Collecting is a Wonderful Illness

Collecting is a Wonderful Illness on Nowness.com.

Simon de Pury and Daphne Guinness in Conversation, Part One

Auctioneer and art world impresario Simon de Pury sits down with friend and cultural patron Daphne Guinness to speak about connoisseurship and collecting in part one of a double-bill feature by filmmaker Johnnie Shand Kydd. Chairman and Chief Auctioneer of renowned auction house Phillips de Pury & Company, De Pury is often referred to as “the Mick Jagger of the auction world,” due to his lively auctioning style. Fluent in English, French, German and Italian, the Swiss-born dealer also owns an important private collection of contemporary art, acquired over several decades spent with gavel in hand. “Simon is obviously a grand seducer, and there was this wonderful element of flirtation going on,” says Shand Kydd of the tète-à-tète, “You can't fake that kind of chemistry." De Pury splits his time between London and New York, where he will preside over the sale of a Willem de Kooning estimated at $15m and a $12m Jean-Michel Basquiat at Phillips de Pury’s latest contemporary art auction this Thursday. “Collecting is a very personal and private occupation,” explains De Pury. “One does not necessarily wish to divulge one's passions.” That said, NOWNESS coaxed De Pury into revealing five of his favorite pieces from his collection. 

A group of Italian 1950s plastic Disney characters that I found in a small antiques shop in Rome. I collect high and low. All works I buy tickle my curiosity when I see them first, and in my private collection I do not rank anything by price.

The desk, chair, lamp and Universe logo from the Star Trek movie that I bought from Pierre Passebon at the first or second Design Miami fair. After having seen one slick piece of pure and beautiful design after the other, it was very refreshing to stumble across something fun and leftfield.

One of Helmut Newton’s nudes, shot at Chateau Marmont, was the first photograph I ever bought. Since being a teenager I worshipped his work. I bought it in an auction in London and was forbidden to hang it by my first wife when I brought it home.

I’ve been obsessed with Christopher Wool's work ever since I first saw it in the Whitney Biennial in the early 90s. I have been fortunate enough to acquire several works of his at a time when it was still quite accessible. I love his most recent work with which he proves he is one of the Greats.

My most recent purchase is a large drip work by Piotr Uklanski. There is great variety in his work and he never ceases to surprise me.

The San Diego Art Institute Regional Awards Exhibition Sparks Some Memorable Works: By Cathy Breslaw

The San Diego Art Institute’s current Regional Awards Exhibition is a large display of ninety works, selected from 360 entries by judge, Deborah Klochko, Executive Director of the Museum of Photographic Arts. The exhibition is a combination of painting, sculpture, drawings, photography, monotype and assemblage. As it is with many open call competitions, quality and technical skill of the artists included varies greatly, but several works emerge as standouts.

Artist Diane Brunner’s sculptural work “Be Fabulous - Don’t Let One Thing Ruin Your Life”, is a charming mixed media piece portraying a ton of small paper maiche human figures, signs and messages, animals, boats, buildings and the ocean- all crowded into a small space. The work creates the sense of the bustling,lively activity of the San Diego harbor during tourist season - all seemingly sliding off of a somewhat vertical plane. The piece is protected by a clear acrylic frame.

Warren Bakley’s “Relic”, a quietly compelling clay stoneware wall sculpture, portrays an abstract-like figure of a man in neutral gray-black tones. The face, which curiously has no features, almost seems to be melting or burning however the gesture of the figure appears stoic. The figure’s abstract forms create the feeling of a traveler dressed from an earlier era in time.

 “The Dream I Had Today”, an assemblage by artist Michael McAlister, is a wall piece - a small black chest housing a white skull-like object, stone, cork, photograph, and medicine bottle. A serpent-like head sits atop the chest leaving the viewer to wonder what personal story that snake might tell if he could talk.

