Artists on the Lam

wolf in Lam's clothing

2012-03-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

The artwork submission window for I CAN DO THAT is now closed! (Of course, almost half the total submissions came in the last couple days. Ahh, human nature. But at least no one did what I would’ve done in similar situations / in college, which would entail searching for and finding a corrupt file on my computer on Sunday night, renaming said file, and then attaching that file to an email, to which the poor professor it addressed would respond saying s/he can’t open the document and I’d email back after some time all “golly I wonder why Prof well see if this one works” and then attach the real completed assignment and still manage to get an A okay I do not condone this behavior nor will I ever fall for it.) (Sorry, professors.)

To everyone who applied: Thank you! You’ll be hearing back from me by the end of the week. To everyone else: Many of the submissions are brilliant. I am beyond excited for this show.

I Can Spell // Sorry, Time Out Chicago magazines

2012-02-27T06:00:00.004-06:00

Artist applications for I CAN DO THAT are due in 1 week!

If you live in Chicago, you will be seeing this (or a variation of it) around. Most likely hanging at the eye level of a hobbit.

Note to ransom note-makers: The “D” was surprisingly difficult to find. Note to no one in particular: The figure is from a scan of a photocopy of a cut-out print-out of a scan of a print of an intaglio etching I made a few years ago. I am my own Richard Prince.

I’ve added new buttons on the sidebar to make it easier for you to follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn (which I desperately need to update), and more. You’ll be kept up to date with all that ~~I find~~ is interesting. And thank you for following / visiting this blog in the first place! Thanks to you, when I Google myself (don’t front—we all do it) now, I actually show up on the first page of results. Nothing short of a miracle considering there are about a billion (this is a fact) Jenny Lams in the world; I even know two others (one of them is an aunt of mine, but technically I came first, since she married into the Lamily). Continue being awesome!

Lucky 13 and More Numbers

2012-02-21T07:00:00.002-06:00

Two show-related matters:

One: Beginning in October, via social networking sites, in person, and here, I’ve been asking you who you think is the most overrated contemporary artist. I’ve received over 100 responses, not including the responses to those responses in what devolved into some very strange feuds (photography haters? who knew?). My main takeaway from sorting through all the answers? It’s amazing how many times people misspelled “Damien Hirst,” and it’s amazing how many ways in which that name can be misspelled. In honor of the Friday the 13th opening date for I CAN DO THAT, I present to you:

Your Top 13 Overrated Artists:

13 – (tie) Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Peyton, Jackson Pollock, Karen Kalimnik, Lady Gaga, Matthew Barney, Peter Max

6 – Cy Twombly

5 – Banksy

4 – Tracy Emin

2 – (tie) Damien Hirst, Thomas Kincaid

1 – Jeff Koons

Thoughts on the results?

Two: The artist application deadline for I CAN DO THAT is two weeks from yesterday! Submit!

And two not related to the show:

Ein: Does art school matter? Find out with the artists behind The Drop Out Kids in my latest piece for Sixty Inches From Center (Part II to this article).

Zwei: Flight tickets booked! This artist will be on the lam in: Beijing 5/4 – 5/9, Shanghai 5/9 – 5/15, and Hong Kong 5/15 – 5/22. I’ll be visiting artist studios, art galleries, art fairs, and more, and I’ll be sharing my shenanigans with you while I’m ~~there~~ in Hong Kong and back in the States (a plague o’ both your houses, Great Firewall!). …I’ll also be in the Ladies’ Market haggling for more of those $3 plastic red watches that stop working after several weeks and at this point are pretty much just chunky bracelets with numbers on them.

And it starts

2012-02-13T06:00:00.015-06:00

If you check this blog regularly even when I haven’t made a new post (and for that I love you), you might’ve noticed some changes to the row of tabs above. The reason?

My next show, I CAN DO THAT !

Everyone: Save the date. The show opens Friday the 13^th, April 2012.

Artists / “artists”: Currently accepting submissions until March 5. Check out the open call and apply here.

Everyone again / “everyone” / “again”?: Spread the word. Invite yourself to the event and then invite your friends / acquaintances / random people whose Facebook friend requests you reluctantly accepted. This is going to be good.

Of cool-makers and rule-breakers / Words

2012-02-07T07:00:00.004-06:00

For those who celebrate the [best] holiday [of the year], I hope you had a grand Chinese New Year. For those who don’t celebrate, I still hope you had a grand Chinese New Year. Because even if you don’t believe in the lunar calendar, the lunar calendar believes in you. Or something.

Since I’ve been asked, I thought I’d clear things up: yes, I write all my own press releases and anything else that involves, well, words. (Which means, yes, I sometimes refer to myself in the third person.) (You, too, can have press releases written about you in the third person! That’s one of my services! Shameless self-promotion! But not really because this is my blog!)

On the subject of writing, check out my latest Sixty Inches From Center article here and take a look inside Arow, a new artist collective that’ll convince you all is right with the world. Or, at least, with Chicago’s underground art scene and all its crazy cool kids.

Most importantly, stay tuned for an announcement regarding my next show! As with Exquisite Corpse, there will be an open call for artists. Excitement.

Winging It, in the Modern— / People’s Choice

2012-01-10T06:00:00.014-06:00

Last month on a Thursday evening before the holidays, I stood in the middle of the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, straight-up looking like a high-schooler working on a class assignment (I should probably forgo my trademark neon dunks and $3 plastic red watch when interacting with strangers who aren’t given clues that suggest the contrary…), and asked museum visitors the following two questions:

“Who, in your opinion, is the most overrated contemporary artist?”

“On the flip side, what would you like to see in a major museum or gallery show consisting of contemporary art? What are the kinds of things you’d like to see in major institutions?”

Here’s what they had to say:

(Some survey-ees didn’t answer the first question. Hmmm.)

Would like to see: (R) Anything that is interactive and very real, something you can actually be involved with. It seems like so many things in museums are always “don’t touch” or “steer clear.” Something that you can actually interact with would be kind of cool.

Would like to see: (L) Ancient items. Modern art [tends to be] difficult to understand.

Would like to see: I’m very big on still lifes. A lot of shadows, not a lot of color. Just basic colored pencils or graphites to kind of depict the different values. Something simple that kind of shows the artist’s soul, something very descriptive that can just move a person. Very provocative, very thought-provoking. Not over-done.

(We then proceeded to fawn over literature and poetry.)

(The gentleman requested to have his and his wife’s photograph taken in front of the Thomas Schütte sculpture.)

Overrated: (R) Andy Warhol.

Would like to see: (R) Characteristic pieces right from the pre-historic on up to the 1950s, Rothko, maybe stopping there. A little bit into the early ‘60s, but Rothko was the last one that I really appreciate, although I do like some contemporary pieces.

Overrated: (R) Andy Warhol. He’s talented, but so many people want to read so much into it because it’s just so easy to digest and because it’s Pop Art, you know? So people want to be like, “Oh that guy’s unbelievable.” And he’s good. I mean, there are parts of it that I do like, but you’ve seen it so many times.

Would like to see: (R) I’m always a really big fan of photorealism. It’s not like it’s the most amazing form of art, but I don’t see a ton of it in art museums. And I do like abstraction—big Kandinsky fan.

(We all subsequently geeked out over the museum’s Arms & Armor section. They proposed a “modern update” to make it even better.)

Overrated: Those kinds of paintings that are just one color on a canvas. I don’t know the specific artist, but where it’s just two colors, and I’m like, “I could’ve done that.”

Would like to see: More textiles. Textiles are my favorite.

Overrated: (L) I would say Cy Twombly.

(R) Peter Max.

Would like to see: (R) Impressionism.

(L) I kind of like the modern art. I’m getting to appreciate it. It reflects this time that we’re living in right now. Just like with the Impressionists, I’m quite certain that, in their times, people didn’t accept what they were doing.

Overrated: I’m a little underwhelmed with a lot of the Walker in Minneapolis. Like the landlord collection, John [Waters] or something like that. I just didn’t understand it at all.

Would like to see: Photography.

A little more of a throwback to adding more styles of old, more Renaissance, mixed with new mediums. I just don’t see any of that. It’s strictly new and it’s so avant garde that I’d like a mix of media.

As a bonus, I also surveyed the buddy who got me into the museum for free… (Thanks, Kris!)

Overrated: Damien Hirst. That guy’s bullshit. I also think Banksy’s very overrated.

Would like to see: It’d be more interesting for the major museums and galleries to at least give some space and time to people who aren’t necessarily selling a lot of stuff. Don’t get me wrong; you’re going to get a lot of crap, but that’s always true. Everything’s mostly crap, but eventually you might find something good in the crap. These boards tend to be the same sort of people everywhere. They sell themselves on what’s good and what isn’t, so it’s an echo chamber, so you always get what somebody in that group says is cool, and then everybody wants to seem cool so they go along with it. Getting something outside of that would be nice, and that could be anything from… I don’t want to say “outsider art,” because I think that got really clichéd for a bit, but there’s stuff being done that isn’t being seen by people—not because they’re outsiders, but because it’s hard to get an audience. So I’d like to see some new stuff. I’ll fully admit most of it will probably be garbage, but every once in a while something will be cool.

