Art Space Talk Quotes #5

Here is another group of artist quotes taken from the Art Space Talk series of interviews. This group of quotes deals with aspects of the economy, politics, or culture. You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Concerning the economy, politics, and culture:

“Which comes first, art or politics? I think art becomes the reflection and the record of time…but life is politics, and usually art imitates life, except occasionally when life imitates art.” -- Wafaa Bilal

“The thing is life is full of contradictions, it keeps things interesting, certain people try to live out their lives through products and brands, it's excepted in our society that shopping is a 'hobby' and wearing brands depicts your of a certain 'stature' or 'class'. What I noticed recently with the down turn in the economy is that people are still going to the shops, it's as if their lives have become programmed to do that, no matter whether they have money or not.” -- D*Face

“I use the Financial Times newspaper stock listings as I think of the stock market as a global dream-world that literally flows through all of us. This for me is a contemporary form of landscape…” -- Gordon Cheung

“I feel that everyone views the world through the lens of there past experiences. That being said I've lived a life that has been full of exchanges like the ones you see in my work. I see today’s world as a place where everyone has reverted back to their state of nature doing whatever it takes to get theirs. I think that this perspective resonates with people today in our current economic and political times.“ -- Cleon Peterson

“I'm really not sure that art can spur change, at least in America. Art isn't mainstream enough in the whole country. It is largely the playground for the rich; it is still fundamentally elitist, despite the increase of museum attendance.” -- Susan Crile

“Popular culture isn’t a myth, it is culture, it is spirituality, it is our heritage. The beauty of media is its ability to expose freedom of speech, or the lack of it.” -- Anthony Lister

“I believe that it is important for the artist, painter, poet, dancer, etc. to keep in mind that it is the art that drives the art world and not the other way around. Artists and other people of intelligence have the power to bring deeper content to our culture.” -- Thornton Willis

“There is lots of Porn or politics in my art...because there is lots of porn and politics in our lives. Sometimes people get pissed, but that is even better because it proves that your work is making people feel. At least they feel it!" -- Miky Fabrega

Feel free to comment about any of the quotes listed above. Can you relate to their words? Do you take a different position? You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
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New York Art Exchange
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Art Space Talk Quotes #4

Here is another group of artist quotes taken from the myartspace.com Art Space Talk series of interviews that I have conducted. This group of quotes deals with the art world-- in general. You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Concerning the art world:

“As I have spent more time in Rhode Island and gotten older, opportunities have come my way less easily. Out of sight, out of mind really applies to the art world. Lots of people whose opinions I value know and respect my work but younger dealers tend to show younger artists only naturally. We are all aware how hard it gets for mid-career artists to be seen – even those doing their best work right now. So for the moment, I’d go along with what artist Nancy Shaver said during her visiting artist lecture at RISD this fall - "Art – like vegetables and politics – should be local and global."" -- Holly Hughes

“I like the art world today. I like Frieze and all that. I can remember when Art in London was shit. Its really exciting BUT I think artists should always aspire to an art that turns things upside down and not just participate. Its more important than ever that Matts Gallery, Peer, The Tates The Whitechapel etc... promote difficult art that is impossible to sell.” -- Bob Smith aka Bob & Roberta Smith / Bob and Roberta Smith (Formerly known as Patrick Brill)

“For the last 50 years or so an artist could hardly paint anything representational with out it being looked down upon by the "Art World". In this past century, art ran a course to an extreme of minimalism and conceptualism and now things seem to be more inclusive." -- Mark Ryden

“The art world is mature and can take care of itself. It definitely doesn't need my policing. All I can concentrate on is doing what's in front of me today.” -- Cleon Peterson

“I'm more focused on my world than the "art world" as some sort of entity. I suppose one thing I am noticing is that a lot of younger artists are scrambling to become famous without even finishing formal art training.” -- Vasily Kafanov

“The gender equality in the art world in short, SUCKS. There are so many galleries that have one or two women out of a roster of twenty artists. No one feels the need to explain or defend this, the arrogance is monumental. I suppose women are left to assume that we are just crappy artists, when in fact a lot of this is driven by the fact that collectors think men’s art appreciates in value at a higher rate. This is all about the MONEY. I didn’t sign up for this as an artist. I’m still kind of stunned by the hedge fund mentality of the art world. Everyone’s waiting for the whole thing to collapse, and collapse it will.” -- Nancy Baker

"I love the art world. Especially when my work seems to be fitting in or at least part of the conversation. I hate the art world. Especially when my work seems not to be fitting in or be part of the conversation." -- Ken Fandell

“Have you ever heard of the saying "one can never be famous enough"? I took that saying to heart many years ago and it freed me up from being caught up in the art world. Being an artist has to be about doing the best work I can because that is all I really have and that’s the big equalizer among all artists. I think artists begin to lose sight of their work when they take themselves too seriously as personalities.” -- Anne Neely

"I decided to take part in the spectacle and entered it at the shallow end." -- Mark McGowan

