Joyce Owens: Artist On Art

Creative Artist or unoriginal technician?

There is a lot of pressure on artists. How do you separate your creativity from everyone elses?

If you succumb to trends, and intentionally reflect in your work currently successful artists, are you in a school of art, are you a copyist, are you a sell-out? Or, if you  cash-in, are you just clever?

Retro-racing Picasso series (two views) in N'Namdi collection. These sell very well.

What I know for sure is your art has to be meaningful to people who have the ability to exhibit it/collect it. Should an artist make work that conforms to the work already being shown, or does the artist's heart and mind always need to dictate what they produce? We can be influenced by other artists - this is a long and wonderful tradition...but where is the line drawn between being influenced and outright appropriating aka copying?

 Is there room for all kinds of art? Yes. (OK, that was easy).

But, there clearly is not room in all kinds of institutions. I have exhibited in some museums, but would love for curators to find more ways to include my work. I am still a painter. What about my sculptures...they are paintings on 3D supports. 

I am an artist who works in found materials. I will transform a piece of trash that will not obviously show the origins of the mediums. This is a very contemporary practice that I have used starting in grad school.

 This one sold, too!

This Obama is based on a form that was sent to artists across the country! The results were all distinctly different. So, even "Visions of Our 44th President" has been shown in Detroit at  the Wright Museum and in Miami during Miami Basel.

Wright Museum, "Visions of Our 44th President"

 
DuSable Museum of African American History honoring AfriCobra. The black and white drawing is a piece by me selected because I was influenced by the group.

 

 Cubism sneaks into my work again and again.

 If the art does not relate to an existing form, then how do you know it is art??

 

 

 

Idiot or Artist? What It Takes to Create a Lucrative Art Career

So, all your intelligence is directed at one goal; does that make you an idiot, as in, the now non-p.c. phrase, "idiot savant!", or an artist?

This guy, Stephen Wiltshire,  can accurately draw a diagrammatic rendition of the buildings in Rome,  Paris, Tokyo and New York City, after one fly-through. People like him are called "savant", these days, and their trait is considered a form of autism. If not for the other limitations, one might be eager for the syndrome.  I am obsessive about my work, but there are variations within it. As I grow (and age) my work addresses different issues in different ways. The savants, I think, don't change much.

I am very impressed that Wiltshire can remember everything he has seen and record those lines and shapes to recreate a panorama of a city.  If you look at the link you will see he has been greatly rewarded for his condition.

I am also amazed by the miniatures Willard Wigan create and sells for thousands of dollars.  He also claims a mental deficiency provoked him to make the miniatures, but he is not a savant, he has dyslexia and learning disabilities.

Below are images from Nicole Gallery in Chicago where you can see his work.

 

Unfortunately, I am not amazed that these artists get more respect and news coverage than the artists who develop their "natural gifts" and may spend thousands in training and materials to produce art works that reflect their lives and culture.  Let me say that I think Wiltshire has what we like to call talent. I like his renderings of city streets and think he shows a definite point of view.  His quirk has taken him a long way.  Great for him.

There is no fairness when it comes to art.

The nutty lady who scribbles little pictures on the street is made into an art star because...she, seemingly, makes 3rd grade pictures? Isn't there a difference between an artist who can only do one thing, and an artist who could be a singer or an actor or a math teacher but chooses art. 

I admit I don't know if art chooses us or we choose it. I am surer everyone has had different experiences in that regard. But the key word is "Choice".  Isn't choice the word that separates man and beast?  I know, I know, your dog is really smart, and so's your bird, and your cat is a whiz!

... but you get my point. Shouldn't the definition of artist include the ability to make a conscious choice about what is produced?

American Landscape" Joyce Owens 2009-2010 (detail)

American Idol (type) Art Competition

I called for it January 2009. Now I will get the chance to see if I made a mistake! The show airs tonight on Bravo TV called "Work of Art".

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This is what I said back then:

The most easily accessible connection to current culture is television and computers. Where are the TV shows  about  visual  art; how about an American Idol-type Visual Artist show??  The scouts could find the next art star who is not an elephant, a "savant" or a child.