Anyone you agree with? Anyone you’d like to vehemently debate? Any other artists you’d like to add to the list? Any other kinds of art you love and wish more people loved?

Also, because of all this ~~shit-talking~~, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst are now turning up in my Gmail ads. Goddamnit, Google.

A [Half] Year in Review? / Thank you, June–December, 2011

2011-12-31T07:30:00.006-06:00

Most blogs are probably taking a nostalgic look back at 2011, posting highlights, making tiresome Top 10 lists… That won’t happen here. Which I’d like to say is because this blog is Different. With a capital D. And it is. But mostly it’s because I began this blog and business in June. But really, although this whirlwind started six short months ago, [the latter half of] 2011 has been a great adventure, and I thank you all for being a part of it.

Tonight, we bid adieu to an incredible year. A year of exciting change in the art world, of global awakening and revolution, of the Otis scream and a Common / Drake feud that came out of nowhere but was nonetheless amusing on multiple levels.

Here’s to an even better year. (At the very least, it’ll be the year of the geek. Seriously, the upcoming blockbusters look glorious. Prometheus? The Dark Knight Rises? The Hobbit? Just… oh man. Hold me, Gandalf.) From my end, you’ll be getting a new art show that will blow. your. mind (overhyping it? perhaps, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take), in-depth and firsthand looks into the latest art both from this gritty little city by the lake and around the world (travel destinations will include Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Basel), and more, and that’s just this Spring and Summer.

Enjoy New Year’s Eve and Day, and see you in 2012!

A Call for a Global Art History / It’s not all about you, dude

2011-12-15T07:45:00.026-06:00

Before I get to the main point of today’s post: Three of my articles made Sixty Inches From Center’s Top 10 Most Read Articles of 2011 list, and I only joined SIFC in the Spring. THANK YOU for reading all the crazy things I write! Make sure you check out my latest piece, “Text, Drugs, and Rock & Roll // PART I.” (Part II will be live on Monday.)

Speaking of Sixty, last week, at WBEZ and SIFC’s “What’s Your Art? Celebrating the Art Centers of Chicago” event at the Chicago Cultural Center, a visitor approached me (“I know you! You put on the show where the woman rolled around on the floor!”), introduced himself (Dubi Kaufmann, who took a few photos of said woman rolling around on the floor), and told me that Exquisite Corpse inspired him to start his own project that engages artist collaboration. Like this audience reaction letter, it made my day. Thank you, Dubi.

On to a different kind of center… Let’s discuss the de-centering of art history, the need to expand mainstream art history’s focus beyond its Eurocentric bent. I came across The Art History Newsletter, which published “Art Historian, Globalize Thyself” yesterday:

Globalizing art history is “the most urgent task now facing art historians,” says David Carrier, professor at Case Western Reserve University. [...] Art history has moved beyond its blatantly Eurocentric, colonialist origins, when all non-Western art was considered “primitive”—if it was considered at all—but scholars say that serious problems remain. They note that Intro to Art History textbooks may now boast chapters on, say, “Monumental Olmec Sculpture” and “The Buddhist Temples of Korea,” but those make little impact alongside the books’ central narratives, which as always celebrate the long march of Western art from the Greek kouros to Jeff Koons.

To state the obvious, by limiting art history to the West, we severely limit ourselves. Obviously. What’s more, however, is that broadening our perspectives can allow us to re-examine and re-structure our established frameworks, to see our own world through a new—and better—lens. Take, for instance, the essence of Modernism itself. I can never get over how so much ancient Chinese art looks downright Modern—in the economy of line, in the minimalism, in the symbolism, in the abstraction. (In a similar vein are Tantric paintings from 17^th C. India:)

Image via NYT.

But then, in the article, things take a turn toward the problematic / offensive…

Elkins doubts we can write a truly global art history until non-Western countries start writing more of their own art history—they currently do very little, as he’s shown. Even then, he says, art history will remain “in its basic structure and institutional habits, permanently Western.” He notes that non-Westerners who take up art history typically imitate Western models and goes further to say, “The very idea of writing an art history of some country or region is Western.”

· Yeah, no. The onus shouldn’t be on “non-Western” (an inherently imperialist term, making the West the norm and everything else something that deviates from that norm) cultures to write more about their respective art histories (which they already do). Rather, Western institutions should be the ones providing such educational platforms. Look at languages: learning English is often mandatory in primary schools throughout the world. Many Americans, meanwhile, know only one language (and it ain’t Urdu).

This insularity is not a problem limited to the primary school system. My alma mater, Columbia University, prides itself on its Core Curriculum—which might as well be called Kids, Let’s Talk About Dead White Men—comprising courses like Literature Humanities in which, if you’re lucky, a token or two (Jane Austen and/or Virginia Woolf) might be thrown into the mix. There is a Major Cultures requirement, but students must choose and specialize in one particular region (e.g. Africa, Asia, the Middle East). For art majors, one of the requirements is 20^th Century Art, and although it was one of my favorite classes (because it’s not like I’m into contemporary art or anything…), it really should be renamed White People In 20^th C. America And Europe And Not Even A Cameo By Basquiat.

· History-writing / documentation is not a Western invention.

· Etc.

What are your thoughts on the subject? If you’ve studied (or are simply interested in) art history, what has your experience been like?

Survey monkeys

2011-12-09T06:00:00.002-06:00

If you’re here because I approached / ~~grabbed~~ / ~~rudely interrupted~~ you at the Art Institute Thursday evening… hello and welcome!

Your thoughts will be shared in the near future, but not until I disrupt the lives of more innocent strangers.

And for everyone else reading this: worry not, friend—it will all make sense in due time.

“Sense.”

Welcome to Miami, bienvenido a Mi—[C CHECK]

2011-11-30T06:20:00.008-06:00

“Art can help us to envision the new cultural images we need to grow our souls.”

While many in the art world descend upon Miami for Art Basel this week… I’m reading The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs, and, as I am wont to do, have been finding connections to art and the value of art:

In this period, we need artists to create new images that will liberate us […] and open up space in our hearts and minds to imagine and create another America that will be viewed by the world as a beacon rather than as a danger.

Art / culture and progress / [r]evolution are interminably intertwined. To the Occupy movement, she has the following message:

You have the opportunity to create something new. […] You must not be satisfied with rebellion. We need revolution. Revolution means reinventing culture.

Such is the role of art and the artist.

Art = Life

2011-11-16T06:00:00.003-06:00

The last discussion presented art as a vehicle for revolution and change, as the channel through which the people make their voices heard. Rather than letting some bureaucracy-obeying art world sycophant churn out an offensively predictable Top 10 artists list that’s supposed to, somehow, tell you what he thinks you should like… Who and what do you want to see gain more exposure? What kind of art or which artists represent you? (To keep things organized, discuss over here.)

And now for this week’s discussion: I interviewed artist Martin Bernstein for Sixty Inches From Center, and here are some gems from our conversation (and good advice to boot):

Image courtesy of Andrew Roddewig, 2011.

On art:

Art is a consciousness. [...] It’s a way of life. It’s a way of looking at every single nanosecond of every day.

On great art:

Great art isn’t something that gives you all the answers; it’s a starting point for you to then question. [...] You’re always learning. You always have to push towards something you don’t know.

On the value of traveling:

The road taught me: open your eyes right now, because what you are seeing or doing or thinking is gone, and now there’s a new “right now,” and that’s gone, and now there’s a new “right now,” and you keep moving through… Well that’s life. And it’s right now.

On not only knowing yourself, being yourself, and sticking to it…

Principle is all you’ve got in the end, and so you really have to find the basic code of how you want to live, and all your work and all the things you say and do should fit that perfectly. [...] Especially as an artist and they are constantly telling you no. [...] We look outside of ourselves to define ourselves when we [are young]. It’s kind of a parabolic curve of life to me, and somewhere in the middle when we get to our 30s, we start to go, “Wait a minute. It’s not them. It’s me.” You start to realize that you sort of colored in the all the surrounding areas, and now it’s time to fill in this figure that’s sort of the shadow. You start to fill it in.

…but also having faith in yourself:

I just trust that I’m on the right path, that I’m doing the right thing at the right time, and if I don’t feel that, I’m willing to turn around on a dime.

More wisdom here.

For many of us, art was our first [and only—shhhh] love. To ask an artist if she could do without creating is like asking someone if she could do without breathing, or if she could log in to Facebook and log out within five minutes (it’s impossible). This question applies to everyone, artists and collectors and art appreciators alike: When did you first fall in love with art? When did you know you wanted it to be a part of—no—to be your life?

Viva la Revolución / Hey art’s pretty important, you guys

2011-11-10T07:00:00.015-06:00

“This society—American society—does not value the arts.”

