Hiatus Until January 2012

Another term is finished at Emily Carr University of Art & Design, so I am heading out of the country to visit Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Tanzania until next term starts, so this blog will be idle for the next six weeks. Best wishes to everyone for a good holiday this December, and I will be back in January.

World's Most Expensive Photograph

This week, auction house Christie’s sold the above photo by Andreas Gursky (Rhein II) for $4.3 million, setting the record for all-time most expensive photo (the previous record was set by Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #96,” which sold for $3.89 million).

A gallery professional, who asked not to be named for concern over adverse professional repercussions, thinks the price is a bit of a farce. He says he’s noticed a growing trend where photographers are working hard to re-brand themselves as “artists” so they can sell their pieces in the higher-priced fine art markets that don’t traditionally trade in photography. This sale, he said, smacks of that change.

While he tries to take a balanced approach and realize that any sale of this kind has the potential to reflect positively on the medium of photography, he also said it’s important to call a spade a spade and avoid turning photography into something it’s not. 

Link, Wikipedia

Link, Comment 

Circle Craft Christmas Fair

These fabulous vessels are by Wanda Shum. She and her work were a highlight of my visit. I think I will go back because I had such a spectacular time there yesterday. What overwhelms me, is the abundant charm of so many vendors that I met. One gets the impression that a certain extroversion and sense of humour goes a LONG way for these vendors. After five days, though, we'll see how their spirits are doing. But what a treat attending is! Circle Craft does a fantastic job of this event each year.

More on Warhol

In defiance of everything I teach, I was surprised to read the following:

Warhol was as soaked in images as anybody. Through the 1950s he was a successful commercial artist, known for adveritsements showing distinctive blotty ink drawings of shoes. But he was also a devoted gallery-goer, determined to break into the citadel of high art. Although he is often talked about as the og-father of pop art, he was beaten to the citadel by several other aspirants, notably Roy Lichtenstein, whose giant blow-ups of comic-book images began in 1961. Desperate, Warhol turned to Muriel Latow, an adventurous gallery owner. According to Tony Scherman and David Dalton in their book "Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol," he said to her, "Just tell me what to paint."

In return for a $50 cheque, she told him "Think of the most common, everyday, instantly recognisable thing." He thought of his doting mother, Julia Warhola.... Julia lived in the basement of the Manhattan town house he had bought with money from his advertising commissions. She used to give him soup for lunch—Campbell's Soup.

From the article A One-Man Market by Bryan Appleyard
in The Economist's insert, Intelligent Life 

Arts Health Network Canada

The Arts Health Network Canada and its first provincial chapter, Arts Health Network Canada-BC, is a new resource for Canadian artists!

The aim of the organization is to connect arts and health practitioners in Canada with each other, researchers, decision-makers, and with members of the public who want to benefit from arts and health programs Their website is intended as one step towards helping facilitate those connections. The website is designed as an all-inclusive hub where arts and health users and the public can go to learn about and contribute to knowledge about the ever-growing field of arts and health in Canada.

Their website hosts information on arts and health, including: a beginning list of resources ranging from books, film, and websites to reports, magazines, and academic journal articles; new and ongoing initiatives taking place across Canada; national and international research projects; upcoming and ongoing events, classes, and workshops; and an arts and health news feed.

The organization intends to make the website as comprehensive and informative as possible about arts and health activities taking place across Canada. To do so, they want input!

To contribute information about arts and health related events, initiatives, and  / or resources, please send an email to them.

Vancouver Emerging Artist Award

The Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver (CASV) has announced an Emerging Artst prize, that comes with a cash award of $3,000, to encourage and support artists within the first five years of their careers.   

The prize will be the only one of its kind selected through an open competition.  “There are other artist prizes awarded in Vancouver, but those are by nomination only, and focus on mid-career or senior artists,” explained CASV President, Rachel Lafo.  “We wanted to provide emerging artists with a chance to showcase their work and receive financial support to enable them to keep on working.”  

The prize is open to artwork in all media by artists residing in the Lower Mainland. The prize defines an emerging artist as someone who has completed training, is in the first five years of an artistic career and has had at least one exhibition at an artist-run centre, public gallery, or commercial gallery.  A jury will select five finalists whose work will be exhibited at Access Gallery in Vancouver in late Spring 2012.   

The prize is entirely funded by CASV memberships and donations.  The CASV is a not-for-profit membership-based organization that focuses on promoting an appreciation and understanding of Contemporary Art.  Members enjoy studio visits, art trips, and lectures by prominent artists, critics, collectors, designers, architects and fine art professionals from North America and abroad. Founded in 1977, the Society has sponsored talks by such acclaimed artists and curators as Andy Warhol, Arthur Erickson, Agnes Martin, Germano Celant, Richard Prince, Jessica Stockholder, Ken Lum, Wanda Koop, Roy Arden, Gordon Smith and many others. 

For more information about eligibility and how to apply, please see the CASV website at http://www.casv.ca and click on the Emerging Artist’s Prize link.  

The Ying and Yang of the Artist’s Ego

I just finished marking thirty papersby my students, most of who are mature people (I teach in the ContinuingStudies program). Their assignment was to write a short explanation of thefunction “display” plays in their residence—they were to explain why thethings displayed on the walls and shelves were there, focusing on the reasonthey were displayed, not the items themselves.

When the marking was over, itstruck me that no one had referenced the needs of anyone but themselves inaddressing the assignment. So I took a piece of paper and I wrote “me” at thetop of one column, and “viewer” on the top of the other and started to re-readthe thirty artist statement submitted earlier in the term by the same students.Under the “me” column, I put a check every time I read words such as “me,” “I,”or “my,” and under “viewer” column I put a check every time the writer/artistreverenced those of us for whom, presumably, the work was created—theirpatrons, customers and viewers. Final score: 87:2.

There were 87 self-referencesand the statistic is a dramatic illustration of one of my greatest challengesof teaching CEPD 190: Getting the consciousness and understanding of artistsout of “self” and into the minds, hearts and souls of the people who they wantto buy/see their work.

I ran an art gallery forseveral years and organized several exhibitions independently during my career.Consequently, I spent a lot of time reading cover letters, artist statements,biographies and resumes from artists seeking my cooperation. As with the recentassignments, all the text screamed: “me,” “me,” “me.” Rarely did an applicantaddress my needs or demonstrate an awareness of my needs or objectives.

The “ying” of our profession asvisual artists, is that our ego plays a fundamental role in the creationprocess; the “yang” requires that we “be” the customer and egoless to beeffective when marketing. We must be able to turn our ego off and on. Troubleoften happens, however, when we have to approach the gatekeepers of ourprofession—curators, gallery owners, and grant or residency officers. On theseoccasions we understandably become focused on ourselves because we are excited,nervous, hopeful and aware of the competitive nature of the process in which weare engaged.

But the artist who earns theinterest and respect of people in authority, is the artist who brings the otherparty into the conversation. I often cringe when I hear artists explain atlength about themselves and their art when they are asked, “What is thatabout?” It is the artist who wisely turns the question back on the questionerwho earns my admiration, asking the questioner: “What do you think it isabout?” then, you aim to sincerely find a way to praise whatever is said.

Perhaps youare more on the other end of the ego spectrum—one aspect of personality that isprevalent in the visual arts world is the absence of a healthy ego. When itcomes to being appropriately and compellingly persuasive with gatekeepers andcustomers, you will sell yourself short if you demure when self-assertion isnecessary. You must be able to be your own champion at the right time and inthe right language.