World According to Art

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May 26 is a massively important day. The preparation and celebration of said day tore me away from my blog for two whole days, yet surprisingly, this historical importance of this day is rarely taught in schools. Even so, May 26 fills the annals of history with exciting events and interesting personages.

For example:

1521, Martin Luther was declared an outlaw and his writings banned by the Edict of Worms.
1647, Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies
1689, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer, bluestocking and eccentric was born
1799, Alexander Pushkin was born
1805, Napoléon Bonaparte assumed the title of King of Italy in the Duomo di Milano
1828, Mysterious feral child Kaspar Hauser was discovered in Nuremberg
1964, Lenny Kravitz was born
1984, I was born.

I’ll leave you to imagine which of these occasion caused such feasting and recovery that I couldn’t even post, and also what 7 pounds of lamb kebabs look like.

It’s rather an odd birthday for me, or rather part of an odd year. I took a ridiculous administrative job in a field that I have no interest in; it happened to pay more than my last job for a 4-day work week. I decided to take a year to pursue my interest in writing and art. It’s flown by. My birthday just reminds me how close I am to the end of my year, as of September 15, and how I have no clue what I will do (or am doing) with my life. Even worse, September 15 is my personal due date for my novel–and the novel is not cooperating!

On the upside, I saw a really interesting painting exhibition that I can’t wait to share. Thanks for your patience with the absence of posts, and happy 25th birthday to me!

And now for your regularly scheduled blog…

Buying Affordable Art: Go Small or Not at All?

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When I walked by Heist Gallery up the block from me yesterday, I noticed a thin row of Polaroids lining the walls, and this started a long train of thought. It was a group show entitled “12 Instances,” and interestingly the last exhibition I saw there, Papercut, was an assortment of affordable works on paper. Both exhibitions were put together with an eye to being reasonably-priced. Affordable, small-scale works seem sensible given the big “R” word (Recession) and they suit my budget. Affordable art might just be a case of buying small, but I find it interesting, perhaps telling, that given my enthusiasm for art, I’ve opted for not at all over small.

Polaroid by Braden King

Here’s the thing: I love art and I’m no Rockerfeller. I’m democratic and think art should be accessible to all. I like the idea of being able to afford art. YET I don’t want to buy the relatively reasonable Polaroid. I just wasn’t that impressed, and I felt the same way with a lot of the lower end works at the Affordable Art Fair. There were some nice enough postcard-size sketches, but I didn’t fall hundreds-of-dollars in love with them. Maybe my eyes are just bigger than my budget.

I’m more impressed with the website 20X200, which offers limited editions of new works each week beginning at $20. They go up through $2,00o dollars, depending on the size of the print. They have an impressive quality and some really nice images, and I’ll likely buy from there in the near future.

I’m even more impressed with my boyfriend, even if his plans for my birthday didn’t quite work out; he wanted to buy a (smaller, more affordable if possible) painting from an artist in Chelsea that I raved about. So he contacted the gallery, saying he was interested in this artist’s work. Nobody ever responded to his message. (Can you not leave a voicemail saying that you are interested in a certain artists work and expect to be called back?) I’m fairly certain said artist is 10 times above our price range anyhow, but I do find it odd that he didn’t hear back.

Buying affordable art seems to involve shrinking it on cheaper mediums. That’s ok, but I’m going to have to do a lot more scouring to find works that I love. As I have blank wall syndrome, I’ve filled my apartment with paintings of my own as a temporary (and not particularly impressive) solution. Suggestions welcome, both for blank wall syndrome and buying art.

To prove it’s not impossible to buy great art on a budget, check out the Vogels below.

Ravels in Review Memorial Day Weekend

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Ubi Roi, Hernan Bas at Lehmann Maupin

Yes, it has been a week already, and luckily things have calmed down since the fire on my block last week. In fact, they have slowed to a crawl, which is about the pace my sinuses can handle right now.

  • Despite the fog in my brain, or perhaps because of, I tried to explain the greatness of Erasmus based on the fact he named himself ‘Desire Desire.’ He did some other things too.
  • I questioned whether Francis Bacon could qualify as the greatest painter of the 20th twentieth, and got at least a few votes for greatness, if not greatest painter ever. I’m hanging out on a limb until I see the retrospective up at the Met now.
  • The oldest sculpture ever was discovered, and there is some very scientific discussion about how sex-obsessed early humans were.

All in all, a good week. Some things to look forward to in the art world, like Francis Bacon at the Met and promising-sounding Hernan Bas exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and Lehmann Maupin, and a long Memorial Day weekend ahead.

H