True words from Patric McCoy, President and Co-Founder of Diasporal Rhythms, as well as one of the panelists at “Creating Community through the Arts,” a discussion I attended a couple weeks ago. The conversation was a breath of fresh air. Saying the things we all want to say but are often hesitant to say out loud, the panelists pulled no punches, dispelling and deconstructing misconceptions and myths about art and artists, taking on America’s lack of funding for the arts and arts education; and, most importantly, offering grassroots level solutions to the problems addressed.

American society at large may not value the arts, but one cannot deny how indispensable the arts are to American society.

“Arts are essential for democracy. […] The arts teach people to think freely.” –Panelist Carlos Tortolero, Executive Director of the National Museum of Mexican Art.

Here’s an excerpt from my write-up of the panel discussion on Sixty Inches From Center:

Patric McCoy: I’m seeing that the energy is actually in the subcultures, and that it really is a bottom-up phenomenon. [...] What we have is a top-down process, is that the Art Institute, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the art critics, and so forth [...] tell you who is good, instead of you telling them who is good. All of our community should be working to promote… should be telling you, “This is who we think is good in this part of the city,” and it bubbles up. I think it’s most prevalent in visual arts. [...] In the musical arts, we don’t have a problem in America that it comes up from the bottom. [...] Hip hop can start in the Bronx, gospel in the South Side of Chicago… we don’t have a problem with that, that eventually, it gets up to the top and it becomes “America.”
Carlos Tortolero: It becomes “America” from the powers that be, and I think the real problem is that the power structure has created an “either/or” situation, and I want to create an “and” situation, where the mariachi music is good, classical music is good, hip hop… it’s all good. It should be an “and” situation where we embrace all forms of art, in which all forms of art are valued.
Luis DeLaTorre: [...] Do you think it’s because music is a very rich commodity, that people can trade easily, and make money off of, and art isn’t seen that way?
PM: That has to do with power, and that the visual arts are associated with power. Imagery is extremely powerful.

When it comes to working within one’s subculture(s) and inciting change from the bottom up, panelist Giselle Mercier, an installation artist from Panama and the Executive Director of Pros Arts Studio, pointed out that anyone can be a patron of the arts, that “it has to be a collective force and can’t be just from people who have means.” She explained that, instead of purchasing a $3 cup of coffee for one day every week, one can donate to a local museum (or, as I’ll interject, invest in a great piece of artwork).

Technology was another topic that was raised, framed initially as another problem (think bookstores-might-be-going-bankrupt-because-of-tablets problem) artists and arts professionals face. One audience member asked whether technological advances “undermine the ability of the people to decide which art is important.” On the contrary, technology makes the world smaller, makes art more accessible (shameless self-aggrandizing: hello, blog), allows for the democratization of art (why yes I will continuously recycle my own words). In the words of moderator and artist Luis DeLaTorre:

[With technology], we can have [art] at our fingertips To be able to experience it, visual art and music, you have it right there. I was talking to a friend of mine and I said, “Art is dead.” Her response was, “Art is never going to die, because it’s that human experience of creating that always propels us.”

Essential for democracy? Never going to die? It’s what propels the human race? If that’s what art is and we’re not supporting it, it looks like our values are indeed skewed.

Read more highlights from the conversation here.

All of this brings me to the flip side of the discussion we had (and are still having) on this site concerning overrated artists. One of my main objectives is exposing and sharing the talents of artists—who might otherwise remain under the radar—with shows like Exquisite Corpse and via online galleries. Who do you want to see exalted in galleries and museums? What do you want to see? Who/what do you feel represents you? We need to take the microphone from the mainstream and major outlets and institutions and hand it back to the people, to you. The artist has the ability to condense an entire zeitgeist into a single image, to create something that someone else can look at and say, “This is who I am, and this is who we are.” Art encapsulates the voice of the people.

Related: I’m pleased to be a part of Lolk Collective, a new community-focused initiative I mentioned briefly in this interview. Launched by Zachary Johnson, who exhibited art in Exquisite Corpse, Lolk is looking for collaborators, so this is an artist call for those of you who are interested in street art, guerilla art, and other forms of happiness.

Everything is connected.

Except for the following fact.

My favorite “search keyword” (thank you, Blogger stats) that led someone to this site this week: “how old is jenny lam”

(Well, kind stranger, if you click around on enough links—hint! the sidebar! also! interviews on the press page!—you’ll figure out when I graduated college, and that should narrow things down. Although I’ll let you continue to believe I’m either a 14-year-old prodigy—the ages mentioned on the “About” page are fabulous red herrings—or a geezer with an aging portrait in an attic.)

Living for the City / “Mommy, where do [great artists] come from?”

2011-11-01T06:00:00.009-05:00

Last week The Huffington Post ran an article that asked, “Where do important artists come from?” (My simple answer would be the following wise words from the masterwork that is Ratatouille: “Not everyone can become a great artist. But a great artist can come from anywhere.” Slow clap.) Here’s an excerpt:

For in a world celebrated for rapid shifts in technique and style, and for the iconoclasm of its young geniuses, the geography of artistic innovation is profoundly conservative.
Simply put, important new artists are most likely to emerge in the same cities where important artists have emerged in the recent past. And even more narrowly, in recent decades important new artists have been most likely to emerge from the same academic institutions that have produced important artists in the past.

But why those cities in particular? Is it the cities themselves or the academic institutions within those cities—or a combination of the two—that produce artists? Above all, forget the chicken and egg conundrum; do those cities cultivate artists, or do artists, regardless of their origins, gravitate towards those cities? (Speaking for myself and those I know, I would say the latter. And if it is the latter, what if great artists actually, you know, stayed in their hometowns rather than making the inevitable migration to places like New York?)

The piece also touches upon the subject of young / once-young (e.g. Hirst—speaking of whom, the overrated artists discussion is still going!) artists, artists steeped in self-awareness and reacting to their historical contexts, taking a rather calculated approach in steering their careers, so the rest is worth a read.

OMG TGIF MDW sifc btw etc

2011-10-21T06:30:00.018-05:00

Sixty Inches From Center did a feature on Exquisite Corpse’s closing reception. Thanks, Lindsey Anderson! (Check out the press page for more… press.)

It’s yet another beautiful fall day, and thus a perfect start to a big weekend for art; the annual Bridgeport Art Walk begins this evening at 6pm and runs through Sunday:

One of the walk’s stops is the buzzed-about MDW Fair, which showcases over 50 exhibitors comprised of artist-run spaces, small not-for-profits, emerging galleries, collectives, and independent curators. Founded in the Spring, the fair is currently in its second iteration and is not to be missed; this, folks, is the future—and the pure now—of Chicago art. This is the rise of the alternative and underground. I like what Paul Klein had to say about it: “MDW sets a high bar about what an art fair should be—an art experience where the exhibitors present art they believe in to an audience that wants to be welcomed, inspired, challenged, and cajoled.” (Edit: Paul just added a paragraph on Occupy Wall Street, and it’s worthy of a standing ovation.) MDW’s Vernissage is tonight 8–11pm, and continues Saturday and Sunday 12–6pm.

Of course, you can’t mention “Bridgeport” and “art” without including the Zhou B Art Center; in the heart of it all, the art center comprises 5 floors of open artist studios and galleries. At 4Art Gallery, you can view Spiritus Saltus and Opposition from Exquisite Corpse. Visit tonight 6–10pm (there will be cider!), and/or Saturday 12–6pm and Sunday 12–5pm. Admission is free.

Here’s a map of the art walk. (Some distances more walkable than others…) (Which is why it might be perfectly acceptable to just stroll around 4Art with a mug of cider in hand.) (Just sayin’.)

Only connect

2011-10-17T06:00:00.035-05:00

Remember that Exquisite Corpse guest who “approached me and made my night by raving about the performance, telling me how much it moved him—that he had a moment in which he realized he got it—and showing me, literally, pages he’d written as a response to the piece”? Remember when I didn’t have to resort to quoting myself when I’m already linking to said quote? That guest is Danny Bravman, and he [finally!] emailed me a few days ago. Here’s his message in full:

Hi, I'm not sure if you remember me. I was at the closing night of
Exquisite Corpse, and had been so moved by Caitlin's performance
piece, that I wrote a few pages of reactions which you said you'd be
interested in reading. I had some computer issues and, honestly,
forgot about it, but if you're still interested, here they are. Other
than blanking a few names, I've not edited it at all; sorry if it's
hard to follow in some places. It's a little detached for me to read
back on this a month later, I'll admit.

---
One girl painted another girl in red. The second girl rolled onto
placed paper. Repeat. I was confused, because the second girl was
the performer, yet it appeared like the first was the artist: the
first painting, while the second the brush she used. And then I
realized it- the point of the piece, the point of the whole exhibit,
the emotion of tonight, the meaning of the past few months, the answer
we’ve been seeking- collaboration. They are not alone. They work
together. They complement. What they create is greater than the
individual.

