Year End and Quick Picks

Dear readers,

We decided to cap off the year with your quick picks of artists who are burning up the scene and who we should watch in the New Year. The response was staggering thus we picked two from each city. We hope you enjoy!

Germany

Yutaka Makino. Extraordinary work, this young artist hands down received the most votes both from his Germany crowd and elsewhere. His work engages his audience by his multi dimensional use of music.  Usreihe  “Mr. Makino also uses installations and performances to explore the various dimensions of human perception.”

http://ausreihe.org/yutaka-makino/

http://www.yutakamakino.com/

Stephanie Kiwitt. Ms. Kiwitt explores the visual of everyday life.  She works with recognizable imagery in found objects, interior furnishings, spaces, and still life. Galerie b2” Within the setting of interchangeable structures and monotonous urban forms, Kiwitt discloses distinctive situations, in which human presence and action interferes with the urban architecture and public order.” http://www.weingruell.com/index.php?/stephanie-kiwitt/

New York

Carol Bove. We’ve been familiar with Ms. Bove’s work for some time. It was no surprise to see her name come up again and again.  From her carefully structured drawings(Playboy vintage issues 60’s) to the sculptural aspects of her work she is constantly surprising and enthralling the viewer.  “Her work is not nostalgic,” says Shamim M. Momin, “It’s really a way of rethinking [that era’s] failed structures and strategies and examining how they’ve shaped our present.”

http://www.georgkargl.com/en/box/exhibition/carol-bove

David Ellis.  Mr. Ellis’s familial background in his exposure to music is clearly evident in his work.  His work also focuses on the collaborative aspect of making art. All who recommended his work for a shout out referenced his prize winning work at Pulse "True Value (paint fukette)" (2011).  People went crazy for that piece and you will see why check it out on vimeo.

http://www.freshwatercatfish.org/

http://vimeo.com/20693741

Boston

Karl Stevens.  It’s a gross understatement to say Mr. Stevens work is beloved in Boston. He’s been a Boston Phoenix artist/cartoonist since 2008. And he’s also published three books. His work is personal, reflective, and always engrosses the viewer. Comics Reporter “What makes this approach fun as comics is that you get to see those pages as work product, visual narratives themselves like the ones before and after them, or as a way to track what's on the author's mind that breaks with other parts of the story being told.” We applaud his body of work and look forward to more. http://karlstevensart.com/

Fredo Conde. Mr. Conde's work continues to enthrall New Yorkers and Bostonians alike. His work focuses on the marriage of painting and sculpture in articulating themes of consumerism, faux, and social hierarchy. His briefcase shown at Exit Art filled to the brim with bling watches was a favorite of the curators. Greg Cook “ Bostonian Fredo Conde's sculptures are like portraits of living-large America. There's a glib and shallow feel to Conde's art that perhaps echoes the society it portrays. "Scratch the surface and it's paste," this make-believe bling seems to be saying.” http://fredoconde.com/

 

All images copyright of artists showcased.

As always we want to hear from you on new topics, shows to see, thoughts to ponder, what you want more of, give us a shout! We know our readers aren’t bashful and we do respond to every email, comment, and carrier pigeon that comes our way. Look for our new format coming soon.

Buy local!

We hear this often buy local, please buy local, support your local community. But do we apply this to buying art? Now this discussion has come up many times over the course of the last few months. Particularly since it is the so called holiday season and we should all be shopping to help bring the economy back to its glory.

But what I have learned is that in reference to buying art we buy it when we travel outside of our local communities. Now I can almost see the collective head nod of "no not me". This is a fact that you wind up in another city see some great work and then snap it up. The reality is you are then back home and don't have the cash to spend on your local artists.

So please buy local art and support all those hard working artists.

Art Basel Miami, Fountain Fair, Aqua

Highlights of the fairs in no particular order

Guerra de la Paz, this was my first intro to this collaborative duo Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz. There was a monstrous tree which was made up of a mish mash of recycled clothing and was spectacular. I look forward to exploring their work further.

http://www.guerradelapaz.com/

Vaughn Bell had a site-specific installation in a large closet that played footage shot out of airplanes. This piece was cerebral and many of us kept going back to it.

http://www.vaughnbell.net/

Carlos Betancourt’s His work had a bit of everything and I mean everything. Layering, sculpture, and color and more color. Ultimately we found it fun and engaging. His work clearly is soaked with Pop-Culture!

http://www.carlosbetancourt.com/

Bernar Venet, 70 yr old artist who can rock it out with the best of them. His massive metal sculpture seemed to want to scoop everyone up.  His work exudes vibrancy and strength.

http://www.bernarvenet.com/

Check these folks out and explore some new terrain.

