ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2011 #3

A friend recently asked – Have you seen any good art shows recently?

I remember she was really asking if I had seen the exhibition Willem de Kooning: A Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art – MoMA (September 8, 2011 – January 9, 2012).

Yes, I saw the de Kooning show. I love the way he painted – and the works are so strong and still looks so fresh!

Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning

The two images above are my favorites. The top image is titled “Painting.”  It’s oil and enamel on canvas (1948) 42 x 56 inches. The 2nd image is titled “Woman I” – it’s oil on canvas (1950-52) 75 x 58 inches. Both images: the Internet.

If you didn’t see the exhibition, visit the MoMA website which reviews de Kooning’s major themes, includes a timeline with images, and information on the artist’s methods and materials.

I enjoyed reading the NY Times art review by Holland Cotter (Sept. 15, 2011).

Cotter talked about de Kooning’s third “Woman” series as outrageous busty Gorgons with equine grins that caused fits when first exhibited.

Those are the ones I love. I went to the show to see de Kooning’s busty Gorgons – and the lush black and white abstractions.

DE KOONING AT ABMB

I checked the Internet and found a terrific art blog that talked about de Kooning  at MoMA and recaps ABMB.

It opens with a rave review of the de Kooning retrospective (also saying it was easier to get into ABMB than get into MoMA to see the de Kooning show).

There’s an image right away of de Kooning’s Marilyn (Marilyn Monroe) titled “Woman” (1964), 24×18 inches, charcoal and pencil on paper, seen below. Image: the Internet.

Willem de Kooning

Right next to de Kooning’s Marilyn are 2 Vic Munoz Marilyns (Munoz was one of many artists inspired by de Kooning).

A little further into the blog is a large, late de Kooning seen at ABMB: “Untitled XII,” oil on canvas (1985), 80×70 inches. Image: the Internet.

Willem de Kooning

HAVE YOU SEEN ANY GOOD ART RECENTLY?

Back to the question I was asked – have you seen any good art shows recently?

It took a few seconds for me to reply – YES – I saw the best art show ever at ABMB in December 2011.

Every gallery was out to impress.

There was so much art to see that my eyes hurt by the end of the day.

I loved the ingenious installations, the glitz and the panorama.

I got to see a lot of great collage.

Almost immediately, I came face to face with a large  Mark Bradford collage, titled “A Thousand Words.”

Mark Bradford

The image above is the collage, seen in NYC at the Sikkema Jenkins Gallery.  The image shows it’s scale.

Here’s a link to a great video-rich website starring Mark Bradford, organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts. Check it out. It’s cutting edge.

Read my blog about Mark Bradford, written March 11, 2011.

A Wall of Collage

The image above is me in front of a wall of collages. Each work was a mini masterpiece. Image: Mary Hunter.

I found enough collage to make me happy, including collage on sculpture.  I took the image below.

Collage Sculpture

TOP PLAYERS ARE THERE

I walked inside an installation by Theaster Gates – titled Glass Pavilion – and found myself looking up at glass lantern slides. I spoke with Kavi Gupta; The Kavi Gupta Gallery represents Gates (Chicago and Berlin). See more images at the gallery website…

Theaster Gates

There is a lot of buzz about Theaster Gates.

Read an article titled Theaster Gates in the Studio with Lilly Wei (Art in America, December 2011).

Lilly Wei is a New York-based writer and independent curator.

Gates spoke about the ups and downs of his career.

He said he was unable to find a gallery as recently as 2007 – and now he has shows currently at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Seattle Art Museum. He said: “I realized that if I had the courage to make work outside the institution, then institutions might actually be interested in the work.” He talked about the path to possibility.

I  plan more blogs about the Satellite fairs – AQUA, NADA, INK (my favorite), Art Now MIAMI, and will include an interview with Edward F. Crowell II, Hydrox Projects Gallery.

See earlier blogs about ABMB: #1 is an overview with information. #2 includes great comments by Mary Hunter, an artist friend who shared the trip with me this year.

Thanks for reading and your comments.

ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2011 – #2

This is the 2^nd post and includes comments and images by Mary Hunter.

See the first post for links and information about ABMB in case you want to go in 2012.

Mary Hunter wrote:

Art Basel Miami Beach 10th Anniversary

MARY: “When my friend reminded me that I had agreed to attend ABMB this year, I wasn’t aware of the unexpected and overwhelming event I was about to experience.

Checking into the 50’s style hotel, a block from the beach and walking distance to Art Basel, made me feel like I was part of a movie set. Immediately I was among Sinatra, Monroe, large hotels, the Beach and “all” I had seen in movies and photos over the years.”

Collins Avenue Miami Beach

Mary took the images nearby. I think she has a great eye for the color and light in Miami I love her image below of the funky blue globes at the hotel restaurant. We had margaritas there at the end of the long first day that included travel to Miami (she from TX, me from NY) and two fairs: Art Now at the Catalina Hotel and then an opening night party for INK at Suites of Dorchester (sponsored by the International Fine Print Dealers Assn.), both on Collins Avenue.

the Hotel

NAVIGATING THE ART FAIRS

MARY: “Attending with an artist friend who had been before, made navigating smoother and the essential information of the Exhibit helpful. Her knowledge of galleries, artists and art history was a bonus for me who travels intuitively. We shared lots of conversation and fun over the 3 plus days. You could afford days at one event or attend many of the fairs. It is Huge and more art that I could consume in 4 days. This left me with the thirst to return next year.”

NANCY: Mary knows how to look at art. She knows what she likes. She has a gift for conversation. I listened in on her conversations with gallery owners and was impressed with the dialogue and information gathered.

Mary took the next two images of me at the Convention Center. It was our day to see Art Basel Miami Beach. My shoes have sand on them because we walked on the beach before breakfast.

Nancy at ABMB

Nancy viewing at ABMB

The clouds in Miami were awesome. And it didn’t rain.

