April 24, 2009 • 3:21 am 0
In this video Robert Rauschenberg describes when he was a young artist and approached Willem De Kooning, at the time the acknowledged greatest American artist, and asked if he could destroy a work by erasing it. The work caused a major stir and intense debate in the art world.
April 10, 2009 • 7:28 pm 0
The PBS series, Art21, was the best television series ever done on contemporary art – thought provoking and extremely well made. Hulu now has all 16 episodes available on their website. See the ones you’ve missed or revisit your favorites. Click here.
March 25, 2009 • 6:57 pm 1
If you don’t know about flavorpill, you should. The site has great suggestions on art, music, film, design, etc. from NYC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Chicago and Miami.Today I received a flavorpill offer for a free music download from a site called RCRD LBL. Flavorpill’s MANGO MIX has 11 tracks that range from hip hop, jazz, electronica and latin. Some really great stuff (check out “Your Love” by Pacha Massive and “Diablo Roho” by Rodrigo y Gabriela) and just in time for Spring.
Download the tunes here: Mango Mix.
Filed under: Music , flavorpill, free music, Music, rcrd lbl
• 2:46 pm 0
Lately I’ve been posting new videos on our gallery website. I did a great deal of research on video hosting sites to see what was out there. I narrowed it down to a few choices based on quality, ease of use, etc.. My favorite is a site called vzaar. I wanted to post the video above of painter Michael von Helms here on my blog, but encountered a problem when trying to post it. The problem was WordPress and vzaar didn’t seem to be able to “talk” to one another.
I dutifully sent an email to vzaar customer service about the problem thinking “I’ll probably never hear from them”. Was I wrong! Not only did I hear from them but almost immediately and from three of the company’s top officers. They said they would contact WordPress and get the problem resolved. During the process they kept me updated and today I received word from Ian Snead in London (where they are based) that all was well and the problem had been resolved.
If you are looking for a video hosting site I strongly encourage you check out vzaar. The product is great and their customer service is beyond amazing – (Seth Godin are you listening)?
Here’s vzaar’s blog post that explains how to use the service with WordPress.
Big thanks vzaar and I can’t wait to see some of your new products.
Filed under: Technology , customer service, Seth Godin, video, vzaar, wordpress
March 23, 2009 • 3:14 pm 0
"Trapeze" - Copyright, Lawrence Matthews
Over the past few years I’ve become interested in collecting vernacular, or anonymous, photography. This is a fairly new field and involves collecting photographs made by unknown photographers.
Vernacular photographs are discovered in attic trunks and flea markets, antique stores and elsewhere that cultural ephemera are found. The best of these photographs have an intrinsic aesthetic quality (intended or not by the photographer) that transcends the “snapshot” genre. Sometimes the photo has a sense of mystery about it or it may depict an unusual or comical scene. Sometimes the image may be well composed and exhibit all the formal aspects of a fine art photograph.
Finding the gems that are out there is challenging because most of the photos you come across are mundane records of family holidays, etc., but its exciting when you do spot an image that transcends the everyday and attains the quality of art.
I am considering mounting a vernacular photography exhibition at our galleries here in Santa Fe and here’s a small preview of some of the images from my collection. By the way, the one at the top of this post was found in Denison, Texas at an antique store.
"Boy On Bike", Copyright, Lawrence Matthews
"Boat On Wheels" - Copyright, Lawrence Matthews
"Odd Man Out" - Copyright, Lawrence Matthews
Filed under: Art, Photography , Art, Photography
February 16, 2009 • 6:00 pm 2
Unless you’ve been in a coma lately you’ve heard that U2 has a new album that will be released on March 3rd. This video on You Tube features their first release (“Get On Your Boots”) from the CD – “No Line On The Horizon”. In addition to the song, which has really grown on me, the art direction in the video is stunning.
Be sure to click on the link in the lower right beneath the YouTube player that lets you watch it in hi-def.
• 3:45 pm 0
Installation View of Eric McGehearty Sculpture at 416west gallery - 2005
Eric McGehearty’s thoughtful, enigmatic and elegant sculpture has always been a favorite since I had an exhibition for him at our gallery in Texas. His work often deals with access to language and mirrors his own struggles with dyslexia. A new installation in Fort Worth titled, Locked Behind Words, opens this Wednesday at Tarrant County College’s Northwest Campus.
Here’s a great article and video about Eric and his work on the Dallas Morning News site.
Filed under: Art, Artists, Sculpture , Art, Artists, Sculpture
February 14, 2009 • 4:13 am 2
“In an organized society we have the hospital, school, police station, the law courts. But after all these things are dealt with there is still a gap inside of everyone which can only be filled by reading, listening to music, writing poetry, making art, looking at art.”
- Gilbert and George
Filed under: Art, Art Quotes, Artists
February 13, 2009 • 4:20 am 0
In the midst of our national collective concern about the economy, terrorism, health care, and global warming does art really make a difference these days?
I know a lot of the standard defenses of art of course – it enriches our lives, it educates and entertains. True, but the same could be said of stamp collecting and crossword puzzles. Here’s the bigger question – what is the intrinsic value of art? In short, Does Art Really Matter?
It certainly matters to serious artists, who devote their lives to creating art. Some, like Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko and countless others, literally faced their own personal hells to convey an ultimate truth that is beyond all understanding and ultimately beyond the ability of human conveyance. Was it worth it?
Art seems to matter to all the scholars and teachers and curators who have devoted their careers to helping us understand and appreciate art sometimes in the face of a scornful and indifferent public. Why bother?
It seems to matter to the fund-raisers and the donors who give time and money to public institutions that preserve and exhibit art. Aren’t there more important causes?
Art seems to matter to collectors who purchase the product of artists’ talents. Aren’t there better ways to spend one’s money?
From my years as a gallerist I know art can have a strong emotional resonance with viewers. Once, while exhibiting a Matisse etching, I noticed a woman walk over to it and within moments begin sobbing out loud. I rushed to her thinking there was something terribly wrong. But, when I asked if I could help, she said she didn’t understand why but she just felt overwhelmed by the beauty of the piece.
Reflecting on the emotional power of art, I recalled one of the first things new totalitarian regimes do is round up artists and poets and decree that art must serve the state. So art must contain the ability to change minds and inspire freedom.
While some people consider art to be about things, it is only nominally about objects. It is about ideas and emotions expressed in paint or music or poetry. It is a conversation with oneself and others and aids our desire to come to terms with our humanness and ultimately, touch the infinite. Art can be as beautiful as a photograph of a shadow falling across a wall or as agonizingly painful as the tormented faces screaming in Picasso’s “Guernica”. [By the way, If you feel the connection between art and the infinite is too great a leap then read Joyce’s “Ulysses” or listen to Beethoven or stand before a Van Gogh - if you don't feel connected to something larger than yourself, maybe you should consider a soul implant.]
So, after some thought, here’s where I stand:
Art connects us with the deepest human longing for meaning and our desire to touch the infinite.
That seems pretty important.
If finally all our politics are of no consequence and we lose the battle against our own worst nature and unleash the ultimate catastrophe upon ourselves; then arguably there were bigger issues than art. But I can envision the final person on earth tracing the shape of a flower in the dust as her last act of trying to communicate and as a cry against the impenetrable nature of what it meant to be human.
Perhaps then, art matters a great deal after all.
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