Myartspace Artist Quotes: Some quotes from the 2008 series of artist interviews

Where did 2008 go? It amazes me that in just a few days 2009 will be here. The years go by so quick when you think back on them. Since 2006 I have interviewed hundreds of artists as the Senior Editor for myartspace. The myartspace collection contains interviews with art world legends, such as Sylvia Sleigh, Julian Stanczak, and Norman Carlberg-- along with interviews with emerging artists such as Peter Gerakaris, Sarah Maple, and Andrea Chung.

It honors me that so many artists-- both emerging and established-- have offered their time to give our readers insight into the thoughts behind their art. Before 2009 is here I would like to take some time to reflect back on the 2008 series of Myartspace Blog interviews. Below you will find quotes from 2008 interviews along with a link to each respected interview so that you can read them in full and view images.

Again, we at myartspace take great pride in the fact that artists from all walks of life have found common ground on the Myartspace Blog. Thank you all.

“I dislike labels, but they are a necessary evil to comprehend artwork for some people. If I had to classify myself, I would call it urban-contemporary.” -- Blaine Fontana

myartspace interview with Blaine Fontana

“I felt it important to make the Abu Ghraib works for many reasons. Above all, this event of the United States engaging in torture, represented a terrible turning point in World opinion towards the United States. As a consequence, we had lost our position as a moral force and as a model of democracy that we prominently held for so long.” -- Susan Crile

myartspace interview with Susan Crile

“The camera often feels too comfortable in my hands – which is why I prefer the dark cloth and tripod of large format photography, forcing me to slow down, and hopefully the viewer too.” -- Richard Mosse

myartspace interview with Richard Mosse

“Rodin makes me cry, Picasso makes me smile, the Chapman brothers make me laugh out loud, Egon Schiele makes me shake my head with admiration, Bacon makes me jump and so on and so forth. But really- my most enlightened artistic experiences are with my children when I see their works on paper.” -- Anthony Lister

myartspace interview with Anthony Lister

“I am against purism in all forms. I find it morally and politically questionable. It is a trope of fascism and racism. Philosopher David Carrier sees comics as an inherently impure entity; I would amplify this, claiming that comics offer a positively anti-purist emancipation from narrow formalist reductivism. This is a trait to applaud and emulate in the fine arts.” -- Mark Staff Brandl

myartspace interview with Mark Staff Brandl

“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

myartspace interview with Christian Schumann

“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

myartspace interview with Vito Acconci

“I no longer go by Patrick Brill. I changed my name to Bob Smith ten years ago. Journalists still refer to me as by my old name. Wikipedia does not help. The discussion about my name is not interesting to me. What does it matter?” -- Bob Smith
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myartspace interview with Bob Smith

“When art devalues the self and the authenticity of the inner worlds we get art of the absent self, the hollow and shattered self, a hopeless self, in short, the art of today.” -- Alex Grey

myartspace interview with Alex Grey

“I really enjoy de Kooning. When I was a student everyone was copying him. I liked his involvement with paint and color. I also liked him because he did not give a damn-- he was not self-conscious. Students today don't realize that de Kooning was really a rough and tough type of guy. Today people talk about underground artists-- well, at that time de Kooning was THE underground artist.” -- James Rosenquist

myartspace interview with James Rosenquist

“It's not what we go through in life, it's what we make of it. Understanding that hate can only generate more hate and anger, I try to stay away from messages of hate and aggression because that alienates the viewer instead of engaging” -- Wafaa Bilal

myartspace interview with Wafaa Bilal

“…to me, the need for meaning is a human convention that doesn't really sync with the universe at large so I never feel a pressure or strong desire to explain or justify myself.” -- Mark Jenkins

myartspace interview with Mark Jenkins

“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

myartspace interview with Janet Biggs

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
www.myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com/interviews
www.nyaxe.com

Myartspace Interviews: Bo Bartlett, Alex Golden, Aleksandra Mir

A look at past interviews that have been featured on www.myartspace.com.


