and how many in the artworld have been drinking the Koons Kool-Aid for too long. It is reassuring that there are still some sane critics in the artworld who have not been bought. It may be jealousy but how can you take seriously all the Koons BS such as the statement that his use of reflective surfaces are a way for him to get the public into his art piece!? I guess a viewer’s gag reflex would, in Koonspeak, be an urge to bestow the art with a viewer’s most intimate emotions! Art discourse can be, like Corporate propaganda, such eloquent doublespeak! In fact the artworld, like current politics, is rapidly becoming a cult of personality and public manipulation out of Orwell’s 1984. The artworld in 2014 is being handled by the ‘Ministy of Truth’ and cultural significance is rectified in blackwhite.
Inappropriate Appropriation
In my continuing rant against Appropriation Art, there is a new jewel of a story about this sad and enduring trend in contemporary art. A self-styled ‘artiste’ in St. Petersburg, Florida (what is it about that state that encourages jerks like this and the guy who broke the Wei vase?), is apparently going to exhibit (i.e. appropriate) the recently hacked and leaked nude photos of celebrities like Kate Upton and Jennifer Lawrence in extra-large format. The artist XVALA (derisively hiding his identity under a pseudonym – real name Jeff Hamilton of Los Angeles, CA) will exhibit the photographs at ‘Cory Allen Contemporary Art’, a self-described ‘PR gallery’ whose acronym ‘CACA’ is a term that fittingly means ‘shit’ in several languages including Spanish and babyspeak. XVALA’s artist statement says “We share our secrets with technology, and when we do, our privacy becomes accessible to others.’ Great observation loser, that doesn’t mean lazy lackies like you have to profit from them! I’m hoping Jeff gets caught collecting images more akin to pedophilia than his celebrity obsession so he can face some well deserved jail time. In any case, I’m sure some highly-paid celebrity lawyers will have something to say about his planned exhibit. Not only is his ‘appropriations’ art process disgusting to me but his moral compass is also very broken, if not missing altogether. To attempt to personally profit from someone’s crime and another’s invasion of privacy is truly despicable, but to call it art is beyond the pale. The gallery founder, Cory Allen, another precious specimen of humanity, said “The commentary behind this show is a reflection of who we are today…” well speak for yourself Cory you scumbag – and have your perverted ‘artist’ also look in the mirror! It used to be that art elevated the human body – it now seems that it’s only exploited by sleazeballs of the art world such as these two. So much for appropriation art and its proponents – desperate slugs overindulging in words and images that they could not possibly conceive.
A.R.T. and Politics
As if our elected officials needed to make any more enemies, now they are trying to alienate visual artists through negligence and inaction on issues that are important to us. Even though proposed, the A.R.T. (Art Royalties Too) act will probably die in committee and has gotten one single legislative co-sponsor since its introduction in late February. In case you missed it – and who wouldn’t with the minimal publicity the issue has received – S.2045 is a reasonable attempt to give visual artists a minimal 5% share of proceeds from auction resales over $5,000 for a work of art. Presently once an artwork is sold to a collector or gallery that is the end of any economic stake for its creator which means that rich collectors, galleries and the super rich auction houses are the only ones to profit from an artist’s subsequent increase in reputation and value of their art. Really, does that seem fair? I mean how many artists do you know that actually make a living making their art… and how many years of poverty, anxiety and dedication does it take for the few to get there? Shouldn’t artists be compensated for success? Predictably, powerhouse NY auction house Sothebys has mobilized its lobbyists and considerable economic leverage to kill the bill proposed on February 26 by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and backed by Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, both Democrats. The bill rests with the Senate Judiciary Committee and will certainly die there as a grand gesture of these two civil servants, snubbed by all their colleagues unless artists drown them in calls and emails to gain support and prompt it out of committee. The chairman is Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the ranking member is Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and the Committee includes both senators from Texas and Minnesota. Here’s a link to all the members… http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members and a summary of the Bill… https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/2045. The Congressional press release quoted Frank Stella as stating that visual artists are the only members of the American creative community who do not receive residual revenue on their work. That is true and not only that but American visual artists are also isolated internationally, being denied a right that European artists have long enjoyed – the ‘droit de suite’ (right to follow) first established in 1889 by France and adopted by the European Union in 2001. Australia also grants royalties to visual artists since 2009. California’s only attempt at royalties for visual artists was found to be ‘unconstitutional’ in 2011 for violating the Commerce clause and so a federal law like this one is required. This is protection long overdue to visual artists in the US – send your senators an email today!
Ode to the Ordinary
Judging from the artists that accomplish success in our time, making Art in the 21st century can seem like a struggle to reach stardom and the status of the rich and famous. But what about the 99%, the salt of the earth, the struggling masses? There are so many wonders in the common and everyday to inspire us as artists it’s not surprising Pop is pacing the contemporary Art scene with its exultation of shared subject matter – even as the movement can be condemned for appropriating most of their imagery. But why celebrate sharing the extraordinary nature of a Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mouse, or Michael Jackson when you can immortalize the potato, the suburban lawn, the monotony of shaving? This post is an ode to those ordinary images we share extending back through time… the things we eat, the routines we follow, the people we know, the places and panoramas of nature – that unite us to artists in the past and present. Seeing the sacred in the commonplace and giving it a place of honor by making it Art is true inspiration and the challenge that faces those of us who long to glorify the mundane. It is also the test for those that want to create Art with a camera where most of the artistic process is accomplished by interpreting reality through the lens of a machine. This is why I paint fruit in a bowl or rows of trees on a hill. What better way to liberate Art and pay homage to the joy of living than through searching for the essence of the commonplace? Color and form is in everything we see. Viva the ordinary!
Narcissism and the Mirror of Art
Why does it seem like every artist is vain and engrossed in a selfish search for meaning exclusively in their own work and on their own terms? Surely there is a need for self esteem and self confidence for the production of Art that goes beyond vanity but many artists arrogantly believe in the supremacy of their own imagery even under the harshest and most cohesive criticism. Is this some kind of artistic self preservation mechanism that kicks in so one does not get easily discouraged? Or is it an aversion toward the casting of any negative influence on your personal creations and dedication? Art is generally created in solitude but shared in public. In my experience even when looking at artwork of the most incredible talent in museums I am not so much awed as absorbing lessons from the masters – still believing my own personal search for imagery to be more significant in the present. It is as if I delude myself into thinking I could make any art in that particular style and technique to arrive at the same imagery if only I lived in that period or cared to dedicate the time and effort to the task. Do all artists need to feel this narcissistic impulse to validate their work? The process of absorbing historical imagery is the mirror of Art that most artists pass through in their visual development followed by being able to look at your own work and intuit the progression in your own personal experience. Artists are so immersed in their own pursuit of image and meaning that all other art becomes a kind of mirage, a distraction from their goal instead of a shared process or aesthetic. This seems to exclude us from really understanding other concepts in art except as a foil to our own goals while dismissing many images as inherently alien, banal or inferior in purpose. Artists need to learn to look through the surface illusion of their own reflections to the deeper significance that exists in creating Art. Every artist needs to examine the humanity and struggle of another artist’s pursuit of Art or suffer the consequences of getting absorbed in their own superficiality.