You know things are bad when we can rarely find shows about art on public TV!  Oh sure you can still find shows with the guy who completes a painting during a one-hour show and a great show called Art21 that features internationally known artists and more than on commercial TV, no doubt. Locally, ArtBeat features the arts in some segments during that daily "Chicago Tonight". There are wonderful travel shows that include the art of the region and do a nice job of explaining ancient treasures.

I have never seen a TV award shows  featuring  visual  artists, have you?  We get the Grammys, and The Country Music Awards. We have been hearing about the The Golden Globes, and the Oscars as the producers gear up the the awards season. The various Emmy awards programs honor day and primetime TV.

What about fine arts? Do we get dissed because we don't have unions?

Art publications, the few we have, are mostly national and only fleetingly acknowledge local artists...thank goodness Olga Stephen and the CAC got "Prompt" published.  Otherwise there is not much. Art critics are a disappearing breed, but sports writers abound!

Even the print version of The Chicago Reader, a free paper that we could count on for art has an "Arts and Entertainment"  section that  excludes visual art.  Those listings are  found in "Galleries and Museums".

Oh, yeah, everybody knows P-Diddy. Everybody knows Paris. And that's great, and a part of our contemporary culture. I am surprised by how many people have NOT heard of Kerry James Marshall, Preston Jackson, Faith Ringgold, and others.

If we want people to develop a need for art, a need to visit art institutions, to care about what artists think, the way folks care about Will Smith, Angelina Joli and Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Oprah (who I wish would switch from promoting only authors to including us righteous artists), we have to find a way for people to know about art and realize we are pretty interesting, too.  Even more than that, we are reflections of them! They can know themselves better by knowing us!

AND, that's why we need schools to teach art to all students from preschool through 12th grade!  If you talk to President-elect Obama's new education guy, Arnie Duncan, please let him know that we are ready and willing to teach! Let's resolve to honor our culture, better educate our students  and build artists bank accounts.

"American Landscape" detail, Joyce Owens 2010

American artists still face segregation...

I recently read about a gallery in Delaware that has a wonderful show up of American art.  I would love to see it, but being in Chicago I looked at the images on line. There's a lovely Mary Cassatt drawing of a mother and baby, a couple of Milton Avery's, reminding me why he had to grow on people, but when you get him, he sticks! and a variety of paintings by a variety of the Wyeth family, and much more, including Thomas Hart Benton and Georgia O'Keeffe. Many of these are my favorite artists. And I was certainly grateful that it wasn't another list of all male artists!

Georgia O'Keeffe

My issue: I keep finding books, articles and galleries that promote American art  produced by only one group of Americans. I know there are galleries that show specialized artists, African American, Haitian, Cuban, Latino, many of which also show artists of European descent. I understand a niche gallery. I don't understand saying a gallery is showing American art and then only shows a segment of American artists that seem to exclude artists on racial terms, probably without a second or even first thought about it.

Please go to the gallery website to see the work, but remember there were/are other American masters, such as Joshua Johnston, Henry O. Tanner, Edmonia Lewis, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Geraldine McCullough, Margaret Burroughs, Charles White, Faith Ringgold...not to mention all the current living artists like Kerry James Marshall, Dawoud Bey, Mickalene Thomas, Kehinde Wiley, and others too numerous to list! Why are these artists often excluded when mounting exhibitions featuring  American artists?

I don't see any evidence that this gallery thinks there were/are artists of color who are masters, or maybe they can't get their hands on the work. Not sure, but since this is no isolated incident, I wanted to just point it out. Wikipedia only lists Sam Gilliam and Martin Puryear, no Kerry James Marshall (MacArthur genius), Kara Walker,  Fred Wilson (Venice Bienale), Robert Colescott, Richard Hunt and on and on...Most of the time you probably don't think about who is left out, or do you?

Catlett's "Two Generations" is in my art collection.

Yale University teaches a course on American masters.

http://www.somervillemanning.com/exhibits/AmericanMasters.asp

 

ArtNet Online Inventory

101 Stone Block Row | Greenville, DE 19807 | 302.652.0271 | [email protected]
Copyright ©2009 Somerville Manning Gallery

Mickalene Thomas @ Columbia College

I met the artist, and fellow Yale graduate, Mickalene Thomas  at Columbia College Chicago.