Miami Beach

MUSEUM QUALITY ART

MARY: “The quality of art I viewed was excellent, even some museum quality. The prices were as I expected and were negotiable. In light of the size of the show, it was installed very well (not an easy task I’m sure). There was less edgy and outsider art displayed. I didn’t miss it however. Viewing all the top worldwide galleries was impressive to me.”

 Gallery Reps Were Informative and Unpretentious

MARY: “The gallery reps were most engaging, informative and unpretentious. Hearing the story about paintings by the wife of Milton Avery was most interesting and peculiar.”

Images nearby are by Mary Hunter and show a small painting and a sculpture by Joan Miro, a glass artwork (artist unidentified), and a painting by Milton Avery’s wife.

Works by Joan Miro

Glass Art

Painting by Sally Avery

We found out it wasn’t a Milton Avery painting when Mary asked the gallerist to speak about the painting and he admitted it was by Sally Avery (nee Michel). Here’s a fact: Her income as an illustrator enabled Avery to devote himself to his painting. Read more about Avery…

Do you love Joan Miro’s art? Here’s a lively 4:30 minute You Tube video with wonderful Miro images and jazzy background music…

THE OTHER ART FAIRS

Outside AQUA

MARY: “Some of the smaller venue sites: INK, AQUA, Art NowMiami had a more intimate space and were just as good as the larger sites: Art Basel, NADA, Art Miami and Scope, to name a few.”

INK

Scope

Outside the Hotel Catalina

NANCY: The image above outside the Hotel Catalina came from the Internet: Zia Gallery did a great blog titled Miami Basel End Notes with more images. Zia was one of about 16 galleries at Art Now Miami.

Mary wrote the artists she met were very approachable and interesting to converse with on their process, approach and work possibilities.

She found an art event we attended on Saturday evening after visiting Art Miami, Scope and Art Asia. We walked to the opening: Very edgy art, focus on graffiti. Organized for Mr. Brainwash, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and Pop Artist at a pop-up space called the Boulan Building at 21st Street and Collins Ave. It was so windy outside we were almost blown over trying to walk there. Do you know about Mr. Brainwash? His real name is Thierry Guetta, The exhibition party included the celebrity basketball star Bosh of the Miami Heat. Mary is a fan. She took the two pictures seen below. The two-story space was huge and filled with graffiti installations and paintings. The crowd was young. The celebrities didn’t stay long. We weren’t invited to the red-carpet dinner.

Bosh and Mr. Brainwash

Mr. Brainwash Graffiti painting

MARY: “I came home ‘drunk’ on great Contemporary Art and the pure enjoyment of having shared it with a good artist friend. And yes I will attend again next year as my appetite wants more!”

mary hunter

You can contact Mary:  marydothunteratmacdotcom

Mary in the Picture at ABMB

I think I took the picture above: Mary and the artist with his installation at ABMB. She bought a banana to eat. How smart is that? I wish I’d bought a banana also. I was starving as soon as we walked outside.

Mary and a Living Sculpture

I hope you enjoyed reading Mary’s comments and seeing the images. I am already looking forward to next year.

Thank you for your comments below.

ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2011

VISITING THE FAIRS – SEEING CONTEMPORARY ART

Art Basel Miami Beach

I was at Art Basel Miami Beach and the satellite art fairs, held in Miami, Florida from December 1-4, 2011. This is the first post. It includes information on the various fairs. More posts (including an interview) with more details will follow.

I’ve included links so you can get a feel for this year’s arts extravaganza.

See the video produced by Vernissage TV – it’s an opening day walk through Art Basel Miami Beach.

The main fair – ABMB is located at the Miami Beach Convention Center. There are satellite fairs located nearby, or across town in the Wynwood District in Midtown Miami. All the fairs are large. ABMB grew to 260 participating galleries this year – up 1/3.

Each link below includes images and information that will help you plan you trip next year. You’ll see there is something for everyone and you will never have enough time to do it all!

South Beach at night

IT GETS BETTER EACH YEAR

This was my 3^rd visit to Miami, FL to see the art. I packed my sneakers so I wouldn’t have blisters like last year. I arrived early afternoon on Thursday, December 1^st, the day the Fair opened, and planned to stay through Sunday, December 5^th, the day the Fair closed.

Every year I add another day and plan to see more. I never get to see everything I want and always feel a little disappointed.

I was on my own last year, and spent one whole day at Art Miami with a terrific couple who collect art.  It was fun to be with them and focus on seeing art they liked. It was their first trip to ABMB. This year I attended with an artist friend – Mary Hunter – and it made a huge difference in so many ways. See her website…

We talked art from morning to night, and organized our days to see the art fairs we wanted to visit together. Next year I plan to add 2 more days and arrive before the Fair is officially open. I hope Mary will join me again.

Bjerrggard Gallery, Copenhagen at ABMB

MIAMI HERE WE COME

December 1, 2011: Mary arrived from Austin, TX. I arrived from New York. We synchronized our arrival times and met at Miami International Airport and took a taxi to our little hotel on Collins Avenue in South Beach, Miami. After check-in, we set off to see the nearby art fairs on Collins Avenue.

The image above is by Joanne Mattera. See her recent blogs for extraordinary images from ABMB and the Satellite Fairs. Read “A Peek at Art Miami…” and other posts.

HOW DO YOU GET AROUND MIAMI AND SEE IT ALL?

You can’t see everything you want to see at ABMB. There is too much to see and never enough time.

The 2012 ABMB website is up.You can browse and download Apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry and other smartphones. If you decide to attend, make hotel reservations five months in advance.

Mary and I decided to stay in a hotel on Collins Avenue in South Beach and do a lot of walking. You can taxi (and deal with traffic). It’s expensive. You can drive (and deal with parking).  Have you noticed – everything takes time? Even taxis take time (you have to find one and you sit in traffic) because there are so many people visiting the fairs.

