The Melbourne Art Festival

This past weekend downtown Melbourne had a fantastic art fest. With over 250 artists this years art festival was a great success. There were tons of artists with a variety of styles and mediums there literally was something for everyone. It was wonderful to see all of the people out on the street supporting the arts! I know that I myself spent a good four hours wandering the booths, and I don't think I really "saw" everyone's exhibits. Having just moved to Melbourne, I was very excited about the art fest and had been looking forward to it since October's Masters of Art Festival. This fest surely did not disappoint. Most of the artists were offering smaller original pieces and small prints of their works for under $100 making the art works available for all socioeconomic backgrounds. I left with three small prints and some ceramics. Supporting the arts is something that we can all do, and art festivals across the country make it possible! Keep your eyes open for the Fall Master's of Art Fest downtown, and check out other art fests in your home towns.

Dark Dreams & Lighthearted Themes

We are very exited to hold our second show of the 2009 LoPressionism Gallery exhibition schedule.  This show will include the works of five very talent artists.  There is something for everyone in this show from the colorful cityscapes to the whimsical characters of to the darkened interiors.  In this group of artists we were looking for something that brought reality and the sublime together.  Escape.  That is something that all five of our "Dark Dreams..." artists have in common.  Escape into Sandra Bottinelli's world where giant purple ducks protect and watch over you.  That is a world I would love to live in!  Marina Koloeridi creates a mystical environments where the heavens and the terrestrial worlds swirl together in excitement and passion.  Escape to a land where the colors of the night are just as bright at the colors of the day in Luke Andrews' paintings.  Homes have a personality  of their own, they are as open and deep as the human soul.  Nicholas Bustamante's paintings make buildings come to life as they have minds of their own.  Then you can relax as you float down a river of the back of a bird, basking in the rays of the sun.  Laura Beatty's creations are full of fun and contemplative characters!  "Dark Dreams & Lighthearted Themes" is a fantastic show hung beautifully by the gallery staff.  It flows from one world to the next as if, perchance, you are dreaming. 

Cultural Stimulus

For ages the government has barely recognized the arts as a viable sector of the economy.  However, in February, congress managed to get a $50 million for the arts in the stimulus package.  According to an article  in Art in America, "despite years of economic impact studies showing how the arts stimulate local economies, from tourism dollars to construction industry jobs, arts groups still had to mount a feverish campaign to preserve a $50 million line that the House had passed but that the Senate eliminated."  Although 50 million is measly compared to what other industries have received it is wonderful that the arts were even included.  What many fail to realize is that not only do the arts employ artists and performers, but also art handlers, stage crews, accountants, cooks, security guards, maintenance people and more.  The arts provide over 6 million jobs nation wide!  The money will go to the National Endowment for the Arts to distribute in the form of grants only to non-profit groups whose projects focus on the preservation of jobs in the arts.  These groups must also have been awarded NEA grants within the last 4 years.  Not to fret for those groups who have not received grants, they still may be eligible to get a sub-grant from a state or regional arts organization.  

This is not a new idea.  In 1930's, as part of the New Deal, the Federal Art Project was created with a goal of employing out of work artists and to provide art for non federal buildings.  Not only did all of this new art boost morale in a depression era, but provided much needed jobs.  Could this new stimulus plan be similar to Roosevelt's F.A.P.?  We can only hope.    Your thoughts...

Haunted Gallery

After years of thinking that we were crazy, we finally have the closure that we need.  I cannot count the times that I had heard footsteps in our old up-stairs gallery space when there was no one up there.  I can recall one time when Bianca and I were downstairs and kept hearing the sounds of someone moving around in the up-stairs space.  After numerous attempts at communicating with the obvious entity up there (the gallery owner who had her office up there) I decided to go check for myself, maybe there were homeless people up there hiding out from an incoming storm.  Well when I got up there, there were no people up there.  I checked every room, every nook and cranny.  We recently had a group come out to investigate the space, the Space Coast Paranormal Research Association.  What they found were some very strong EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) evidence and called the old gallery space an "intelligent haunting."  They were nice spirits and we are all happy that we got to work with them, and hope that they visit us in our new space right next door.

Art in the world of television

Wow!  It's been awhile.  Now, back to the blogging.  The holiday season was wonderfully busy at the gallery for us, and our Fusion show had a great crowd.  It looks like our new space is going to work out really well for us.  

