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 Friday, June 20, 2008
(Nearly) Starving Artists
Posted by kelly
"If every artist in America's work force banded together, their ranks would be double the size of the United States Army," notes New York Times writer Sam Roberts, reporting on a recent nationwide artist profile released by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). According to the report, in 2005, the primary employment of nearly 2 million Americans fit the criteria for an artist occupation—including architects, interior designers and window dressers in addition to fine artists—which earned them a median income of $34,800 (more than the national average of $30,100, but well under the average for "professionals"). Another 300,000 people said being an artist was their second job. The NEA report confirms that these numbers represent a growing (nearly triple since 1970), vital, but underappreciated population. NEA chairman Dana Gioia, himself a poet, has a unique solution to the problem of underemployment of artists: Put them to work in our schools. Click here to download the report. 
From Artists in the Workforce (Research Report #48), courtesy of the National
Endowment for the Arts
Overheard
6/20/2008 1:48:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Illustrator Website of the Week: Sujean Rim
Posted by jessica
I admit: A highlight of sifting through my inbox each morning is often reading the Daily Candy newsletter. This is in part because of the DC staff's amusing finds and entertaining descriptions of such items, but mostly because of the fun watercolor illustrations.
These come courtesy of Sujean Rim, a New York-based illustrator. Her work will probably seem familiar, even to those not acquainted with DC—that's because her clients include everyone from Target to Tiffany & Co. Check out her portfolio here.
Overheard
6/18/2008 6:44:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, June 16, 2008
A Dalí Kind of Day
Posted by sarah
 When billions of prehistoric-looking insects emerge from the ground and begin their shrill month-long fertility bash in the parking lot of your office building (read about the cicadas in Cincinnati here), things are bound to feel a tad surreal. Thus, my visit to the Dalí Museum's site today, where I discovered news of Women: Dalí's View, an exhibition running through September 21st.
The exhibition will feature "70 works from the permanent collection (painting, drawing,
watercolors, prints and objects) representative Dalí’s various
creations of the female image." From the press release:
"The
selected works help trace the progression of Dalí’s depiction of women
from his early student days--images of varioius women as models in
academic studies--to a later period when his wife Gala becomes his chief model
and muse." In keeping with the insect theme, download instructions for making your own Grasshopper finger puppet from the Dalí Museum's fun online activities here. I like the bull puppet too, but I find the space elephants strangely terrifying. Perhaps that's the point.
Overheard
6/16/2008 9:11:37 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, June 09, 2008
Sexism in the Arts?
Posted by sarah
 Perhaps the recent swell of controversy surrounding the Democratic primaries has cast a light on the question of the persistence of sexism in the US and beyond, or perhaps it's just a good time to talk about these issues, but there has been quite a lot of chatter (online and elsewhere) on the matter. People are asking some good questions. For example, What precisely does the fact that women are still under-represented in major museums mean? This short piece in The Guardian's Art & Architecture Blog argues that women's struggle in the arts is far from over. And just last year, Jerry Saltz wondered "Where Are All The Women?" By his estimation, only 8% of the artists represented in the new MoMA were women. No matter the occasion for the conversation, it seems inevitably to spark frustration, even among those who feel as though they do their part to promote women artists.
Overheard
6/9/2008 2:11:01 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, June 06, 2008
Must-See Show: El Greco to Velázquez
Posted by jessica
"I would rather be the first painter of common things than second in higher art." —Diego Velázquez
Today we celebrate the birthday of master realist painter Diego Velázquez (June 6, 1599), which brings to mind the exhibition currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (as highlighted in the Must-See Shows section in our June issue): El Greco to Velazquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III. Running through July 27, the show includes Spanish paintings, sculpture and decorative arts created from 1598 to 1621—by both lesser-known artists as well as the legends El Greco and Velázquez. If you can’t make it to Boston, check out the MFA’s exhibition web extras (podcasts, mobile phone wallpapers, slide show images) here.
From the Magazine | Overheard
6/6/2008 1:50:44 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, June 02, 2008
This Just In: Watercolor Show
Posted by sarah
 Watercolor USA 2008, the 47th national, competitive exhibition of aqueous media painting, will open June 7th at the Springfield Art Museum in Missouri. The competition received 674 entries by 369 artists from 42 states. This year's judge was Debra Loomis Tayes, Associate Curator of Fine Art, Southern Illinois Art Gallery, Illinois State Museum. Tayes selected 121 works by 109 artists for the exhibition. “My criterion for selecting the paintings to be awarded was simple," she says. "Was the painting engaging, dynamic, or even magnetic? Did I find myself going back to the piece again and again, even intuitively? Were the visual complexities articulated well? Was there a curiosity in the content? Were the techniques used eclipsed by the beauty of the medium?” (All good questions to consider as you prepare your work for competition season.)
Overheard
6/2/2008 4:03:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Ones to Watch: Where Are They Now?