I’ve included the 2011 pdf of a map/guide I used. It identifies the fairs and gives street locations, and you see what is nearby.  It includes shuttle bus routes and taxi phone numbers. The maps are available at the fairs, but I’m including it here to help you see locations as you plan your visit.

Here’s a link to Art-Collecting.com. It lists information about the 2011 fairs with hours, admission fees, etc.

Barbara Kruger (Mary Boone Gallery) at ABMB

ABMB opens at noon daily and requires a full day to do it justice. Art Miami (located across the causeway in Midtown Miami) is also big, but is right near Scope Miami and Art Asia, and not too far from other fairs you probably want to see – including the Rubell Family Collection.

Our hotel on Collins Avenue was a short walk to Miami Beach and one morning Mary and I actually walked on the beach before heading for breakfast. It was a beautiful experience. Mary Hunter took the beach photo seen below.

Beautiful Miami Beach

We could walk to the Miami Beach Convention Center a few blocks away. We were a short walk to AQUA Miami (a great show), and INK, at the Suites of Dorchester, sponsored by the International Fine Print Dealers Association. We discovered the ART NOW Fair at the Catalina Hotel, and met artists and gallerists showing works in a more intimate space.

We took a shuttle bus to NADA Miami, (New Art Dealers Association) a little further away on Collins Ave at the Deauville Beach Resort. Check out the galleries that participated this year.

NADA is a robust experience for viewing contemporary art.

I was really disappointed we missed SEVEN, a fair that showcases NY galleries BravinLee, Hales Gallery, Pierogi Gallery, Postmasters, P.P.O.W., Ronald Feldman Fine Arts and the Winkleman Gallery. We missed the PULSE Miami fair also.

WE DEFINITELY MISSED TOO MUCH

The posts that follow will include images and comments by Mary Hunter (it was her first visit to ABMB), and my notes from the fairs we visited. One post includes my interview with Edward Crowell II, founder of Hydrox Projects Gallerie (Miami/London).

I would love to hear from you. Please add your comments below. Tell me if you have been to Art Basel Miami or plan to go next year.

CHILDREN DO COLLAGE 2

I recently wrote about children making art.

It’s exciting to watch. They know instinctively what materials to use and how to express their ideas in a fresh way.

I think it’s important for kids to learn about collage by great artists like Romare Bearden, Henri Matisse, Jean Dubuffet and others.

The image below shows collage in progress by two 2nd grade students at the Williams Elementary School. Notice the line drawing by Romare Bearden sitting on top of papers near the green scissor.

Students do collage

The image below is Bearden’s collage titled The Block. Image: the Internet. Made in 17 fiberboard and plywood panels. Media includes various papers with foil, paint,ink, and graphite. You can see The Block at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC (August 30, 2011 – January 8, 2012).

The Block, Romare Bearden

HOW GOOD IS CHILDREN’S ART?

Do you suppose children’s art is good enough to show in a contemporary art gallery? I think so. It can be bold, inventive, and charming.

My last post was about a collage exhibition with works by children in the 8^th grade. I talked a lot about how the works were framed and installed in the gallery.

I didn’t mean to imply that framing and gallery installation was responsible for how good the art works looked.  Good framing always helps, but the young students made good art. Read about the exhibition…

Picasso said all children are artists and the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.

Do you think it’s true that young children are freer at making art than adults?

I remember a talented 10-year-old girl in a collage class I taught last summer.  She was so confident and competent.

She selected and cut all the collage papers she planned to use before she placed or glued any papers down. She didn’t plan her collage in advance. She built her collage as she glued. The process was seamless, direct and accomplished.

She was also the only child in the class.

I did an experiment last Sunday. I asked 3 of my grandchildren to make a collage based on The Block by Romare Bearden. Alexander is in 4^th grade. Sofia is in 2^nd grade. Aaron is in Kindergarten.  I showed them 3 drawings and a color print of The Block by Romare Bearden.

The image above is a poster for the exhibition Romare Bearden 1911-1988: A Centennial Celebration (August 30, 2011 – January 8, 2012).  Image: the Internet

Do you see that Bearden included an interior view of people, including a person sitting in the stairwell?

MAKING COLLAGE

I brought along pre-cut papers and larger 9×12 inch paper in several different colors. I brought white Bristol paper for a substrate (the base of the collage). I brought black fine-point markers, glue in squeeze bottles, and plastic squeegees to press down collage papers. They had their own assorted color markers.

We talked about the buildings in their neighborhood. I said it was important to include lots of windows and show detail in the windows. I said remember to include doors, entry steps, architectural details within and above windows, and a view of people or pets in the windows (I showed them how Bearden included people). I suggested they embellish the rooftops with details.

The fine-point marker pens were the most interesting to them, so the collages all started as drawings. Each grandchild wanted to cut their own building blocks from the larger sheets, and cut windows from the medium size papers.

They image below is by Sofia.

Collage and drawing by Sofia

Sofia loved the pen with the brush tip and began to draw immediately on the right lower portion of her paper. The collage was glued in and around the drawing, and when the blocks were too wide for the paper, she slipped one behind the other. She used a light blue marker to color in the sky.

The image below is by Alexander.

Drawing and collage by Alexander

Alexander worked with the fine-line marker and drew details. He added a tall sculpture on a rooftop, added drawings of people inside and wrote numbers and words next to and within the buildings. He was very interested in how buildings have different window configurations. We talked about how older buildings may have high ceilings so windows are taller.

The image below is by Aaron.

Collage by Aaron

Aaron built his collage by first layering papers (windows) on building blocks. His buildings were constructed one by one. He cut the building blocks from large pieces of paper so the edges are not perfect rectangles. He cut thin, long triangular papers to fix the edges where they were irregular. He drew an elevator shaft in the blue building and added a collaged traffic light.

Each grandchild’s collage looks different and reflects their unique interests and focus.

Have you observed the way children make art? How do you think the work varies by age?