Joyce Owens stealth photos, not wanting my flash to distract.

Dawoud Bey (above right), the photographer, has brought amazing, informative programs to the college for years, now. I was able to attend a Bearden Symposium a few years back and recently meet Deborah Willis, a MacArthur Fellow (who included my uncle Jack T. Franklin in her book on African American photographers),  and heard her and her son Hank.

I have been aware of Mickalene's work, of course. I saw examples of it at Art Chicago and was aware that Rhona Hoffman is her Chicago Gallery. And I had all kinds of ideas about Mickalene's work. It looked trashy, photography-based in a way I would tell my students is a no-no, and all that glitter and mix-mashed array of materials just freaked me out, to use a 70's term that fits her 1970' sensibility!!

Meet Qusuquzah (above). Mickalene Thomas accented this 2008 portrait of her with hundreds of rhinestones. "I'm always looking for strong, beautiful, and complex women to model for me," says Thomas. "Qusuquzah embodies the allure of glamour." Image from Unbeige Magazine.

She blew all my misgivings and criticisms out the window during her lecture. My friend Derrick Blakley called in the middle of writing this post. He and I talked a while and I eventually mentioned the lecture, and how my response to her work had changed! A veteran Chicago reporter, currently at CBS2 Chicago, he asked the reporter's question:

"Does it make the work better ?"

"Well yes", I answered, thinking "great question"!

He continued by asking how the back-story makes a difference. I have added my quick response here. Examples of how the passage of time plus changing points-of-view about art revised how the Impressionists, the Fauvists, Picasso's Les Demoiselles D'AVignon (below right) and other artists and art works were thought of by the majority at first, including critics and art collectors, and over time how the same works became iconic, making for blockbuster exhibitions, and winning top auction prices.

Well, I still think the hairy mass of glitter under the legs and arms of some of her images is off-putting, but that may be the point!

The woman is very successful. That alone is enough to admire her for, 'cause we all know that only a few rise to the top. It's not "talent".  Plenty of folks have that. It is based on trends, proximity to people who can help you, luck and clearly, hard work.  Mickalene discussed some of the surprising coincidences that occurred during her life relating to her going to Yale at the time she went, meeting master curator and fashion icon Thelma Golden and becoming a resident at the Studio Museum in Harlem after graduation from Yale.

Thomas has a compelling story. She is a lesbian who was estranged from her mother. 

Her mother has become her model and muse, the only person, according to Mickalene, who will pose fully nude for her. Thomas has the courage to work her stuff out in public through these canvases that include painting, photography and collage as her primary means of image-making. She has done installation and video.

Mickalene is a dark-skinned, nappy-haired, big thighed girl from New Jersey! 

Mickalene Thomas is a pretty woman

I wanted to cry when I heard her. I am tall, light skinned and kinky-haired, and always wanted the skinny-from-the-knees-to-the-crotch-no-touching-thighs the white girls had, I thought those thin thighs were a signifier of beauty, like straight hair and blue eyes.  Light, dark or medium most of us black women have felt inferior in America. Neither Ms. Thomas nor I saw ourselves as beautiful, and no one else said we were either, not that I knew of.

My mom and I were never estranged; she saved that for her three husbands. The other stuff is enough stuff. The other insecurities, many brought on simply because we are black is enough.  The pain felt by the sensitive girls like me and Mickalene is enough.

Thomas makes glaring, in your face pictures, co-opting and transforming historically famous images that artists such as Manet (a long line of other well-known artists produced similar images of white models), and Modigliani first made. It's a perfect choice. I hate that she had to react to racism and sexism at all! But I think Mickalene is making the perfect art in response to her life, and making a life that was not perfect, perfect. Hers is a body of work I respect.  I meant it when I told her I am proud of her!

What Do Women Artists Want, Anyway?

Do women want more, and/or better quality exhibitions?

Do women want fame?

Do women want wealth?

Aren't women artists already achieving these goals? If so, what's still missing for women artists that suggests this conversation holds merit? Why are some women still complaining that the art world is not fair to us? 

