Thinking About Art

Happy Holidays!

For the next week I'll be in Arkansas and Kentucky. I'd like to wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday. Posting will be light to not at all while I'm gone.

See ya in 2006!

Artists Interview Artists: Michael Janis

Michael Janis, a Washington, D.C. based artist, participates in the Artists Interview Artists Project. Below Michael responds to another artist's five questions (Scott Listfield from Somerville, MA). In order to participate, Michael had to provide me with five questions for some other artist to answer. The assigning of questions to artists is completely random. If you're an artist and interested in participating, let me know.

1. Use a character or theme from Star Wars as a metaphor to describe your work.

Star Wars… hmmm… other than a fixation on the trivial? Since I did not see most of the later Star Wars series, the basis of my answer is all from the original movie. The theme that I would relate most to is the cautionary theme that over-reliance on technology is a weakness, and that one must trust their own intuition. That the space ship can't always make the timely leap to hyperspace, that droids can fail, and that computer targeting is unsuccessful combating the Dark Star becomes essential to understanding my art.

2. You're in a large supermarket shopping for peas. You pause for a moment and take a long look down the canned food aisle. A feeling wells up inside of you. What is this feeling and how does it relate to what you make in your studio?

I don’t particularly like tinned vegetables, and though I like the convenience of supermarkets, I find that the over-abundance of similar products vying for attention is rather numbing. I try to keep a clarity of thought and focus on the content of my artwork, rather than trying to have artwork that screams NEW! NEWER!

3. Which is more inspiring to you: something you've seen lately in a local gallery or the movie The Goonies? Or, if not The Goonies, a movie of similar quality and inherent nostalgic influence.

I find going to the local galleries much more inspiring. By far. I like the immediacy of the artwork – it has the potential to be more raw, more tangible, more provocative and thoughtful. I find most Hollywood movies to have creativity processed out as they focus on target audience expectations. And most of the fabricated movie nostalgia rings false and forced.

4. In what way does the music you listen to directly inspire your work? (bonus points for citing Hall & Oates or REO Speedwagon).

Finally, a question that has some depth. I gladly forgo any bonus points that blue eyed soul or that REO speedbuggy, (or Boston, or Styx) could generate. The glass studio usually has many artists working at the same time, and the music played is all over the spectrum. The polyglot of music can be rather heady - one minute Indian Hip-hop, the next ‘60’s movie soundtracks, and then remixes of Marianne Faithful… it was bit of a cultural overload for me when I first came to the studio, but now I love the mess of music.

5. Suppose McDonald's approached you and wanted your work for their next big advertising campaign. Would you be thrilled or apalled? Rationalize the benefits (fame, money, international recognition of your work) vs. the negatives (selling out to the man). Really, we're all selling our work to somebody, so is there such a thing as "selling out to the man?"

Thrilled. Sell out to the man? I aspire to be the man! Really – McDonald’s… that is such an unlikely prospect… (But in case the art consultant to McDonald’s is reading this, I am often in the Oakbrook area and would happily stop by to discuss options.)

Now, if you had asked about being outrageously successful doing decorative-but-vacant pieces or struggling to survive and making content driven work that I felt a connection to each piece – then there would be something to talk about.

Previous Interviews:
Juno Doran (questions by James W. Bailey)
Josh Feldman (questions by Joseph Barbaccia)
Lisa Stephenson (questions by Whitney Lynn)
Joseph Barbaccia (questions by Josh Feldman)
James W. Bailey (questions by Matt Hollis)
Matt Hollis (questions by Juno Doran)
Carol Es (questions by James Leonard)
Alexandra Silverthorne (questions by Ami Lahoff)
Christine Buckton Tillman (questions by Carol Es)
Douglas Witmer (questions by Alexandra Silverthorne)
Sky Pape (questions by Douglas Witmer)
Whitney Lynn (questions by Lisa Stephenson)
Heather Levy (questions by Joanne Greenbaum)
Heather Lowe (questions by Samantha Wolov)
Samantha Wolov (questions by Heather Levy)
Timothy McClellan (questions by Heather Lowe)
James Leonard (questions by Sky Pape)
Joanne Greenbaum (questions by Timothy McClellan)
Richard Kooyman (questions by Robert Walton)
Candy Keegan (questions by Warren Craghead)
Robert Walton (questions by Candy Keegan)
John M. Adams (questions by Richard Kooyman)
Prescott Moore Lassman (questions by Mary Addison Hackett)
Mary Addison Hackett (questions by Prescott Moore Lassman)
Andrew Wodzianski (questions by Nathan Manuel & D.Billy)
Nathan Manuel & D.Billy (questions by Andrew Wodzianski)

Bravo WPA\C and Ellipse

Lenny published a call for entries (pdf) for a show put on by the WPA\C and Ellipse Arts Center. I can't tell you how pleased I am that these two venues have hooked up. The Ellipse has a beautiful space that is being under utilized. The WPA\C needs more venues to increase their presence and exposure. According to Lenny's post this is the "first collaboration" suggesting that more collaborations are coming.