In December 2011, I will teach young students again at the Williams Elementary School and will watch and observe how they work and the ways they build their collages. I also want to see if and how they watch each other as they work.

Read more about the exhibition Romare Bearden 1911-1988: A Centennial Celebration (August 30, 2011 – January 8, 2012).

Bearden worked in collage – it dominated his studio practice the last 25 years of his life. His collages included magazine clippings, fabric, old photographs and colored papers.

Read about other centennial events in honor of Romare Bearden…

Also at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Don’t Miss The 9/11 Peace Story Quilt designed and constructed by Faith Ringgold in collaboration with NYC students ages 8-18 (through January 22, 2012). Another great exhibition with children!

I hope you get a chance to see the many shows that honor Romare Bearden on the centennial of his birth.

Please add your comments below about childrens’ art and collage by Romare Bearden. Thank you.

CHILDREN DO COLLAGE

What a surprise! Children’s art on view in a pristine Chelsea gallery space.

I visited the DC Moore Gallery on West 22^nd Street in NYC last month and saw an exhibition with collage done by children. The main gallery had wonderful paintings by Eric Aho. The adjacent gallery had an installation with 31 collages by students at the Calhoun School in NYC, titled 9/11: Through Young Eyes (September 8 – October 8, 2011).

The works were done 10 years ago. The students were 8^th graders. Read more.

9/11 Through Young Eyes

My first reaction was – isn’t this interesting to see collage by young students in a Chelsea gallery. My next reaction was that the student’s works looked really good.

I wanted to get up close and see the way the collages were made, the materials that were used, and understand why the work looked so good.

When I walked around and looked at the individual works, I noticed they were made with pieces of cut construction papers pasted on top of another piece of colored construction paper. This is the stuff that children use for art projects in elementary school.  The paper is not that special. But the works looked almost professional.

I analyzed what made the works seem so special. The answer: every work, no matter what background color of construction paper was used, was “floated” on the same warm white paper – a high quality background paper – and framed in a matching white wood frame.

All the frames were the same size, and each one was hung with just the right amount of space between. Every framed work had room to breath. Each work got the gallery treatment.

Seeing the exhibition made me think how art can be enhanced by optimum presentation and installation.

I also thought about art made by even younger children I ‘ve taught at an after-school program at the Williams Elementary School in Mt. Vernon, NY, organized through the Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY.  I will teach collage again at the Williams School in December 2011.

The images below are collages done by 2^nd graders, inspired by Romare Bearden (African-American 1911-1988).

I showed them a small print reproduction of a Bearden work titled “The Block.” It’s 48 x 216 inches, six panels, cut and pasted printed, colored and metallic papers, photostats, pencil, ink, gouache, watercolor pen and ink on Masonite. The image below is a section.

Romare Bearden

I also brought reproductions of Bearden’s much simpler line drawings to inspire the students at the Williams School.

I think it’s important for kids to learn about collage by great artists like Romare Bearden, Henri Matisse, Jean Dubuffet and others.

The image nearby is a drawing by Romare Bearden. Image: the Internet.

Romare Bearden

The after-school program at the Williams School is self-selected. That means the kids decide what activity they want to join. My activity is making art with paper collage. The school has a very good art program and the children know how to work with scissors, paper and glue.

I bring drawing paper for the substrate (bottom collage paper) and assorted papers. I bring scissors, glue and crayons and encourage the students to embellish the papers with drawings, patterns and more color.

At the beginning of the class I show a reproduction in color of Bearden’s collage and drawings and say Bearden was a famous artist with works in important museums. I ask them to raise their hands if they know what a collage is. All hands go up.

I ask them to look at the windows in the classroom and see how the spaces are divided. I ask them to notice how the windows in the 3 different Bearden line drawings each have different windows, and to notice that some windows have people looking out.

Making art is about learning to see.

A student is placing his papers

I ask the students to make a collage like the Bearden drawings and have more than one house on a street.

The Bearden reproductions include people and cats in the window. The children drew puppies, kittens, birds, trees, flowers, boys and girls.

Student working on a collage

Because time is short and the students have different skill levels, I prepare a lot of the collage papers in advance and pre-cut papers into 3 sizes of squares and rectangle in brown, yellow, black and teal blue papers. Each student gets a small squeeze bottle of white glue and a pair of children’s scissors.

I leave some papers uncut, and encourage the students who want to be independent and inventive to cut squares into rectangles for doors, steps, chimneys and long windows, and cut squares into triangles for rooftops.

student collage

I always do a tutorial on how to carefully squeeze glue from the small bottles. I say do “dot dot dot” and don’t squeeze too hard. I am there to help clean up the glue puddles if they squeeze the bottle too hard.

I am amazed at the energy in the works. Even if they don’t cut squares into smaller pieces, or cut parallel edges, each work is fun and joyful, based on the ways the papers are placed and the drawings they add.  Everyone is able to finish his or her work.

The images show student works in progress and works held up for admiration. I didn’t show all the children’s faces to protect their privacy.

Student and his collage

Read more about the exhibition “9/11: Through Young Eyes” (September 8 – October 8, 2011) at the DC MOORE Gallery,

The thirteen-year-old students in the exhibition “9/11” made their art after a visit to the Whitney Museum of American Art to see an exhibition of works by Jacob Lawrence, including his “Migration Series” (1940-41). The Migration Series is about movement of African-Americans from the agricultural South to the industrial North following World War I.

Thank you for your comments about children making art with collage.

SOUTHWEST TRIP

I love the Southwest United States and any excuse for a visit is fine.

The image nearby shows the bright blue skies of Albuquerque, NM. It’s rare to see clouds and there is not much rain. Image: the Internet.

My trip to Albuquerque, NM was for art and business and to attend the Board of Directors meeting of the Society of Layerists in Multi-Media (SLMM).

I arrived on Sunday. On Monday, we had a marathon business session to discuss an upcoming conference in Taos, NM in 2012 with speakers, a panel presentation, workshops and a reception for an exhibition at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, NM. It will be the 30^th anniversary of the founding of SLMM.