Posted by jessica
 How’s this for coincidence: We just received an update from Robin Purcell, one of our 2007 Ones to Watch, and we also just happen to be in the thick of the judging process for this year’s installation of the feature. Purcell, of California, wrote to announce the recent posting of her paintings from this year's Carmel Art Festival to her blog. A plein air painter, Purcell has a unique style that breaks down the western landscape into glowing sections of color. She admits she “was probably permanently warped by doing paint by numbers as a child,” and it shows in her paintings—in a good way. pictured: Top of the World, Carmel Valley (watercolor on paper, 12x16) by Robin Purcell
From the Magazine | Overheard
5/28/2008 2:32:57 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008
One Painting vs. 20 minutes of US Gasoline Consumption
Posted by sarah
 By now, you've probably heard that Lucien Freud's portrait of Sue Tilley, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (at right) , has sold for £17.2 million, making Freud the highest payed living artist in history. But have you been keeping up with the subsequent chatter? - Kira Cochrane riffs on Freud's relationship to his muse at The Guardian: "Down the ages, the role of artist has almost always been taken by a
man, the role of muse by a woman, and in this relationship we have seen
the clearest, most delineated understanding of man as active, powerful
subject, and woman as passive, benumbed, decorative object."
- And Annika Mengisen asks, "What does $33.6 million mean in the art world?" at The New York Times: "Does this symbolize a thriving art market, is it a happy exception, or is it even worth the price? According to one estimate, the money paid for the painting could have paid for 20 minutes of America’s gasoline consumption."
- See what artists are saying at Art News about the size of the model, the merit of arguably "ugly" images in our arguably "ugly" world and concepts of truth and beauty in contemporary art.
Overheard
5/27/2008 9:45:51 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
eBay Charity Auction for New Orleans May 23
Posted by jessica
 Send a reminder to your desktop this Friday for the eBay charity auction to benefit the Arts Council of New Orleans. Global market research firm Synovate selected 40 artists and gave them $1,000 each to create original pieces based on the theme “My New Orleans.” The 40 creations include sculpture, woodworking, glass and mixed media, with many of the artists’ inspiration being Hurricane Katrina, which happened nearly three years ago in August. All proceeds will go to the artists and the Arts Council to help rebuild the artist community in New Orleans. The auction runs for seven days; you can access it on eBay under the seller ID “synovateforneworleans.” (Pictured: There's No Place Like Home, by Ariada Capo)
Overheard
5/21/2008 5:10:12 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, May 19, 2008
Artist's Appeal for Earthquake Relief
Posted by sarah
 SARS No. 5 (mixed media on paper, 30x42) by He Hong WeiChinese arist He Hong Wei was scheduled to exhibit Hometown, a series of paintings inspired by the SARS Crisis, at the Oc-Eo Gallery in London, when an earthquake devastated parts of China's Sichuan Province. In response to the tragedy, the artist has decided to sell the paintings and dedicate 100 percent of the proceeds to disaster relief. Peter Quintana of Oc-Eo remarks of the five donated paintings, that they were "painted by He Hong Wei at the time
of the Asian SARS Crisis. They have won accolades in Beijing and are of
great personal significance to the artist. Together and individually,
they are an astonishingly emotional statement of the frailty of
humankind faced with natural disaster and loss." Visit Oc-Eo for more details. Visit Alive not Dead for more information on other art-related disaster relief efforts.
Overheard
5/19/2008 10:00:48 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
ArtistsNetwork.tv Makes its Debut
Posted by jessica
We told you it was coming: Today we’re proud to announce the launch of ArtistsNetwork.tv, a new website from F+W Publications that offers instructional (streaming) videos from today’s leading artists—so you don’t have to download anything, and you can watch any time of the day as long as you have a high-speed Internet connection. So far, the site offers five 40-plus minute workshops, including two with Stephen Quiller (and at least two more coming before the end of this month), and more on the production lineup from other beloved watermedia artists such as Mark Willenbrink and Jean Grastorf. You can choose to subscribe to any of the individual workshops for a six-month period, or subscribe to all of them for a six-month period—your call. Click here for subscription information.
From the Magazine | Overheard | Videos
5/14/2008 4:37:16 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, May 12, 2008
Online Exclusive: Andy Evansen
Posted by sarah
 In September of 2007, watercolor artist Andy Evansen and three friends—oil painters Jason Situ,
Kevin Macpherson and John Budicin—had a rare opportunity to explore both the world and their own abilities as artists. They were invited to travel to the city of Kaiping in southeastern China for a seven-day plein air painting trip. Though they'd done little planning and knew very little what to expect, the experience proved to be a memorable (and productive) one for the artists. Read about their special journey and see photos and paintings from the trip in our latest online exclusive: a free downloadable pdf of the full-text feature.
From the Magazine
5/12/2008 1:16:26 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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