7 Tips for Writing an Unforgettable Artist Statement

// February 29th, 2012 // View Comments // Uncategorized, featured

The purpose of your artist statement is to provide the viewers with personal insight about your motivation and inspiration for your collection. When a statement is well-written, it will clarify, justify, or explain the artwork on display. Here are ten tips to help you write an unforgettable artist statement:

1. Don’t Postpone the Writing Process

Don’t save your statement for the night before the exhibit opens. Since a true artist statement is a reflection of every work included in your collection, it should be easy to begin. What made you begin the project in the first place? What inspired you to keep making the art on display? Answering those questions should give you more than enough fuel to get you started. Give yourself plenty of time to craft a statement that represents your work. Be sure to reserve extra time for revisions.

2. Your Words Should Complement Your Work

Is your work whimsical or serious? Is it abstract or realistic? Make sure your prose reflects the personality of the work it complements. Quotes from fellow artists, philosophers, and writers, can also add spice to your statement. If you’re in need of inspiration, then take the time to tour art galleries. Take notes on what made the featured statements successful.

3. Keep the Mumbo Jumbo to a Minimum

Who hasn’t read the statement that overflowed with nonsensical jargon? During my years working in a museum, I read hundreds artist statements. Some were enlightening and increased a viewer’s anticipation. Others simply made museum visitors wonder if the artist had made it past Kindergarten. Keep in mind that the people who read your statement are looking for more insight into what they’ve come to view. A statement does not have to be incomprehensible in order to be artistic. You can make your statement artistic and concise.

4. Consult Your Fellow Artists

You can always have a fellow artist look over your writing in order to determine whether or not you’re communicating your ideas effectively.

5. Make Plenty of Revisions

Editing is a major part of the writing process. Every time you edit your artist statement, focus on refining your ideas and communicating in a more effective way. If you burn out, then take a short break and look for inspiration the same way you would for visual art.

6. Be Prepared to Revise Again in the Future

The statement you prepared for an art show one year ago may not necessarily reflect your present work. Revisit your statement on a regular basis to make sure it still represents the style of your current form of artistic expression.

7. Good Grammar is Essential

Good grammar keeps your statement legible and professional. Spell Check is wonderful feature, but don’t rely on it completely. If your editing skills are shaky, then have a professional edit your work.

Whether you love or hate the writing side of the art business, an artist statement is necessary. When your statement is well-written it will complement your body of work.

If you are looking for unique artwork, brief the Exchange now!

Kathleen

Don’t Miss Color in Space and Time

// February 23rd, 2012 // View Comments // Uncategorized, featured

Color in Space and Time is an exhibition that reveals the creative genius of the Franco-Venezuelan artist, Cruz-Diez. This exhibit is in memory of the fabulous work that the artist created starting in 1940 and throughout his lifetime. The range of works on exhibit include paintings, silk screen prints, chromatic structures that exude innovation, enormous chromatic configurations, and the list goes on. As an artist, Cruz-Diez has always chosen the unconventional path. He ventured into experimenting with offbeat color combinations, street interventions, integration projects built on architectural bases, different light environments, and more. Masterworks that soothe the eye and tickle the nerves of color will be featured at Color in Space and Time.

Hosting Background

The exhibition is being hosted by the Cruz-Diez Foundation in collaboration with the MFAH. The Cruz-Diez Foundation was established in Houston by the family members of the artist. It exists to promote his amazing collection of work.

A Show for Color Lovers Everywhere

This exhibition combines color theory, science, mechanical engineering, and kinetics with the artist’s personal craft. The work of Cruz-Diaz is impossible to categorize.  The complex creations give new life to colors, and personify chromatic impressions. Cruz-Diez nurtures the ambiguity that lies in the color spectrum. The exhibition features works from the collection at the Cruz-Diez Foundation in addition to works from collections in France, England, and Venezuela.

Exhibition Details

The exhibit began in September of last year. It will continue through March 5, 2012. It is being shown in MALBA, Buenos Aires in the country of Argentina. A catalogue has been designed that features a complete profile of the man’s work starting from his teenage years and throughout his adulthood. The catalogue has been published by the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and it has been distributed by the Yale Press.