 Cheryl Griffith’s “Hope”, a monotype with dry point which received a merit award, is a personal and charming tribute to the idea of “hope”. It portrays a young boy’s head looking out sideways with a bluebird perched on his head. A quote about “hope”  by Emily Dickinson is printed prominently across the figure, seemingly indicating Griffith’s heartfelt thoughts about “hope”.

The quietly present and smaller work “Floating City”, by Brandon Holmes, is a well crafted detailed realistic graphite drawing portraying Romanesque buildings, eighteenth century sailing vessels and three figures holding up some of the buildings. This fantastical drawing appears to be structured around the front end of a ship suggesting a mythological story that only the artist knows.

Across a vertically painted gray wall, artist Judith Parenio exhibits “Pollen”, a well designed sculptural work made of several hexagonal wooden/encaustic elements referring  to shapes in a honeycomb. Bats, birds, bees, and plants are the subject matter suggesting Parenio’s obvious love of nature.

 “Modern Woman Story” by Bhavna Mehta, is a black paper-cut work attached to a framed white background. As a traditional Indian art form spanning hundreds of years, this piece follows well In this traditions’ footsteps. Mehta depicts a personal journey of childhood symbols- kites, daisies, a girl playing basketball and reading a biology book.

 In the category of painting, there were three pieces of note by Eva D’Amico, John Brodie and Lauren Carrerera. D’Amico’s “Protecting Innocence”, refers to impressionistic painting whose subject of a young girl sleeping, intermingles with branches of a tree. This acrylic painting with a beautifully limited color palette expresses the artist’s love of movement and form. John Brodie’s “Fabulous Beast of Uncertain Returns”, is a boldly colored acrylic painting on clear polyester that seems to reference African masks and female symbols. Wildly expressed forms, brushwork and colors are curiously set against the backdrop of a formal abstract composition. Last, but not least, “The Audition” by Lauren Carrera, is a large abstract oil painting which is reminiscent of color field painting. It is a subtle mixture of turquoises, warm tones and burnt oranges in an overall tiny quilt-like pattern, like a blanket covering us in the fall season.

This exhibition runs through May 13^th

Cathy Breslaw is a southern California visual artist, writer and lecturer who has had over 25 solo exhibitions, and 50 group exhibitions across the country at museums, art centers, college and university galleries and commercial galleries. Her work can be found in many private and corporate collections.

Her work and writing can be seen at:

www.cathylbreslaw.com

www.artfullifebycathy.blogspot.com

cathybreslaw@roadrunner.com

A+ Art Blog: Three Things You Can Do to Help the Art World

I was recently asked to be on a panel in El Cajon at Studio C Contemporary  where artists, journalists, writers, university professors, critics, and business people discussed the role the arts play in bettering East County and its diverse population. The panel was mediated by Justin Hudnall, creator and leading operative of The Far East Movement. One question he asked was, “Do you think East County can host and support an art community?” My answer, in looking at the healthy crowd in attendance, was that it was already supporting an art community. I would rather see a “fake it til you make it” can do stance than the inferiority complex driven attitude that is still all to prevalent in SD. But having said that, here are three suggestions to challenge every reader into action. (you can watch the video of the panel at this link https://vimeo.com/41384166)

1. More Curators: Commercial and University Galleries and Museums should hold, at least once a year, an open call for curators to propose exhibitions. I don’t mean artists submitting their work for showing or even grouping together with friends to show. I mean really interesting theme shows which showcase what happening here in the underground spaces and pop up galleries. Alexandra Moctezuma is open to these kinds of proposals at the Mesa Collage Art Gallery and the students from her Gallery case are often putting together exhibitions at other venues like Space4Art. She offers the only hands-on program in Museum Studies and Gallery Management. We need to encourage independent curators and I might as well put in a plug for more independent art critics as well.
     
