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)

If it's not one thing it's another!

For artists there is always another challenge.

Not like slavery and lynching, of course: "The Medieval in America" by Joyce Owens

I started writing about artists' issues in May of 2008 and I really haven't seen a lot of progress during these past two years.  Hamza Walker just won a major honor and cash prize of $100,000.00 that he can use as he pleases. As a curator at the Renaissance Society in Chicago he has addressed issues significant to a range of artists, including artists of color. Kerry James Marshall is part of a major exhibition at Chicago's MCA on the artists studio a citywide project that I wrote for about Richard Hunt's studio.

On the one hand this news is good news. We have a toe in, but the possibilities available have barely been tapped.

At least, in my opinion.

Clearly I think challenges are what art is all about! Dealing with personal and global issues, finding a way to make art, all of that!

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the challenges women artists face and why there are not more famous women artists who are household names, like Picasso or Van Gogh... I lie; I have thought about this for quite a while. Women artists of African descent have an even harder road to hoe!

And you may know that I wonder, and have not yet found the answer to, why EVERYBODY who is creative is called an artist, from chefs to bricklayers to politicians! Not to say these people aren't creative. George Washington was certainly creative, but not an artist. Call them creative, call them artistic, but for language's sake, let's not call them artists!

George Washington portrait saved from the fire of 1812

An artist is someone different than what these other folks do and we visual artists deserve to own this.  If the title "politician" had a better, more agreeable, more generally positive connotation maybe everybody would say, "I'm a politician" as so many describe themselves as an "artist"!

OK< I have ranted about one thing, so let's get to the other! Not just making the art, but  promoting the art.Like I said, if it's not one thing, then it's another!

If you are famous, you may be stuck doing one kind of work, if you are struggling you may decide to do too many kinds of art trying to find your voice, your audience, your money for rent. So in the early days you are finding your voice, right? You learn about a variety of mediums and about supports and the basics of art and design, how to balance a picture, the Golden Mean, the value scale and all about color harmony.

Then you get to the expressive part and imitate others. As time passes you, hopefully, notice your preferences and start developing your own style. And you can't wait to be an artist! For some, they consider themselves artists from the giddyup as they used to say when I grew up in Philadelphia (it's a horsey term, meaning from the very start).

Artistic egos are amazing and intriguing, like people, in general. Some are quiet, introverted and shy and some are loud,  forceful and believe in themselves, insisting that everyone else does, too. Lots of artists exist somewhere in between!

It took quite a while for me to believe I had the skills to consider myself an artist, even when others cheered me on. I still constantly question what I do. I always want to make it better; that only seems natural, though, right?. Some people think, or at least say that their work is great; when I look at it I can can only shrug! It's also shocking hearing folks do that.

Does the public, including art critics, curators and collectors believe an artist is good because the artist him/herself insists he or she is? And is the quiet, non-tooter of his or her own horn likely to be overlooked for the same reasons, that he or she does not toot?  How much is too much. How much should we believe when reading someone's personal website? Where can you go to find out if an artist is good besides hearing it from his or her own mouth, especially since a lot of people don't get an art education?

   Got any ideas, Mr. Washington?

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

A Creative Space: Richard Hunt’s Studio

I, for a long time, have envied sculptors...they change space by shoving their stuff into it, affecting everything around it, sometimes for miles around!

Recently, I spent a morning with Richard Hunt, the internationally recognized sculptor with more public works than any other living artist. It’s a given that he just blows me away. His charming and unassuming personality and his handsome good looks are enough, but add to that his enormous creative abilities and long-tested productivity and you have a contemporary artist who is pretty much unmatched!

If envy, like Dante’s Inferno, has circles, visiting Hunt’s studio takes me deep into a covetous crater. His studio is jammed with tiny maquettes, informally arranged like a collection of rare crystal, intermixed with huge electric tools and small gadgets used to form and transform the metals, Hunt’s preferred medium. Some items I see are old hand tools that chew into and cut metal, and lots of cords attached to the tools trail the floor. There are modern laser cutters and various metal fasteners and clamps that I don’t have names for, plus curly metal shavings (that I wanted so badly to graph onto some of my own art!) left behind when the huge sheets of steel and aluminum are cut. The hunks of scrap metal and new metal create piles of inventory taller than my 5’10” frame and probably taller than my 3-story house. Various wires and wood pieces, books, magazines, newspapers, catalogs and clothes flow like a river and its tributaries throughout this space.

 

 

Hunt seems attracted to simple artifacts, the opposite of his own more texturally complex and curvy works, by American and African artists and spotted here and there in the studio and in his adjacent office. I see bolts to screw on the bases he is fabricating to stand his work on and metal rods, nails and whatnot.
The cornucopia of sculpture-making delights extends from the floor to the ceiling with tiny aisles for walking and niches for working. I don't know how many works-in-progress are in this colossal former Chicago Transit Authority terminal. Many larger scale works shine beautifully in the muted light. They look complete and ready to go to a gallery, home, museum or corporation. I’d certainly welcome them into my home. Walking through Richard Hunt’s studio is like walking through a diamond shop with all the jewels out for anyone to touch!

