Sinister in Monochrome: the Drawings of Mercedes Helnwein

I've recently had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with the drawings of Mercedes Helnwein. Daughter of the Austrian-Irish artist-provocateur, Gottfried Helnwein, Mercedes shows influence of her father's watercolour paintings, without relying on his heavy-handed visual and visceral upset. Concentrating on the female figure, the incorporation of small or hand-held props, and the artist's impeccable technical drawing abilities, Mercedes Helnwein presents a body of portraits almost exclusively in graphite chiaroscuro that have an unmistakable and delectable sense of sinisterness. Helnwein's beautiful figures seem to have walked right out of an ad from a 1950s issue of Good Housekeeping (or Williamsburg, Brooklyn). Irony, however, is injected into the subject matter and conceptual elements of the renderings with situational humor, awkwardness, or juxtaposition of the figure to her environment and/or prop. Helnwein's drawings are an examination of the female figure, donned in mod clothes, and disoriented, if not displaced, extending to the viewer a lovely, clean rendering of beauty in a vulnerable and most honest means. The artist is currently working toward her November 2009 exhibition at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles, California, working on her second novel, and consistently collaborates on films with her brother, Ali Helnwein.

-Joel Sager

For the love of artists

Recently I received the following video clip on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1335894615&k=ZZBZ46UYPV5OUCD1QB64VVTVTWAG This was posted by artists Carlos Michael Finn. We met Carlos about 5 years ago through another artist. We have visited him in Denver many times over the last few years. He in turn has come to visit us on many occasions. I love Carlos. I love this video. The video really made me miss Carlos, but it also reminded me why we have PS:Gallery. We opened the gallery to provide a quality location for artists to show their work. We wanted to provide not just a wall, but a nurturing environment that would show their work with the same kind of energy in which it was created. We wanted to have a place that artists would be proud to show their work in. We have been very fortunate in our lives to meet and know many very talented artists. We hope in some way that we can covey a little bit of what we love about each of the artists we show. Take a look at Carlos' video, come in and check out his work, ask me about Carlos and what makes him great, not just as an artists but as a person. My next few blogs will be dedicated to many of the artists that I call "Friends"

Jennifer

The Price of Art (continued)

There is a long time value to art. Most people will replace their house every ten years or so, their car every five years, their wardrobe every year, but an investment in an original piece of art will be with you forever and often handed down to future generations. The beauty of it is, unlike those stocks and bonds that float around in cyberspace, you get to enjoy your art investment everyday. Now, I would never sell a piece of art as a financial investment. Art generally goes up in value, but that's not the reason to invest in art. The true investment is in your own personal aesthetic. Whether the art sparks a memory, stirs an emotion, or you just love the way it makes the room, the investment is in your own personal surrounding. Try hanging your stock certificate on the wall and getting that kind of reaction.

True, original art come with a price tag. You can read Jennifer's post below to see what goes into pricing original art. In addition to all of those reasons, keep in mind the rarity. Like a Mickey Mantle baseball card and the Hope Diamond, when you buy an original piece of art, you are the only person in the world with it. You can't say that about your shoes or your car. I think there is something very special about knowing your investment in art is uniquely your own.

So keep in mind the next time you toss your cell phone for the latest model or put your shoes in a plastic bag because their out of style, remember for a small monthly investment, you too could own original art. While savings for retirement and college for the kids is very important, so is making an investment in your own aesthetic.

Chris

Basil Wolverton Profile

In honor of my affinity for low-brow art, I am posting Holland Cotter's Times article which examines the uniqueness and utter paradoxical nature of Basil Wolverton's artwork: its counter-culture status, yet simultaneous ability to serve as a zeitgeist to mid-century ethos. His life in and of itself wasn't much less perplexing. A church-going protestant (Wolverton was a member of the sect, Radio Church of God and later the Worldwide Church of God), the artist sought to be known for his Biblical drawings, but is instead one of the most noted illustrators of methodical renderings of the grotesque subsidized by his best client, Mad Magazine. More than anything, I am inspired by Wolverton's ability to do the wrong thing at the right time, a serendipitous underdog. The artist's work is on display through Aug. 14 at the Barbara Gladstone Gallery, 515 West 24th Street, Chelsea; (212) 206-9300. If you're not in New York, enjoy the show vicariously through the enclosed link (more of a profile of Wolverton than proper review of his exhibit) which includes clips and images.
-Joel Sager

PS: link insertion did not work. You will have to manually go to the article at www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/arts/design/23basil.html?_r=1&ref=design. Sorry for the trouble.