2. Traveling Exhibitions: Collaborations should be made to put together exhibitions so that each has at least two venues for display – North, East, South or Central. Making the effort to organize a really wonderful exhibition is wasted if it is not seen by more people.  It makes sense to travel shows around the community especially when it take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get from North to South in our county. I miss lots of local events, as I do try to cover the whole county, but with fuel cost so high and public transportation so difficult, why not bring the art to the people. These collaborations would also help unite our community and I believe that is a strength that can produce more funding, more energy and more audience. Maybe this is happening somewhere in SD, but I have not noticed it.
   
   
   
3. Artists Projects for Schools: Artists should be proactive in organizing art initiative for schools, especially those with under privileged students.  We are excited that the Artist Teaching Institute is funded by the SD Foundation and should start in the fall. Bravo to Jennifer Oliver for working so diligently to enable more artists to be professionally trained to teach. But there are many spontaneous projects that could be happening as well. For example, take a look at  Janet Cooling and her latest commission for the Harriet Tubman Charter School in the SDSU College Area. The glass mosaic painting will be 7’x19’ over the entrance of the school auditorium. She is paying for supplies herself plus fundraising by selling works from her own studio and SDSU students' art to fund this display which will add a level of creative energy to this school that almost looks like a prison.
   
   And speaking about funding, how about this new idea for SD called Pizza Parlay. Up until the Thursday before each Parlay, you can send proposals for creative projects that could use a bit of funding to raise them off the ground or to the next level. Pizza Parlay will take place one Sunday a month, usually the last. Parlay-goers will each receive a packet of proposals to review over pizza, and everyone will vote on site. Proceeds from the $12 per person cover donation will be granted to the winning proposal. The more people attend, the bigger the grant. Urbanistguide.com will announce the winner the Monday after the Parlay, and unlike most grants, winners will receive the award immediately. The locations vary each month but the next is Sunday April 29th, from 5-7pm at URBN Coal Fired Pizza & Bar 3085 University. At the last one $460 was awarded to Elias Sidney Blood won for a short film. 
    

Artists every where should raise the bar and be challenged to make better art work…work that is challenging, exciting, emotionally saturated, honest, enlivening and reflective of our wishes and desires.

There are many who are taking the initiative and working on projects. Hats off to: Jolee Pink who started her own Encinitas Foodie Fest: to showcase artists and sustainability; Sandi Cottrell of Mission Federal Art Walk for giving student scholarships, this year to Stephanie Wang (SDVAN sponsors this with mentor training); to Sherri Fox of Trios Gallery for transforming an Encinitas storefront into a mini Trios a Go Go; to SmartSpace Gallery a brand new idea to locate art in modern executive office suites; to Girl Fest San Diego at Art Lab Studios for providing a space for individuals to create a vision of freedom; Sixteen Plus One Art the first show of a new space at the On Assignment Studios and Gallery. These are just a few of the items listed in our RAW column for April.

Joe Brubaker: The Exquisite Garden

Joe Brubaker: The Exquisite Garden is showing at the William D. Cannon Gallery in Carlsbad ( 1775 Dove Lane) from Apr. 1 – June 24, 2012.

We arrived at the gallery and were delighted to see that it had been completely transformed. No longer the white box but instead a garden of deathly delights. The atmosphere was one of a cemetery at night, dark with shadowy shapes. When you looked close you saw sculptures by the artist Joe Brubaker, almost all carves wood figures with the look of outsider art but of course, this is not the case. Brubaker and two San Diego artists (Vista sculptor Elon Eubanks and Carlsbad muralist Ron Juncal) and two art students from MiraCosta College joined the crew of 12 who contributed found object assemblages dropped from the ceiling and rising from islands of foliage from cardboard trees. The audience was fascinated as there was so much to see. It only lacked a participation element. I longed to add a little piece of trash of my own to mark my spot.

UCSD Open Studios 2012

UCSD 2012 Open Studios Crowd from Emily Grenader on Vimeo.