Interview with Bo Bartlett:
“I don’t think there is a collective spirit of America. America to me seems fractured. Many people seem marginalized. I think the "America’s heart" concept is really just talking about a larger idea; a mythological spirit or soul of America which has to do with the concept of freedom, individual rights, and the adventurousness we associate with the frontier spirit. People are all longing. We’re all looking for something. On some level, my paintings tend to address this sense of desire. I paint people because I am a person. I paint America because I am American. I’d like to think that I’m a citizen of the world, but at the same time, I can’t deny my nationality. I am not necessarily proud of it.” -- Bo Bartlett
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Interview with Alex Golden:
“I never fully cast aside my questions and doubts about the systems of society, but I try to. I think my work is, at heart, ironic and critical, but I try to get in there and join in what I sometimes perceive to be the absurdity of various belief systems. It is an effort to understand the human propensity to find meaning and then to believe in it, often wholeheartedly and without doubt. Why do we subscribe to the norms that cultures generate for us, even when they seem outdated? Why are we seduced by celebrity and branding? How is it possible for ideological warfare to be waged in the 21st century?” -- Alex Golden
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Interview with Aleksandra Mir:
"The closest I get to religion is in that I try to seriously engage with and maintain certain originally religious traditions and rituals that I like. A lot of my work also has a celebratory aspect to it that perhaps can be seen as verging on ceremonial worship. I also need to have a lot of faith in good weather when dealing with big public and ephemeral events. But that's pretty much it." -- Aleksandra Mir
READ MORE

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

www.myartspace.com

Myartspace Interviews: Kathie Olivas, Travis Louie, Sas Christian

A look at past interviews that have been featured on www.myartspace.com.

Interview with Kathie Olivas:
“I started exhibiting over a dozen years ago and wasn't really familiar with the term "lowbrow." I was just showing in contemporary galleries. I met my husband in 2000 and he introduced me to Juxtapoz Magazine and started encouraging me to start showing on the West Coast. My work just sort of fit, but I've always thought of Lowbrow as being a very West Coast movement so I guess I still feel a bit like an outsider.” -- Kathie Olivas
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Interview with Travis Louie:
“My work is created in several stages, . . . the first being the idea and or inspiration which can come at any time at any place. When I'm purposefully trying to come up with something, I make many little thumbnail drawings and write little character descriptions or complete little short stories to accompany the concept of a piece before I even get to the painting,”-- Travis Louie
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Interview with Sas Christian:
“When I was about 8 a Japanese friend of mine at school had shown me some dolls she had - they were hand-painted and had these vibrant large "manga" eyes. I was fascinated with them and it stuck.”-- Sas Christian
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Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

www.myartspace.com

Myartspace Interviews: Wafaa Bilal, Vito Acconci, Christian Schumann

A look at past interviews that have been featured on www.myartspace.com.

Imbue, Lamda photographic print, Approximately 44 by 48 inches (smaller-sized prints also available)

Interview with Wafaa Bilal:
“Activist art gets a bad reputation; art is political in nature. You cannot separate the two. Even if you decide not to do political art, that is itself a political act according to Adorno. 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
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Fan City, convertible architectural unit, 1981

Interview with Vito Acconci:

“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
READ MORE

Plastic Youth, 2007, Acrylic on canvas, 52" x 74"

Interview with Christian Schumann:
“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. Increasingly, the only requirement I need for working is just to have time to do it in the first place as the whole process requires so much of it.” -- Christian Schumann
READ MORE

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
www.myartspace.com

Myartspace Interviews: Mark Jenkins, Anthony Lister, BASK

Interview with Mark Jenkins:

"There is opposition, and risk, but I think that just shows that street art is the sort of frontier where the leading edge really does have to chew through the ice. And it's good for people to remember public space is a battleground, with the government, advertisers and artists all mixing and mashing, and even now the strange cross-pollination taking place as street artists sometimes become brands, and brands camouflaging as street art creating complex hybrids or impersonators." -- Mark Jenkins
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Interview with Anthony Lister:

"Rodin makes me cry, Picasso makes me smile, the Chapman brothers make me laugh out loud, Egon Schiele makes me shake my head with admiration, Bacon makes me jump and so on and so forth. But really- my most enlightened artistic experiences are with my children when I see their works on paper." -- Anthony Lister
READ MORE

Interview with BASK:

"I'm definitely an optimist. Actually a lot of my work pokes fun at the elements around us, good or bad. Unfortunately, most good art comes from struggle and a sense helplessness-- as if your only voice to be heard is through your art. The current state of affairs lends itself to the arts pretty well." -- BASK

READ MORE

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

www.myartspace.com