October 2017

By Donald Kolberg, Art Bookmarks Editor

Monthly link highlights to online resources and websites that seem informative and inspiring for artists or art enthusiasts. Most are free. Suggestions are welcomed.[gap height=”20″]

Vintage Signs from Los Angeles

To create a reductive linoleum block print, you need to carve successive layers in a process made popular in the ’50s, by Picasso. Doing this successfully takes a talented artist! Dave Lefner is that amazing artist. He is bringing to life the vintage signs of Los Angeles in “suicide” prints, a term used for reductive linoleum block printing. His exhibition can be seen at the Pasadena Museum of California Art through January 7, 2018.

As a teaser, check out the images in the Los Angeles Times article by R. Daniel Foster. “I always want the process to be as much a part of my art as the subject matter,” Lefner states in the article. About his process, Foster writes: “Lefner creates the prints by carving successive layers from block-mounted linoleum etched with the artist’s drawings. Each layer is inked with a new color and then hand-cranked through a 30-by-50-foot Conrad press at his downtown Brewery studio. A nine-color print requires as many passes for each limited-edition linocut. His max so far: 17 colors….”

You Now See Colors that Once Didn’t Exist

Did you know that the way we view objects are usually in warm colors, but against backgrounds that are cool? Cognitive scientists from MIT and elsewhere have found that people can more easily communicate warmer colors than cool ones. Apparently there are similarities in color terms across more than 110 languages worldwide. According to an article in Quartz magazine “Industrialization changed the world’s palette, adding an array of synthetic hues to the universal, more natural, color scheme. This shifted human vision and experience, literally adding shades to how we see the world as cultures created more objects in ever more tones.” The study outlined in the article helps to explain how colors are not only dictated by culture but also by the industrial growth of nations. Makes you look at the choices we make in our paintings!

Things for Business of Art

Of course you would rather be in the studio. So would I, but you need to remember that being an artist entails being in business. While this article in the Burnaway blog focuses on artists residing in Georgia, it’s probably a good idea to apply the information to whatever state you are doing business in. Covered here are tips on how exactly to structure your art business, applying for a doing-business name, a Federal Tax ID number and a business license, as well as how a license can help you.

Advice Worth Hearing

Since we are on the subject, on the artwork archive blog is a great article, What 14 Artists Wish They Knew at the Start of Their Career: “These artists address issues that all emerging artists face at some point in their career. From finding your confidence, discipline, and voice, to understanding entrepreneurship, money issues, and business tips, and dealing with success, rejection, and bruised egos, these artists have been through it all and are here to share what they learned along the way.” The advice ranges from very broad to esoteric: only compare yourself to your former self, when giving the middle finger is an appropriate response to criticism, and so much more. It’s not often that I print out pages to keep around, but this collection is worth saving.

A Shazam for the Artworld

Before you yell at the person using a smartphone in an art gallery, you should see if they’re using the new app from Smartify. According to the designers, this free app is “an art guide like never before. One that provides information instantly, works across venues, and is actually easy to use…” The designers aspire to personalize how we view art—stories and interviews are included in a database that is growing rapidly. Smartify is already in use in over thirty of the world’s major galleries and museums, including the National Gallery in London, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, The Met in New York and LACMA in Los Angeles. Check out the story at the Dezeen blog.

Jenny Holzer

Here’s access to one of my online catalogs that could have been produced today. Like other artists who rose to prominence in the 1980’s, Jenny Holzer is a product of the TV and billboards era. She employs art and aspects of culture to comment on the nature of a consumer society. This catalog is from a 1959 exhibition at the Guggenheim. The images are as up to date as if they were created today. [gap height=”20″]

That’s it for now but remember if there’s something you’d like to see on this blog contact me at dkolberg@thewoventalepress.net