UCSD Open Studios 2012 have come again with this year’s crop of emerging artists. .Sat. April 7, 1-7 pm at UCSD Visual Arts Department, UCSD, La Jolla 92083 More info Sheena Ghanbari 858.822.7755

I have been following the work of several of the UCSD students for a few years now. You see them working as raw students, trying to find their way through the ivory towers of learning. They too many times learn art speak as a way to boast your confidence in their work. I am always drawn to those student willing to talk to me openly and clearly, but sometimes the work does speak for itself.

Josh Tonies presented visually interesting video last year with lots of optical tricks. Interestingly, he was able to do that with still images of ships this year. They appear almost sliced and diced and futuristic and fantasy all at the same time. But at first glance they may appear to just look like a commercial for a cruise. And with Titantic in all the headlines this week, it seems he was riding a wave.

Emily Grenader disarmed me with sly little portraits of chef used on ice cream containers. I loved the whole idea of the glass refridgerated display as an art display. Let’s hope she brings this project to San Diego soon. In the meantime her group portraits which she was assembling from the visitors was charming and you can now see me above about the fourth row down on the left bending over to kiss Katherine Sweetman in a video painting. So much fun!!!.


Brian Zimmerman was there showing his new works and you will get a change to see him at the SDVAN New Contemporaries show at Susan Street Fine art opening on June 7 in Solana Beach.

"Ring around the Rosie" New Works by Tom Torluemke

Marie Antoinette

 

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We’re all tumbled down.

“Though it seems at times as if nothing could rout him out of the inertia in which he is entrenched, it is quite possible that he may one day be shocked into a greater state of awareness.  Precept and example seem to have had little effect: basically the civilized man is little different from primitive man.  He has not accepted the world, neither has he shown any desire to partake of the reality which invests it.  He is still bound to myth and taboo, still the slave of the victim of history, still the enemy of his own brother.  The simple, obvious truth, that to accept the world is to transform it, seems utterly beyond his powers of comprehension.”
- Henry Miller, The Hour of Man

“So I’ll tell you what I would like.  I would like some bad-acting and wrong-thinking.  I would like to see some art that is courageously silly and frivolous, that cannot be construed as anything else.  I would like a bunch of twenty-three-old troublemakers to become so enthusiastic, so noisy, and so involved in some stupid, seductive, destructive brand of visual culture that I would feel called upon to rise up in righteous indignation, spewing vitriol, to bemoan the arrogance and self-indulgence of the younger generation and all of its artifacts.”
- Dave Hickey, Frivolity and Unction 

And so would I Mr. Hickey… 

Hickey and Miller what a pair!  A generation or so separates them at birth yet they arrive at the same elegant conclusion.  They beg us to awaken to the “obvious truth” that to live fully in this world as a Man or Woman we must, we are obligated, in fact condemned to “transform it.”  It is also a responsibility artists must share - otherwise, go out and get a fucking job.  You are after all, the perfect example of a contemporary peripatetic global artist.  You will survive.  Nonetheless, be it for better or worse, we cannot as “civilized man” or “twenty-something” woman continue to ignore this.  The result will inevitably be we’re all tumbled down or strip-searched.
 
I am concerned about this and so is Tom Torluemke it appears.  But Torluemke is an artist; society tells us he’s supposed to worry about these things: war, famine, death, and erections.  He is after all, the sensitive type.

“The Greeks colored their statues, the Spaniards slaughtered their bulls, The Germans invented Hasenpfeffer, we dream and act impatient, hoping for fame without labor, admiration without a contract, sex with an erection.”
- Larry Rivers and Frank O’Hara, excerpt from How to Proceed in the Arts

However, there are very few artists or memorable works that have actually succeeded in transforming the world if at all (it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try).  There are those however, like the cognoscenti and their pocketbooks, who will disagree.  Pay them no mind.  Those artists who have opened our eyes to the way the world is, and nowadays it ain’t pretty, do so by remaining relevant.  Their works mirror society, its culture and politics, and tell us something about its people.  An artist’s work is only a snapshot of a particular moment in the continuum, like a photograph, it can only tell us so much.  Could the French Revolution been what it was without Jean-Paul Marat and the painter Jacques-Louis David? 