Eventually they exhaust the red, and there is blue now, and the result
is purple, so perfect thematically. The first girl has paint on her;
the second has patches of skin still visible. They have been talking
occasionally to each other, inaudibly behind the music and the crowd,
who at one point break into to interact with, calling for the second,
who had adhered to the paper and plastic she was rolling across to
“leave it”. And she lets herself roll herself up, cocooning herself
within her own art, then emerges, and lets the next coat be applied.
She is near naked, but yet not erotically: her exposure is not of
shame, but of sharing; playful. At the end they both procure
scissors- I do not know why- and cut up their work into scraps, not
into clothing as I first hypothesized.

I text back the location I originally was going to spitefully not give
K____, having been upset at the insultingly little effort put into
this purported friendship, this constant standing up, so badly lied,
the sort which had me write off another ______ _U 20__ graduate, to
let be given what I ought show to such behavior, contrasting with the
appreciation I show, the appreciation shown to me by J__ mere minutes
before, who was so touched at my friendship in traveling to Wisconsin
for her birthday, for her show, for her, that I realized how
unnecessarily bitter I’d been, by being alone, wandering through this
exhibit, taking a “Fish of Destiny” while leaving a crumpled up
“LIES”, drawing a half-visible off-to-the-side mist-shrouded head for
a trifold self-portrait, sending an unacknowledged text instead of
congratulating in person the sole artist I knew beforehand, silently
composing hurtful hates. But I feel I understand. Now I know. I see
collaboration before me. The second girl writes, her performance
concluded, on the external easels two questions: how is the body best
used for art, and vice versa. I look around, finding these papers and
pen, to take outside to write down reactions.

I understand her art. I understand their art. I understand myself.
We are not alone. We express ourselves, together, creating and
observing, together interpreting. And I hope my crumpled up paper is
still there, so that I can straighten out the scrap, cross out the
black word and write under in purple: “I understand now”. Let’s see.

Thank you so much, Danny, for reminding us why we make art in the first place. (Well, why a lot of us do, anyway.)

If you haven’t already, make sure you take part in last week’s discussion post! I also posed the same questions in the Chicago art discussion-based #chiart group on Facebook. Screencap of group members’ answers after the jump. The names and profile pictures have been redacted because, well, what happens in #chiart stays in #chiart:

Rocktober / October has been, so far, beautiful—perfect for the city’s seasonal art walks. This weekend, take the Bridgeport Art Walk and drop by 4Art Gallery, beginning on Friday 6–10pm, where you can view Spiritus Saltus and Opposition in person. See you there!

More like Damien Worst amirite amirite

2011-10-10T14:05:00.005-05:00

Who, in your opinion, is the most overrated contemporary artist? Whom do you absolutely hate? Do any particular pieces from that artist come to mind?

I swear I’m going somewhere with this! (Hint: Two tags.)

Roundup

2011-10-10T14:00:00.009-05:00

Exquisite Corpse updates: shiny new menu page for the show (click on the thumbnails), more performance photos on Flickr, a new video clip of said performance, and new images at the exhibition photos page.

Image courtesy of Andrew Roddewig, 2011.

Check out the updated virtual gallery, the new electronic abode of Spiritus Saltus—the exquisite corpse by Melbourne artists Adriane Strampp, Irene Wellm, and Kirsten Perry spotlighted in posts 1 2 and 3—and Opposition by Boston artist Gideon Ansell and Amsterdam artist Mark Pol. I will be writing more about these two works, so stay tuned. In the meantime, feel free to ask me any questions you may have about them.

You can also view Spiritus Saltus and Opposition in person at 4Art Gallery, located in the internationally renowned Zhou B Art Center. The next monthly 3^rd Friday opening reception is October 21, 6–10pm, and the annual Bridgeport Art Walk is Friday, October 21, 6–10pm; Saturday, October 22, 12–6pm; and Sunday, October 23, 12–6pm. 4Art’s regular gallery hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 10am–6pm.

And, completely unrelated to any of the above, it’s been a while since my last Sixty Inches From Center contribution, but my art scene documentarian self has risen from the ashes. Risen sixty inches from the ground.*

*my height†

†unfortunately

The body as art / Art as the body // Photos galore

2011-09-28T06:00:00.037-05:00

Photos of Caitlin Bergh’s Exquisite Corpse performance piece are now up on Flickr. (You can find more photo links in the previous post.)

Image courtesy of Andrew Roddewig, 2011.

Here’s a short video clip of the performance, taken on an outdated point-and-shoot camera, and here are lengthier videos taken on Caitlin’s iPhone. (As you can probably tell by the quality and equipment used, documentation was merely and mostly for posterity’s sake. Indie indeed.) I like how you can hear me say, “Do one more roll,” at 2:33 in the last video. Because that one roll resulted in 2:42. Which was a perfectly unintentional and unintentionally perfect moment. [29 October edit: Caitlin accidentally deleted all of her YouTube videos. Stay tuned, as she’ll re-upload them soon!]

Those who watched the performance in person are right, however, when they tell me that the videos don’t do the experience justice; you really did have to be there. But, as has been mentioned, there will be more [and bigger! and better!] live collaborations between Caitlin and me in the future.

Not seen in the videos is the ending of the performance: We bowed. My obsession from the soundtrack blared. And the audience responded to Caitlin’s questions, “What is the best way to convey the body in art?” and “What is the best way to convey art on the body?”

Of course, the performance was only one small part of Exquisite Corpse. Photos of the exhibition are now up, arranged roughly in the order in which a guest to the gallery might view each collaboration. Keep checking the page for photos of the opening and closing receptions.

Unrelated to the show, the discussion is still going in the “Art as political weapon, artist as social instigator” post from June! If you’re new to the site or haven’t been checking back on the older discussion posts, join in on the conversation!

Hear, hear. Here.

2011-09-23T07:00:00.007-05:00

Image courtesy of Andrew Roddewig, 2011.

This is a look of love and trust. Love between first-time performance artists whose one “rehearsal” consisted of merely talking through what might happen in the actual performance. Trust to not get paint up the nose.

Image courtesy of Andrew Roddewig, 2011.

Thanks to Andrew Roddewig for taking photos of Caitlin Bergh’s Exquisite Corpse performance and posting a slideshow on Sixty Inches From Center. If you have a Facebook account, you can view many more—90 total, including outtakes not seen in the SIFC article—in albums here and here.

Thanks also to Dubi Kaufmann—view his photos on Flickr.

The next post will include videos [and even more photos!] of the performance.

Here, I’ve created a new page for write-ups in the press, including such pieces as Paul Klein’s preview / review of the exhibition and my interview on Gapers Block.

I’ve also created a new page for the virtual gallery here. It’s still under construction, but for now, you can check out Spiritus Saltus (which I profiled in these three posts) and Opposition (shown here). I’ll be spotlighting the artworks in future posts as well.

I have been following Caitlin’s budding comedy career since Day 1 (all of six months ago… but hey, the short amount of time makes her progress all the more impressive), ever since she told me she decided to take a stand-up class taught by Cameron Esposito (whom Caitlin eventually opened for as her first “real” comedy gig). She’s already come a long way yet, in her words, you’ve only seen the “tip of the iceberg(h).” Comedy Cares presents: A Benefit for The Broadway Youth Center is tonight at 8pm.

-math? Aftermath.

2011-09-19T06:00:00.005-05:00

“I just peed acrylic paint.” –Performance artist Caitlin Bergh, to me.

Saturday night was pure magic. Infinite thanks to: all the artists, all who attended the show, Joe LaNasa for letting me have free reign over the Fulton Street Collective exhibition space, and you. If you took any photos at the closing reception for Exquisite Corpse, please email them to artists.on.the.lam {at} gmail {dot} com.

The highlight of the closing was Caitlin Bergh’s performance piece:

Towards the end of the reception, a guest approached me and made my night by raving about the performance, telling me how much it moved him—that he had a moment in which he realized he got it—and showing me, literally, pages he’d written as a response to the piece. (I told him to type up the written reaction and to email it to me, so if you, good sir, are reading this, please do!) That’s all I need, knowing that art had a profound and even transcendent effect on someone. Well, that, and I need to get rid of this paint still encrusted under and around my fingernails.

Here’s a link to Caitlin’s artist statement. I’ll post videos and more photos soon, so keep checking back.

And here’s the performance soundtrack listing:

I’m Not Done – Fever Ray

Beat and the Pulse – Austra

Earth Intruders (XXXChange Remix) – Björk

When I Grow Up (D. Lissvik Remix) – Fever Ray

Lose It – Austra

You can listen to the songs here. (I’m now addicted to Austra.) To recreate the experience as closely as possible, I’d suggest cranking up your speakers and blasting the music at full volume. And then rolling around on your floor. With possibly toxic materials. In a bikini.

Catch Caitlin this Wednesday at Cole’s weekly Comedy Open Mic, where she’ll most likely do a standup set about this performance. More importantly, she’ll also be doing a set this Friday at Comedy Cares presents: A Benefit for The Broadway Youth Center. Laugh for a great cause!