After all, Faith Ringgold, Judy Chicago, Camille Billops, Louise Nevelson and a slew of other women paved the way and fought these same battles ALREADY back in the 1960's and 1970's. What should we have in 2010 that we don't have yet and why does the fighting continue?

Hey, maybe we just don't deserve more attention.

Is our work good enough?

Do we work hard enough?

Maybe we work hard enough on our art, but not hard enough on networking and schmoozing people who can help us! Maybe we just don't have the right connections!

Maybe we don't help each other when we get those connections!I Often I hear that African American artists segregate ourselves, not going to the "right" discussions, panels, and openings. Not sure this is true, but if so, do women do the same thing?

Sometimes I am told that African American artists are behind the trends; we are mostly working in traditional, figurative styles from the past, and are not contemporary, so our work is not as challenging.

I think this is crap and a lame excuse for excluding segments of artists from a sometimes, lucrative but highly competitive endeavor, especially when I see artists doing figurative work who are not considered not contemporary.

Is this what's holding back women artists? Is the work cliched and traditional?

I don't think so!

The top women artists don't get the money at auction or in gallery sales male artists get, not to mention the fame! 

More and more women's traditional arts are in play on the contemporary scene, from crocheting to quilting to collage and other forms of handmade items that women historically have made...so, it should follow that women would be in the forefront of recognition around this trend. 

Right?

Let's look at another possibility. It's NOT the work but the opportunities to exhibit that work that keeps women artists on the back of the bus.

Should we cast our eyes towards being in charge of the mainstream venues, instead of women only venues and bringing in women artists?

here are some top international museums. How many women run them? National Museums Directors (Smithsonian, etc.), Guggenheim Foundation and Museums director, Tate Modern director, Vicente Todoldi judged this 2009 competition.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in L.A recently chose a new director  for their facility. The Art Institute of Chicago's director is male.

OK I am now looking at random museums. Found my first women director in Minneapolis . We know the director of the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art is a woman as well. 

So should the women who run museums and galleries be approached with this concern about leveling the playing field for women artists?

Where is our Michelangelo, our Leonardo, our Kerry James Marshall, our Lucien Freud, our VanderZee?  Yes, the work they produced is undeniably amazing, but women artists are on par both then and now.

The women-only institutions have been around for 40 or 50 years, already. When will this job be done?

Want to be a museum director? Job listings here; check often: http://www.museum-employment.com/jobdir.html

Here is panel member for the CAA conversation on women artists.

Beate Minkovski 

Beate Minkovski is co-founder and Executive Director of Woman Made Gallery.
From 1992 through 2010 WMG has organized 163 group shows, 104
invitational/solo shows, 36 Artisan Gallery exhibitions, and eight off-site
shows. More than 6500 women artists have exhibited their work since WMG was
established. Active with neighboring arts organizations, Intuit and ARC
Minkovski has served on the Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) Panel
for the Chicago Cultural Center from 2005 to 2008. She is part of the
Special Service Area (SSA) #29 Commission jury panel for public art in
Chicago's Westtown, and has curated exhibitions for various arts
organizations including the CWCA, The Women's Art Registry of Minnesota,
Women's Work in Woodstock, Illinois, and The Art Center in Highland Park,

Illinois. She is the 2006 CWCA award recipient for achievements in the arts.

Amy Galpin

Amy Galpin is Project Curator for American Art at the San Diego Museum of Art. She worked with Woman Made Gallery for three years as Gallery Coordinator and served as the Illinois Regional Coordinator for the Feminist Art Project. She received her B.A. from Texas Christian University and a M.A. in Latin American Studies from San Diego State University. She is currently finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Her recent and upcoming exhibitions include: Translating Revolution: U.S. Artists Interpret Mexican Muralism (at the National Museum of Mexican Art), Women Imaging Women: A Study of Female Portraiture (at Robert Morris University), and Brutal Beauty: Drawings by Hugo Crosthwaite (at the San Diego Museum of Art).

