(re)view (re)source: 5 Artists, July 8, 2012

5 Artists, July 8, 2012

I recently watched Art 21, Episode "Place", so I'll start with a few artists from that. http://www.pbs.org/art21/films/place

1. Barry McGee

San Fransisco based artist, Barry McGee, works in galleries and on the street. I enjoy his work in and of itself, but also how he talks about his attempt to stay connected to street art while also existing in the art world. He struggles to balance the need to make a living off of his art, with a more democratic ideal about art existing for the larger public.

As for the work itself, I enjoy the drawing elements mixed with painterly touches, such as drips of paint. I also particularly enjoy the mix of fantasy with a certain feeling of darkness and weight.

2. Pepón Osorio
This excerpt from the Art 21 website sums up what appeals to me about Osorio's work:

"Osorio’s pieces, influenced by his experience as a social worker in The Bronx, usually evolve from an interaction with the neighborhoods and people among which he is working; he says, “My principal commitment as an artist is to return art to the community.” A recent example is "Tina’s House," a project created in collaboration with a family recovering from a devastating fire. The house—a tabletop-size art piece—tells the story of the night of the fire and those affected, and is traveling the country in a series of “home visits”: a home visit invites a new family to live with the art work for a period of at least one week, allowing the story of "Tina’s House" to be told in many homes and environments." (http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/pepon-osorio)

In addition, he talks about visiting saints being the inspiration for these home visits. I've recently been interested in the links between art, religion, and spirituality.

Home Visit, 1999

Home Visit - the artist, the family who is the subject of the piece, and the sculpture

Scene of the Crime (Whose Crime?), 1993

3. Sally Mann

I've been aware of Sally Mann's work for awhile, but Art 21 brought her to the forefront of my mind. It was also very interesting to see her children, who are the controversial subjects of her most famous work, interviewed. There has been so much criticism of the way Mann portrays her children, whether they are sexualized, etc. But seeing them in the context of a family makes Mann's own intentions clear. I love the quote from her daughter toward the end of the segment. She starts out talking about her mother's more recent photographs of landscapes, "She was brought up with no sense of God in such an atheistic family, and you'll never hear her say anything spiritual or religious... she's like 'I don't want to get too touchy feely' She's really against that stuff. But I think it's her Bible, it's her expression of a spirituality that she can't say without feeling stupid. Maybe it's the same thing with Immediate Family, sort of a maternal understanding, maternal love, that's so hard to express, so she took pictures."

(Again, a link between spirituality and contemporary art. Is art religion for atheists and agnostics?)

4. Michael Rea
Chicago artist, Shay suggested I should look at...
An excerpt from his artist statement, found on his website:
"The objects I create are based on fictions, rather than realities. I have always been interested in the ephemeral worlds established in film, or even in popular culture. Fictions or established hearsay allow for a flawed interpretation, which leads to a flawed result. The sublime is unattainable, and not an option. I further amplify this experience by only using my memory to construct my images. Failure is imminent. I find humor allows me to enjoy this experience, and I in turn build humor into the worlds established by my work." (http://mikerea.com/?page_id=26)