It was our first time collaborating on anything like this, and both of us have caught the body-painting-and-rolling-onto-a-canvas bug. We have so many new ideas reeling around in our minds (Caitlin being birthed out of a tree with me as the midwife? strip clubs where ladies peel their skin off?), and we can’t wait to share them with you. This is just the beginning.

Performance Paint plus Polymath post

2011-09-17T06:00:00.002-05:00

Artist Caitlin Bergh, while purchasing supplies for her performance piece: “Hi, which of these paints will be safest to apply to my whole body?”

Employee: “None of these are safe.”

Caitlin: “OK, I’ll take this one.”

#sacrificesforart

Exquisite Corpse closes tonight 7–10pm, and the performance piece of a lifetime will begin at 8:15pm. Don’t miss it! This is also your last chance to see the show, in its entirety, in person.

(The pieces seen in this blog’s new header are Cassie Hamrick’s I Am Afraid of Horses. I Am Afraid of Being Bitten. (Hip Hip Hippo) and Veronica Stein’s Abjection. Come and cuddle them / do other things to them. The image in the updated press release, also below, is Pug by Minneapolis kinetic sculptor Asia Ward and Chicago fashion designer KC Winter. It moves.)

And more press! I am loving Gapers Block for using the word “polymath” (possibly due to my affinity for the word “polyglot”). Thank you, Michael Workman, for interviewing me!

For this edition of Briefing Room, we check in with artist, artist agent, writer, and independent curator Jenny Lam. A recent transplant to Chicago from a stint at Columbia University in New York, Lam has embraced her engagement of the Chicago scene with wave-making zeal, landing in the press and in conversations for her work at the Zhou B Art Center, 4Art and, most recently, at the Fulton Street Collective. "Exquisite Corpse," the frenetic exhibit she organized for the Collective, drew notable crowds for its open embrace of artistic collaboration.

Read the rest here.

Luckily no heatstroke-induced corpses at an otherwise exquisite opening

2011-09-06T06:00:00.007-05:00

Exquisite Corpse opened Friday night, and it was a great success! I and everyone else I spoke with were amazed at the turnout (it was so crowded that it took me a flip through the signed guestbook afterwards to discover that in attendance were some guests I didn’t even know were there), and that’s not even taking into consideration the almost unbearable heat; outdoors, the mercury rose to 94ºF—really, Chicago? in September?—while indoors, the masses found themselves without air conditioning and with an abundance of track lights. Thank you, everyone, for sweating it out in the name of art!

If you or anyone you know took any photographs, please send them to artists.on.the.lam {at} gmail {dot} com. Proper attribution will be given, as always, if your images are used.

Throughout the night, the comments I received the most related to the show’s energy and the artwork’s diversity. Indeed, because I gave the artists no rules other than to collaborate with one another, emphasizing that there were no limitations in size or medium, the resulting creations spanned everything from delicate graphite illustrations to a kinetic sculpture named “Pug”—with bicycle inner tubes as skin and tufts of real human hair woven throughout its body—that jumps, rolls its eyes, and swings its neck, a toy from hell that requires direct interaction with its viewer. One of the many other pieces that asked for interaction was artist Adrienne Glover’s advice booth. Questions (and pleas) posed to her throughout the night included:

Should I pursue my coworker crush?

What should I do about an unrequited crush?

What should I do with my life? I want to travel.

How do I make an honest living with my idea?

I’m about to graduate. I need advice about getting a job.

I want to make muffins! Help.

Should I stay married?

Should I quit my job?

I want to relocate to a different country. How should I do that?

How do I become a musician?

Should I come out to my parents?

Where should I go out for drinks tonight?

Exquisite Corpse is far from over. The closing reception / party is on Saturday, September 17, 7–10pm. Most exhibition closings, compared to openings, are like Disney’s low-budget direct-to-video sequels in which only a couple of the washed-up D-list voice actors return, desperate for work, and the songs—oh God, the songs—induce more secondhand embarrassment than watching a certain demographic try to dougie. The closing for this show, however, will be to the opening what Return of the King was to Fellowship of the Ring. An example of what you can expect: artist [and budding local comedian] Caitlin Bergh will be doing a performance piece that involves body painting, rolling of the body onto a blank canvas, and destruction of said canvas.

Until then, gallery hours are by appointment, and you may contact me at, again, artists.on.the.lam {at} gmail {dot} com. Most of the artwork is for sale, and all are reasonably priced. I will also be creating a page on this blog with images of the works and their respective prices. Virtual viewing, of course, isn’t the same as seeing the works in person. After all, a few of the pieces do ask gallery goers to uncover, touch, hug, interact with, step inside, write in, take something from, and leave something in them. And your visit won’t nearly be as hot as the opening. Pinky swear.

Extra Extra

2011-09-02T08:00:00.003-05:00

Two posts within the same day? What is this…

A couple press mentions for Exquisite Corpse, which opens tonight:

Gapers Block.

Paul Klein’s Art Letter. (The write-up includes photos. Spoiler alert!)

One of the things that I genuinely like about Chicago is that it cares more about what you are doing than what you've done - just look at some of our aldermen. Not that I know anything about what Jenny Lam has done, I'm impressed by what she's doing - creating, finding, following her own path in the Chicago art scene. She's been on my radar since spring. A recent college graduate, she's just curated a charming show at Fulton Street Collective titled Exquisite Corpse. Expanding on the traditional notion where multiple artists work on a single piece without knowing what the other has done, she's solicited, culled, and matched 40 artists who don't know each other to collaborate on creating art. In most cases the pieces are fun, competent, multi-faceted and engaging.

I always enjoy being likened to corrupt Chicago politicians.

Thank you so much!

Showtime

2011-09-02T07:00:00.013-05:00

Exquisite Corpse opens tonight! These past few days, strange things were afoot…

But everything came together perfectly.

What’s remarkable about the second image above is that Patricia Biesen, who created the torso, and Lorraine Grandinetti, who did the head and hands, using the artwork of her late brother Frank Grandinetti (come to the show to see the rest of the piece, including Diane Ponder’s bottom section!), did not see each other’s sections until it was time to install. The palette is serendipity at its most—wait for it—exquisite. Beautiful how things really do fall into place.

Punching Crunch time in the face

2011-08-29T07:00:00.005-05:00

Exquisite Corpse opens this Friday! Local artists have been dropping off their pieces at the exhibition space, and pieces from across the country and overseas have been signed, sealed, delivered (and could be yours! support starving artists!). And. They. Look. Amazing. Really, you need to see the art in person. Get excited.

As a preview of what you can expect at the show, here’s a striking collaboration by Boston-based artist Gideon Ansell and Amsterdam-based artist Mark Pol:

Image courtesy of Gideon Ansell, 2011.

Installation begins tomorrow. Let’s do this.

Affixed words [for the] media // Mixed media bird [women]

2011-08-24T07:00:00.013-05:00

The press release for Exquisite Corpse has been… released. Read up.

Here’s one of two pieces by Amanda Mudrovich and Moca Garcia:

Image courtesy of Amanda Mudrovich, 2011.

Thus begins the countdown: less than 10 days until opening night.

“How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”

2011-08-22T09:00:00.009-05:00

“A fish.” (Thank you, Carrie McGath.)

More behind-the-scenes previews of Exquisite Corpse artwork (find past sneak peeks here, here, here, and not there but here):

A piece by Robin Rios and Derail Howery:

Image courtesy of Robin Rios, 2011.

Werewolves? Vampires? A post-apocalyptic showdown between Adam and Eve? This is not your mother’s hairdresser’s lover’s dog walker’s dealer’s nanny’s chessboard.

The final version of this piece by Brittany Majka, Carrie McGath, and Jennifer Moore:

Image courtesy of Jennifer Moore, 2011.

I never would’ve expected it to take such a direction, and I love that. See more photos—including other exquisite corpses—and read about the process at Jennifer’s very informative blog, where there are a few NSFW images (although still much classier than the Marilyn Monroe behemoth she, Brittany, and Carrie [rightfully] mock).

A work in progress by Jessica Drogosz, to be added to by Avisheh Mohsenin and Jes Standefer:

Image courtesy of Jessica Drogosz, 2011.

Philadelphia-based artist Becket Flannery (whom I interviewed for my first Sixty Inches From Center article) and New York-based artist Tucker Rae-Grant are organizing their collaborations around the idea of bait and trap, “both in the sense of how painting operates as a trap, how the surface is a kind of bait and the frame is a kind of trap, [and] also the ways in which paintings and art objects can be tactical.”

Diane Ponder, Lorraine Grandinetti working on behalf of the late Frank Grandinetti, and Patricia Biesen are keeping their individual images unknown to each other until the opening reception, where they will unveil their final piece. Similarly, Deirdre Fox, Jessie Winslow, and Zachary Trebellas “would like to maintain the mystery for now.” The images and videos I’ve seen so far from both groups, however, are making it very hard for me to not share them with you (Patricia even stated, “I’ve just created one of the most unique paintings of my entire career for this event”), but fortunately (or unfortunately), I [think I] have willpower.