The Panel

Women's Caucus for Art

Investigating the Need for Women's Art Galleries, Exhibitions, and Organizations: From Our Center

Thursday, February 11, 5:30 PM–7:00 PM

Regency B, Gold Level, West Tower, Hyatt Regency Chicago

• Chair: Janice Nesser-Chu, Women's Caucus for Art and Florissant Valley College
• Melissa H. Potter, Columbia College Chicago
• Amy Galpin, San Diego Museum of Art and Woman Made Gallery
• Joanna Gardner-Huggett, DePaul University
• Beate Minkovski, Woman Made Gallery
• Dena Muller, ArtTable
• Joyce Owens, Chicago State University and Sapphire and Crystals Artist Collective

21st Century: New Rules for Artists

Tom Lucas, Preston Jackson, collector Robert Derden, Joyce Owens, Barlow at our 2007opening, Nicole Gallery

No artists = No galleries!

Can you imagine? NO art on the walls. No sculptures on pedestals. No installation work or videos on display in an art gallery?

As a conceptual idea, OK. It could signify the death of art. Again! On various levels...suggesting various ideas...but that's not where I'm going with this. And even with much art being virtual, another possible implication that art (as we know it) is dead, I'm not going there, either.

ARC Gallery, my work on back wall.

Taking this out of the conceptual realm, I have noticed a dynamic between some artists and galleries that suggests there is a deep pathology that needs surgery, or at least, "meds" in order to stave off some sort of art gallery tragedy! As they close one after the other, now may be the time to think about what we can do to improve conditions and make them artist-friendly.

Artists have other choices, so I hope the galleries will listen up! Most artists I know do prefer to show in galleries, at least, sometimes!

I just don't get why some galleries persist in treating artists as if they are secondary and not the reason for a gallery's existence! Here is my partial list of the "how comes"  that artists (and galleries) can consider:

1. Why are artists made to quake in their boots when they approach some galleries?

2. Why don't all gallerists divulge the names of buyers to the artists?

3. Why don't all galleries consult with and/or respect the wishes of artists on how their work is displayed?

4. Why do some galleries discount from the artist's portion of the sale, too and not from the gallery commission?

5. Why do some galleries not publicize the exhibitions and promote artists they show?

6. Why do some galleries ask artists to pay for photography and publicity on top of the commissions?

7. Why are some galleries not run as other businesses are, keeping regular hours, etc.?

8. Why do some galleries delay paying their artists when work is sold? 

9. Why don't artists get paid interest on monies galleries have held back over 30 days?

We have established that anyone can open a gallery with no training in art or even business, so maybe we can address a couple of other questions:

1. Should galleries be rated on the care and handling of the art and artists they show ?

2. Should there be a system to rate galleries such as the Better Business Bureau or something like Angie's List or the equivalent of Rate Your Professor/teacher sites for college professors? Artists could then anonymously give galleries a thumbs up or down.  Services such as these would forewarn other artists if their brethren didn't get paid for sold work, were not treated well in general, had work damaged or stolen and other atrocities that have been reported in the press and shared word-of-mouth.

One game some galleries play is the same one that some mothers tell their children. If you miss one train (boyfriend/girlfriend) another one always comes along. Just wait. Galleries know that there will always be artists willing to put up with, and be grateful for, gallery exposure, so if one artist stomps out in anger and feeling mistreated, another artist is waiting to be next!

OH NO! Bad behaving artists?

This had to come up next! Difficult artists give gallerists and curators the blues. They should also be outed, although as we all know, difficult artists often get rewarded, not restrained. The "talent" is enough to make excuses for bad behavior and the audiences are mesmerized by behavior outside the so-called norm. That's why we fixate on these reality show folks and other train wrecks (don't want to get sued so I won't name names...) that we can't keep our eyes off...actors, politicians, golfers and others who misbehave mesmerize us!

Professionally run, artist-friendly galleries should be rewarded! And there are a lot of those; Parish Gallery in D.C. is one. Nicole Gallery in Chicago is one. Homewood Studios in Minneapolis is one, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago is one, and there are many others! I hear Packer Schopf is one and Ann Nathan, too. I know Robert Henry Adams, now closed, was one. June Kelly is one.

Collectors, you have the power to change this bad behavior as well. I know the artists tell people about the bad behavior. So supporting the "good" galleries to buy could help; artists look for representation at the good galleries and respectfully speak out when a gallery treats you or your work badly! Sometimes the ONLY education people running these places get is from their artists! 