The Price of Art

Last week I had two discussions about the price of art. I am always a little amazed at the manner in which people perceive art and what it should cost. So the topic of this blog is the price of Art. I want to address a couple of things, within this broader idea: one, the actual dollar amount that a piece of art costs and why, and what that means for the artist. I would also like to address the value of art, not how much it costs, but how much it is worth in the context of other things one might spend their money on.

First, The actual dollar amount of a piece of art-
I have to start out by saying that pricing art is a tricky business. There are no hard and fast rules that artists can use to price their work. There are a couple of factors that come into play. You have to look at the quality of the work, how long the artist has been in business, the reputation of the artist and what work has sold for in the past. You also have to take into account where you are trying to sell the work. I am a big believer in "The price is the price is the price." The price should be the same on art work if the piece is hanging in a gallery or in the artist's studio. I digress. Back to the price of art. Lets look at why art is priced the way it is. Original art is not inexpensive. Usually the better known and more talented an artists is, the more they can ask for their art work. Several people recently have told me that they feel the art work in the gallery is too expensive. I hope to put it into perspective. Lets say that an artist has a show scheduled with a gallery. They are asked to put in 10 pieces. The average price per piece is $1000.00. So if all of the pieces sell (the likelihood of that is slim) the gallery will have brought in $10,000.00 for that artists work. Off the top the gallery keeps half. After all, the gallery sold the work, paid the employees to hang and market the work, paid the rent on the gallery, bought the ads to promote the work and more. So the artist gets to take home $5000.00. Sounds great right, hold on, lets look at a few more things. We are going to assume that we are talking about a full time artist. Lets say that the artist spent $500.00 on supplies: paints, canvases, etc. Lets says that the artist spent another $500.00 on frames. So now the artist is taking home $4000.00. Oh wait, what about studio space? Artists can't usually work in their living rooms, so lets say it took 3 months to create these 10 pieces. The artist has an inexpensive studio and only spends $300.00 on studio rental. So now, the artist is taking home 3700.00. If we take that money and divide it out to an hourly wage it comes to about $7.70/hr. People who work at McDonalds make more. And this is all figured if all the paintings sell at the full retail price and there are no additional expenses. There is a reason that the term "starving artist" is so popular. It is not easy to make a living as an artist.

Lets briefly take a look at the pricing of work specifically in PS:Gallery. One of the things I strive to do is to have strong art in my gallery. I pride myself on having great artists and having new work from those artists. At this moment in the gallery I have artwork ranging from $250.00 - $4200.00. I think that every piece is priced fairly. A few years ago Chris Stevens and I traveled to Santa Fe. It was a great trip. We saw great, great art. One thing in particular that struck me while we were there was the prices of art. Most of the galleries did not have any work that was under $3000.00. That was the beginning. It was not unusual in the least to see pieces in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Don't get me wrong I am not being critical. The work was worth what they were asking. My point is, that when you look at art galleries across the country I think you will see that for the quality and type of artwork that we show, our prices are fair.

Two-The value of art
As with the pricing of art, the value of art is subjective and often debated. I am one who places high value on original art. Unlike solely decorative things, I get more than just an object that is pleasing to the eye. I see more every time I look. I have an emotional connection to my art. I know the artists and understand what some of the intention was behind the work. I understand that there are people who will never value art. I also understand that there are people who like art but are not sure they should make obtaining art a priority. There are many people who feel they cannot "afford art", this section is for you. If you value art, I will show you how you can afford art (if you are currently unemployed, or are struggling to pay rent, you can not afford art).

If you have ever stopped at a piece of art and said to yourself "I wish I had money for that" I have a mission for you. Starting next month, take $25.00 every month and put it into an art savings account. Have it withdrawn automatically if you don't think you can follow through. It doesn't sound like much, but it will add up and eventually you will again, find yourself looking at a fabulous piece of art and wishing you had money, this time you will be prepared. Most galleries offer layaway, so even if you don't have enough money saved, you have a down payment and can stretch out payments on the rest. We even offer interest free financing for those who qualify. You can make payments for up to nine months. That painting seems more affordable when you think about $120.00 per month instead of $1000.00. Think about it this way, if you go out for coffee four times a week, you spend on average 3.00/day, if you only saved that money, you would have enough to buy one new piece of art per year. Go out to eat two less times per month, get your hair cut every 5 weeks instead of 4. Drive your old car for a few more months instead of taking on a new car payment. Don't buy that third big screen TV (or maybe even the first). Art is forever, it doesn't spoil, it won't expire, it won't die. If you buy pieces you love, the hope is you will always love them. If your desire is to add art to your life, there are ways it can happen. I hope that this post has helped clarify the price and value of art. I look forward to reading your comments.

