An artist statement I enjoyed reading


 

Stephen Shore's Artist's Statement



Until I was twenty-three I lived mostly in a few square miles in Manhattan. In 1972 I set out with a friend for Amarillo, Texas. I didn't drive, so my first view of America was framed by the passenger's window.

It was a shock. I would be in a flat nowhere place of the earth, and every now and then I would walk outside or be driving down a road and the light would hit something and for a few minutes the place would be transformed.

Color film is wonderful because it shows not only the intensity but the color of light. There is so much variation in light between noon one day and the next, between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon. A picture happens when something inside connects, an experience that changes as the photographer does. When the picture is there, I set out the 8x10 camera, walk around it, get behind it, put the hood over my head, perhaps move it over a foot, walk in front, fiddle with the lens, the aperture, the shutter speed. I enjoy the camera. Beyond that it is difficult to explain the process of photographing except by analogy:

The trout streams where I flyfish are cold and clear and rich in the minerals that promote the growth of stream life. As I wade a stream I think wordlessly of where to cast the fly. Sometimes a difference of inches is the difference between catching a fish and not. When the fly I've cast is on the water my attention is riveted to it. I've found through experience that whenever--or so it seems--my attention wanders or I look away then surely a fish will rise to the fly and I will be too late setting the hook. I watch the fly calmly and attentively so that when the fish strikes--I strike. Then the line tightens, the playing of the fish begins, and time stands still. Fishing, like photography, is an art that calls forth intelligence, concentration, and delicacy.

Stephen Shore, 1982

Marlena Dumas: I paint because I am a dirty woman

Women and Painting

I paint because I am a woman.
(It’s a logical necessity).
If painting is female and insanity is a female malady, then all women painters are mad and all male painters are women.

I paint because I am an artificial blonde woman.
(Brunettes have no excuse).
If all good painting is about color then bad painting is about having the wrong color. But bad things can be good excuses. As Sharon Stone said, ‘Being blonde is a great excuse. When you’re having a bad day you can say, I can’t help it, I’m just feeling very blonde today.’

I paint because I am a country girl.
(Clever, talented big-city girls don’t paint).
I grew up on a wine farm in Southern Africa. When I was a child I drew bikini girls for male guests on the back of their cigarette packs. Now I am a mother and I live in another place that reminds me a lot of a farm – Amsterdam (It’s a good place for painters). Come to think about it, I’m still busy with those types of images and imagination.

I paint because I am a religious woman.
(I believe in eternity). Painting doesn’t freeze time.
It circulates and recycles time like a wheel that turns. Those who were first might well be last. Painting is a very slow art. It doesn’t travel with the speed of light. That’s why dead painters shine so bright.
It’s okay to be the second sex.
It’s okay to be second best.
Painting is not a progressive activity.

I paint because I am an old-fashioned woman.
(I believe in witchcraft).
I don’t have Freudian hang-ups. A brush does not remind me of a phallic symbol. If anything, the domestic aspect of a painter’s studio (being ‘locked up’ in a room) reminds me a bit of the housewife with her broom. If you’re a witch you will still know how to use it. Otherwise it is obvious that you’ll prefer the vacuum cleaner.

I paint because I am a dirty woman.
(Painting is a messy business).
It cannot ever be a pure conceptual medium. The more ‘conceptual’ or cleaner the art, the more the head can be separated from the body, and the more the labour can be done by others. Painting is the only manual labour I do.

I paint because I like to be bought and sold.
Painting is about the trace of the human touch. It is about the skin of a surface. A painting is not a postcard. The content of a painting cannot be separated from the feel of its surface. Therefore, in spite of everything, Cézanne is more than vegetation and Picasso is more than an anus and Matisse is not a pimp.

 

Women and painting. Originally published in Parkett. Cherchez la Femme Peintre! A Parkett Inquiry, vol. 37 (1993), p.140; and included in Marlene Dumas, Sweet Nothings. Notes and Texts, first edition Galerie Paul Andriesse and De Balie Publishers Amsterdam, 1998; and second edition (revised and expanded) Koenig Books London, 2014.