The Millicent Rogers Museum includes historic Native American Arts, Hispanic Arts, the Maria and Julian Martinez Pottery Collection, Contemporary Arts, and Jewelry from Northern NM.

Read about the premise of SLMM and a recent book about SLMM titled Visual Journeys: Art of the 21^st Century, co-edited by Mary Carroll Nelson and Nina Mihm.

The image nearby shows Native American jewelry from the Millicent Rogers Museum collection. Image: the Internet.

I planned a day-trip to visit Santa Fe galleries.

FAVORITE GALLERIES IN SANTA FE

I wanted to stop by Zane Bennett Gallery and Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, both on South Guadalupe in the Rail Yard gallery district adjacent to Site SantaFe.

Site Santa Fe was closed for installation, The next exhibition is titled Agitated Histories (October 22, 2011 – January 15, 2012).

I wanted to visit the Karen Ruhlen Gallery, Handsel Gallery, and GF Contemporary on Canyon Road.

CAN YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND?

It’s a good thing I’m pretty flexible, because the plans changed.

Instead of visiting galleries, I joined my art colleagues and visited Santa Fe artist’s studios. I couldn’t say no to that kind of opportunity.

First stop was a visit to Paula Roland’s studio. She is currently showing encaustic on paper at William Segal Gallery, 540 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe through October 25th. It’s an impressive gallery and her work is gorgeous.

Paula Roland in her studio

I took the image nearby of Paula Roland in her studio. She is demonstrating her encaustic printmaking process.

Paula has instructional DVDs for beginner to advanced artists on the basics of encaustic and printing with wax.

We left Paula’s studio and went to lunch at El Charro, a popular restaurant in town.

At lunch I sat next to Sandra Duran Wilson, a member of SLMM, and the author of 2 books:  Image Transfer Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for Successful Transfers (with Darlene Olivia McElroy), and Surface Treatment Workshop: Explore 45 Mixed Media Techniques (with Darlene Olivia McElroy).

Sandra Duran Wilson calls herself an abstract collage artist.  She says her mixed media paintings include printmaking, transfers and acrylic, and some have Plexiglas panels embedded into wood panels to add depth.

Read Sandra Duran Wilson’s Artist Statement. She says she paints concepts. You can also purchase her books at her site.

Art by Sandra Duran Wilson

The image nearby is titled Evolutionary Dance. It’s 30×30 inches, acrylic and mixed media. Image: the Internet. See her works online.

COLLAGE GOODIES ON THE OLD PECOS TRAIL

After we left Sandra Duran Wilson’s studio, we drove to Laura Stanziola’s place on the Old Pecos Trail. Laura collects and sells an incredible assortment of vintage papers, books, old postcards, doll heads, game boards and ephemera right out of her home. She is called the Queen of Ephemera. Read more about Laura at Darlene Olivia McElroy’s blog. Darlene is co-author with Sandra Duran Wilson of the books mentioned above.

I did buy stuff from Laura Stanziola. It was irresistible and it will all find a way into my collages (or other people’s collages).

The image nearby is my photo of wispy clouds seen outside Laura’s home. I was standing on the hillside and I think I almost stepped into a snake hole. It’s a good thing I remembered to look where I’m walking when I’m in New Mexico.

We ate dinner in Santa Fe, and drove back to Albuquerque.

The following day, Wednesday, I visited a fabulous exhibition titled Hispanic Traditional Arts of New Mexico at The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History (September 18, 2011-January 8, 2012).

The exhibition included masterworks in religious image making in wood, sculpture, tinwork, filigree, colcha embroidery, weaving, and straw applique, all from the permanent collection of the Albuquerque Museum dating from the Colonial era to the present by Hispanic artists in New Mexico,

In addition to historic objects, the exhibition includes contemporary works by many artists who work in the same traditional art genre.

Art by Monica Sosaya-Halford

The image nearby is by Monica Sosaya-Halford, Reredo, 1982, acrylic and gesso on pine, Gift of Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. Image: the Internet.

I will be back  in New Mexico next year for the SLMM conference in Taos and a return visit to Santa Fe. I can hardly wait.

CLOUDS AND COLLAGE

Last week I drove by car for a late-morning appointment in NYC.

The highway route from Westchester took me along the Hudson River by way of the Henry Hudson Parkway.

The view was spectacular. The sky was bright blue and filled with round, puffy clouds – the kind children draw.

The clouds seen in the image above are called cumulous clouds.

As I drove along the highway, the clouds marched in a stately parade across the sky, white against brilliant blue. There was a ribbon of green grass along the highway with a blacktop pathway for cyclists and runners, and the grey blue green waves of the Hudson River were lapping along the water’s edge, reflecting sunlight from above.

The clouds reminded me of the clouds I saw in a collage painting by Romare Bearden (1911-1988), on view recently at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in NYC (the show Romare Bearden: COLLAGE, A Centennial Celebration, closed May 21, 2011).

The online exhibition is worth a look. I’ve included a link to the Gallery press release that says “The works in this exhibition reflect the artist’s belief that art is made from other art. This idea is literally present in the act of collage-making –- taking images, colors and forms out of one context, altering them, and juxtaposing them with other pre-existing images, colors and forms to create something new. Read more…

Romare Bearden

The work by Bearden I remember so well was titled “The Train Whistles”  seen above (image the Internet).

It’s a large work compared to most works by Bearden, 31×40 inches, and a masterful mix of painterly passages, papers and striped and patterned fabric.

I saw the show twice before it closed.

I kept returning to see the Train Whistles and look again at how Bearden used his papers, and how he created his clouds.

I check the Internet and learned that a cloud is a visible mass of water droplets suspended in the sky above the surface of a body of land or water, and the droplets are so small and light they can float on the air.

The shape of a cloud depends on the moisture content in the air. The clouds are white because they reflect the light of the sun.

