detroitarts: April 2007

Bridge Art Fair Chicago

You all know those misinformed ladies out there that apply way too much makeup, wear way too many accessories, show too much skin and over style their hair. Why do they look so cheap? This brings me to Bridge Art Fair. You see, I am sure some of the exhibitors have a really nice personality and who knows maybe I could even settle down with one of them but for now all I saw were over crowed booths that at times lacked a clear direction of what they represented. So come on ladies, let's try make better decisions and maybe you will get some more dates...I mean sales.
Sorry Ms. Bridge, maybe next time.

kuhl & leyton

guerra de la paz

macha suzuki

michiko itatani

(dNASAb)

PST "Out of the Ass of the Blood Lake...Demonic Legions...etc, etc"

jason robert bell

DIARY OF AN ARTSTAR

Ahhhh...finally a review that keeps me awake.

"Unless the phrases 'open bar' or "free food" are involved, I rarely venture above 14th Street. Sadly most of the trendiest galleries are now in Chelsea, a neighborhood that is not only above 14th Street, but also so far west that it’s almost in New Jersey. Plus there are no bathrooms in Chelsea. At least when galleries were in SoHo, you could use the facilities at nearby bars. These days, visiting galleries means not drinking any fluids beforehand, making the experience extremely stressful. And too often, the art proves unworthy of the hassle of traveling outside of my 'pee radius...'"

OK well, maybe it reads more like a descriptive art narrative about gallery viewing but nonetheless it is still honest, fun commentary and I feel that with all the art looking I do, sometimes a little humor about art and art looking is needed. Artnet is really doing a wonderful job when it comes to art criticism and mixing it up with contemporary to decorative art reviews and young and older critics - it is great that Artnet has stories like this and then balances them out with jerry saltz stories that start like this:

"Not for Sale," the 46-person mishmash at P.S. 1, is a thankfully rare case of "When Bad Ideas Create Passable Shows."

SUNDAYS NEW YORK

Check out this online gallery of works....a former detroit artist, now in NY is part of this group which meets...sunday mornings to discuss artworks in progress. They then compile them onto an online gallery for everyone to view.

art chicago 07

Here we go! I found ArtChicago, comparative to the miami shows (Art Basel/Scope/Pulse), to be underwhelming. That doesn't mean there weren't some stand out works and galleries, but they were a little more sporadic. I thought maybe it was just me, but after talking with a couple artists, they also thought the show was generic and a little "tired" feeling. Then I thought that a collector friend might have a different view, but they too described the show as "disappointing" and left chicago early. I guess it depends on who you talk to though. All in all, I still had a blast and now looking back I have made some artwork groupings based on the show- which also makes it more interesting to look back on. I have started to also look at shows that I don't initially respond to in a positive light by finding at least one artist that I love and then it was a worthwhile experience. In fact, I did come into contact with a few stunning artists while in chicago.

PAINTING: thick/textural/coming from abstract expression