“I have always had a strong belief in the power of my own work, but have been so disheartened by the art world that I often thought I would quit showing. I knew I could never stop making, however: at those moments, I remembered the Audrey Flack quote: "If the Art World is making you crazy, give up the art world, but don’t give up art."" -- Kate Kretz

Feel free to comment about any of the quotes listed above. Can you relate to their words? Do you take a different position? You can read the myartspace.com Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
Myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
New York Art Exchange
www.nyaxe.com

Art Space Talk Quotes #3

Here is another group of artist quotes taken from the Art Space Talk series of interviews. This group of quotes deals with the meaning, process, and creation of art. You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Concerning the meaning, process, and creation of art:

“A friend of mine asked me to say in two words what my work was about and was very Surprised when I said, "Love and Joy". I have always felt so strongly that there are so many wonderful things to enjoy we could all have a happy and satisfying life.” -- Sylvia Sleigh

“I don’t confuse myself with trying to create consistent bodies of work both in the studio and on the street. The street work is very spontaneous and loose, I have few expectations with its outcome. The studio is a completely different story, that is where I am aware of the paths I have created in the past and am aware of the paths I want to take in the future. The two practices are almost opposite (in principal) to each other.” -- Anthony Lister

“My work starts from a personal place, but the work isn’t ‘personal’. It’s for everyone. I’m not just repeating something that happened to me in a diaristic or autobiographical way. If it does start from a personal place it always evolves and changes into something completely new. There is a line between myself and the person on the screen." -- Georgina Starr

“Anything one designs to follow in one's art, through working many pathways offer themselves as visual possibilities. This awareness of possibilities leads you: you weigh and analyze and project mentally the validity of those possibilities and with truthfulness you decide if these should be yours. You syphon out what fascinates you, which you modify and they in turn enrich the direction in which you should go.” -- Julian Stanczak

“An artist is a part of his or her time and reflects it and is a witness to it.” -- Susan Crile

“Art practice is my never-ending refugee camp of the soul. In this place I seek asylum from the wars around me. The retreat becomes a platform from which I can speak. Practice is a place, a home for my homeless gypsy spirit.” -- Carolyn Ryder Cooley

“I usually get ideas as I am working. I think all the things I see when I am traveling or out and about get stored in my mind and as I am working on things in the studio, they just seem to come out. I am definitely not one who sits and waits for the idea to come to me. I need to create and ideas come from working through things. I think my journal is my laptop. I make most of my drawings on it.” -- Brian Alfred

“When I get an idea, I create work in the medium that is most appropriate for the concept I am trying to convey. This has led me to work across many disciplines, though the imagery often carries across from one medium to the other.” -- Kate Kretz

“At some point in my early twenties I realized that I made my best work when I remained flexible and stopped trying to control the outcome. It’s always a blend of the intentional and the unintentional.” -- Jonathan Weiner (a.k.a VINER)

“When I'm always working with the same medium, I have a tendency to get bored. The creative process is quite different when I'm stitching as opposed to drawing, for example. It's a much slower and more thoughtful process, and at certain times exactly what I need. Also, when I'm feeling stuck and having difficulty coming up with new ideas, a change in medium often helps.” -- Sabrina Small

“We all have individual instincts and insights that are worth something, the privilege of being an artist is for these contributions to remain visible. We try to leave each other clues towards somehow dealing with the Unknown. This is Art.” -- Alan Rankle

“I think in images. My emotions get filtered in my brain and come out as images.” -- Laurie Lipton

“I am obsessed with the ritual of painting. For me it is a practice which thrives on moments of observation, intimacy, reflection - quiet creative moments that are then counterbalanced by the destructive aspect of art making - the desperate uncertainty, resistance or anger I experience in the studio.” -- Paul Ruiz

“For me, I guess I shall remain childish and see painting and art as the symbol of what we are capable of - and the more unknowably weird our art is then so much the better and whether it's cartoony or abstract or figurative or minimal, it remains human.” -- Christian Schumann

Feel free to comment about any of the quotes listed above. Can you relate to their words? Do you take a different position? You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
Myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
New York Art Exchange
www.nyaxe.com

Art Space Talk Quotes #2

Here is another group of artist quotes taken from the Art Space Talk series of interviews. This group of quotes deals with art criticism and reviews. You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Concerning art criticism and reviews:

“They called me a Pop artist because I used recognizable imagery. The critics like to group people together. I didn't meet Andy Warhol until 1964. I did not really know Andy or Roy Lichtenstein that well. We all emerged separately.” -- James Rosenquist

“Everybody uses labels: they give you a handle on things – an over-simplified handle, sure, but without labels, without ads, without words, the world would be an indistinguishable mass, a blur. You can hope, maybe, that people ascribe so many labels to you that none wins out…” -- Vito Acconci

“To me the way someone responds to my work, often says more about the person looking than it does the painting. I had a couple in my studio looking at the same painting. It was a large painting, dark deep reds, many layers and an area of light. The woman couldn’t stop gushing how beautiful and inviting it was. On the flip side, the man thought it was evil and sinister. He said it scared him and he couldn’t live with it. ...and both views were perfectly valid!” -- Connie Noyes