I'm not sure if this is Kim Ward's doing, but the WPA\C seems to be everywhere lately. Bravo to both parties for making this happen!!

Who will be the critic?

Edward Winkleman started a great discourse about critics critiquing critics and who the critic is today. The subject has been picked up in numerous places so it's hardly news that I'm discussing it here. My interest though, lies in who really is providing the criticism today. I can't remember the last time I read a review in an art magazine that stated even one opinion, much less a negative opinion (I'm thinking especially about the back of the magazine reviews). The majority of reports about NYC galleries and art fairs suggest that art is selling at an amazing clip. There are even reports about "spray and pray" techniques implemented by collectors. What happens is that a collector enters a gallery's booth and buys everything hoping that one of the artists make it big. Edward suggests that because there are so few printed reviews (example given was NY Times) that it's almost cruel for it to be negative in nature. This brings up so many questions:

1) In DC it seems we don't have as much sales but we have plenty of negatively oriented reviews. When Blake discusses local shows, it's often negative (such as his blasting of five shows recently at the Katzen). Jessica Dawson almost always includes one dig in each of her reviews. From what I've seen, artwork here isn't flying off the walls at the rate "reported" in NYC and Miami. It seems DC is pretty backwards!

2) If so many reviews are positive in nature and only present descriptions of shows, how valuable is it really for the artist? Does it mean anything that you were selected to be reviewed? Do these reviews result in sales? Or does it ultimately just add a line item to an artist's resume?

3) If collectors are buying so much art at such high prices, can we really trust that as an indicator that the art is good? Taken to an extreme, is art in NYC really better than art here because it sells more frequently and for higher prices?

4) Aren't negative reviews (critiques) valuable to artists? Shouldn't bad artists know they're bad? If an artist doesn't know they make bad work, how will it ever get better? Who is going to push them? Personally, I think negative reviews are extremely important. I think they are challenging and constructive.

5) But who is the critic now? Who is making the judgment calls about art? I personally don't trust the art writer, the collector or the gallerist to make those calls today. There's too much influence from money. Sometimes I am downright amazed at what artists have representation of some sort. Maybe that leaves the curator. By not being selected for a particular exhibition, perhaps that's enough of an indicator that you work isn't up to par.

For example, I was recently rejected from the WPA\C's Sculpture Unbound (pdf) show. Approximately 1/3rd of the submitting artists got accepted (I don't recognize many of the selected artists at all so it will be great to see so much new art). I felt my work would fit perfectly with the theme. But the juror, Glenn Harper, editor of Sculpture Magazine, did not select my work. Admittedly, I was quite upset from what I felt was a grave injustice. Upon further thought I came to the realization that this might be a learning opportunity. I plan on seeing the show and studying the selected art. Mr. Harper has seen an enormous amount of sculpture so it will be intriguing to get a sense of what he thinks is important art. It will be insightful to compare my work to that selected. What makes my work fall short of his vision?

As usual I've posed to you many questions. The biggest question I want answers to is this: do you want more negative reviews, the same number of negative reviews, or fewer negative reviews? Why?

Book's Progress

As you may recall, several months ago I embarked on a project to self-publish a book documenting the successful One Word Project. I found a print-on-demand company to do the printing, I found a wonderful designer for the book and, well, I found many artists eager to help and some as flaky as can be. Such can be expected, I guess.

The book project has taken much longer than I could have ever imagined. However, I am optimistic that it is going to turn out great and become a must-have for art book lovers. Maybe that's wishful thinking... but in re-reading all of the artist writings, the book is pretty impressive. Not Post Secret impressive, but still!

I'd like to provide an update of where I am with the book. Of the 40 artists who participated in the project, 37 have agreed to be in the book. Though I'm disappointed that three artists chose not to participate, I'm excited about providing additional exposure to the 37 willing artists. I have edited the writing and collected all the high res images for the book. That process took several months to complete.