Tom Torluemke has been making art for over thirty years and I don’t see him stopping anytime soon.  It coincides with his devout belief in the transformative and eye-opening (revelatory) power of art.  He does not produce snake-oil.  We should be grateful and excited for what he offers and thankful for showing us who we truly are - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.


Read more here

East county panel discussion on the arts

Silvia Valentino and Carlos Castrejon of STUDIO C Contemporary are hosting: Artists, journalists, writers, university professors, critics, and business people who will discuss the role the arts play in bettering East County and its diverse population. The panel will be mediated by Justin Hudnall, creator and leading operative of The Far East Movement. Additionally, the panel discussion will coincide with the closing reception of The Black and White Show at Studio C, featuring 21 of Southern California's most prominent contemporary visual and music artists, who will also be in attendance. After the panel, we will have an experimental music performance by Chris Warren and The Bitwise Operators.

Panelists include: Seema Sueko from the (San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Commission), Felicia Shaw (The San Diego Foundation), Kevin Freitas (Art As Authority), Eldonna Lay (El Cajon Historical Society), and Patricia Frischer (San Diego Visual Arts Network).  Moderator: Justin Hudnell

We hope that you take this opportunity to contribute to our cause in making East County and El Cajon a better place for the arts to thrive!

Studio C Contemporary

140 E Main St., El Cajon, CA 92020

Friday, April 13, 2012 - 5:30pm

SD Art Prize 2011 show and 2012 announced

Adam Belt installation

Tristan Shone performance

Ruben Ortiz Torres (smiling!)

Adam Belt and Jay Johnson

San Diego Art Prize 2011 Exhibition of Ruben Ortiz-Torres with emerging artist Tristan Shone and Jay Johnson with emerging artist Adam Belt . Reception on March 30, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM. show until May 5, 2012 at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall St. La Jolla, 92037) More info:press@ljathenaeum.org 858.454.5872

Adam Belt has this magical room of pin point light heightened by a subtle fog in the air which shows up streams of light. It was exquisite. Ruben Ortiz Torres exceeded himself by showing very saleable single color canvases with candy colored glitter paint all of which was heat sensitive/.. These painting looked like you should never touch them, but you were invited to do so. Such a thrill. Tristan Shone's performance with 7 musicians singing through his mouth protector masks was haunting and wild and the audience seems to really get it which was thrilling. Jay Johnson showed a similar work to one at the Art Fair that we displayed last September but and also a new work of collaged found objects, very witchy and Edgar Allen Poe-ish. A terrific full house. crowd showed them support for this fifth year of the art prize. The Award Recipients for 2012 were announced and they are Arline Fisch jeweler and sculptor and Jeffery Laudenslager, kinetic sculptor. They will be choosing their emerging artists later this year. We also announced the launch on Thursday June 7 of the New Contemporaries V show of all emerging artists nominated in 2012 at Susan Street Fine Art Gallery

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Art and Science needs new venue or sponsor

The Bronowski Art and Science Forum and almost 40 other arts organizations may be looking for a new home as.the Neurosciences Institute (NSI) was stepping out of its lease. These programs were funded by Performing Arts Program through it’s Minding the Arts event. The building is going back to the The Scripps Research Institute on Oct 1.. Stacy Rosenburg, their spokesperson says they will be asking for $1500 for each event rental and that her organization focuses on science, not the arts. She seems to have missed the point entirely that the arts and their creativity are the new economic driver for the sciences. She states "…. biomedical research is our mission, and we have to guard our resources." This short term thinking is one of the the things holding back San Diego from taking its rightful place as a city of innovation.

If you know of a venue in La Jolla or a sponsor to fund the Bronowski Art and Science Forum, please contact Ron Newby
ronnewby34@gmail.com

SDVAN March Overview

March was another active month at SDVAN. We are so happy to be directly involved in the following projects.