 

OPEN AIR: Solo show at Multnomah Art Center

WHO: Tatyana Ostapenko

 

WHAT: “Open Air,” paintings

 

WHERE: MULTNOMAH ARTS CENTER GALLERY

              Multnomah Arts Center

              7688 SW Capitol Hwy

              Portland, OR 97219

 

WHEN: Exhibit: January 6 – 31, 2017

           Opening Reception: Friday, January 6, 7-9pm

           

HOURS: Mon-Fri: 9am-9:30pm

             Sat & Sun: 9am-5pm

 

 

“Open Air,” an exhibit of paintings by Tatyana Ostapenko, will be on view at the Multnomah Arts Center gallery beginning January 6.  The oils on canvas and wood draw upon the subjects of her post-soviet homeland of Ukraine. They pay homage to the native traditions of realist and social realist painting.  An opening reception will be held in the gallery Friday, January 6, 7-9pm.  The show may be seen through January 31.

Inaugural Old Town Biennial/New Portland Painting

HyunjuKim

You are invited to the inaugural Old Town Biennial/New Portland Painting. 

Brooke Budy and I co-curated this show of emerging local painters because we wanted to see more good painting on Portland gallery walls. 

The artists we have chosen are united by a passion for their medium and a dedication to the process and craft of painting. 

What to expect: New work from seven emerging Portland painters 

What's being served: White and rosé from local favorite Rose & Fern Wines (and some hip cheap beer, too)

Where to show up: Erickson Gallery, at 9 NW 2nd Ave, in Portland.

When it's happening: First Thursday, August 4, from 6:00 - 9:00pm. (Stay tuned for advance notice of further Biennial-related events at the gallery throughout the month of August.)

Participating artists:

Matt Hall

John Holsinger

Hyunju Kim

Kyle Lee

Charlie J. Meyers

Dee Royall

Amanda Wilson

 

DeeRoyall

Cascade AIDS Project Art Auction

Curator's Choice

"Roadside"

oil on wood

18x24 inches

2016

Tickets are now on sale at www.CAPArtAuction.org for Portland’s premier art event benefiting Cascade AIDS Project. This year’s theme is Pop Art, so pick out an outfit that’d make Andy Warhol proud!

CAP’s Annual Art Auction is one of the agency’s major annual fundraisers, raising over $600,000 to support and empower people living with or affected by HIV and to prevent new infections. The After Party ($50/person) includes a salon-style silent auction of over 150 pieces of art along with sweets and savories provided by some of Portland’s best food purveyors. The Patron Dinner ($300/person) includes attendance at the After Party, plus a gourmet meal and a live auction featuring a number of the most outstanding pieces donated by prominent area artists and collectors.

"Recruits" are on their way to Cape Cod Art Museum!

The Cape Cod Museum of Art presents its first open national juried exhibition, titled, “Breaking the Mold: Inspired by Innovation,” to inaugurate their 35th Anniversary celebrations, opening on March 31, 2016. Juror Mim Brooks Fawcett, Executive Director of the Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA, has selected 35 artworks from 718 submissions by 277 artists residing in 29 different states. At the opening reception on March 31, she will announce her four “Juror’s Best” awards. Awardees will be given recognition on the museum’s website and in social media.

 

 

Ms. Fawcett commented, “. . .jurying the Cape Cod Museum of Art’s debut national juried exhibition . . . was both an honor and a challenge. Each piece was carefully examined for its mastery of technique and execution, message, creative approach – and crosschecked against the show’s theme. Did the work stand out for its originality? Did it touch upon time-tested roots, yet push the envelope? In the end, the 35 selected pieces stood out for their no holds barred character, dared to be distinct in some way, shape or form and (despite a unique persona) had a provocative relationship to the other 34 mold breakers. All submitting artists are to be commended for their strong entries. It was a pleasure meeting each piece and connecting with the range of exciting work that each artist put forward. Finally, I congratulate the chosen 35 for standing out in a highly competitive crowd. Keep on walking to your own drummer.“

