Artful NYC 2014 @artfulnyc2014 - Tumblr Blog

Artist Opportunities

I believe that an “emerging” artist in New York City that has just finished art school or equivalent definitely has a lot to do in order to meet their goal of being represented by a gallery or being shown in a museum. One of the first things they should do is get their work online since the Internet is such a pronounced means of communication, shopping, media, etc. They could use a website such as Artsicle or even create their own page on which they show and sell their artwork. By all means, they should network as much as they can - they should connect with teachers, gallery owners/workers, fellow artists, museum associates, whoever they can get in touch and have a positive relationship with. LinkedIn is a very helpful resource when it comes to networking. If the artist did not intern yet, they should probably try to do so at a gallery or a museum which would also help them get valuable connections and references. They might have years to go in order to meet their goal but patience is key.

An ideal opportunity I could create for myself would be mixing art with feminism and displaying it in public spaces with other fellow artists/feminists. I have always wanted to get my messages about anti slut-shaming or anti catcalling out in the public for others to see but I was never able to think of anything suitable and I never searched for people to do so with. Living in such a thriving and liberal community, I could easily find someone either in the school or online (meetup.com) and finally make this goal possible.

-Karolina Kopek

Orozco Murals

One piece in the New School art collection that particularly interests me is the Orozco Mural. I always see it whenever I am at Arnhold Hall and I had no idea what it symbolized until we actually took a look at it as a class. It has a certain mystery and obscurity to it, somewhat because it ambiguously relates to the topic of slavery. I am not sure whether we answered these questions in class but here is what I have: What inspired the artist to portray slavery in this way and not another? Why did the New School choose to place it in the main lobby? How many passerbyes actually realize what the mural is about?

-Karolina Kopek

Partial Truth-Bruce Nauman

Bruce Nauman is known for graphic and/or neon conceptual pieces, so I was surprised to see that this simple, Roman-style etching was one of his creations. The simplicity of the style, however, should not be mistaken for simple ideas. This etching, which I believe was printed from a sculpture he previously created, invites many questions about the nature of truth, permanence, and power. The questions I came up with engage the viewer in these ambiguous concepts that characterize Nauman’s career.

What is the meaning of the word PARTIAL in this piece? Incomplete or Biased? Or Both?

What is the significance of the Romanized style? What is the artist trying to convey?

Does taking into account the date it was created (1997) change or influence the meaning? Why or why not?

Activity: Assuming this was etched on the base of a sculpture, draw or describe the sculpture it is captioning.

Emily Heller

Collaboration Project for Artists

Though I would consider writers artists, they are often a separate community from the artist community, especially in New York where there are so many of both. I wanted to come up with a way for writers and artists to find each other to collaborate. It would be like a dating service for artists. Whether a writer has a story they want to turn into a graphic novel, an artist wants to find a writer to create a story for their illustrations, etc. I would create a website to connect these creative people. Ideally, a writer would be able to post a bio, examples of their work, and descriptions of what type of artists they’re looking for. Artists would have a similar page where they could post their artwork and what type of illustration they’re interested in. If a writer was interested in working with an artist, they’d be able to reach out to them through the website and vice versa.

A few of my friends in Richmond have created a similar type of database at VCU, but since it is a smaller community it is run on paper, rather than online. I think that an online service would be able to grow from a university-based service into a citywide community, even with the option of branching out nationwide or even worldwide. This type of site would be able to bridge the gap between these separate but often necessarily intersecting communities.

Emily Heller

Emerging Artist

The steps to building a career for "emerging" artist in New York City and has the goal of eventually being represented by a gallery and showing in a museum. A good start would be curriculum vita your artist resume which galleries or any job requires. A artist statment to be made as well. A statment that is meant to contextualize your art practice, A short paragraph that talks about your methods, reseach, materials and the meaning of your artwork. Writting an artist statement can be one of the most challenging an artist will have to prepare in their career, as it can be very hard to find the right words to describe your artwork. This gives the potential galleries and clients a better understanding of your work. Documenting your work! images and tout thought process of your work are what get people interested in what you are doing. This will aslo be relating to a good portfolio which is an essential career devlopment tool for any artist. Yoyr portfolio is a document that creates a bridge between you and the world. As my career choice as a fashion designer the opportunitiesthat I would like to create for myself and help build my career in New York City would involve my passison and intrests in fashion. To follow these steps to contuinue my research and devlop my own projects to have them be seen and to be hired in the fashion industry! _Andria Hughes_