Bearden used different papers to create his clouds, combining multiple, subtly different shades of white with some torn edges against cut edges, layered with just the right spaces along the edges in between the papers to suggest depth and mass.

Romare Bearden

The image above is another Bearden collage in the recent Michael Rosenfeld Gallery exhibition. This one, titled “Watching the Good Trains Go By” (1969) is mixed media collage on board and is 9 x 12 inches.  (image the Internet)

Like many of Bearden’s works, it contrasts strong, bright colors against black and white magazine and newspaper images in shades of grey. The colors are green and blue in paper and paint, and red and white patterned polka dot and red and cream in gingham checked fabric.

There’s a single cloud in the deep blue sky against a bright emerald green ground.

It was such a treat to see the works at the Michael Rosenberg Gallery exhibition. See more images online.

I hope you also got to see the show at the gallery.

A BEARDEN CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

If you want to see more works by Bearden and are in NYC, please contact the Romare Bearden Foundation to find out about the ArtCrawl Harlem: The Strivers Garden Gallery (300 West 135^th Street at St. Nicholas Ave.) that will present “Bearden at 100” (August 4^th – October 9^th, 2011).

See “Spiral: Perspectives on an African-American Collective (July 14^th – October 23^rd, 2011) presented by The Studio Museum in Harlem (144 West 125^th Street).

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Boulevard) presents Romare Bearden: The Soul of Blackness/A Centennial Tribute (July 15 – January 7, 2012).

 Read more about all the exhibitions…

As I got closer to my highway exit at 26^th Street, the traffic slowed to a crawl. I had to drive crosstown to 6th Avenue.

I was listening to the Pachebal Canon on classical radio and wasn’t troubled by the delays and traffic. It seemed I had all the time in the world.

And the advantage of the traffic (advantage of traffic?) was that I was driving and stopping. It allowed me to take some photos from the car when I had to stop for a traffic light.

The image above is from my car. I am looking north on 6^th Avenue. I was at 26^th Street.  The uptown view almost doesn’t look like a city street in NYC – but it is and you get to see the clouds against the city buildings.

Today I will drive into the City again – even though I prefer to take a train to Grand Central Terminal in order to avoid traffic.

I hope it’s another beautiful day with another amazing view along the way.

Questions for You: Are you a fan of collage and Romare Bearden? Did the information I shared about his work inspire you? Please add your comments below. Thanks for reading this post.

Art: LEARNING TO SEE

I had a conversation recently with an artist friend who has a studio across the hall from me at Media Loft in New Rochelle, NY. She told me she was disappointed in the art journals that her students kept this summer in the study-abroad program she led in Rome, Italy.

She said what they produced was like a scrapbook.  She asked me if I had any suggestions.

We had a long conversation about how they could step it up a notch.

My comment:  Becoming an artist is all about learning to see, and understanding how you see.

If you want to be an artist you must learn to look.

It’s like exercise. The more you do it, the better you are able to do it.

WHAT DID YOU SEE? WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

Everyone has the potential to be an artist and everyone has the capacity to be creative. It starts with learning to see.

Look at art. Go to museums and galleries. Learn how to look at the art you make.

What do you see?

My Advice: COLLECT IMAGES

Understand what you like and understand why you like it.

At my collage workshops I tell my students to create a “swipe” file. It’s an excellent way to collect images for ideas for projects.

Start with delightful images that attract you. Collect images that puzzle and challenge you. Try to understand how the artist made the image work  Find newspapers and magazines with images you like.

I am inspired by art periodicals, art catalogs, fashion, food and home magazines. Many people love nature magazines.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE? 

When you find images you like, cut the image out (or photocopy the image) and paste it down on a clean page in a notebook that will become an art journal.

Add more images to the page if you want. Add your comments on what attracted you to the image (and add why).

You can work with pencil, pen, or marker and embellish the image with watercolor, decorative paper and fabric. Build your ideas with color. Emphasize the new and important ideas with underlines, bright colors and bold letters (in collage).

COLLAGE: THEME AND VARIATION

Add comments on how you can change the image. Make drawings and plans.

When I collect images, I make drawings to help me understand the structure of the image.

Sometimes I make 10 or 15 photocopies of the image and then paint and collage into the photocopies. Sometimes I cut the photocopy into several pieces and reorganize the pieces into a different composition and add and embellish to change the image again.

Explore ideas for images via MIND MAPPING or LIST MAKING.

How to use MIND MAPPING to develop an image:

Place the image in the center of the page. It’s the central idea (or the main topic) in your Mind Map.

Analyze the image. Branch out from the main image with lines directed to words, doodles, diagrams, drawings and colors as you develop and represent new ideas.

There are many resources to learn about Mind Mapping. Read more…

How to use LIST MAKING to collect and illustrate ideas:

Place the image at the top or side of the page and expand with more images, words, numbers, doodles, and drawings. Your list can grow into more than a single page.

See the current exhibition LISTS: To dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, and Other Artist’s Enumerations from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art (June 3-October 2, 2011) at the Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue at 36 Street, NY, NY. The exhibition includes more than 70 different works.

Read more…

I have the exhibition catalog. It’s excellent. You can order the book online.

MAKING ART IS ALL ABOUT LEARNING HOW TO SEE

Recently I led 2 mini workshops at the Newark Museum that were all about how to see (but I didn’t tell the participants the workshop was about how to see).

The plan was: Make a collage in the style of Jean Dubuffet.

The project had to be short so the collage could be completed in a short time.

Jean Dubuffet

Notice the image above. It’s titled “Sylvain.” The work is tiny (10×6 inches) and made with insect wings.

I made color copies of this work by Dubuffet and gave each student a copy so they could look at the image as they made their collage.

I told them the image was a face (a profile). I asked if they could see that Dubuffet’s media included insect wings. I asked: Can you see the eye and mouth?

