A reference to a recent New Yorker Critic at Large (March 30th) review suggests that a work of art is good if it rises out of necessity and if the artist is capable of carrying out the idea to its appropriate end. As a letter writer paraphrases:
“This matters; this has …
If your not yet familiar with the work of EVOL, be sure to check out a series of photographs taken by Just, which documents EVOL’s first solo exhibition at the Wilde Gallery in Berlin.
Here’s a description of the show:
“For his first solo show with the gallery, EVOL presents a Four by Three meter installation titled “Flamingo Beach – Later” consisting of a meticulously stencilled environment that oscillates between a real transitory space and an imaginary faux location that plays on the idea of the cinematic prop as well as collective suspension of disbelief.”
There´s a free catalogue to download here.
Sara Watson, a design student studying drawing at the University of Central Lancashire, spent three weeks taking a battered old Skoda and making it “disappear” by painting it so that it blends in with the surrounding area.
The BBC reports that the car is now being used as advertising for the local recycling firm that donated the vehicle.
ArtPrize has created some debate among artists recently. The Grand Rapids, Michigan based art prize is offering the winning artist $250,000, 2nd place $100,000, 3rd place $50,000 and $7000 for the next 7 artists.
That much money on offer gets a lot of attention from artists and the media, but the thing that artists are discussing most is the judging process; there is none. OK, not none, but the public vote for the winner. This has made many artist afraid, especially conceptual artists, and I think they have good reason to be afraid as most people have no reason to be in a gallery. I know that I wouldn’t be a very good judge of hairy footed pheasants at a cock show as I don’t know anything about them, which is the same reason that people who wouldn’t know a poster from an oil painting wouldn’t be very good at judging art.
It seems to be an experimental art prize though, which hopes to involve the public and get them looking at art, so it’s all good. It will be interesting to see the winning work. The choices of art experts often have me scratching my head, so the public can’t do much worse in choosing a winner.
ArtPrize is open to artists worldwide and judging is open to anyone that attends an exhibition space throughout Grand Rapids, Michigan. See the ArtPrize website for more information on entering the art competition. They also have a blog discussing the prize.
Thanks to Susan and those that let me know of the art prize.
“These hearts were painted by my girlfriend and I in Coimbra, Portugal a couple of years back. She is from Coimbra and I am from Chicago and we’ve been able to maintain a long distance relationship for the past 2.5 years. Since then, we continue to paint some of these hearts every time we are together in Coimbra. What is interesting about Portugal’s Calçada (sidewalk), is that you can take a combination of a minimum of three stones and find the shape of an abstract heart form. The heart can grow by adding more stones to the original three.”