Jennifer Perlow

Writing on the Wall- The Sculptures of Chris Teeter
By Joel Sager
Nostalgia is a privilege. A nature exclusive to humankind, it is fundamentally an ability to tie emotions to that which has been seen, heard, or touched. It is personal, giving individual pasts an emotional context, yet simultaneously mutual in its ability to evoke shared experiences and feelings. Nostalgia is as ambiguous and vast as the mind that conceives of it; but also as particular as the seemingly mundane object or sound to which the mind attributes the phenomena. Nostalgia is memory with addendums of sentiment and pining, and is, indeed, a privilege.
Looking at the new sculptures by Chris Teeter, currently on exhibit at Perlow-Stevens Gallery, one is immediately taken with nostalgia. Each piece is a vague memory notably carrying with it chuckles, intrigue, and melancholy, and rendered in the assemblage of found objects (most of antiquity), hand-finished natural woods, and late Dubuffet-esque graphite drawings on panel. With the body of work at large being absent of representation, the found objects (typewriter parts, rusted out motors, cast iron doodads and whatchamacallits) draw in the viewer with their sense of familiarity and mood. In a number of the artist’s pieces, the objects are held together literally and compositionally by Teeter’s intricately constructed wooden platforms evoking a sense of Eastern cleanliness of line and dynamic warmth. Consistent throughout the artist’s oeuvre, though, is his undying attention to and elevation of the graphite abstractions. Framed within their setting of natural woods and flea market gadgetry, they take on the likeness of old tube (CRT) televisions airing a familiar static after late night broadcasting. When one stares long enough, an image begins to form, but quickly dissipates. This brink of representation married so flawlessly with Teeter’s engineered narrative through found objects is general enough to trigger memory, but vague enough to allow personal nostalgia to finish the story: a unique attribute making, in my opinion, this work to be the most significant sculpture to be shown in this space. Chris Teeter’s work is on display at the Perlow-Stevens Gallery 2009 Summer Exhibit which runs July 1st through September 27th. The reception will be held July 11th, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with the artist in attendance.

Aha! Moment

By the time I reached Amsterdam in the summer of 1990, I had already traveled through France, Italy, Austria, Spain and Germany, mostly looking at art along the way. I had been studying art history and had experienced plenty of emotionally charged interactions with some of the most incredible art in the world. You know, those moments when you really feel like you understand the art that's in front of you. You feel engaged, moved, enlightened........not necessarily in some heavy handed, academic way. You just get it.

One of my favorite, Aha! Moments came when I walked into the room housing "Nightwatch" (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/SK-C-5?lang=en) by Rembrandt. I had just finished some of Amsterdam's finest when I walked into the Rijksmuseum on a hot August day. I had studied the painting in a couple of different classes and could not wait to see it in person. I was awestruck. I sat down on a bench in front of the painting and put Black Sabbath "Paranoid" on my Walkman. I think I sat there for the entire album. It is hard not be struck in some way by Nightwatch, mostly because of it's size at 11' x 14'. It fills an entire room. But there is so much more.

Here's a quick art history lesson. ""Nighwatch" or correctly called "The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch" was commissioned by Captain Cocq in 1642 to depict his band of Arquebusiers. Basically, they were civic guards that had evolved into a social club by the time Rembrandt painted them. Lots has been written about the painting, it's meaning and hidden meanings. I won't get into all that. At that moment, I just appreciated the painting for what it was, an incredible piece of art. Rembrandt was truly a master. His use of light makes the figures jump out at you. I sat there and made up stories for each of the militiamen and some crazy explanations for the little girl.

Believe me when I say that Black Sabbath was an excellent soundtrack to Nightwatch. For at least a half an hour, I escaped into that painting. I enjoyed it on my own terms, not because it was famous, not because of the history, not because any of my professors told me I should. It was just cool to sit there with my headphones on and be absorbed by this incredible work of art.

I guess that's the point in my first ever attempt at a blog, it's OK to like art on your own terms. You don't have to be academic or all knowing about art or art history just to appreciate it. You drive a car, but you're not an Engineer. If you see a piece of art that moves you in some way, if it sparks a memory, or stirs an emotion or you just think it looks cool, that's OK. The most important meaning in any work of art is the meaning you take away from it. So don't be afraid to walk in to that museum or gallery next time. You might find your next Aha! Moment.

My experience with Nightwatch was just one of the "artistic" Aha! Moments in my life. I hope they never stop. I'd love to hear about some of yours.

Chris