So many guests at Richard Hunt's N'Namdi Gallery opening it was hard to see the art...

I wish I had a top ten artist-friendly galleries in every US city, if not globally. I found this post on Art business.com that explains the ideal gallery and artist/gallery relationship. If you're not getting this you may be getting the short end of the stick!

Artists Make New Rules in the 21st Century

Once upon a time the main goal for any artist who went to art school was to find gallery representation.

"Joy" series by Joyce Owens series were acquired by a Sinai Hospital clinic.

Many artists are by-passing galleries these days.

The artists who skipped art school seem to have a natural entrepreneurial gift that some of the art school artists don't. My friend Marva Jolly has had sales in her Mudpeoples studio for years, some people leaving with 4 or 5 ceramic art works every time she has one of her open studios. She shows in galleries, too!

More and more these days ALL artists are trying new ways to sell their art. Some prefer studio sales where they can control everything and keep all their profits. Of course they must pay for the studio space. Artists are showing in boutiques and restaurants, not new, but some artists who now do so are new to this trend. I recently exhibited  two sculptures at Eye Emporium, an eye wear store on North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago that has a very cool exhibition space. Tony Fitzpatrick, a noted Chicago artist followed my 3-person exhibition titled "The Dolls of J" and artist Wesley Kimler's art works graced the walls of the gallery even while the other exhibition I was a part of was up!  Wesley's largescale drawings and paintings are magnificent. He and Tony can, and have shown in very important art venues and they also exhibited at Eye Emporium, a place that features artists as a secondary purpose for their space. You get it? This is a significant change!

Artists have shown their work in art fairs for a long time; the profits are better if they sell, although it is hard work to sit and wait for customers, gather all the equipment such as tents and tables, and transport and set up for a weekend that could be unpredictable. They  pay the sometimes hefty entry fees and oh, hope no one gives them a bad check!

So times (and methods) of displaying and selling art are changing.

I think it is time for the gallery system to change, too, rearranging the balance of power so the artists get more say (input), and in some cases, more respect, and perhaps a bigger cut of the sales. . .The galleries hold the power, if you are an artist who craves the gallery system. The gallery is the "decider" and gets to choose their artists and not vice versa. Even in those "pay to play" galleries, aka cooperative galleries, where monthly fees ensure your spot to exhibit, artists may not fare too well monetarily.  I know artists who put up with worse treatment than they ever would, in any other situation, to be represented by a gallery, almost any gallery! And don't I understand that!

What is the alternative? If artists simply promote and sell their own work it becomes hard to establish pedigree. Somehow, no matter how wonderful the work is we still require "stamps of approval" from art critics, feature writers, collectors and yes, gallerists!

Here I am (2nd from right) with some of my friends at Eye Emporium, who are also beautiful dolls. (l to r, close up of "A Girl Like Me" doll, Lilian, Madeline, me and Carolyn. Wesley Kimler's work is behind us on the wall.

Let me stop here to ask some questions:

Is there a vetting system for gallery owners? I know there are local and national organizations of art dealers. If a gallery is not a member, who oversees commercial galleries to ensure they run fair establishments, requires them to pay artists on time and establishes general protocol and responsibilities for the gallery owners?And if they are a member, do these organizations check for problems?

Do gallery owners need the equivalent to the M.F.A., or any proof of professional training that is often a requirement for "serious" visual artists? I found this when I searched "gallery owners + training".

Can anybody open a gallery?

Does anybody open a gallery?

Will artists flock to anybody's gallery?

uh huh!

Invisible Artists? Panel, Mar. 26 @ School of the Art Institute Chicago

WHO Can't See Us?

I was told that some students at Chicago's School of the Art Institute believe there is not art on the South Side of Chicago. My immediate response was, "HUH????"

It reminded me of people who say, "He's has NO personality". I wonder if they have looked!

Anyway, this should be an interesting chat. Hope you will come, and if you have advice in advance, please add to comments or come out and voice your thoughts!