And Cassie Hamrick and Veronica Stein are working on a series of pillows that will be displayed on couches and chairs they’ve found throughout the exhibition space. Guests will be able to touch and interact with these pieces. Art: it comes in furniture form too.

And that’s not even all the artists.

Basically, this is going to be one hell of a show.

Behind the Curtain + Lifting the Veil

2011-08-16T07:00:00.003-05:00

The tables have been turned—I’ve been interviewed by Sixty Inches From Center. Most peculiar. Read the interview here if you dare.

Irene Wellm, Kirsten Perry, and Adriane Strampp have released the following statement regarding their collaboration, Spiritus Saltus, which was revealed several days ago:

Our practice for this piece was to follow the traditional procedure of Exquisite Corpse, where each artist has no idea of what the other artist has done. Each of us found this to be a nervous experience, feeling trepidation and a sense of responsibility towards the other two artists. Yet it was paradoxically a freeing experience to not be completely responsible for the artwork’s outcome! No restrictions other than the registration marks were made, so as to allow for playfulness.

Ultimately the drawing process took over, and without predetermination, it became an enjoyable reprieve from our personal everyday practices.

The unveiling, done with ceremony, was nerve-wracking and exciting. How was this going to come together? Averting our gazes as the work was unwrapped and displayed, finally the moment was there. And what a delight and surprise it was. How strangely the three parts seemed to synch together with some strange kind of instinctual reason. Here was a hybrid creature that embodied a sense of Pan, like some mysterious and playful archetype from Nature.

When you break out of your comfort zone, you break free.

Exquisite Corpse Sneak Peek No. 4

2011-08-12T09:00:00.005-05:00

A quick update from the last post: Australian artists Adriane Strampp, Irene Wellm, and Kirsten Perry have unveiled their exquisite corpse!

Image courtesy of Adriane Strampp, 2011.

The moment of unmasking marked the first time all three artists—like the rest of us—saw the finished piece in its entirety. Here are detailed shots of each artist’s segment before the revelation, after the jump:

Image courtesy of Irene Wellm, 2011.

Image courtesy of Kirsten Perry, 2011.

Image courtesy of Adriane Strampp, 2011.

Exquisite indeed.

Fragments and Fawning

2011-08-11T08:59:00.009-05:00

Are all my posts from now on going to be divided between previewing Exquisite Corpse and praising Peru? Probably.

No, not really.

OK, one more.

Maybe.

The studio and home of Exquisite Corpse artist Adriane Strampp have just been featured in The Design Files. Take a look and get inspired.

Adriane and fellow Melbourne-based artists Irene Wellm and Kirsten Perry have been collaborating in the traditional exquisite corpse fashion, choosing to not reveal their piece until the very end.

Image courtesy of Adriane Strampp, 2011.

Speaking of tradition, in the last post, I mentioned how Peru embraces a mix of the old and the new. This synthesis, in keeping with the multilingual, multiethnic identity, can be seen and experienced throughout the country, from solar panels on the Uros Islands—man-made islands, made completely of reeds, floating on Lake Titicaca as they have for hundreds of years—to flatscreen monitors at the Museo de Arte de Lima that flip through artists’ sketchbooks; museumgoers can thus view each page without having to handle the original, physical items, which are displayed in adjacent glass cases. And—what were the odds—I stumbled upon an exquisite corpse reference at the museum’s Szyszlo retrospective. Photos after the jump.

Or, perhaps, my mind is now wired with exquisite corpse radar.

Viva

2011-08-10T08:57:00.014-05:00

First, another Exquisite Corpse sneak peek. Here’s a wonderful work in progress by Brittany Majka and Carrie McGath, to be added to by Jennifer Moore (check out another WIP by this artist group in the previous post):

Image courtesy of Carrie McGath, 2011.

On to Peru. It was and is, quite simply, beautiful.

Heaving microbuses blasting reggaeton and bearing Hanzi on windows foggy from the passengers packed inside hurtle through congested streets checkered with chifas on every block. Incense burns and yellow confetti powders shaded arcades in celebration of Pago a la tierra—the Andean New Year—paying tribute to the goddess Pachamama, while Catholic cathedrals loom over colonial plazas. Quechua and Aymara women wearing English bowler hats paired with long braids and layered petticoats share sidewalks with youth in leather bomber jackets and heavy boots. It’s a place of multiculturalism, of tradition and technology, of old and new, of East and West and… Far West.

A barrage of photos after the jump.

More to come.

Sneak Peek: Exquisite Corpse

2011-08-09T08:59:00.007-05:00

I am back from Peru—stay tuned for a photo post. In the meantime, here’s a quick Exquisite Corpse sneak peek.

A work in progress by Carrie McGath and Jennifer Moore (check out Jennifer’s blog post about it here), to be added to by Brittany Majka:

Image courtesy of Jennifer Moore, 2011.

A work in progress by Nicole Syrquin and Peggy Shearn:

Image courtesy of Peggy Shearn, 2011.

There are over 40 artists participating in this show. Keep checking back for more.

Life Work, Work Life

2011-07-24T08:00:00.009-05:00

Surprise! A weekend post! The reason being: I will be in Peru from July 25 through August 5. I won’t be blogging in that time, as I’ll be too busy digging through my brain’s foreign language files and dusting off the Spanish folder, as well as fraternizing with llamas, to do so. Until my return, here’s some food for thought from the Frieze archives:

Life, to start with, is not just about your professional life. There is so much more to it than just work. The trouble is that, when you get into art, that ‘so much more’ is precisely what you want your work to be about. Life is what you want to immerse yourself in through your work. The freedom of the artist and intellectual, Theodor Adorno wrote, lies in the possibility of not having to separate work from pleasure as all those caught up in the system of division of labour do. This is our chance for a good life. But this is also why things tend to get messy. [...]
[...] To be part of an art scene was probably always as emotionally confusing as it is today. With who [sic], and in what guise, do you want to get involved and recognized? As a professional or as a person? How do you mark the difference? How do you draw the line between colleagues and friends? Why even categorize? You may wish to be open to whatever someone who enters your life might become for you. Still, recognizing a real friend seems crucial when everyone around you is professionally friendly. And love is a mess anyway when you happen to be in the same field, in the arts, with all of us being – how shall I put it? – a bit special (beautiful and difficult, grandiose and needy, generous and selfish, seeking and giving intense pleasure). So, rather than draw lines, we may want to invent a new language to commune with the strange phenomena that the people who get under our skin inevitably are and will continue to be.

It’s a poignant piece that hits close to home. A career in art does not constitute a 9 to 5—rather, a 9 to forever. The workday never ends, and every day is a workday. And yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Discussion: Skill vs. concept // “But this is revolutionary!” “It looks like a 4-year-old made it and then sneezed on it.”

2011-07-21T09:00:00.005-05:00

First, an Exquisite Corpse update: The artist application window is now officially closed. Thank you to all who applied! The portfolios I’ve looked through so far are fantastic. I’m impressed not only by the quality of the art, but also by the variety of media (my inbox is filled with everything from animatronic sculpture to performance to guerilla art), themes (race, gender, sexuality, and class! death, decay, and the grotesque! beauty! freedom! promise I’m not just throwing out buzzwords!), and applicants (artists range from emerging and still in school to established and with work that can be found in collections around the world, from the local to as far from Chicago as you can get—hello, Australian creatives!). Hmm, I believe I just drafted part of the exhibition’s press release with those juxtapositions. Artists, I will be contacting you within the next couple of days.

I also enjoyed being addressed as a “respected sir” in one of the cover letters.

Second, here’s my latest Sixty Inches From Center article, in which I interviewed the gallery director of Western Exhibitions, as well as a few artists, for insight into People Don’t Like to Read Art, a group show. (For the record, I love reading art. And reading. And art. Look at that!)

And now: We’ve examined conceptual art and its [monetary] value, as well as what we value in art and what draws us to particular works of art. (Those discussions are still active, by the way! Check out their comment sections to hobnob with your fellow collectors, artists, art professionals, and art lovers.) Let’s expand the conversation back to a more comprehensive level: concept vs. skill. Art Radar profiled a panel discussion on a very specific issue—the decline of contemporary ink painting—but one panelist’s observations resonate with the subject at hand:

All media, such as oil, are struggling with issues similar to those ink is facing. Today’s artists prefer to use multiple media rather than master a single medium. There is less need to grapple with challenging media because they are primarily interested in conceptual art; the medium of a work and its subject are mere tools for expressing an artist’s ideas.