We had a good showing at the .Ste(+a)m Art and Science Networking Meeting including DNA of Creativity team building on March 7, 6-8 pm at Hera Hub , ( 9710 Scranton Road, #160, San Diego, CA 92121). Lots of connections were made between the art and science commiunities. Remember DNA of Creativity, Team Info PDF & Application Word doc
Survey for participants and Information Video Application deadline March 31, 2012
More info: patricia@sdvisualarts.net 760.943.0148

We announced the SD Art Prize 2012 established artists and also those we call the New Contemporaries who are nominated as emerging artists this year. We celebrate the last showing of the 2011 recipients as well.

San Diego Art Prize 2011 Exhibition of Ruben Ortiz-Torres with emerging artist Tristan Shone and Jay Johnson with emerging artist Adam Belt . Reception on March 30, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM. show until May 5, 2012 at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall St. La Jolla, 92037) More info:press@ljathenaeum.org 858.454.5872

We are delighted to announce the SD Art Prize 2012 recipients. The established artists Arline Fisch and Jeffery Laudenslager will be making their choice of emerging artists to mentor later this year. Susan Street Fine Art Gallerywill exhibit all the nominated emerging artists from June 2 to July 3. It is an exciting group including:Shawnee Barton, Lauren Carerra, Noah Doely, Rob Duarte, Alexander Jarman, Anna Chiaretta Lavatelli , Lee M. Lavy, Ingram Ober, Vincent Robles, Deanne Sabeck, David Leon Smith, Brian Zimmerman


Hats Off to Life Exhibition Opening Reception: was a joyful occassion. Seeing the Eight artists depict and celebrate in creatively designed hats the lives of 9 residents of Fairwinds Ivey Ranch, is a rich and fulfilling experience. We were thrilled to get so much press for this subject.
North County Times: Oceanside Fashion Show to Feature Hats, Sat Jan 7, 2012
Union Tribune: Hats Off to Life fashion show honors seniors, by Linda McIntosh, Jan 11, 2012
Coast News: Community artists, models take hats off to life by Promise Yee Sat, Jan 20, 2012
La Jolla Light: Hats Off to Life by Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, March 1, 2012.
Go and see photos of the models and the hats at this wonderful exhibition, made possible with a donation from Heritage Senior Care, Inc. and Show until Fri. May 18, Mon to Fri, 9 am to 5 pm Hera Hub , ( 9710 Scranton Road, #160, San Diego, CA 92121) More info: Felena Hanson 619.889.7852

Stephanie Wang is the SDVAN sponsored Student Scholarship recipient of the Mission Federal Art Walk and will be showing at Space #111 on Beech Street between Kettner Blvd and the railroad tracks. Valentine Viannay: is SDVAN sponsored Participation Event Artist and will show on India Street in front of Blick Art store near Fir Street. You can see both for free on Sat/Sun April 28/29.

A+ Art Blog: United Councils of San Diego?

I was lucky to be invited to a web conference for the California Arts Council (CAC). This is an organization that I know of especially for its advocacy role for funding art for the state. It turns out that their state budget allocation was cut from $40 million to $1 million. The one million was a concession to a matching NEA federal grant of $1 million. In other words if the state had not funded the CAC for $1 million they would have lost the $1 million from the federal NEA grant. Surprisingly, a huge percentage of the money raised for the CAC comes from the ARTS license plates and the largest city to buy those plates is San Diego. They raise $3.5 million this way and most of that goes to fund the artist residency programs to get art back in the state schools. Programs have to be 13 weeks long and a whopping 75% actually go to the artists! Yes, I was not surprised to hear this is way above average as in many cases it seems to be the reverse with 75% going to admin. Average is about 50%

I further found out during this exchange, that most counties have a recognized art council that can apply for fund form the CAC. But in the case of SD, we only have a city council, the Commission for Arts and Culture, which can apply for funds. And the Commission for Arts and Culture only serves the City of San Diego. We also have an independent, unrecognized by the CAC, SD Regional Coalition for the Arts. Any city council can be a member (SD, Encinitas, Escondido and Carlsbad are members), but the Coalition is mainly an advocacy organization and does not have anything to do with funding.

