It’s Only Art?

Here is a brief list of recent interviews that I have found to be interesting. It is by no means an exhaustive list but more a personal preference list.

Robin McGee

James Pearson

Dorothy Edwards

Heidi Maiers

If you know of an artist who deserves some recognition please comment or send an email. I may interview them here or pass on information to CAG.

Daniel Ferris

The people who buy, collect and invest in contemporary art are the true heroes of tomorrow’s culture.  Those collectors, who buy contemporary art from solid artists with a personal vision, are creating a collection that shows some connoisseurship.  This is the kind of connoisseurship that will give the culture something more than the commercial buzzwords, hype and flashing lights.

If you get a chance have a look at the following seven articles that I believe give some information and goodviewpoint on collecting contemporary art.  Some of these articles are about investing in contemporary art or buying art generally.

Most Influential Artists
Billionaire Art Collectors
Top 100 Contemporay Art People
Buying Original Art
Investing In Art
Original Contemporary Art
Abstract Art

The jist of these articles pushes the buying, collecting and investing in contemporary art works by contemporary artists as good for the collector of art and the future of the art world as well as the culture more generally.  I didn’t write them but I like them.

- Daniel Ferris

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then I will bet that eroticism is also in the eye of the beholder.  Erotic art has its artists, critics, students, collectors, and “lovers”.  To describe the range of  tastes, interests  and  definitions in erotic art you can surf the internet and briefly pick up on what I would have to call a vast diversity.

When you review what mainstream cultures have labelled as erotic art - as differentiated from other such labels as unerotic art, pornography, cultism, fetishism, blasphemy, etc - you find that it depends to whom, where and when you are talking to know what is erotic and permissable.

I recently wrote a piece on Nora Ness for CAG that provides a perfect example of what I consider erotic.    But at the rate that the internet is changing cultural views worldwide there is a real possibility that what Nora is doing is not only erotic but also Performance Art and  Photography Art as well as Concept Art.  In only a week’s retrospection I would now  add  that Nora’s  work  is  quickly becoming  Pop Art.

And one of the most interesting features about Nora Ness, besides her body and erotic expressivity, is that she is doing truly multimedia creative projects.  I believe her experimantation with backgrounds will drive her work even further - not only in strength of composition - into the Concept Art and Pop Art domains, simultaneously.  Artistic eroticism is nearly mainstream.  I personally hope Nora will put together a CD of her images and copyright them for sale. I think she is a pioneer.

- Danie Ferris

I would like to mention that I have recently seen some good essays and articles written on contemporary art at the Contemporary Art Gallery Magazine. “Principles and Elements of Design Challenged” by Allan Swinson makes a reasonable argument that art must constantly take new ground in challenging the elements of design and principles of design if it is to succeed its precursors esthetically. Allan goes on to provide a few examples of how recent and future artists are in fact pushing the limits of design. He cites the revolutionary approaches to this challenge by several of the major schools - Impressionism, Expressionism, Op Art, etc.

I am also contributing a series of articles - “Art - Past, Present and Future - Parts 1-6“. The first four installments of that series is completed. The first three are published and Part 4 follows shortly. Two of the these of the series is that cutting edge art is a product of two major trends: 1) evaluation in retrospect by the dominant art culture of a later time 2) escape from the cultural ordinary that new technologies create

Arthur Browning has several good articles there. Two of Arthur’s articles are directed to the new collector of contemporary art. “Investing in Contemporary Art” and “Choosing Original Art for Your Collection” .

Tia Marks has also written a series “Why Do Artists Create?” Parts 1-3. This series gives a good basic understanding of the creative drive and creative processes of the artist working in any medium. Tia explains some of the emotional and intellectual reasons for art creation and the working processes of artmakers.

If you know of some good reading on contemporary art, let me know.

Daniel Ferris

This is Art Reveiw magazine’s annual list. Arthur Browning just reviewed it at CAG, if you want to read his article about the list.

-  Daniel Ferris

My friend Tia Marks recently published a piece in Ezine.com about the process of commissioning works of art.   She covers  the  process of finding  an art style that you like, negotiating price and terms, receiving and displaying the artwork

In addition to the general discussion, Tia adds the example of her own purchase of commissioned works from  artist  Brad  Bannister.  Bannister has a website - http://abstractpainting-bannister.com  that she began with.   Below is one example of Bannister’s work.

Daniel Ferris

Please read the upcoming article on Kristen Beith at Contemporary Art Gallery Magazine. - Danie Ferris

I have been working on an article about current abstract painting. I ran across a very interesting portfolio by painter, Lily Prillinger. You can see much more of her work at her website

Daniel Ferris

I have to announce, and toot my horn a little, the successful launch of Contemporary Art Gallery Magazine for Business and Collector Art News. I’ve been writing there, which has slowed my output here. Hopefully I can bring on a few more artist and art blogger interviews soon.

Let me know if you want to work on any joint projects.

Daniel Ferris

I was contacted by the photographer James Havers and recently went through his website, Fragments In Time. The portfolio on his website is interesting and shows a real love of photography.

“A while back I used to work as a photographer but for one reason or another hadn’t really taken a meaningful picture in around 10 years. Without trying to sound melodramatic, it took a dodgy London bar, one too many drinks, and the enthusiasm of two friends to make me realise what I was missing and pick up a camera again.”

“You might be wondering why I called the site Fragments in Time? The name is a spin on the famous ‘decisive moments’ comment made by French photographer Henri Cartier Bresson. These galleries contain a few small ‘fragments’ I have managed to capture over the years.”

“I don’t know about you but when I look at a picture I often find myself trying to imagine the story behind the image. Some of these are few years old, but where I can remember, I have added the odd comment to give you a flavour of when, where, and why the picture was taken.”

Thankyou James - Keep up the good work.

- Daniel Ferris