“Most angry critics who deal in generalizations show hopeless judgment in distinguishing between good and poor individual works. Just as Prince Charles managed to single out for condemnation only those few modern buildings in London of true quality and thoughtfulness, while never mentioning the hundreds of examples of architectural mediocrity around them, art doesn't need self-appointed protectors.” -- Michael Craig-Martin

“A small group of elitist individuals decide what is valid and what is not. These people overly intellectualize and academicize the arts to maintain their sense of superiority. This is not a new problem.” -- Mark Ryden

“It matters what people call you because what they call you shapes how they see you, it shapes what they expect of you, what they ask you to do, no matter what it is that you actually do.” -- Vito Acconci

“I think it is important to do what you believe in and ignore the critics.” -- Janet Fish

“I dislike labels, but they are a necessary evil to comprehend artwork for some people.” -- Blaine Fontana

“I'd say reviews have influenced me more than the actual exhibits as they have finally inured me to criticism from the outside world. It took years to not care what others think about what I make and that change in outlook has probably influenced me to date more than any particular show.” -- Christian Schumann

“I don't avoid or "block out" responses to my work. The work isn't complete until it is out in the world. That kind of communication with an audience (including critics) allows for their active participation in the reception of the work and often presents challenges. Some interpretations I dismiss as not constructive to my studio practice, but others encourage an inventory of choices.” -- Janet Biggs

“Just because a critic does not see the spiritual in contemporary art doesn't mean it doesn't exist or that it is no longer valid as defined by their definition of spiritual.” -- Phillip John Charette

Feel free to comment about any of the quotes listed above. Can you relate to their words? Do you take a different position? You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
Myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
New York Art Exchange
www.nyaxe.com

Art Space Talk Quotes #1

Reading past interviews I realize that there is information contained within the myartspace.com Art Space Talk interview series that may be of benefit to followers of the blog-- or anyone else who discovers the Myartspace Blog. I have decided to post a series of entries containing quotes that spotlight the advice, suggestions, and general thoughts that various artists have offered during my interviews with them.

Links to these entries will be included on the Advice for Artists entry as well-- which will be regularly updated. My hope is that the quotes series will help readers with research or that they will serve as advice for artists from artists. You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Concerning the meaning, process, and creation of art:

“Paintings are memories. Memories of the painter who painted them. Memories that can be shared as well. Paintings are things to remember things by. For example, I see my work as auto-biographical. It is all auto-biographical.” -- James Rosenquist

“Process and systems are part of what my art is about. That is, I invent, find, and borrow ways of making painterly statements, which reflect my person to the extent that I am able to reach into that core of my being. It’s a kind of self-analysis that requires a balance between the rational and the intuited.” -- Thornton Willis

“The process is very important in my work. It is intrinsic. Through the doing more ideas occur. I am an extremely kinesthetic person., very physical. I learn everything through my body, through doing. I will take notes when working, often writing on the walls of my studio. I have learned that my work HAS to go through some period of chaos or struggle . Without chaos the painting is lifeless.” -- Connie Noyes

“Any artistic creation is the result of the combination of so many factors: the artist’s predisposition to be passionate about a subject and desire to communicate this, in whatever form is paramount; a great deal of hard work and preparation; to remain true to yourself, as you perceive this truth.” -- Lala Meredith-Vula

“The complexity of the language of images is disguised by the ease and rapidity with which we read them. I've tried to make work that is as transparent and simple as possible. No matter how much I strip away the result is always more complex to me than I expect.” -- Michael Craig-Martin

“I’ve been working with ink for many years. I also use oil based materials for monoprinting which is a technique that I love. It involves the unexpected which I find interesting, the most surprising things can happen through the smallest bit of pressure on the page.” -- Whitney McVeigh

“I always felt an urge to create. I think we are born with this impulse. Some of my life experiences also influence my work. I try to talk about difficult things in a lighthearted manner for I find that the problem comes when life is taken too seriously." -- Yuliya Lanina

“Art is a covenant relationship between spirit, the artist and the viewer. The artist, if he or she has an inspiring spiritual experience, has a responsibility to translate and transmit that experience as closely as possible so as to evoke a similar experience in the viewer.” -- Alex Grey

“I like to work with my hands, to press -- to rub --as much as I do enjoy working with the brushes and pigment. The substantive nature of the wood panels allows me to use the full force and range of my body – to use as light or as extreme a touch as I wish.” -- Elana Gutmann

“I never make sketches. Everything is developed in an intuitive manner. The approach I developed growing up is derived from a mush of ideas from expressionism and the Beats. In painting, one act creates the idea of the next - it is a conversation of sorts which slowly turns into a frustrating puzzle with my own limited nature” -- Christian Schumann

Feel free to comment about any of the quotes listed above. Can you relate to their words? Do you take a different position? You can read the Art Space Talk series of interviews by visiting, www.myartspace.com/interviews. Enjoy.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
Myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
New York Art Exchange
www.nyaxe.com