I gave everyone an outline drawing of a face in profile. Some cut out the drawing and pasted the profile down on the substrate paper. Some made their own profile drawing.

Everyone got colored papers for the collage background. The Museum supplied magazines, and some students cut images from the magazines into shapes like tiny insect wings.

I asked the students to notice the patterns and the narrow range of light and dark tones and colors Dubuffet used (see the image above).

I asked: What size will you cut the pieces for your collage? How many papers will you use? How few? How will you place and glue the papers?  Will you make the papers flat or leave edges projecting? I asked them to think about the space around the profile. Dubuffet placed the profile very close to the left edge of the paper.

I did a demonstration on how to apply white PVA glue with a brush, and how to use a plastic squeegee and wallpaper seam roller to get pieces collaged down.

That’s a lot to cover in a one-hour workshop. But they did a great job. Each person chose how to proceed and what magazine images, papers and colors to include.

STUDENTS ALWAYS DO IT THEIR OWN WAY

mini workshop collage

One student commented: it was a good workshop and added: What we did was learn how to see.

BACK TO The Swipe File idea – it’s not copying. It’s collecting images for inspiration and dialogue for future ideas – a bouncing off point for making more art.

Unless you create a mechanical reproduction, what you create is not a copy. You can’t copy when you draw, paint or make it by hand. You are interpreting what you see.

Read more about Dubuffet and the mini workshop I led at the Newark Museum in Newark, NJ.

QUESTIONS FOR YOU:  What do you like to see? What inspires you? What colors do you like? How do you collect ideas?

Collage Extraordinaire

Would you believe me if I tell you my life is about glue?

I like to take things apart and put the pieces back together. I love paper. I want the pieces to stick.

I make collage.

I like to juxtapose elements, mix and match media, and embellish with layers of paper, paint and ink.

My thinking process is also like collage.

I like to play with ideas and explore theme and variation and I like multiple choices.

I teach collage workshops and classes (collage is so contemporary and so user friendly).

I plan a theme for each workshop to jump-start the process.

Surprise! In many cases, people arrive with their own plan of what they are going to do (or not do).

It’s important to me that each person feels they do it their way. I never want to control input or outcome. I won’t touch their work with my own hand. We do dialog. I show images in the books I bring along to augment their ideas.

I typically do not know in advance who is registered for a workshop. I have to find out who they are when they arrive – so I ask people to tell me about themselves, if they’ve worked with collage or another media, what they like, and what they want to learn.

I want to share an interesting story.

Last summer I led a 6-hour workshop at the Newark Museum (Newark, NJ) titled Narrative Collage attended by adults, including identical twin sisters about age 50.

It was almost a disaster. One twin was keenly interested in the workshop and the theme narrative collage. One twin was keenly disinterested and verbally antagonistic to her twin about being there.  It was bizarre.

It was hard to persuade the resisting twin to participate.

But I am persistent and have my ways.

I showed her a book highlighting the life and work of the artist Ray Johnson (American 1927-1995). I had a hunch she would like to know about his work.

I am a great fan of Johnson’s work.

COLLAGE ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE

Johnson is known as a collage artist extraordinaire and has been called New York’s most famous unknown artist.

Ray Johnson was the original “bridge” between so many of the people and sensibilities of the international art scene and its fringes.  He was heralded as an innovator by the heroes-to-be of Pop and Fluxus (Mark Bloch (© 1995). Read MORE…

Black Mountain College Dossiers #4 (Ray Johnson) is the title of the book I brought to the Newark Museum workshop. It includes collage images and an essay “With Ray: The Art of Friendship” by William S. Wilson (It’s an old book, and for some reason it’s very expensive online).

From 1946-48 Ray Johnson studied alongside Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly at the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Faculty members included Joseph Albers, Robert Motherwell, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Buckminster Fuller, Willem and Elaine DeKooning, and others.

NEO-DADA  FLUXUS AND POP ART

After Black Mountain, Johnson moved to Manhattan (NY) and showed annually with the American Abstract Artists. He is connected to the history of Neo-Dada, Fluxus, and early Pop Art.

In his own way, he invented performance art and Happenings (he called them “nothings.”) He is credited with founding the MAIL ART movement – he called it the New York Correspondence School, and it still exists today.

Johnson’s mail art directed people to “send to” or “add to and return” or “do not send to.”

Ray Johnson

The above image is titled Four Eyed Bunny Postcard – November 26, 1977. See more images of MAIL ART sent from Ray Johnson to Mick Boyle.

The New York Correspondence School participants circulated and re-circulated lists, group portraits, reports, announcements, insider commentary and snippets of media that was an open-ended collage of gossip about members and the NY Art World.

Johnson said: I had this stockpile of materials, so I put them into envelopes and mailed them off to everybody everywhere. I’m very fond of the idea of the message in the bottle…and the chance of it being found or never being…That’s pure romance.

(quoted in Black Mountain College Dossiers)

TURN IT AROUND

Ray Johnson

Ray Johnson would take a word that turned up in conversation and reverse it to see if it yielded another word…

When he made an error in typing, he often took off from the error, not from the word he had intended to type.

The collage seen above is titled Taoist/Toast! (1957) 5×4 inches, is in the collection of William S. Wilson (reproduced in Black Mountain College Dossiers #4).

Johnson made an anagram from the word “Taoist,” turned it into the word “toast,” and with the letter “i” left over, turned the “I” upside down as an exclamation mark and wrote “Toast!”

SERENDIPITY: A CHAPTER TITLED TWINS

Chapter VIII in the Black Mountain Collage Dossiers book is titled “Twins.”

William S. Wilson wrote: The meaning…of Ray’s images often is complemented by…a twoness, a doubling, as in mirroring, tracing, carbon copies, repeating or other duplication…

It’s possible the twin found this chapter in the book. It brought her back into the group. I think – maybe – she is now a great fan of Ray Johnson’s work.

She began to work in earnest and made a collage inspired by one of the images in the book.