Emerging Artists

Natalia Sousa

An emerging artist may have many years of experience painting, playing, singing, and writing, and is in the process of taking it public. An emerging artist is the one who's working hard to take their art work to the next level and make it public. In NYC, there are thousands of artists who have the same goal so it is a hard career to pursue, with a lot of competition ahead. The goals are always pretty much the same: get into good collections, get into museum shows, get reviewed, get work seen outside of studio. I think that emerging artists should not overprice their work. While it can happen that some emerging artists successfully achieve high prices at their debut shows, this tends to be an exception, and not very common. Sometimes to make millions you have to start at the bottom to get a real business going. An emerging artist should have a optimism and the understanding that they cannot do it alone to be successful. They should always be helped or mentored by someone who is more experienced and has gone through what they have and have the same goals they are trying to fulfill. Also, they should be doing all their hard work all for themselves. Because to be successful and driven one has to feel good about themselves because after all, they are involving themselves in an art market. A market with strong psychological factors that change and that can affect ones security and self esteem as an artist.

Comparing Art Publications

I read from few different art blogs/publications including Hyperallergic, and The Brooklyn Rail. I was mostly attracted to the art blog Hyperallergic. Everything on the front page of their website caught my attention and looked interesting to me. I read a few of the gallery reviews and found the articles fun and engaging. I definitely liked this publication the most and will make it a point to check it out in the future. In comparison to Hyperallergic, The Brooklyn Rail's website layout was more cluttered and less easy to navigate. Usually the only reason I would look at an art blog is to discover a cool new exhibit in a local art gallery or museum, but I wouldn't necessarily choose The Brooklyn Rail to find this information. On the other hand, though the articles on this website were more dense, I enjoyed the writing on the critics page. It was definitely not as light and concise as the articles on Hyperallergic, but it was good writing. Though I enjoyed both publications, I'll stick with reading Hyperallergic because it matched my taste and I found the "galleries" page perfect for discovering cool shows in NYC.

Gaming Exhibits

By Leo Kiker

Now to me, a lot of museum exhibits are dull and rather old-fashioned. But imagine my surprise when I step out of the elevator at the Museum of the Moving Image into a veritable arcade of indie games. A lot of the titles I already knew, and were already taken up by giddy museumgoers. This elicited a mixture of massive confusion and happiness on my part, since I've never quite seen anything so beautiful in my life. The idea of putting the amazing hard work of an indie developer in a museum alone was a stroke of genius, but tricking hapless museumgoers into playing and even liking the games just because they're in a museum? That could quite possibly be the best idea I've ever come across. And the best part about the experience was, this space actually felt like an old-fashioned arcade. Random strangers were playing games with each other, arcade machines were making 'pew pew' noises; after a while, I even forgot I was in a museum, that's just how magical it was.

Museums vs Galleries

By: Natalia Sousa

New York City is the home of hundreds of art galleries and museums. Both places are a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art. But these two places differ in the audience they have a lot. Museums, since they are more well known, generally attract many tourists than galleries do. Going to a museum in NYC is more a family event, to look at the art and get a sense of culture from it. Also, many schools usually do field trips to museums because it is an easy way to get students out of the classroom learning about a particular subject. In addition, elderly people seem to enjoy going to museums because they appreciate the history the art pieces have and the messages they portray. Artists, art enthusiasts, art collectors, critics, curators, and donors all go to museums to check out the art pieces and see what new things they have for show. People like these enjoy art, and occasionally make it so it is nice to go get inspiration from a piece hanging in a museum wall since it is successful. Museums are much more organized than galleries in the way that they have different infrastructures and departments to deal with their different types of audiences. They create more of a historical statement than galleries do. On the other hand, galleries serve more unique types of people. Art collectors are a big fan of galleries because this is where they buy most of their art from. In galleries you see more experienced artists and enthusiasts rather than the average NYC tourist because they are less interactive. Galleries are more business oriented. They are a facilitator for artists and people building their art career. I think that if someone is interested in learning about art or beginning to collect art they should start by going to galleries and less known art shows because these are the people who would probably be more likely to help you.