Perhaps the greatest coup of all is that I was able to persuade Walter Robinson, editor of Artnet Magazine, to write the foreword for the book. I would have been happy with an ok 250 words, but instead, Walter surprised me by drafting 750 brilliant words. I've read the foreword many times now and each time I enjoy it immensely. He was able to contextualize my project within the history of artist writings and I am flattered that he would take the time to do so.

Although it requires some more fine-tuning, the cover of the book has been designed. It looks great and to some conservative tastes might be a bit edgy. Wait and see.

So, that leaves the completion of an Introduction, which I will draft over the holidays, the completion of a Table of Contents, the completion of a Library of Congress page and final assembly. Hopefully at the beginning of January I can deliver all the components of the book to the designer. With any luck, we'll have a final version for the public around March. To the participating artists that read this site: I apologize for the delay but I appreciate your patience and understanding.

The book will be available from the printer's Web site and it will be listed on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

More updates to come!

Apologies

Typepad, the host of this blog, has been suffering from technical issues for the past couple of days... hence the lack of new content. My apologies if you came here and encountered problems. New content will appear next week.

Thanks!

Christmas List

Christmas is almost here and the older I get the less I need as presents. Regardless, my Mom (hi Mom!) requests every year that I tell her what I want for Christmas. This year is no different. The only sure thing I can think that I want is art. But that presents such logistical problems that it isn't worth trying. Oh, and a requirement is that I have to be able to open it when I go home in 2 weeks.

So, dear readers, be so kind as to offer some suggestions for what I should be on my list for Christmas. Some of the things I've thought of already are:

1) Jerry Saltz's "Seeing Out Loud"
2) Spurling's bio of Mattisse, both volumes
3) Jed Perl's "New Art City"
4) Kimmelman's latest book (title escapes me)
5) Brad point drill bits

I want art related gifts but I'm not looking for overly academic books or the like. If I wanted an art history degree I'd enroll in school. I enjoy biographies a great deal, for example. I'm interested in the life of art and artists, the more practical side of things. My interest lies in art created since Impressionism with heavy focus on Minimalism (duh!).

So, would you assist me in fulfilling my Mother's request? I need your help!

PostSecret

Thursday night is the official opening of Frank Warren's PostSecret show. Lenny summarized the whole thing in amazing detail here. There's no need for me to repeat it.

The show is sure to be fantastic and I wish I could go (gotta hate the corporate holiday parties). I have a copy of Warren's new book documenting the project and it's fantastic. Admittedly, when I first received it I was initially turned off. I was expecting glossy paper and bright colors. However, the book is all matte. After about 15 minutes though, the book changed my mind. The roughness of the paper - compared to glossy at least - gives the experience of the book a raw feel. The secrets inside the book aren't perfect and the execution of the postcards is frequently rough around the edges. The book captures the energy of the project wonderfully. I eagerly suggest that you pick up a copy of the book if you haven't already. If you're not convinced, go see the show and then decide.

Congrats Frank!

Location
Former Staples Store
3307 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007

Opening Reception
Thursday, December 15, 2005 from 6-10 pm.

Gallery hours
Wed, Thurs, Fri 6-10 pm, Sat & Sun 2-10 pm

Images

It was a productive weekend. See the following images...

Completed Work

Title TBD
Padauk and Holes
8" x 9"
2005

Framed Work

Above is a framed painting by Duane Keiser. I opted to matte the painting with wood. I had a piece of 1/8" Birch plywood laser cut to form a cutout in which the painting rests. I backed the matte with more plywood and framed with one of my Dad's beautiful Maple frames. The painting sits flush with the matte.

OH-HO-05 Opening Reception

On Saturday was the opening reception for OH-HO-05, a benefit show for Union Printmakers Atelier. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and energy of the work shown. There were many deals to be had and I overheard several sales being made. I encourage you to get by the show before it closes.

Here you can see my two wall-hung contributions, Undulate and Basin.

Art on the walls... printmaking equipment all over the floor. It was a very cool environment for a show.

Two lovely Beverly Ress drawings at top.

Two strong, colorful paintings by Susan Finsen at left, one on top of the other. On the right, in the corner are two Pat Goslee pieces, again, one on top of the other. The blue painting at bottom was one of my favorites in the show and perhaps my favorite Goslee that I've seen yet.

Photographer Elvert Barnes also snapped some photos at the opening and set up a Flikr site to view them. He has a better picture of the Goslee painting I liked so much here (bottom left). Better image of the Finsen paintings can be seen here.

OH-HO-05 Reminder

Hopefully the snow will have melted in time for many of you to come out to the Union Printmakers Atelier on Saturday night (6-9pm) for the opening reception of a great art benefit show. See this for details.