Fun Friday Resources
/As we try to expand our vocabulary as artists (by STEALING FROM THE BEST), it’s cool to remember that we live in the space future. Even if we don’t live in major art centers like New York or London, we can still browse galleries and museums at our leisure. Especially now during the plague, purveyors of art are more and more willing to put up whole exhibits online — and some galleries are online only.
Farbkreise (Color Circles), Emma Kunz, from artnet
Artnet is one of the biggest online presences: you can find out what stuff costs (its primary function), but it also links to galleries as well as individual artists.
Here’s Emma Kunz, for example, brought to my attention by a fellow Lichtenbergian. He wondered that he had never heard of her but 1) we live in Coweta County, GA; and 2) remember how we’ve ignored women for centuries?
At first glance, her work might appear to be like the “string art” that you’d find at flea markets, but the closer you look, the more purposeful and intricate it becomes. The shibboleth “My four-year-old could do that” might come to mind; the appropriate response to that is, “Yes, but could you?” Well, could you? STEAL FROM THE BEST and give it a go.
(Since we’ve mentioned string art, here’s an online version of your beloved Spirograph that’s bound to bring back warm and fuzzy memories.)
The Spongleheim Gallery is a not-for-profit virtual gallery that specializes in exhibitions of outsider art, Art Brut, folk art, naive art and art by self-taught artists. Exhibitions take place every quarter (September, December, March and June). Each exhibition lasts 21 days and features 21 exhibits chosen from an open call for submissions. (stolen from Spongleheim’s site…)
The current exhibit at Spongleheim is One, and the works are varied and exuberant. My favorite is Improvisation I by Al Petelin. I may or may not look into purchasing it, although shipping from Europe is bound to cost more than the work itself. Do I know any transatlantic pilots who could snag it for me?
Peace by Peace, bronze sculpture by Kevin Box (currently hanging in my bedroom)
Lastly, two galleries that I have visited, on Canyon Road in Santa Fe (highly recommended when you’re able to travel again, as well as the incredible Museum of International Folk Art): Winterowd Fine Art and Kay Contemporary Art. Both have very fine artists of all stripes, one of which, sculptor Kevin Box, is represented by two pieces here in Newnan.
Remember: the whole precept of STEAL FROM THE BEST is that if you find something you admire, figure out how the artist did that and then try the strategy in your own work. That’s different than “copying”; you’re reverse engineering their work to learn new techniques that may be useful to you.
A reminder that you can get a proof copy (in six short PDFs) of Lichtenbergianism for Kids by emailing me and asking. I am particularly interested in feedback from readers 12–17ish years old.