Audiences

By Karolina Kopek

Museums and galleries in New York City serve a huge spectrum of audiences. Since they strive to educate, sell and entertain, there is a spot for basically anyone. Some of the subgroups inclined to visit museums and galleries include families, tourists, students, teachers, art collectors, critics, curators, businessmen, real estate people, art enthusiasts, artists, senior citizens, seekers of inspiration, art historians/scholars, activists, couples, etc. The audience for museums might be significantly wider than that for galleries, but both attract a good amount of people. Museums often serve for educational purposes therefore students of all ages often come in groups and individually, often along with teachers. Since they are child-friendly, many people come in entire families – they can either be locals or tourists who seek attractions. Since museums often have bigger spaces and collections, people who come to strictly admire art probably prefer museums. Galleries have a more intimidating environment. They are places to buy and sell art therefore it is sometimes assumed that they are the places of the wealthy, although many people visit them not to buy. Many students visit galleries to admire the art or complete assignments. People that are interested in buying art include businessmen, art collectors, curators, etc.

If someone is interested in learning about art or collecting, I suggest they do thorough research online first. If they want to strictly learn, they can visit many museums since they strive to educate the visitors. When I was browsing Hyperallergic’s website, I came upon a few educational articles such as upcoming art fairs, what to visit, etc. Such websites might be very helpful and serve as a kick start to one’s art knowledge.

Jim Kempner Fine Art

By Karolina Kopek

While being on a Chelsea gallery spree last weekend, I accidentally discovered a place I immediately fell in love with - Jim Kempner Fine Art. The galleries I visited prior to finding this one were simply boring to me - I was able to appreciate them but nothing particularly moved me. Jim Kempner though had exactly "my" kind of art - extraordinary, a bit grotesque, sexual, and vivid. When you first enter the contemporary square building, you find yourself in a still-outdoor space along with a few edgy Boaz Vaadia sculptures. Their texture, size, and the pebbles on the ground made me feel as if I was in a far from normal Zen garden. Once I got inside I was struck by a big, marvelous piece by Christopher Beane. It was a photograph of an orchid in a chaotic, abstract environment. The colors, the closeness, the intimacy, and the perceived relation to body parts drove me crazy and it was difficult to stop looking at it. The passion I felt towards that piece is honestly impossible to describe. I found another, smaller photograph by him upstairs. It was an extreme close up of a blue/purple iris. This one was less chaotic since the colors were similar but just as hypnotizing. The petals of the iris seemed to flow, they look like ballet dancers, as fragile and harmonic as it gets. I usually do not feel this way about any photographs but I would honestly kill to have this piece at home.

The gallery also had several copies of the same horse flower vase by Jeff Koons, an artist I really like. It was exciting to see something by him in person but the fact that it was just one small thing was not.

Another amazing artist I discovered at Jim Kempner is Carole A. Fuerman, someone I've never heard of before. One of her sculptures was a life sized Olympic swimmer, only from her hips up. The sculpture was the most realistic piece of art I have ever seen, possibly even better than wax sculptures. The swimmer had relevant water drops all over her skin which I believe were glue or cement - they looked as real as it gets. Her eyelashes, her skin, her eyes were amazingly made, I was so impressed. That lady has incredible talent. She was also born in a town right next to me.

Here is the link to the gallery website.

Hyperallergic vs. Brooklyn Rail

By Karolina Kopek

Upon reading a Hyperallergic article about Michelle Segre's sculptures, I found the author's voice to be successively evolving from objective and impersonal to first person. The author primarily very thoroughly described one of Segre's signature pieces in a completely objective, simple tone in order to properly convey the image and the structure to the audience. She then abruptly jumps into presenting her own opinion and her exact thoughts on the piece. At that moment, wide imagery, allusions, and metaphors began coming in-the author also extensively referenced who and what exactly the work reminded them of. Even though the writer is probably an art critic, I am still impressed by their exceptional knowledge of art history and various artists. A distinctive characteristic of the author's writing is the confidence with which they state how the artist is feeling and what inspired them. It makes me wonder, did the artist actually confirm that? Or is that just what the critic perceives it to be, which is not necessarily true? That actually worried me a little as an artist - if I ever make it big enough to have legitimate critics talk about my art, I wouldn't want them to confidently state things about me which they are unsure about, I want to be the one who they gain the knowledge from.

I then proceeded to look at the Brooklyn Rail. To my surprise, I had a hard time finding a simple critique article like the one I just read. The descriptive part of the article was significantly different from the Hyperallergic one. Not only did it consist of vivid details, metaphors and crazy imagery which helped the reader visualize the piece much better - but it also sounded a lot more scholarly and complex. The author then moved on to a different piece, comparing the two in the same vivid language. It seems as if this author does not try to identify with the piece as much - that is, she does not get very personal in the article and does not say how she specifically feels about it, rather focusing on the outside world. The whole article was a bit harder for me to understand than the first one but the language was straight up beautiful, much more appropriate for an art website rather than simplistic language. I concluded I definitely like the Brooklyn Rail's voice better.