I have my own opinions on the subject. As an artist myself, I try to strike a balance between technical skill (I can draw) and conceptual vision (for my thesis project at Columbia, I created hundreds of self-addressed and pre-stamped postcards, all blank save for the prompt, “Tell me one thing you dream of doing before you die—use this card as your canvas,” marked each with a code, and placed the cards in public spaces throughout Manhattan, using the codes to record where I left them; when the postcards returned to me, I was able to pinpoint the exact location of where each had been found, and thus created a map of the city from New Yorkers’ dreams—no technical skill needed), in addition to making needlessly verbose parenthetical statements. But I won’t trouble you with mine [yet].

What are your thoughts? The most common reaction to much contemporary art, I’ve found, is “I can do that.” I’ve also found that the proper response to such a grievance is “But you didn’t.” Many people may indeed be technically capable of executing what can be seen in galleries and museums, but they weren’t the ones who conceived the ideas behind those pieces in the first place, and that’s what counts. Or is it?

Can we excuse mediocre (or downright poor) craftsmanship if the artwork communicates a groundbreaking idea (perhaps the piece possesses great sociopolitical significance) or, more simply, a clever idea? If an idea is good enough, exactly how “good” must that idea be? Is it necessary for contemporary artists to master a medium? Which do you hold in higher esteem: technique or concept? Or do you regard both equally?

Excluded from this discussion, however, is James Franco trolling the art world. (And whatever you do, don’t read his prose. Ketchup randomness.)

Discussion: Should I shell out a hundred grand in cash to watch a museum guard slowly strip naked?

2011-07-06T07:16:00.007-05:00

Today, this blog is one month old! Since its inception four short weeks ago, it has received over 6,800 pageviews from 76 countries across six continents (someone please donate laptops to the penguins in Antarctica), each post with more hits than the last. I see sixes and an eight. This is good. Thank you, lovely people, especially all the returning visitors and those who, astoundingly, spend more than half an hour on this site (hopefully that means you’re actually reading the posts and pages instead of stepping away from the computer to take an extended coffee break while forgetting to close this tab). Again, thank you. Make sure you share the love and point your friends in this direction!

In the last post, we discussed the many reasons for collecting art. In the same vein but less broad, let’s consider collecting art that is more ephemeral and/or conceptual. Newsweek (they of the hilariously misguided top 10 artists list) recently published a piece profiling collectors who purchase conceptual art, asking their readers if these buyers are “crazy or on the cutting edge.” An excerpt:

When you buy a [Lawrence] Weiner you don’t acquire the lettering itself, let alone the 3-D work it implies. You buy Weiner’s immaterial idea, as a certificate that lets you write his phrase in a room, or come up with the sculpture you think it describes. “When you take ownership, you can realize it any way you want,” says Victor Gisler, the Zurich dealer showing Weiner’s balls-y piece, priced at $160,000. In late June, the Museum of Modern Art in New York put a vintage piece of his on display as part of a major acquisition of so-called immaterial art. MoMA curators are eagerly backfilling a collection that has tended toward the material.

“I think good art is when I can hear the ideas bouncing off each other in my brain. This is where aesthetics are for me—not in my retina,” says Aaron, a 76-year-old lawyer who makes his living suing Big Pharma. “Ninety percent of the money [at Art Basel] is spent on painting,” he adds with a hint of contempt. Whereas the Levines want work that makes you wonder if it’s even art—and therefore might be the art that’s breaking new ground.

From the collectors who own the Tino Sehgal piece referenced in this post’s title:

“What’s interesting is people talking about the work,” says Josée. “You may think more about a Weiner [text piece], over time, than about some canvas you’ve bought… An idea may not be material, but it’s powerful.” She refers to her memory as the “medium” such works are realized in—and then you realize that that’s where most art lives, anyway, most of the time.
Her husband chimes in: “When the work is immaterial, we’re just its temporary holders. Accumulating fancy goods is absurd. We buy works to talk about them, and to stretch people’s notions of what art is… But some people want the opposite: a reassuring object with a big name.”

What do you think? Are these collectors ahead of the game, or are they being duped? Would you buy art you can’t simply hang on a wall?

Discussion: Why do you collect art?

2011-06-29T07:00:00.007-05:00

I’ve returned from a trip to New York, where I attended a Pixar Artists Masterclass; hit up as many art events as possible, such as Bronx Calling: The First AIM Biennial (my good friend and fellow Columbia alumnus with whom I was staying curates at Wave Hill), which showcases experimental work by 72 emerging artists and runs through September 5; and got into oddly heavy late-night discussions that included questions like “Would you resort to murder if not doing so meant you could no longer create art?” with the aforementioned friend. I also may or may not have gone tagging with said friend. (You have no proof!) (I type this with unpredictably permanent paint still encrusting my fingernails.) It’s always good to be back in NYC.

ARTnews recently published their Top 200 and Top Ten Collectors lists. Accompanying the latter was an article that detailed the art market’s recovery over the past couple of years, a shift in collectors’ interest from Impressionist and Modern to contemporary, and reasons for collecting art:

The late art historian Kenneth Clark probably said it best: "It's like asking why we fall in love, the reasons are so various."
Some of the reasons: social climbing; the work will increase in value; and, as a dealer said, it "provides you with feelings or sensations that you cannot get from anything else—visceral rewards, emotional satisfaction, the fact that you can look at the work in your home every day and continue to get renewed pleasure. It doesn't wear off."

Why do you collect? Whose work would you most want to collect, barring any and all financial and political limitations?

CALL FOR ARTISTS: Exquisite Corpse

2011-06-22T08:00:00.003-05:00

“Exquisite corpse” is a method by which a collage of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in a sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see the end of what the previous person contributed.

corpse (n.) – 1. archaic: a human or animal body, whether living or dead; 2. a dead body, especially of a human being

exquisite (adj.) – 1. carefully selected; 2. archaic: accurate; 3. marked by flawless craftsmanship or by beautiful, ingenious, delicate, or elaborate execution; 4. accomplished, perfected; 5. pleasing through beauty, fitness, or perfection

The body is paradox incarnate; it is one’s most personal possession, yet it is also the most universal. Art, too, embodies a dichotomy: the creation of art is customarily a private endeavor, yet art thrives in a public forum; no matter how hermetic or misanthropic its creator, art feeds off of its viewer—art enjoys adoration, delights in disgust, revels in revulsion. The interplay between private and public, between self and other, sits on a tenuous scale. What happens, then, when we subvert the private completely? When artists collaborate—when the body is bared—we breach the solipsistic citadel into which so many artists retreat; we reject that insular conviction in which one’s own reality is the only truth. Indeed, this world is filled not by one, but many. Sabotage the solitary artist’s secluded cell. Desecrate the supposedly sacred sanctuary designated as the body. This destruction results in the death of a self—the corpse—but there lies a certain beauty in uniting seemingly disparate parts to build a whole, making that death, truthfully, exquisite.

Exquisite Corpse is a curated show that asks artists to kill comfort and convention for a chance to step into the new. Those selected for the exhibition will be arranged into small groups, with no more than three artists per group. Each group will collaborate on one work of art.* This means that new work will be created specifically for this show; artists are not submitting pre-existing works. Collaborations can be anything and everything from sculptural to sonic to performative to cinematic—there are no restrictions on medium or dimensions. Each group will decide whether to have its artists work separately and pass on the piece from one artist to another, have all artists meet and work together at once, have the artists engage in a back-and-forth exchange, or any other means through which a collaborative piece can be created.

*If the artists choose, they may collaborate on multiple works of smaller size.

Visit this page for application instructions and guidelines.

Artist application deadline: Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Exhibition opening: Friday, September 2, 2011 at the Fulton Street Collective, Chicago

It's Coming: Exquisite Corpse

2011-06-16T09:06:00.009-05:00

First, an announcement: This blog has garnered over 2,200 pageviews from over 40 countries within its first week live. That is incredible. Thank you all, especially overseas readers! Keep spreading the word and keep visiting. There will be many new developments coming soon, including artist profiles and galleries, so check back often.

And a teaser: I will be curating a group exhibition titled Exquisite Corpse, opening at summer’s end.

Check back for the official statement and call for artist submissions.

For now, to give you a sense of my curatorial oeuvre thus far, here’s a look into a few of the shows I’ve spearheaded in the past, prior and unrelated to this business:

Somnambulist national group show at the Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, 2010:

Image courtesy of Robin Rios, 2010.

Collision underground music and multimedia festival in Bushwick, New York City, 2009:

Image courtesy of Julia Alekseyeva, 2009.

The Naked Show at Postcrypt Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York City, 2007:

Image and crudely Photoshopped emoticon (so as not to violate the terms of service on Facebook, where this was originally uploaded) courtesy of Jenny Lam, 2007.

Et cetera. In other words, look forward to Exquisite Corpse.