6:00 PM-8:00 PM

The School of The Art Institute of Chicago Ballroom

112 S. Michigan

Chicago, IL 60603

312.629.6868

Click For Larger Image

Suffering from a long history of negative stereotypes and the harsh realities of urban living, Chicago’s Southside community & residents have struggled to gain the many benefits afforded to the larger Chicagoland area. This “invisibility”, has also affected the artistic community in such a way, that  internationally recognized artists have struggled to make their mark in their own city.
 
This program will explore the areas social & cultural history, as well as the numerous creators & institutions from within the community that have been active participants in dispelling myths about the Southside of Chicago.
----------------
 
March 26, 2009, 6pm 112 S. Michigan SAIC Ballroom

The Invisible Artist Panel Discussion
Panelists:
Joyce Owens, Artist, Chicago State University faculty & curator
Lowell Thompson, Artist
Natalie Moore, National Public Radio
Andre Guichard, Owner of Gallery Guichard
Patrick Rivers, SAIC faculty, Visual & Critical Studies

Ms. Faith Ringgold Works: Her motto, "Anyone Can Fly"!

Ms. Faith Ringgold, center, continues to work hard at being an artist! She has been awarded 52 commissions (see below for details).

Faith Ringgold was in the forefront, fighting for equity for women artists, in the 1970's. We still have a ways to go, but she and other artists in New York City raised their voices to complain that women were not in exhibitions at the major institutions such as the Whitney Annual.

The Hatch-Billops website presents an amusing clip of Ringgold (preceded by an intro to the collection...it's worth looking at this). In the video done by the archivists, she comments about conditions for women in the 1970's and the satisfaction some women were feeling about their progress. I paraphrase:

"The white women were getting into shows, and showing with the guys and selling their work. But I wasn't!"

But she kept pressing forward. She found a way to make her large scale work portable and mailable at affordable costs, by creating paintings that were decorated using quilting on the edges that did not need framing (her mom, Willi Posey Jones, a clothing designer showed her how). And by the way, through this process of solving a problem, she invented her signature style.

She made soft sculpture, and wrote successful books, another great way to have her art seen by a large part of the population.

My personal connection to Ms. Ringgold is that she juried a show I submitted to in Chicago at Woman Made Gallery in 2005. I won First Prize out of about 1200 pieces submitted by international artists, to the surprise of the gallery folks! I will always be grateful for that stamp of approval!

The gallery may or may not have thought it a fluke that I won until I repeated a win when I was awarded First Prize from ArtNews correspondent Margaret Hawkins a few years later!

I have been following Faith Ringgold for years.

Faith Ringgold in front of her quilt, Tar Beach, 1993.

AP Photo from Encyclopedia Britannica

She is an inspiration. She is an arts advocate, a supporter of women artists and a very generous and nurturing woman who teaches and encourages. And she works harder than many people I know who complain that they are not getting their share! Work like Faith Ringgold and then complain! After you produce a TON of work, write a few books.

About the commissions; here is information sent by Grace Matthews:

Faith Ringgold received a commission to design 52 mosaics for the Civic Center Metro Subway Station in Los Angeles, California. Mosaika, the fabulous company in Montreal is fabricating the designs. Here are photos of Faith's recent visit to check on the progress of the mosaic panels.

Faiths visit to Mosaica.

May 17 - June 26, 2009

A Declaration of Independence: 50 Years of Art by Faith Ringgold

Mason Gross School of the Arts Galleries, Civic Square Building

Sunday, May 17, 2009 from 4:30-7:30 p.m.

IWA Gala Celebration honoring Faith Ringgold

Mason Gross School of the Arts Galleries, Civic Square Building

Rutgers Exhibition Information and art sales: ACA Gallery
Dorian Bergen 212 206-8080 529 West 20th street, 5th floor NYC 10011

Literary Agent: Marie Brown & Associates, NYC 212 939-9725

For Copyright permission or to book an appearance contact Faith Ringgold's Artists assistant: Grace Matthews Office hours M-Th 9-4pm Pacific Time

(858) 576-0397 ph/fax San Diego, California

[email protected]

Mailing address: Faith Ringgold Inc PO Box 8082 Englewood, NJ 07631
(201) 816-1374

Blog: http://faithringgold.blogspot.com
Web site: www.faithringgold.com


I did a review of Ms Ringgold's autobiography, We Flew Over the Bridge. See an excerpt below
from my down-to-earth review for the Journal of African American History in red...notice the other writers! I first saw this today as I wrote this post!