I arrived at his Lill Street studio (above from his website) at 7:15 am this day to chat and have breakfast with Richard at his neighborhood hangout the Salt and Pepper Diner. It’s within eyesight of his studio, a place where he doesn’t really need a menu and where he doesn’t really need to state his order. The waitress already knows, but checks to make sure he hasn’t changed his mind. When we returned to the studio, passing by his sculpture in Jonquil Park that was being retrofitted for wheelchair accessibility, I realized that Richard’s space exemplifies the aspirations of many artists: We really want to get every idea we think we have into a concrete, ready-to-be-shown, form. Many of us have terrific ideas all the time, but many of those gems remain in our heads only. Some of us grasp our creative concepts and run with them to produce something, but maybe not scores of somethings. Has Hunt been able to actually remember the idea he had in the shower, or on a walk in the park or at dinner in a fancy restaurant, long enough to turn it into art?

It seems to me he must. When I argued for the theme Artists at Work for Chicago Artists Month 2002 it was because I believe in what Richard Hunt lives, and I believe many other artists do, too: work. You work to make as much art as you can, for as many days as you can, for as many years as you can. Your natural creativity and the creativity you inevitably develop when you practice will show. Right now, I think the hardest job is mine, attempting to write about Richard Hunt’s glittering, magical space, holding treasures that easily compete with a gold mine, so that you can envision it.

Beauty aside, this is one studio that screams prolific. Richard Hunt states plainly, for anyone who looks, that he is the artist at work.

I first published this post here...where you will find interesting comments you might like to read and other blogs on artists' studios.

WHO DID IT FIRST?

Many artists believe some  other artist is copying their work.
Really.

I have no statistics. But when I hear it I am stopped in my tracks. I have never said much in response; don't we all know there is  nothing new under  the sun?

My "Out of the Box' series in black and white is above left. Whitfield Lovell's portraits (MacArthur Fellow) are right. I was not aware of his portraits, which I LOVE, when  I started painting my "Survivor Spirits" (former slaves, example below) in 2003 and later the photos  from the W.E.B. DuBois Paris Exposition of 1900, also several years ago. The images were available to anyone who reads books. Whitfield and I had access to the same material and had a similar idea to make paintings from these historic images! I painted the same woman Lovell did, (on the bottom of his 3 portraits); I painted her to her waist on left (below) and an earlier version of her head on right (below). He flipped the photo. I have been  painting historic figures since I was a college student.

So  has anyone had the experience of another artists intentionally copying their style?

Wouldn't you be flattered? Should the artist who has been influenced by your work acknowledge it?

Or is it possible you and the  other artist were  BOTH influenced by someone or something like Whitfield Lovell and me!

HOW ABOUT THESE Possibilities??????????

ART SCHOOL:   Art schools teach, pretty much, the same information. Beginning artists see the same art works.  A teaching tool art schools use is having students actually copy original art works. In just about all cases students are shown examples of the work they are expected to paint, draw, sculpt, etc. Students   also witness  demonstrations by their professors.  I  know my students do. So right away the teachers of art provide students with materials that they will incorporate into their own work.

GALLERIES, Museums, Books: We all  look at art. Sometimes we use elements consciously, sometimes not.

ARTIST FRIENDS:  Your friend's work is there for you to see it. Artists absorb what they see.

ART TRENDS:  Artists sometimes adhere to a "school" or style that is prevalent and popular. The school  may suggest that you use certain elements that will make adherent's works look similar in some ways.

TECHNOLOGY: New inventions attract artists and many tend to use them similarly because   inherent limitations, as well as the technological possibilities, are built in.  Picasso and  Braque were  probably also influenced by film as they developed Cubism.  (and all the other stuff that brought in the previous new century, including flight. They adapted, as their nicknames, Wilbur and Orville, as in the Wright Brothers.)

TRADITION: Referencing previously done work is an art  tradition.   As Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso set out to create a new art form they did  so by working almost identically, building on Paul Cezanne's approaches to art as well as  their exposure to African art.

Each generation of artists builds  on what went before them or reacts against it but have some relationship  to the significant art  that came before. 

ART HISTORY: Artists revisit styles  such  as German Expression which came to  America as Abstract Expressionism and later there was a Neo-expressionist movement. 

No artist is an island. Each has a style unless he is a forger or lacks imagination! Whatever an artist does has the fingerprint of that artist. The line is the artists' line, etc . I think most artists want their work to be distinct.

If you agree that it is fine for artists to be influenced by, or work in the manner  of,  or participate  in the school or style of other artists:

when does borrowing go too far!!!???