 

As part of the 35th Anniversary celebrations of the museum, this exhibition features artwork that breaks the bounds of tradition in diverse ways. Carolyn Conrad, from Sag Harbor, NY, surprises the viewer in Maybe Cape Breton by presenting an image that seems to be an outdoor landscape, when in reality it is a photograph of a handmade staged construction. A beautifully-crafted metal, plastic and crystal sculpture by Holland Houdek, from Iowa City, turns out to be modeled after a medical implant, Atlas Posterior Column. And a ceramic teapot, by Ron Mello, turns into a moving vehicle. There is a broad variety of imagery, mediums, and messages in this exhibition that will appeal to a wide range of viewers. (Please see images below.)

 

The 35 selected artists are, from 16 states:

Denise Buckley, OH

Robin Cass, NY

Carolyn Conrad, NY

Darcy Dangremond, MA

Alice Denison, MA

Jessica Dupuis, NC

Tanya Fletcher, ME

Diane Francis, MA

Shaina Gates, PA

Amir Hariri, NY

Howard Hastie, MA

Holland Houdek, IA

Colleen Kiely, MA

Dimitrina Kutriansky, IL

Keith Lewis, WA

Kandy Lopez, FL

Ron Mello, MA

Tatyana Ostapenko, OR

Joseph Ostraff, UT

Colin Poole, NM

Margaret Realica, CA

Diana Mari Rossi, CA

Abby Schmidt, PA

Wendy Seller, MA

Lauren Skelly, NY

Jeff Stauder, MA

Deborah Stenberg-Service, CA

Gin Stone, MA

Kate Sullivan, MA

Susanne Taylor, MA

Stefania Urist, CT

Randy Van Dyck, ID

Peggy Wyman, MO

Laurence Young, MA

Micah Zavacky, IL

 

Juror: Mim Brooks Fawcett

Since July 2006, Mim Brooks Fawcett has been the Executive Director of the Attleboro Arts Museum in Attleboro, MA, where she has focused her efforts on providing outstanding and diverse exhibitions and art programs. She holds degrees in the visual arts, graphic design and cinema. She has also served as an educator at Northeastern University and Boston University and as a corporate Art Director.

 

 

March 31 - June 12, 2016

Opening Reception: March 31, 2016; 5:30 -7:00pm

Founded in 1981, the Cape Cod Museum of Art is dedicated to its mission, “To Inspire through Art.” It is committed to collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting exceptional works of art that have inspired, or been created by, artists associated with the entire Cape, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. We foster cultural growth and creativity through our educational programs, and through research that promotes an understanding of the region's artistic heritage. The museum is grateful to be supported in its mission by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.

 

 

The museum is located at 60 Hope Lane, just off Route 6A, in the same complex as the Cape Cinema and the Cape Cod Playhouse in Dennis, MA. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm on Wednesdays through Saturdays (Winter Hours) and noon to 5 pm on Sundays. Admission is $9, $7 for seniors and students 19+ with school ID, $5 for students 13 to 18, and free for children 12 and under. More information may be obtained by calling (508) 385-4477.

 

Please visit our website, www.CCMoA.org, for a full schedule of events, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

 

Cape Cod Museum of Art

60 Hope Lane, Just off Route 6A

PO Box 2034

Dennis, MA 02638

508-385-4477

CCMoA.org

Laundry List

Painting body in oil

objectified female

tart, matron, crone

fantasy amidst the bleak surroundings

patterned mismatched clashing interiors and clothes

succinct clutter of  well lived in environments

men in dresses

the absurd 

post-Soviet

can't go back

mud is proof of realness

unadulterated taste of things 

simplicity

labor

hard work and harsh conditions

young women's desire for glamour

misguided efforts

high contrast

bright daylight

sexuality

softening men's macho brusqueness with some rouge and lace

fluidity and freedom