Discussion: Art as political weapon, artist as social instigator // This painting would look nice in my foyer

2011-06-13T08:10:00.001-05:00

TED posted a talk by Shirin Neshat in which she illustrates the challenges she faces—as well as the stimuli from which she draws empowerment and inspiration—as “an Iranian woman artist living in exile”:

What strikes me most from Neshat’s talk is her characterization of the Iranian artist as the voice of the people:

We are considered, as artists, central to the cultural, political, social discourse in Iran. We are there to inspire, to provoke, to mobilize, to bring hope to our people. We are the reporters of our people and are communicators to the outside world. Art is our weapon. Culture is a form of resistance. I envy sometimes the artists of the West for their freedom of expression, for the fact that they can distance themselves from the question of politics, from the fact that they are only serving one audience, mainly the Western culture. But also I worry about the West, because often, in this country, in this Western world, culture risks to be a form of entertainment.

Western art, as Neshat sees it, is able to function outside of a political context, but does that mean it should? Does the artist bear a certain social responsibility to challenge the status quo? Or is it enough for the artist to entertain? What, exactly, is the role of the artist?

Discussion: Shit just got real

2011-06-09T08:28:00.003-05:00

David LaChapelle recently made his Hong Kong debut, which coincided with ART HK 11. According to Art Radar Asia, here’s what the photographer had to say regarding the New York and Hong Kong art scenes:

Coming back from Asia, going to America, going to Europe, it feels almost sleepy when you get back. I don’t want to say ‘simple’, but there’s a certain enthusiasm [in Asia] that’s no longer in New York… I find that spirit more in Beijing and more in places like Hong Kong than you would in New York City, where it seems like a dullness of, ‘Oh, I’ve seen it all, done it all.’

OK, his words weren’t particularly incendiary. Although the title of the article, “Asian art scene buzzing while New York’s stagnates,” and the idea that the city that deems itself “the cultural capital of the world” is losing its energy, do stir up an interesting debate.

LaChapelle’s observations are consistent with my personal history and experience; my parents were born and raised in Hong Kong (Mom lived above a store, Dad in the now-demolished Shek Kip Mei housing projects), and when they immigrated to the States, they found the Western pace to be agonizingly slow. And that was decades ago; since their youth, their home city’s changed and grown exponentially, something I’ve seen each time I visit. This rapid growth is most evident in its cultural manifestation—we are witnessing a cultural shift. Chinese art is in increasingly high demand, while Chinese collectors are making more and more investments in art. Want to make it big in the art world? If you haven’t already, it’s time to turn your attention to the East.

And as for the West… New Yorkers, can you defend yourselves? Or are you nodding in agreement as you yawn your way down the streets of Chelsea? What about other art hubs like L.A., Berlin, and Venice, whose Bienniale just concluded? Regardless, we can view this as a call to the Western world to step its game up.

Discussion: So, did Banksy make this, or some art student who actually preferred cash over a résumé line referencing an unpaid internship?

2011-06-08T08:51:00.009-05:00

(Disclaimer about the source: WSJ totally sucks sometimes—I’m looking at you, sensationalist and racial stereotype-perpetuating¹ Tiger Mom article—but the article excerpted below is too topical to pass up.)

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about the rising trend of artists turning to assistants for help creating work:

It's a phenomenon that's rarely discussed in the art world: The new work on a gallery wall wasn't necessarily painted by the artist who signed it. Some well-known artists, such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, openly employ small armies of assistants to do their paintings and sculptures. Others hire help more quietly.
Art-market insiders say soaring prices and demand for contemporary art is spurring the use of apprentices by more artists. The art world is divided on the practice: While some collectors and dealers put a premium on paintings and sculptures executed by an artist's own hand, others say that assistants are a necessity in the contemporary market.
"An artist has a choice to make," says Mark Moore, owner of Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif. "They either hire assistants or they risk not being able to meet their obligations to their dealers. Then the art market, which is fickle and sensitive, gets the impression that the artist has disappeared from the art world."

(Along that vein, here’s an interesting Flavorpill feature about copy artists in China.)

The Renaissance masters did it. The Impressionists dropped it. And the art stars of the 20^th Century brought it back.

Collectors and art appreciators, does it matter to you whether the name attached to a piece had a direct hand in its production?

Artists, would you ever hire assistants to produce your work for you? As with Sol LeWitt’s conceptual installations, is the idea behind a piece—rather than its execution—what matters the most? Or does the act of employing others for fabrication undermine the notion of “the artist” as the independent, the dissident, the outsider? Or is that notion purely Romantic?

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¹Racial stereotype buster: My parents let me² be an artist.

²Not only let me, but also fully support and encourage: My dad was the one who mailed my stories and drawings to the Disney film director. And this was before IMDB and Wikipedia and before relying on Internet search engines became habit; he jotted down animators’ names by watching the end credits of my VHS tapes. Yep, we had to actually use a little effort in my day³, whippersnappers.

³Which was not even close to being that long ago, really. So I’m kidding. Or am I.

Reversible Eyes

2011-06-07T08:43:00.004-05:00

Unlike over a blank canvas, I can’t wash oil paint and turpentine over an empty blog to make the whiteness less intimidating. Bear with the semi-bareness for now. In the meantime, you can:

Find out who I am and what this blog is; and

Check out some of the articles I’ve written for Sixty Inches From Center, an arts archive that documents Chicago’s peripheral art scene, by either clicking on my author link or my tag. My latest piece, an interview with the Puterbaugh Sisters and review of their Art It Out show at Humboldt Park’s Reversible Eye Gallery, may look long, but I swear it’s a quick read and half of it’s comprised of [laughter] brackets. An excerpt of the review:

In anticipation of their Art It Out show, I sat down and chatted with Danielle and Tiffany Puterbaugh, sisters whose brand of comedy is “experimental ridiculousness.” Before I hit “record,” we talked about how someone broke into their Humboldt Park apartment and stole their 11-year-old computer and their weed; how I heard about El Circo Cheapo Cabaret, where I first saw the duo perform as pill-popping ‘50s housewives locked in a nuclear bunker; our mutual friends, who are all, as Danielle put it, radical females in the Chicago comedy scene; the Exquisite Corpse show I’m curating; drunken/stoned exquisite corpse rounds; and gummy worms combined with society. We also talked about art.
The show—a combination of art, comedy, and performance, with the requisite dance party thrown in—descended upon the world last Thursday night at Reversible Eye Gallery, an interdisciplinary arts space committed to experimental art and performance, outsider art, art from the surrounding Humboldt Park community, and folk art from around the world.
The Puterbaugh Sisters hosted and, in their opening, remarked of the painted-on-jeans- and questionable-facial-hair-sporting masses congregating in the ethnic neighborhood, “This is the part where the Puerto Ricans meet the hipsters. The ripsters.” They continued to rip on the audience through a song with On the Road mentions and lyrics that included “I just cut my bangs in my bathroom” and “My dad’s paying off my college debt.” They were equally self-deprecating: “Artists do art. Performance artists do… whatever they want. And comedians are broken and sad.”
First up were Chris Condren, who played/”played” the keyboard and did stand-up, and Think Tank, who relayed fashion parables and commandments as the Fashion Police. Aptly voted Chicago’s Best Stand-up Comic of 2010 by the Chicago Reader, Beth Stelling followed with impressions that included “the longest drink order ever by a drunk girl.” She and the sisters then launched into The Go Gals, a routine that can be seen at their weekly Entertaining Julia show.

Headlining was DAAN, whom Tiffany insisted I would love, an assumption probably based on my Aladdin Sane necklace and the fact that I’m perpetually cloaked in sequins and glitter (the latter may or may not true). Judging a book by its cover has never been so accurate. The group’s official bio reads, “Imagine a world where Focus on the Family, Westboro Baptist Church, and Fox News were correct in their accusations of an epic homosexual agenda hell-bent on world domination.” That is a world I want to live in. Rapping over abrasive electro beats, crawling around on the floor, and shoving bananas down their throats, the boys got the guests dancing—or, at least, off-rhythmically bopping along to 80s synths.
The night concluded with Danielle as the Industry, who interrupted DAAN in an attempt to compromise their art, and Tiffany as Katy Perry, who somehow managed to avoid setting alight her hair as “Firework” blared in the background. “That was the most amazingly gay thing I’ve ever seen,” said Caitlin Bergh, who has an unwavering affinity for spandex and frequents Berlin so often she’s memorized the playlist and can tell you what song/video comes after Cazwell’s “Ice Cream Truck.”

Read the rest, including the interview itself, here.

I also tweet.

Greetings, blogosphere

2011-06-06T08:42:00.003-05:00

Is there a Blagojevich blog? A Blogojevich, if you will? If not, someone needs to get on that.

Being here almost feels like updating my high school LiveJournal again. I haven’t changed much since those innocent teen years. Except I’ve forgotten how to conjugate modal verbs to the past subjunctive in German and I can probably no longer link any opponent’s assertion to nuclear war while speed reading at a policy debate competition and my air guitar and lip-syncing routine to the last two minutes and fifteen seconds of “Geek USA” is probably a bit rusty. Gottverdammt.

Well, at least I have an Ivy League education. Much of which was spent rummaging through a basement art gallery closet, trying to find room to store cases of Three-Buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s. Take that, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed teenaged self!