AbArt Blog

Sharon B. 3:56 PM

yeah - where is logger???? did anyone see the pat passlof show? it was unbelievable! all that paint and all that color. you can see the relationship to her husband's painting and the differences too. more structure but similar atmospheric painting. i didn't bother to see the gates and it sounds like i didn't miss much either. any other good shows out there?

Monday, February 21, 2005

Jersey Kid 1:06 PM

Hey! What the hell happened to Logger's posts? Logger are you still there?

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Fedrico 3:55 PM

I saw the Gates on my way through the park to go downtown to the Passlof show. The park looks better withotu them and it was a lot of big sensationalism for nothing. The only thing I did like was the color streaming through th grayness of the park. After I walked through 50 yards of it I got the whole thing and could forget it. On the other hand the Passlof show is something I want to go back to again and again. The review on Abartonline hit it right on the head about it being pure painting. In comparison Cristo and Jeanne Claude arent fit to make Pat Passlof's shower curtains.

Sharon B. 9:49 AM

i didn't see the picasso documentary but it sounds great. i didn't know that renoir had ever done anything on picasso. it sounds like a real treasure. i don't know what its like anywhere else but in nyc almost any opportunity to show your work is important because its so hard to get exposure here. i guess you have the draw the line at a total vanity gallery but i think a place like the painting center is legit. in fact, i think there is stronger committment to painting there then in a lot of the commercial galleries. so i wouldn't mind paying a fee for a show there. when i lived in north carolina the exposure was easier to get but it didn't seem to mean as much.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Jersey Kid 4:28 PM

Good topic and something that was addressed in part at a recent panel at the Painting Center in December. Someone there said something about the only difference between abstraction and figuration was the same difference between music with or without lyrics. That wasn't always the case but today I think it really makes sense. In so much abstraction you see the inclusion of recognizable forms and this represents a return to very early abstraction in some ways.
As to being overly serious, I work very hard everyday to try and counter it. The more fun it is the more serious I think it is.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Jersey Kid 12:48 AM

Basta! Time for a new topic. Also we need MORE voices on this blog!!

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Fedrico 3:50 PM

Right on Sista Sharon B.! Its true that living here is a very differnet thing from a short visit. Its not all noise and distractions all the time either unless you set your tent up in the middle of times square. In some ways NY is just like anywhere that you live and the daily patterns of livinig eventually settle in to take off the edge. There are plenty of places to quietly comtemplate here too like the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (any day but the weekend), central Park etc., etc. My point like Sharon B. is that there is just more of everything here then anywhere else. Logger, come and stay a few weeks if possible and then gauge your reaction. I bet you see it differently.

Sharon B. 3:20 PM

i know where federico is coming from. i used to live in north carolina and it was okay for awhile. yes, you had the solitude to make your art and it was great to be out in woods and contemplating the world from there. there are some great museums too, what with the state museum in raleigh and secca (south eastern center for contemporary art) in winston salem. i even had opportunities to show my work.

but it got frustrating after awhile because artists in general were in short supply and abstract artists were even scarcer and i had very few people to talk to. so when i moved to new york around 8 years ago i finally felt like i found a big community of like minded people. its not just about the 'giants' of art but that you can find so many other people at your level that share your interests. there are people here you can really talk to about art and i think you don't get a true sense of what this means unless you live here and become part of the scene locally. even though i show rarely these days compared to nc i feel more connected and part of large community where i don't have to keep explaining what i do.

Monday, February 07, 2005

Jersey Kid 6:00 PM

But New York is just not what it once was. I think it took a big hit the late 80s and early 90s (when I got out). The whole glamour machine took over and everybody wanted to be a rock star adn didn't give a damn about their art.
I also think the Internet is being discounted here too. Its very important to see the art but you can get so much information on the net. Like this site where you get plenty of images to let you know what's going on. I still think you better perspective of the New York from the outside without missing that much. It just isn't worth it to have to live there anymore.

Fedrico 5:30 PM

I disaree. The influences for the ab-exers were far more local and were in parallel with the emergence of be-bop jazz also a NY grown art form. They also reacted to the emigration of the surrealists that left europe because of the war which drove an ultimate interest to create large heroic American painting. The were also known as the "New York school" for the very good reason that they were toughing out their new art here, as influenced by the each other and the city. My arguement for New York is not exclusivity but quantity. Sure, there is great abstract art being made elsewhere but my point is no where else has the collective energy that New York does. No where else has since Paris was the de facto center prior to the war. (BTW: I'm not an abstract expressionist but am using this as an example.)

Fedrico 12:10 PM

Chopping logs in Canada versus New York?? Are you kiddnig? The city is what CHARGES my batteries. I'm made stronger by living here because it hasn't killed me. Yeah its a hard place to live and make art and gets harder every day. But I transform all that back in to my work. The whole New York trip is what put the "expressionism" in to abstract expressionism. You can't get anywhere else what you can get in New York.