I've been watching some really fun shows on television lately... Leverage and Dollhouse.  They're both in their first season and so far seem to be rather entertaining.  And, surprisingly, they've both had episodes involving art.  I was excited to see that there were shows willing to venture in the topic of art.  Both episodes dealt with stealing it, which is a common theme for art in movies.  A lot of people love that attaining the unattainable story including myself.  But, I have to admit I'm easily irked by the smallest of inaccuracies that they often display.  

For example, in Leverage Nathan's ex-wife, Maggie, is an art expert that a company uses to identify (for insurance purposes) works of art... any work of art.  As an art historian, I specialized in Latin American Art.  Liz (our other consultant & blogger) concentrated in Contemporary Art.  While we have extensive knowledge in these areas, we can't authenticate a piece of art by looking at it through a tiny magnifying glass.  I know... suspension of disbelief.  It just seemed that this would be a good opportunity to clear up the fact that finding authenticators for works are hard to come by.  Normally each artist, only has one authenticator.  If they happen to have more than one, it is probably because they worked with more than one media like painting and sculpting.  One authenticator would be for painting and one for sculpting.  If it's an artist from a period such as the Renaissance, a group of art experts would work together to hopefully identify whether a work is a fake or not.  This linked article from the Discovery Channel gives a good idea of what steps experts take when authenticating works.

Dollhouse handled this a bit better with an antiquities expert who had a feeling that he was chosen to authenticate a specific piece.  Unfortunately, as one of the characters has been badly hurt, he interprets a piece of art for Echo (and the viewers) as fact.  And as we stated in our December 11th post  "Your interpretation is never wrong."  Interpretation of art is personal, everyone sees things differently and it's not up to anyone else to tell you what a work of art should mean to you.

Even with my own personal minor issues with the discrepancies, it would be great to see more shows and movies with visual art as the main subject.  It gives us artsy folks something to chat about!

Art For the Holidays

It is that time of year when we all strive to find the perfect gifts for our loved ones.  Most people get bogged down with the malls and the latest electronic gadgets.  It is easy to buy our brothers his favorite movie of 2008 on high-def DVD, and our sisters that killer top she would look great in.  These are great gifts by all means, but often off-beat gifts are the most memorable.  I will let you in on a little secret...not all art is hundreds of dollars.  There are thousands of art shows, fairs, and galleries across the country where artists offer prints or small originals for under $100.  My favorite Christmas gift was two hand built and painted ceramic plates that my mother found while off-beat shopping.  Not only did I love them, they were the first piece of art in my collection.  I still have them on the wall and think of my mother every time I look at them.   Let's not forget about all of the artist made jewelry, accessories, and handbags.  These pieces are one of a kind (mostly) and who wouldn't appreciate a one of a kind gift?  

Interpretation

I recently asked a friend, if she were to read a blog about art what would she want to read about?  She replied interpretation.  This reminded me of my college days when I would learn about the history of a painting that I previously hadn't liked and immediately gained a new found respect and even love for the piece.  Is it necessary to know everything about a painting to appreciate and like it?  The answer is no, but it is sometimes easier to enjoy something when you understand it a little better.  Interpretation is key in whether or not you love a work of art.  There are two kinds of interpretations in art.  The first is the artists interpretation.  What did the artist actually mean when he created a piece of art?  Well, only the artist can give an answer to that one.  Not even the most pompous art critic can truthfully answer the artist interpretation.  This may be important, but it is not as important as personal interpretation...that means your interpretation.  What do you think it means as you look at it?  The first thing you can look at is the artist's biography as this helps get you in mindset of the artist.  The next thing you can look at is the title of the piece.  Sometimes it this is the easiest way to understand a work of art.  The next thing to do is to personalize it.  What does the scene remind you of?  How do the colors look together, and how does that make you feel?  Are the brush strokes vigorous and expressionistic or are they soft and planed?    Your personal interpretation is never wrong.  The artist's and your interpretation go hand and hand, and many times if you really take the time to look at the painting and the artists life, you can figure out the artists intention.  Many people are better at interpreting art than they think...people come into the gallery and ask me to explain a painting, I ask them first what they think it means.  They tell me, and more times than not they are telling me what I would have told them.