Art Basel Miami Beach- Stay tuned

Arrived in Miami 3 hours ago and we're already exhausted. Press passes have awarded us copies of the catalog. Free catalogs are always a score!

Next on the itinerary is the Media Center and then tomorrow onto the Press Media Reception. Free food, drinks, and lots of art talk. If you see something you want us to blog about send us a shout out!

Don't forget to check out Art Positions: 

Art Positions: Strong representation of young galleries. Shout out to Carissa Rodriguez and Marco Rountreee. Art Positions creates a platform for a single project from one artist, allowing curators, critics and collectors to discover ambitious new talents at Art Basel Miami Beach. The sector will present 16 young galleries from ten different countries, with a record representation of Latin American galleries, who represent nearly half the projects for 2011.

A detailed description of selected Art Positions projects is available at www.artbasel.com/positions.

http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/

Launch of Artist Interview Series! Fredo Conde

We are delighted to begin our artist interview series with Fredo Conde. We're always looking to expose new talent give us a shout!

Give us a brief bio, where are you from and how you began in the visual arts? I emigrated from a small coastal town on the north of Portugal to the States as a child with my parents, who are laborers, a fisherman and a factory worker.  While still in Europe I first encountered art before I knew what art was on the surfaces of riverboats.   The boats were decorated with saturated enamel colors and the sides of the bows had painted folk narratives of everyday life.  Presumably untrained people, non-artists, painted the boats.  Great stuff.

While a painting undergrad at Mass Art in Boston I was exposed to the ideas of artists from the 70s, 80s and 90s, the typical art school program.  I’m drawn to sloppy paint paintings and austere bare minimal sculpture as a result.

Tell us about your work. What themes do you pursue?

Despite my training in painting my earlier work was sculpture.  One time while walking on Canal Street I noticed these dudes hawking their fake bling watches from open briefcases resting on top of rolled cardboard stands.  After that I abandoned whatever painting I was doing and took up recreating the briefcases and contents.  From there it led to other sculpture of commodities that I reproduced by hand to make look like the fakes.  It’s a lot of effort to simulate the cheap that itself is imitating luxury.  It’s all in the appearance.

The sculptures depict objects as surrogates for desire.  Knowing that someone is willing to buy a knockoff in the place of an expensive brand name reflects a socioeconomic situation.  Like I can’t afford what I really want so I’ll get the next best thing.  Or it could just be a trendy thing to do.  Anyway, I was attracted to the traveling vendors because they were immigrants and in my mind their wares were live sculptures.

 

Has your Portuguese background influenced your work and if so how?

Consciously, probably not since I don’t flesh out my concepts based on personal history.  But I was exposed to painted forms floating on water so I would say the riverboats still influence.

Jeanette Ingberman/Exit Art first introduced us to your work with much excitement. And we then came across it again at Proof Gallery? In both instances you were doing sculpture and at Proof you presented sculpture & painting. There seems to be a distinct difference between the two in that your sculptural work comes off as precious, intricate, and cared for. Whereas your painting at times can seem labored and intense. Can you explain?

Yes Exit Art.  Camilo Alvarez recommended me to Jeanette for that show which was mostly sculpture and installation.  William Matelski made it possible to mix it up at Proof.  At the time the sculpture was being phased out and I was moving toward painting so I showed the two.  Since Proof I’ve spent a lot of time reintroducing painting as the primary body of work and recycling subjects from the sculpture.  You must have seen a painting that still was under the influence of 3D.  In the case of the sculpted commodities I stayed true to actual scale.  I can see how it can look precious.

How has your practice changed over time?

Since the transition back to painting I have approached creating from the inside out instead of the outside in.  As a painter the end result is more organic.  With sculpture I impose on the material and will it to exist.  Working in painting makes me feel liberated from materialism. 

I carried over some themes to painting.   The canvases are treated as surfaces where an image rests on.  I still depict objects of desire painted in desaturated gross colors, like generic kitsch art.  They maintain a look of a canvas that looks like it was produced to look like a painting.  Artificial paintings.

I was on your site recently and I’m really into your “watch" paintings. I’m not clear on the dimensions but I’m hoping that they are large scale works! What are you currently working on?

Awh! They’re domestic 11x14 inches.  Maybe that’s why I didn’t put the dimensions on the website hoping you wouldn’t notice.  Not to worry larger paintings of watches are in the works.

What was your most recent show?

This year I was in a pop up show in Dordogne, France and the Chain Letter exhibit at Samson Projects.

                                                                                                                                                                
Do you find yourself more attracted to work that is not like your own, or work that has similarities to yours?

