tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post9157864432273451254..comments2023-03-21T08:41:40.385-05:00Comments on local ephemera: Stretch MarksJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10752474478024991359noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post-79988662739177672932008-05-22T11:58:00.000-05:002008-05-22T11:58:00.000-05:00On another note, that dog in those shorts is adora...On another note, that dog in those shorts is adorable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post-73887532267337364722008-05-21T08:12:00.000-05:002008-05-21T08:12:00.000-05:00I agree, I think I have said as much before, but m...I agree, I think I have said as much before, but my expectations for YB are set above those of Radial Cafe or Aurora Coffee - that is to say, I have higher expectations for a gallery which represents Ryan Liccione or closed their last space with a show dealing with the Red Light District. <BR/><BR/>I'll be interested to see where the gallery goes from here.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10752474478024991359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post-16933116590544131262008-05-20T17:42:00.000-05:002008-05-20T17:42:00.000-05:00All true, but there have to be levels. An artist's...All true, but there have to be levels. An artist's claim is not just in the artist statemtent; it's in the artist's career trajectory, the venue the work is being shown in, and a hundred other variables. I'm going to hold a Tony Oursler at the Guggenheim to a much higher standard than a 10th grader's first portrait at a church talent show. Obviously, the work we're talking about is somewhere between those two extremes. The question is where?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post-11551746756300604282008-05-20T16:20:00.000-05:002008-05-20T16:20:00.000-05:00To the contrary Mr Hicks, wrestling with conceptua...To the contrary Mr Hicks, wrestling with conceptual issues in such a public way as through art places the artist in a very vulnerable position - while creating purely decorative/craft work is possibly the safest and easiest way to entertain oneself. <BR/><BR/>Without the artist owning up to any intended purpose it is impossible to fail and I would argue these artists are wholly unavailable - whether their hand can be seen in the rough edges of the cut matboard or not. It is necessary to hold artists to a standard of intellectual engagement (for example, why are there rabbit silhouettes cut into the clouds instead of, say, carrots?) if they show their art publicly, regardless of stated intentions.<BR/><BR/>It would be impossible to critique any art if the artists set the terms for which the work is considered (and set that bar extremely low).Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10752474478024991359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post-3866468928384163772008-05-20T15:35:00.000-05:002008-05-20T15:35:00.000-05:00In this case, I'm using generosity as opposed to a...In this case, I'm using generosity as opposed to aloofness, by which I mean I see a work in which the artists have made themselves available, they are not hiding behind some sort of highly polished conceptual screen--the work shows their hands and puts right on the surface the markers of how engaged they were with the making of it. It's a little silly and craftsy, which is a vulnerable place to be.<BR/><BR/>But jonathan is using "aloof" in a different way, to mean something more like "removed from social engagement" (?) Which maybe changes things.<BR/><BR/>Myself, I no longer demand that sort of rigor in all instances. I don't think this work is making claims big enough to hold it to that standard. It's just a beautiful, aesthetic object whose conceptual territory may lie completely in the realm of aesthetics. That's a legitimate project for artists, even if it's not the one that you or I may be most interested in.<BR/><BR/>By the same token, that's a privileged position, right?--this position to say, "Oh just chill out and take it easy and everything's cool, and we're cool, and it's all just so cool." It's privileged because only certain kinds of artists can afford that space. Other artists have to stay socially engaged. They speak for ideas or for people whose lives literally depend on it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post-27044584512519733392008-05-20T11:15:00.000-05:002008-05-20T11:15:00.000-05:00I used "aloof" to describe the pieces because the ...I used "aloof" to describe the pieces because the two artists stubbornly avoided addressing anything beyond their own amusement with making the work. The two large cloud sculptures were the epitome of this. The sculptures take no conceptual responsibility - they are in essence simply decorative, or aloof, to any of the more serious responsibilities of art presented in galleries (i.e. to provoke, to question, etc) and the artists justify this by claiming a heightened sense of universal understanding in seeing, in their old, wise age, that life should not be taken so seriously.<BR/><BR/>Which is fine, people are free to make what they wish, but it reflects poorly on a gallery to champion this when their aim is to represent the DIY art of the young artists; though the sales were high indeed.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10752474478024991359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post-45368297275313761292008-05-20T10:54:00.000-05:002008-05-20T10:54:00.000-05:00Hey Cinque, what do you mean by generosity?And Jon...Hey Cinque, what do you mean by generosity?<BR/><BR/>And Jonathan, what do you mean by "aloof?"<BR/><BR/>You're using those terms to describe some aspect of the viewer's interaction with/interpretation of the piece, right?Ben Gradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09588621253858702876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418895227823630555.post-32970616848471028722008-05-19T17:24:00.000-05:002008-05-19T17:24:00.000-05:00Hey yo, I'm in L.A. Be back soon, but thanks for t...Hey yo, I'm in L.A. Be back soon, but thanks for the photos. By the way, you couldn't be more wrong about this: "The pieces were highly detailed and ambitious in craft but remained aloof." Just wrong. That piece was the epitome of generosity!! see ya soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com