Art has a powerful impact on culture and society. Cruz-Diaz had a different perspective when it came to art and colors. Art enthusiasts can share his perspective by visiting Color in Space and Time.

Kathleen

Enjoy Amazing Photography in Helsinki

// February 21st, 2012 // View Comments // featured

As the Helsinki Photography Festival steps into its 12^th year, Europe is eagerly  awaiting an amazing artistic experience. The famous Helsinki festival always inspires new ideas in visitors from all over the world. This event has a well-established reputation for featuring photography that reflects the scenic beauty of Finland and other locations. This year the festival will be held for an entire month. The exhibition can be enjoyed in collaboration with partnering museums and galleries. The organizing committee is a union of artists and photographers. The festival will feature Finnish art and culture, as well as international styles. Organizers are anticipating a larger crowd in 2012 than in previous years.

Theme of the festival

The theme of the Helsinki festival is city and urbanity. This event theme will explore the placid nooks and corners of the city through different photos taken by experienced photographers. The selected photography reflects a unique perspective of the city. The images capture local scenery in a way that encourages visitors to discover new places. Through this event Helsinki will get an opportunity to show its scenic beauty to the foreign visitors as well as to the countrymen. Some Helsinki locals may have a very different way of looking at their city than places like Paris or London. This incredible exhibition uses photography to capture the natural beauty and wonder of the area.

When and Where

The festival will take place from the March 1-30 at the Helsinki city museum and partnering galleries. The cultural office for the City of Helsinki is an active partner.

New Features for 2012

One new feature is the actual theme of the event. To support the theme, some parts of the festival will take place in urban galleries and museums in order to attract the masses towards the urban area of Helsinki. If you have a love for design and art-related events, then this festival would be an excellent choice. The Helsinki Photography Festival 2012 will also feature an exhibition of moving images that will be available for viewers to enjoy. So take the time to enjoy a photography festival that centres on urban beauty. This is an art event you will not want to miss!

If you’re looking for original photography brief the Exchange now! (more…)

Pill Spill: Featuring Beverly Fishman

// February 16th, 2012 // View Comments // featured

American artist Beverly Fishman attempts to question our ‘pill popping’ society with her latest installation ‘Addict’. A collection of 120 unique brown glass pills, from 6 – 15 inches wide were scattered amongst the floor as if having been discarded from a bottle. Both aesthetically addictive and beautifully crafted, the pills juxtaposition an enticing appeal against a negative of side effects.  She decorates colourful and attention-grabbing objects that make us forget for a minute the implications of getting hooked.

Beverly is known for her abstracted presentation of science and medicine, with a consistent approach of vibrant colours, patterns on mixed media.

Building on her other ‘pill’ works she aims to portray the message of branding within our society and how a certain industry or company can manipulate your loyalty towards a product; ultimately ending as a placebo.

Colorful medication, mesmerizing and addicting to look at.  This is, we guess, precisely what she wanted.

Paper Boat Creative

What’s in your heart?

// February 14th, 2012 // View Comments // featured

To celebrate the season of hearts, we would like to feature a new series of images photographed by Emma Innocenti, in collaboration with highly skilled makeup and prosthetics artist, Beatriz Lopez.

They worked together to create a series of photographs of what we might find in our hearts.  If you notice, the model is all the same, just made up so differently in each shot.

In the first image, we have her looking cold and serene, but with a heavy heart of gold.  The second image shows charred interiors from trash and food, while the last shows an interior as cuddly soft  and cute as a puppy.

Emma wanted to show how we can so easily alter our appearance based on the deeper values we hold within.  It’s nothing new to any of us, of course our thoughts and personality will manifest physically, from our makeup to our language, posture and facial expressions.  But to be able to superimpose an actual chest cut open with things pouring out is a new way of seeing this well known truth.

Beatriz Lopez created the hearts using a concoxion of wax, foundation and various resin to give us the texture of broken skin. Gory but cute at the same time.  She spent days scorching the items inside, and finding all the right textures and items for each layout.

The next time you look at yourself in the mirror, try to picture what Emma and Bea might have put inside your heart.