I look at work that I like and don’t like.  What I don’t like stands out more.  But I do like the work of Jules de Balincourt, Matthew Monahan and Seth Price.

What do you do for fun other than your work of course?

I watch movies.  Black Cat White Cat, American Psycho, Borat……. listen to music of all kinds.

fredoconde.com

All images copyright and courtesy of Fredo Conde.  

A note of remembrance to the late Jeanette Ingberman, cofounder and executive director of the nonprofit Exit Art. Forever a pioneer and dynamo!  

Taggin over Tags... Don't do it!

Graffiti, street art, crazy making, whatever you want to call it. There is a code amongst those who do it and live it. Time, effort, scale, is not to be disrespected. It seems that lately many feel that since they are new to the scene or have become "artists" they can tag over your work. Do not do this! Repeat do not this... Its a clear show of disrespect and it will not be well tolerated. Do it once you may get a pass. But do it twice and your work won't last on any wall......

Let's keep it real kings n queens.

Art Basel Miami Beach here we come! December 1 to December 4

Stay tuned my friends... A group of us are heading to Art Basel Miami Beach. Check out Art Positions. Shout out to Carissa Rodriguez and Marco Rountreee.

Art Positions: Strong representation of young galleries

Art Positions creates a platform for a single project from one artist, allowing curators, critics and collectors to discover ambitious new talents at Art Basel Miami Beach. The sector will present 16 young galleries from ten different countries, with a record representation of Latin American galleries, who represent nearly half the projects for 2011.

Participating galleries and artists:

Baró Galeria, São Paulo: Rosana Ricalde
Casas Riegner Galeria, Bogotá: Icaro Zorbar
Silvia Cintra + Box4, Rio de Janeiro: Cinthia Marcelle
Gaudel de Stampa, Paris: Jessica Warboys
Algus Greenspon Gallery, New York: Emily Sundblad
Kavi Gupta, Chicago: Theaster Gates
Karma International, Zurich: Carissa Rodriguez
Kimmerich Gallery, New York: Alexandra Bircken
Klemm’s, Berlin: Sven Johne
LABOR, México: Jorge Satorre
Mendes Wood, São Paulo: Paulo Nazareth
Francesca Minini, Milan: Mandla Reuter
Galeria Lucía de la Puente, Lima: Cesar Cornejo
Anita Schwartz Galeria, Rio de Janeiro: Otavio Schipper
Thomas Solomon Gallery, Los Angeles: Analia Saban
Travesía Cuatro, Madrid: Marco Rountreee

A detailed description of selected Art Positions projects is available at www.artbasel.com/positions.

http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/ 

Featured Blogs...

german-street-art.blogspot.com/

Street/Urban art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to art of an illicit nature, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection,art intervention, guerrilla art, flash mobbing and street installations.

http://www.reclaimyourcity.net/news/news.php

Outgrowth of nature/Art 101/Brooklyn

I was first introduced to Kathleen’s work in Germany and have been following it ever since. Her work is not to be missed and is well demonstrated in her current show at Art 101. Drawings are the clear standouts. Special attention should be taken with those pieces. Drawings are richly detailed and thoughtfully manicured. Typically the viewer is captured by her installations but her drawings have brought forth a new dimension of soft figures. Kathleen constantly looks to define the balance of human creative spirit and the artifice it presents. This is a must see pop in.

Kathleen Vance

Oct 13 - Nov 6

http://www.art101brooklyn.com/

Contemporary Artists Center Deadline Nov 1 (sorry for late notice but great group to work with)

Artist Residency Fellowships Available
Contemporary Artists Center
(Troy NY)

The Contemporary Artists Center has recently opened its newest residency program on the campus of the Woodside National Historic Register Site in Troy, NY. Two neo-gothic stone church buildings now house our artist program and welcome artists from all over the U.S. and abroad.
The CAC is located 2.5 hours north of NYC, and is currently accepting applications for the winter season.

DEADLINE November 1

The CAC focuses on emerging and early career artists and accepts applicants who offer quality in their art and encourages diversity of style, medium (2-D, 3-D, 4-D) and concepts.

Our facility features high-ceiling, adaptable studio space open 24 hours a day with some specialized studio facilities, exhibition opportunities, weekly critiques, and free access to all CAC events. The living area includes lofted bedrooms, living room / library, dining room, and kitchen & bath.

The residency program offers artists the time and support to create new work and fosters an environment that encourages creativity, dialog, and experimentation

Fellowships available. Additional funding provided for Upstate New York artists. All residency artists receive some level of financial assistance.


Website: http://www.cactroy.org/residencies.php