Abstract Art

Upcoming Exhibit in June

You are invited to view my art this June in a 3-person exhibit, The New Abstraction, at Hopper House Art Center in Nyack, New York.  I'll be showing with Hilda Epner and A. Lebowski, and we will be discussing our work and philosophy during the reception on Sunday, June 3rd, from 2 to 5 pm.   

It's hard to plan a show when you haven't seen the exhibit space.  I am planning to bring as many paintings as I can fit into my Honda Element (after taking out the back seats), so that I will have enough to choose from when we hang the show on Friday.  Nyack is a 4-5 hour drive, so Adrian and I will leave on Thursday and stay through Sunday's reception. 

I want to include my latest work in this show, and to focus on the red/orange/greens.  These are some of my favorite colors, but they are sometimes hard to photograph, so they look best "live" rather than on a computer screen.  Here are a few I will bring:

  Illumination, 36" x 36"

  Green Here and There, 36" x 36"

  Pleasure Palace, 36" x 36"

  Talking Dog, 36" x 36" 

 

Il Lee at the San Jose Museum of Art

On a recent trip to California, we went to the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA), where I was delighted to view an exhibit of Korean-born New York based artist, Il Lee.  It took me a while to warm up to his work, which is made exclusively with ball point pens on paper or canvas.  That's right, I said ball point pens--the ordinary kind you buy by the box at Staples or Office Depot. 

Lee does not use the pens to draw so much as to build up an image through repetitive strokes, gradually creating dark masses or shapes.  At first you almost want to dismiss them as "scribbling," but there is something obsessive and compelling about his images that seduce you into entering his world. 

This show at SJMA is Lee's first solo show in a museum, and the largest exhibit of his work to date, covering the last three decades of his output.   One begins with his drawings on paper, and by the time you get to his huge canvasses, you are indeed impressed.    I started out as a skeptic, not expecting to like this show, but I ended up loving it. 

You can check out images and commentary on Lee's exhibition by following the links at this API press relase at Art Projects International.  If you're going to be in the San Jose, California area in the next couple of months, take the time to see this.  The exhibit is open until July 8, 2007. 

Drawing

One year in the 1990s when I was living in a house without a space to paint, I did a lot of colored pencil and ink drawings.  It was a way to keep making art, and I continued to focus on abstract work rather than representational.  I love line anyway, and use it often in my paintings, so drawing really should be a natural for me.

Here are a few of the drawings I did:

  The Emperor's Mind

  Spring Wheat

  Sacrifices

  Blue Jazz

  Tripping Red 

I've always done some drawing on and off, and a few years ago I purchased a beautiful set of Prismacolor pens in 120 colors just to enhance this experience.  But unfortunately, I got so involved in painting on canvas that after a while I stopped drawing completely.   

One of my goals for 2007 was to start drawing again, so I recently got my set of pens out of the basement and set them up on a drawing table, ready to use.  This way I have no excuse not to use them.  I'd already bought plenty of good quality paper in various sizes, so let's hope I have some new drawings to post soon. 

Buying Giclee Prints versus Originals

The newest ink-jet printing technology allows high quality giclee prints to be made on archival quality paper or canvas with long-lasting inks.  The best of these giclee prints adhere closely to the original art, with rich tones and fine detail.  If done by an expert printmaker with the artist's supervision (to make certain the print is an accurate reflection of the original), a fine art reproduction is the result. Theoretically, an unlimited number of giclee reproductions could be made of a single original, but most artists choose to limit the edition in order to increase the value of each one. 

Thus, the purchase of a limited edition quality giclee print can be considered a purchase of fine art.  The problem is that there are also mass-market prints being sold which are made in unlimited editions and of lesser quality.  These cheap reproductions give the name "giclee print"  a bad reputation.

In addition to the cost of materials and time required to make a reproduction of any kind, one has to consider the value of the original.  In general, the more valuable the original, the more valuable a quality reproduction of it will be. 

If buyers have a choice, should they purchase an original or a quality reproduction of it?  The answer depends on their art budget and the purpose for buying the art.  Collectors, who expect to keep the art they purchase and hand it down to their heirs, will always want to buy originals if they can afford it.  If they cannot afford it, then a high-quality limited edition giclee print is a good alternative. 

Does the availability of reproductions make the original less valuable?  No, because there is still only one original.  All the cheap Van Gogh prints we see in frame shops do not devalue the worth of his original paintings.

I've been thinking about these issues lately because I now offer limited edition giclee prints of my abstract paintings (see www.artbylt.com), and I worry that some clients may be confused by this choice.  I've had very few of them disappointed in their purchase of the giclee prints, especially when they are able to order the print in the size they prefer rather than being limited to that of the original.  But I thought the whole issue was worth some discussion. 

It would be great to hear from other artists on this topic.