And the winner is…Samuel Aranda wins WPA

// February 13th, 2012 // View Comments // Uncategorized

We left you hanging with our last blog...The World Press Awards announced the first prize winner of its 55^th Photo Contest on the 10^th of January 2012.  Spanish photo-journalist, Samuel Aranda, captured an image of women embracing a distraught man in a Yemen Mosque, which became a hospital refuge for injured demonstrators against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, on October 15^th of 2011. The anonymous women whom is fully veiled in black robes with rubber white gloves comforts a naked man in her arms.  Metaphorical, and with a renaissance art quality, it is symbolic of the crucial role women played in the revolution that unfolded in the middle east; it is an intimate portrayal of tenderness and compassion.

According to one of the 19 distinguished jurors, Aidan Sullivan: “The winning photo shows a poignant, compassionate moment, the human consequence of an enormous event, an event that is still going on. We might never know who this woman is, cradling an injured relative, but together they become a living image of the courage of ordinary people that helped create an important chapter in the history of the Middle East.”

The contest, which is arguably the most prestigious photography competition in the world, saw 5,247 photographers from 124 countries submit a total of 101,254 images by the January 2012 deadline.  57 photographers were awarded prizes under nine themed categories.   The winning images will be exhibited in a travelling international exhibition, and will be available in a book.  The World Press Awards is an non-profit organization.

World Press Awards

// February 10th, 2012 // View Comments // b-inspired, featured

Professionals, amateurs and photography enthusiasts alike will be eagerly awaiting the results of the 55^th World Press Contest as it reaches a verdict for the photojournalist of the year on the 10^th February 2012.

The competition which is run by a non-profit organization, founded in the Netherlands in 1955, is the world’s largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest in the world; the role of photojournalism highlighted to an audience of millions.  2011 also saw the first additional contest for Multimedia submissions.

The travelling exhibition of the prize winning photographs reaches 45 countries and is an opportunity to not only showcase talent, but highlight the human condition.

Jodi Bieber won the Photo of the Year, 2011 with her portrait of Bibi Aisha, 18, whom ‘was disfigured as retribution for fleeing her husband’s house in Oruzgan province, in the center of Afghanistan’.

Any guess on who the winners might be this year?

Street Art

// February 7th, 2012 // View Comments // Uncategorized, featured

Whether you agree with street art or not, there is no denying that the movement is creating waves with visually stimulating adornment of our concrete and brick cities. Even more importantly, freedom of speech has found a contemporary niche; encourages a broader audience to question the reality of our fishbowl urbanization through art.

For some artist whom have been elevated to an iconic status amongst art critics and collectors –such as London’s own Banksy– the streets have become a platform to raise awareness of social and political issues.  A contemporary hybrid of graffiti, it finds its origins in Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and Urban Gangs to mark territories or broadcast social and political views.  Historical cave drawings throughout the world suggest an inherent desire to communicate through art as far back as up to 35,000 years.

While there is no question that illegal street art is vandalism, according modern artist Bansky “You live in the city and all the time there are signs telling you what to do and billboards trying to sell you something. I always felt that it was all right to answer back a little bit, I suppose. That the city shouldn’t just be a one-way conversation. ”

What do you think? And although it might upset Banksy, you can brief your other commercial artwork requirements now!

Paper Boat Creative

Illuminating the Void – Eugene Wood

// February 3rd, 2012 // View Comments // Uncategorized

Amidst London’s maze of unconventional warehouse style accommodation, a new talent is emerging from the underground art scene with a force to be reckoned with.

Eugene Wood’s studio, a large classroom in an old run down school building distinctly smells of wet oil paints and is cluttered by random curios, such as the stuffed fox that greets you at the entrance.  The large canvasses that fill the room entice and hypnotise; transporting you into a dark and mysterious world.

‘Illuminating the Void’ couldn’t be a more befitting title for this body of work which is currently being exhibited at Art Work Space, London,  till the 4th of March 2012.   Wood, a graduate of the prestigious Institut Supérieur de Peinture Van der Kelen-Logelain (Brussels), combines classic ninteenth century art methods with contemporary surrealism to explore a balanced fusion of colour, form, composition and technique.

With the distortion of patterns inspired by isolating objects and surfaces–which within context could go unnoticed–Wood draws the viewer into a new perception of reality.  A subtle sense of tension and fear is coupled by the duality of soothing, fluid beauty, evoking emotions buried deep within one’s subconscious.

Paper Boat Creative