We do not have any umbrella group to which all the cities councils in our county belong at this time that I have discovered. If we want to have a County Arts Council it would need to be recognized by 3 out of the 5 SD County Board of Supervisors i.e. Chairman Greg Cox , District 1 , Vice Chairman Dianne Jacob, District 2 Pam Slater-Price (soon to retire, I am told) District 3, Ron Roberts District 4 Chairman and Bill Horn District 5 . There is not much funding that can be applied for, as the CAC total budget is only about $5.5 million. Besides the residency programs, there is money for operating expenses, technical assistance for disabled, support for low income and rural programs, and funding for programs that are collaborative between at least 3 geographically unconnected counties.

We are being asked to check the box on our income tax returns to give $1 to the arts for the CAC. If we want that to come to SD outside of the city funds, then a council needs to be formed and approved. So we struggle here in San Diego with the idea of a County-wide Arts Council. What would be its role? What funds would actually come its way if it did organize? Would a new non-profit need to be formed or would an existing one take on this role? Until the role of a regional arts council is determined, these are hard questions to answer. That role would certainly have to be determined by its members.

Our local cities have different names for those making decisions about the arts. There are art councils, commissions, committees but most are volunteers who are exclusively concerned with their own agendas. There must certainly be crossover concerns and there might be some united goals as well. This is only a worthwhile project if coming together is a win-win for all concerned. The recent envision project Show Your Love for SD funded by the SD Foundation announced results that the general population is ready for change and does want those in leadership roles to all work together and not be silo-ed with little or no inter-communication. I found this quite heartening.

But the real challenge of creating a united SD arts council is to do it in such a way that it is an administratively minimal financial obligation. If not, it is just one more drain on resources. The moment you ask for a membership fee or listing fee, you are in danger of disenfranchising part of the community. So are we technologically advanced enough to have a virtual arts council? If we see San Diego as an innovation capital, a virtual arts council would be a good way to prove it.

A+ Art Blog: Thank you, Dennis Paul Batt

Thanks to Dennis for being one of the first people we met when we arrived in SD. I hear this story from so many people. Dennis helped people feel comfortable when they didn’t know anyone. He would come over and talk to them and introduce them to others. He was a self appointed ambassador for the arts.

Thanks to Dennis for his dedicated volunteerism. He would help hang a show, help make a website, help serve at the bar, help install a sculpture. If you wanted something done you could count on Dennis. He was always a reliable part of a team, with no ego, no need to have his name in lights. It was never about Dennis and always about the art.

Thanks to Dennis for his advice and console. He delighted in calling up to tell you a bit of gossip and you would end up telling him something in return. And in the course of the conversation, you might discover a solution or a different way of thinking about something. He was genuinely a creative thinker.

Thank you Dennis for taking the piss out of overbearing egoist and there are plenty of those in the art world. He railed against them, battled to rid the art world of them and sometimes he even won.

Thanks to Dennis for being that little devil that tempted us to naughty things. Even if we did not rise to the bait, it felt good to imagine doing so.

Thank you to Dennis for reminding us we never know how long we have and that we have to say thanks and I love you to those who matter to us.

There are not enough thank you’s and many of us feel we did not say thank you enough to this man who made us laugh and pull out our hair, who got so thrilled when he saw a new creation, who was working on an exciting new project and who died far, far too soon.

Thanks to Dennis Paul Batt for so many good, good years and for leaving us with all the connections he made for us to continue his quest to have the value of art truly recognized in our community.

New Horizons in SD Art

I found myself making two speeches this month and in both the most important point was that old chestnut, why do we do this. Now I am no spring chicken and that means that I can cycle back to childhood and do things just for the fun of it. But I do have standards. My husband Darwin helped me to focus on the qualities that really attract us in any art work that we admire. We are looking for the excitement of break-though thinking and creation of the differences in perceived reality. We want a glimpse of new horizons, a view of what could be possible.