"Faith Ringgold has already won my heart as an artist, as a woman, as an African American and now with her entry into the world of autobiography (where I dwell), she has taken my heart again. She writes so beautifully."--Maya Angelou "Faith Ringgold has created a rich and highly informative work not only of her own life as an American in general but as an African American in particular. These memoirs are a part of American history--of what it means to be an artist, a writer, and a philosopher in our society."--Jacob Lawrence "In words that are as direct, honest, full of color and life as her paintings, Ringgold gives each reader the greatest gift of all--courage to be one's own unique and universal self."--Gloria Steinem "The story of Ringgold's triumph--achieved through sheer determination, savvy, and self-conviction--is both accessible and inspiring."--Lowery Stokes Sims, Executive Director, The Studio Museum in Harlem "Faith Ringgold's exuberant and original art has made her one of America's more important artists and a feminist heroine. Now her wonderfully honest memoirs will resonate with all political and creative women who are still fighting the battles Ringgold has won."--Lucy Lippard, author of The Pink Glass Swan: Selected Essays on Feminist Art "Bridging is the major motif of Ringgold's life ... She is a bridge between the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights era. She is a bridge between her mother's applied art of fashion design and her own fine art of painting and story quilts. She is a bridge between the black power movement and the women's movement. And she is a bridge between the abstract art that dominated the '60s and the issue-oriented art that connected with viewers' hearts--and lives."--Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer "A memoir is revealing on two levels: since it's selective remembering, what the author chooses to tell us about herself ends up telling us something additional. WE FLEW OVER THE BRIDGE is candid, sometimes humorous, sometimes bordering on bitter, and almost quilt-like as she pieces together a wide range of topics, from the intensely personal to political and professional. Harlem at the close of the Renaissance, the art world's resistance to nonwhite artists, Black Power's resistance to feminism, combining marital life and parenthood with a career - all are viewed through her unique lens." --Gerri Gribi, www.AfroAmericanHeritage.com "Part cultural history, part coming-of-age story, part romance and part portrait of perseverance..."--Diane McKinney-Whetstone, Essence "One of the country's most preeminent African-American artists and award-winning children's book authors, shares the fascinating story of her life, complete with family pictures."--Ebony "This story told in numerous engaging family photos, art work reproductions and lore, is now getting a much-deserved, broader distribution. The story artist Faith Ringgold tells is one of warm family relations, sustaining friendships, and the challenge of overcoming prejudices. The book also is a visual chronicle of African American fashion and style."--The International Review of African American Art


"Ringgold provides juicy autobiographical stories, supplemented with personal photographs as well as ample illustrations and descriptions of her work. It is a memoir every artist should read... The book is informative, forthright, and fun, and is a great teaching tool for both emerging and established artists."--Joyce Owens Anderson*, The Journal of African American History


*I am also known  as Joyce Owens Anderson.

VOTE everybody! No excuses, please....

Come on, my friends...

(okay, that's not original, I stole it from "our friend" John McCain, a decent, hard working man.)

But please just listen. This is historic. This is once-in-a-lifetime. You KNOW that! So no slacking...

Whether you vote right or left. Whether you choose the lesser of two evils (as some people say). Whether you can't bring your racist-ass self to vote for a qualified black man and a seasoned senator (Biden).

Whether you think you'd rather see Sarah Palin as the next co-host on the View, replacing Elizabeth, who, I for one, am ready to see go. Talk about unqualified???? She was a loser of that Survivor show and she gets to voice her opinions globally on a daily basis!!!  At least Sarah Paling (oops, this spelling of Palin is a Freudian slip) went to 5 colleges! And won Miss Congeniality in her beauty pageant days, and she is a governor and must know something! She is very good at losing the baby fat after Trig was born. She could do Jennie Craig ads!

Sorry, I digress.

Please VOTE!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone...I will get back to art after this, OK?

The painting above is "Pillars" by Joyce Owens and is about the people of my grandmother's era and earlier, who could not vote in the south. My grandmother and mother emphasized that we MUST vote and told us all the stories about how folks sacrificed to ensure we had the right.