Jean Paul Gaultier at the Brooklyn Museum

By Karolina Kopek

As part of last week's assignment, I visited the Brooklyn Museum of Art. I chose to visit this particular museum because I found out that it was holding a Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition. I never knew much about him except for his style so I found the exhibition extremely beneficial. He might just be another one of my favorite designers at this point! The exhibition showed off lots of his couture runway fashion, mainly his structured corsets, many of them previously worn by Madonna. I really loved his work because of how grotesque it was – elements of anatomy, hyper sexuality, talking mannequins, etc. A major theme developing throughout his work was the bending and mixing of genders in haute couture. I am very interested in everything concerning gender and I never knew Gaultier was as well – therefore this pushed me a lot closer to his style and designs. I also discovered a lot of new resources to use both for education and entertainment such as Gaultier-inspired movies and amazingly structured designs. Gaultier's exhibited designs are far from typical runway fashion and differ in terms of style, material, practicality, and most of all, inspiration. He has been inspired by non-traditional beauty and body shapes which other designers choose not to use. Even though the exhibition was only a fraction of the huge Brooklyn museum, it took me 2 hours to go through it and I wasn't even done! Overall, I really loved it – it was amazing and very inspiring.

Museums & Galleries - Daniel Cervenka

For Our Lunch Menu, We Have Sculpture, Painting and Photography.

Similar to Art publications, blogs, and websites varying in their content and target groups, so do the museums and galleries in NYC. New York is a one of a kind city, with the biggest diversity of nationalities in the world. This does not only mean that there are a lot of cool people to talk to, it also means that there are people with widely different needs and interests. It is the responsibility of the mediators to cater to the correct groups through carefully chosen and well curated work.

These institutions serve a purpose, which is almost as important as the art itself. They make it available, accessible, tangible, for all the consumers that are interested. The art itself would be of no use if there was nowhere to see it. Yes, you might say that there is the Internet. The all knowing medium that has all the information and all the answers but there will never be a substitute for the realness of being there and seeing it with your own eyes. What the internet should be, is a platform allowing you to gain knowledge of where to go and experience reality, rather than substituting it. Internet provides you with the basic information of how and how to begin searching for information and content, what you have to do, is go out and experience it in person.

People are lucky, there is lot to choose from in NYC. Museums, galleries, art spaces, lofts, street art (‘street galleries’), feature art ranging from the high end ‘million dollar’ work to young emerging artists that are trying to gain audience and usurp a little piece of the arts market.

It would be bold to say that galleries and museums serve just to people. They serve much more. These institutions don’t only serve to people, they serve to creativity, to innovation, to cultural diversity. They serve to the ever expanding, knowledge-hungry minds of the 21st century.

Whitney Biennial, Arts Fairs, Brucennial, and Whitney Houston

It's armory show/art fair week! This is a great week to soak up more contemporary art than you could possibly see, as well as check out the latest Whitney Biennial (the survey show of American art everyone loves to hate!) and the Brucennial, featuring all women artists, as well as other events like the Whitney Houston Biennial, also focusing on women artists.

Hyperallergic wrote a concise guide giving you all you need to know, including a map!

#whitney houston #whitney biennial #brucennial #art fair

Contemporary Art Funnies

Sometimes contemporary art just invites mockery. But in mockery we can also see and start to understand some of the concepts that drive the art and artists, or perhaps, see this mockery as the art work itself.

Here's some of my favorites lately:

This isn't Happiness (We go to the gallery): highlights from a brilliant book

And Hennessy Youngman (artist Jayson Musson)... from 2011, but still so good.

#contemporary #art #criticism #humor

The Museum of the Moving Image: Not What You'd Expect

The Museum of the Moving Image is, despite the name, not at all what you'd expect out of a museum at all. Upon first entering the twin set of glass doors, adorned with bright pink lettering, you're not welcomed with any amount of classy music or hushed awe. Instead, you'll be greeted by a large gifset of soccer player El Hadji Diouf, who had the misfortune to be badly tripped up in his first ever professional game. Each GIF. was photoshopped to make it look like something outrageously funny had made him trip, instead of another player falling over Diouf's legs. This entry exhibit set the tone for the entire museum, with the only "traditional" showpieces being extremely old movie equipment. The rest of exhibits ranged from creating your own flipbook, watching a movie, or playing indie games.

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