Many artworks will tell stories. Those stories will define in someway who we are, maybe in the past, maybe the present and hopefully in the future. I continue to be impressed with the quality of art we are now seeing in San Diego. The standard is getting higher and higher agrees Karen McGuire the curator of the William D. Cannon Art Gallery in Carlsbad. On view right now is the 2012 Invitational Exhibition, and McGuire admits it was hard to make a choice of just five from the juried show held last year.

Robert Ecker's paintinga were a favorite of Darwin especially the landscapes right at the entry. I also found these the best of his works as they seem to have focus and purpose which some of the other composition lacked. The technical ability of all the artists was very, very high but that is not the reason that we see such an improvement in the works in the last 15 years. SD artists were always capable of craftsmanship.

Becky Guttin (assemblage) created a field of strange and compelling shapes mainly on stems of metal and using gourds lined with metal filings. She is revisited these shapes that we first saw a while ago. The real revelation is when she groups them together and used her hand to vibrate the stems. All of a sudden we were transported from a desert landscape to an underwater bed of waving seaweed. I just wish that the works could move on their own so everyone could experience what we saw on the night of the opening.

Roy Jenuine (sculpture) Robert Nelson (drawing) both have stories to tell and allow our imaginations to fill in the blanks although we are directed by the visuals. Jenuine’s small figures holding on to picnic tables in gale force winds generated by drawn desk fans are charming. When grouped with figures in a variety of yoga-like positions all divided into display boxes, or a surfer and his surf board on a pulley with an elaborate water wheel, or a series of dogs of all sizes, we feel we are let into the world of an acute observer of life. Nelson continues his series of finely drawn characters seemingly from his dream world and we enjoyed another chance to see his work which is represented by Noel Baza. Nelson was one of our emerging artists from New Contemporaries III exhibition.

Sasha Koozel Reibstein (ceramics) has her own pharmacological lab in a kiln and has produced capsules for every possible malady. We see them not only suspended but embedded in what looks like body inners. For some reason these look rather pleasant and even humorous but there is a darker novel brewing here.

These artist are only just five of the wonderful talent that is developing in our community. Watch for the show in June of New Contemporaries now in its fifth year and all nominated by art professionals like Karen McGuire.

P.S. You still have time to see the wonderful overstuffed, radically shaped and exquisitely finished works of Lila Jang at Lux Art Institute. Ms. Jang’s misfortune of not being able to travel to SD from Korea is a benefit for us in that Kim MacConnel and Paul Henry have worked in the Lux studio during her show and their work is on display as well until March 3.

SDVAN January Overview

DNA of Creativity You don't often see a dedicated group of intellectual all gathered together and brainstorming creative and innovative ideas. If you missed the Information Meeting at MiraCosta College you can now watch the video (or below) which answers questions about the application process and explains the criteria for the $2000 grants. This project will connect artists to scientists and culminate in 2013 with large teams efforts producing exhibitions, lesson plans and other documentation of the collaborative process. Team Application are now available. Information PDF & Word doc template. Want to know more and stay in touch? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook AND join the Blog. Click this link to register your intent to participate. Send us an email and we will add you to the DNA of Creativity mailing list.

DNa Info Meeting from Patricia Frischer on Vimeo.

Hats Off for Life Fashion Show on Sat Jan 14 at Fairwinds Ivey Ranch was a charming afternoon where the retirement community, friends and family celebrated the creativity of 8 artists while the admiring hats designed specially for the residents. Now those hats and the photographs taken by three professional photographers, Melissa Au, Raymond Elstad, and Erika Johnson will be on view at Hera Hub (9710 Scranton Road, #160 , San Diego, CA 92121) on Thurs Feb 23, 4:30 - 7:30 pm