	Tuesday, February 22, 2005 Sharon B. 3:56 PM yeah - where is logger???? did anyone see the pat passlof show? it was unbelievable! all that paint and all that color. you can see the relationship to her husband's painting and the differences too. more structure but similar atmospheric painting. i didn't bother to see the gates and it sounds like i didn't miss much either. any other good shows out there? Monday, February 21, 2005 Jersey Kid 1:06 PM Hey! What the hell happened to Logger's posts? Logger are you still there? Wednesday, February 16, 2005 Fedrico 3:55 PM I saw the Gates on my way through the park to go downtown to the Passlof show. The park looks better withotu them and it was a lot of big sensationalism for nothing. The only thing I did like was the color streaming through th grayness of the park. After I walked through 50 yards of it I got the whole thing and could forget it. On the other hand the Passlof show is something I want to go back to again and again. The review on Abartonline hit it right on the head about it being pure painting. In comparison Cristo and Jeanne Claude arent fit to make Pat Passlof's shower curtains. Sharon B. 9:49 AM i didn't see the picasso documentary but it sounds great. i didn't know that renoir had ever done anything on picasso. it sounds like a real treasure. i don't know what its like anywhere else but in nyc almost any opportunity to show your work is important because its so hard to get exposure here. i guess you have the draw the line at a total vanity gallery but i think a place like the painting center is legit. in fact, i think there is stronger committment to painting there then in a lot of the commercial galleries. so i wouldn't mind paying a fee for a show there. when i lived in north carolina the exposure was easier to get but it didn't seem to mean as much. Friday, February 11, 2005 Jersey Kid 4:28 PM Good topic and something that was addressed in part at a recent panel at the Painting Center in December. Someone there said something about the only difference between abstraction and figuration was the same difference between music with or without lyrics. That wasn't always the case but today I think it really makes sense. In so much abstraction you see the inclusion of recognizable forms and this represents a return to very early abstraction in some ways. As to being overly serious, I work very hard everyday to try and counter it. The more fun it is the more serious I think it is. Thursday, February 10, 2005 Jersey Kid 12:48 AM Basta! Time for a new topic. Also we need MORE voices on this blog!! Wednesday, February 09, 2005 Fedrico 3:50 PM Right on Sista Sharon B.! Its true that living here is a very differnet thing from a short visit. Its not all noise and distractions all the time either unless you set your tent up in the middle of times square. In some ways NY is just like anywhere that you live and the daily patterns of livinig eventually settle in to take off the edge. There are plenty of places to quietly comtemplate here too like the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (any day but the weekend), central Park etc., etc. My point like Sharon B. is that there is just more of everything here then anywhere else. Logger, come and stay a few weeks if possible and then gauge your reaction. I bet you see it differently. Sharon B. 3:20 PM i know where federico is coming from. i used to live in north carolina and it was okay for awhile. yes, you had the solitude to make your art and it was great to be out in woods and contemplating the world from there. there are some great museums too, what with the state museum in raleigh and secca (south eastern center for contemporary art) in winston salem. i even had opportunities to show my work. but it got frustrating after awhile because artists in general were in short supply and abstract artists were even scarcer and i had very few people to talk to. so when i moved to new york around 8 years ago i finally felt like i found a big community of like minded people. its not just about the 'giants' of art but that you can find so many other people at your level that share your interests. there are people here you can really talk to about art and i think you don't get a true sense of what this means unless you live here and become part of the scene locally. even though i show rarely these days compared to nc i feel more connected and part of large community where i don't have to keep explaining what i do. Monday, February 07, 2005 Jersey Kid 6:00 PM But New York is just not what it once was. I think it took a big hit the late 80s and early 90s (when I got out). The whole glamour machine took over and everybody wanted to be a rock star adn didn't give a damn about their art. I also think the Internet is being discounted here too. Its very important to see the art but you can get so much information on the net. Like this site where you get plenty of images to let you know what's going on. I still think you better perspective of the New York from the outside without missing that much. It just isn't worth it to have to live there anymore. Fedrico 5:30 PM I disaree. The influences for the ab-exers were far more local and were in parallel with the emergence of be-bop jazz also a NY grown art form. They also reacted to the emigration of the surrealists that left europe because of the war which drove an ultimate interest to create large heroic American painting. The were also known as the "New York school" for the very good reason that they were toughing out their new art here, as influenced by the each other and the city. My arguement for New York is not exclusivity but quantity. Sure, there is great abstract art being made elsewhere but my point is no where else has the collective energy that New York does. No where else has since Paris was the de facto center prior to the war. (BTW: I'm not an abstract expressionist but am using this as an example.) Fedrico 12:10 PM Chopping logs in Canada versus New York?? Are you kiddnig? The city is what CHARGES my batteries. I'm made stronger by living here because it hasn't killed me. Yeah its a hard place to live and make art and gets harder every day. But I transform all that back in to my work. The whole New York trip is what put the "expressionism" in to abstract expressionism. You can't get anywhere else what you can get in New York.