In research on Ray Johnson, I learned about a documentary video about his life titled HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY (2002) directed by John W. Walter.

Johnson loved to recycle old works into multi-layered new works. He loved collaboration. His MAIL art included bunny head portraits, puns and rhymes.

The image above is a portrait of Ray Johnson, his logo bunny and the title of the documentary How To Draw A Bunny (image: the Internet).

You may know Ray Johnson committed suicide in 1995. He jumped off a bridge, paddled backstroke and disappeared in the waters near his home in Long Island, NY.

The documentary HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY includes interviews with Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Chuck Close, Roy Lichtenstein, Judith Malina, James Rosenquist and others.  Read MORE…

Thank you for visiting…let me know if you’ve seen the documentary HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY.

PS:  Please add your comments on the art of Ray Johnson and the NY Correspondence School…and I hope you’ll join me on Facebook and LinkedIn –

 Nancy

Make Contemporary Collage

I am a great fan of Calvin Tomkins who writes brilliantly about contemporary art and artists.

His book LIVES of the ARTISTS includes in-depth profiles of Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Matthew Barney, Cindy Sherman, Richard Serra and others.

The book is exciting to read, filled with personal information and critical insight, and would be appealing to everyone who is interested in art and artists.

Tomkins writes: contemporary art is all about choices.

I’m a collage artist. Collage is the most contemporary art medium, accessible to everyone. Collage is all about choices.

I got a phone call from Stephen McKenzie, the manager of Adult Education in the Visual Arts at the Newark Museum (Newark, NJ). He asked me to lead a mini collage workshop this past Saturday for museum members.

I chose to say yes.

I wanted the opportunity to promote two upcoming workshops, and, as always, to promote creativity through collage.

In May I did a very successful workshop titled Possibilities with Paper at the Museum. I am scheduled to teach Possibilities with Paper 2 and 3 in August and in October.  There are so many possibilities. Collage is the perfect contemporary media.

The Newark Museum Mini Collage Workshop

I gave a lot of thought to what the Newark Museum mini workshop would include, and wanted to offer a project that would encourage looking and promote understanding visually.

Here are some of the possible mini workshop themes I considered:

Possibilities with Paper

Project: Create variations in papers for collage

Embellish surfaces

Create texture with paint and tools

Combine elements and explore design

Repurpose papers for collage

I will teach Possibilities with Paper 2 at the Newark Museum on August 7, 2011,  and will teach possibilities with Paper 3 at the Newark Museum on October 30, 2011. See more information about the 2 workshops.

Colorful Collage

Project: discover a personal color palette

Explore rich saturated colors in watercolor and pastel

Play with variations in hue, value and chroma

Select magazine images in related colors

Explore complementary colors

I will teach a Colorful Collage workshop on July 17 at the Pelham Art Center.

The Art of Romare Bearden

Project: explore collage as layered imagery

Explore variation in scale

Design with geometric and curved shapes

Play with pattern, surface and line

Last year I taught 2 workshops at the Newark Museum inspired by Romare Bearden. One was titled Caribbean Landscape. Another was titled Conjur Woman: Portrait in Collage.  Each full-day workshop is 6 hours – long enough to complete a collage.

A Question of Time

The two mini workshops would each last 90 minutes so the project had to be simple and not take too long to complete. I wanted everyone to be able to start quickly and have enough time to finish.

My top choice was Romare Bearden because this is a special year (the centennial of his birth) and many museums and galleries are honoring him with retrospective exhibitions (including the recent show at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery on West 57 Street in New York City). The exhibition closed May 21, 2011.

See works by Romare Bearden online at the Michael Rosenfeld gallery website.

I wanted people to see and understand how Bearden constructed his collage images. But I was also concerned that it would require more time than was available.

Serendipity and the art of Jean Dubuffet

The day before the scheduled workshop, I discovered an image by Jean Dubuffet (French, 1901-1985) with a fabulous, provocative quote – it was guaranteed to stimulate and inspire. Here’s the quote:

Dubuffet:

“What I expect from any work of art is that it surprises me, that it violates my customary valuations of things and offers me other, unexpected ones. 



Art doesn’t go to sleep in the bed made for it. It would sooner run away than say its own name: what it likes is to be incognito. Its best moments are when it forgets what its own name is.

Personally, I believe very much in values of savagery. I mean: instinct, passion, mood, violence, madness.”

Jean Dubuffet

The image above is titled Sylvain. It’s 10×6 inches. It’s a collage made with insect wings.

This is how I organized the Museum mini workshop project:

Provide 12×12 inch construction paper in a deep hue

Provide a free-form profile drawing on 9×12 yellow paper

Provide magazine images of faces, eyes and mouths

Supply scissors, markers, glue, seam rollers and squeegee

Supply magazines for additional collage papers

Everyone got a color copy of the Dubuffet image and the quote.

I read the quote aloud.

I discussed how the image was constructed with insect wings – and also pointed out that there was an eye and teeth that could be on top or below the other papers.

Everyone was instructed to cut out the profile drawing and either trace or glue the drawing onto the larger sheet (and they got to choose where to place it). I did a demonstration on how to apply the glue. I suggested that they notice how Dubuffet limited the range of colors and try to select papers in a similar tonal range.

The rest was up to them. They chose how to proceed and what images, patterns and colors to include.

See samples of their work below. Notice how each one is unique.

workshop collage

workshop collage

workshop collage

workshop collage

I was attracted to Dubuffet’s quote and art and connected both back to a comment by Calvin Tomkins in LIVES OF THE ARTISTS. He described Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst – contemporary art stars – as the reigning heirs of deliberately outrageous art that feeds off the corrupting influences of capitalist glut and entertainment.

Dubuffet called his work Art Brut. He created with common media. His art was not high brow and he created deliberately outrageous art.

See Damien Hirst’s butterfly winged art (done in 2003), and read the review.

Thanks for reading. Please add your comments below.