Alex Alvis Art

Marcel Duchamp and exploding shingles

Marcel Duchamp's painting Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) was a very scandalous painting in it's time.  Back then it was described by the press as (among other things) looking like a bunch of shingles exploding.


I'm paraphrasing a little.  I can't remember which of our presidents saw it at an exhibition but he wrote that he had a Navaho rug in his bathroom that was better art than this...not a direct quote either; he used many more words when he wrote about it.

Art means different things to different people.  That is a wonderful thing.

What did this work of art - and other works Duchamp created before "famously renounced artmaking in favor of playing chess for the remainder of his life"?

Here are some excerpts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Website:

Embodying the intellect of his literary contemporaries Marcel Proust and James Joyce, Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) has been aptly described by the painter Willem de Kooning as a one-man movement. Jasper Johns has written of his work as the "field where language, thought and vision act on one another." Duchamp has had a huge impact on twentieth-century art. By World War I, he had rejected the work of many of his fellow artists as "retinal" art, intended only to please the eye. Instead, Duchamp wanted, he said, "to put art back in the service of the mind."

One of his most important works, Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) (1912) (a second version of a work on cardboard from 1911), however, reflects Duchamp's ambivalent relationship with Cubism. He adopts the limited palette of Cubist paintings, but his invigorated figure is in a state of perpetual motion—a very different effect from Picasso and Braque's Analytic Cubism that held figures tightly in place. Provoking negative reactions from even the Parisian avant-garde, the painting was rejected by the Salon des Indépendants for both its title and the artist's mechanistic, dehumanizing rendering of the female nude. The following year, it sparked controversy at the New York Armory Show, helping to establish Duchamp's reputation as a provocateur overseas and paving the way for his arrival in New York two years later.

He wanted to distance himself from traditional modes of painting in an effort to emphasize the conceptual value of a work of art, seducing the viewer through irony and verbal witticisms rather than relying on technical or aesthetic appeal. The object became a work of art because the artist had decided it would be designated as such. 

. . . . satirical works such as Duchamp's readymade Fountain (1917) tested the limits of public taste and the boundaries of artistic technique. By pushing and ultimately transgressing such boundaries within the art world, Duchamp's works reflected the artist's sensibility. His use of irony, puns, alliteration, and paradox layered the works with humor while still enabling him to comment on the dominant political and economic systems of his time.

Duchamp is associated with many artistic movements, from Cubism to Dada to Surrealism, and paved the way for later styles such as Pop (Andy Warhol), Minimalism (Robert Morris), and Conceptualism (Sol LeWitt). A prolific artist, his greatest contribution to the history of art lies in his ability to question, admonish, critique, and playfully ridicule existing norms in order to transcend the status quo—he effectively sanctioned the role of the artist to do just that.

So there you go.  Art history lesson for today.  Perhaps that is what Thurdays should be in this blog...Art History Day.  I like it!

I, for one, am proud of Duchamp that he had so much fun playing with art.  The most memorable art is made during play, I think. 

Hope your day is going well.  And play a little! ...why not?

Tomorrow?  I am going on a road trip to deliver my sculpture to A NEW GALLERY !!

If I get back early enough to post tomorrow - but

If not - I'll be back on Saturday to tell you all about it...with photos! :)

'Til then!

~Alex

Why Collect Art?

It is said that Art is the top luxury commodity.  I hate to think of art this way.  It isn't a handbag, or a diamond, or a bottle of Dom Pérignon Oenothèque.

Art is conceived from the imagination of one person (usually) and that conception is expressed by that one person and very finely crafted (usually) by hand as well.  If it is replicated, it is very often replicated by hand...at least in the case of finely chased bronze sculpture.

Something about it resonates with someone who sees it and they must have it.  Usually, it doesn't matter if the cost is high or low or somewhere in between. 

How many times have you taken money concerns too much to heart when you encounter the very work of art that lights you up  - and you did not take it home and have regretted it always? 

It seems that by now we would know that if a work of art resonates profoundly with us, the money part of the equation always somehow works itself out. 

I saw a painting at a show the beginning of August.  I still miss it.  I will always miss it.  It said that thing a special to you work of art says to your heart..."I belong with you...my home is with you..."

You know what I mean?

There is a book written by a couple who have run an art advisory service for years and years in New York City.  A city where the art scene thrives, because it is a city where the art community is continually passionate about celebrating the arts and educating the public about the arts.

I am going to get ahold of this book and read it.  If you have already - let me know how you liked it.

It is written by Thea and Ethan Wagner and has wonderful things to say about art collecting for the experienced collect as well as someone who wants to begin their collection.  This from the About the Book section:

Collecting Art for Love, Money and More looks at why collecting art is a completely unique experience that offers emotional, intellectual and social rewards. The authors argue that the motivations for acquiring a work of art and building a collection, unlike buying anything else, may be any combination of investment potential, aesthetics, love of art, challenge, intellectual exploration, social status, adrenaline rush, ego-building or public attention.

I'm going to get ahold of this book too...it looks very interesting.

I would love to hear why you collect art.

'Til tomorrow - wishing you an educational Wednesday!

~Alex

Should Contemporary Art be Comfortable?

...and what is Contemporary Art anyway?

Contemporary Art is art that has been created from 1970's until now.  Before then, there was Modern Art which is defined as the period of art created from 1860's to 1970's.

So there you have it.  By that definition, I create Contemporary Art.

But hang on.  When I Google "Contemporary Art" in images, this is what I get:

I liked the article called "The Purpose of Contemporary Art" on the TipArt blogger site.  Seems the more sensationalist the art the more attention it garners.  One article I read stated that the purpose of Contemporary Art is to smack the viewer on the back of the head.

How about we narrow our focus?  Contemporary Art of the Animal Genre:


Is this art something we can engage with and relate to?  Perhaps so.  Would we want to live with it?  Some of it, maybe.

I have written countless artist's statements.  They are accurate, those statements, but I have known all along that they were superficial somehow.

The longer I have thought on this subject of WHY I sculpt animals and WHY do I have stories about them all and WHY are they so personal, so "alive" to me that if I were the last human on earth, I would still go to my studio and create them...the more I have known I had to go way back in my past.

I had to really remember my experiences with living animals to more fully understand my perceptions of the universe and beliefs and assumptions and how I look at them and at me and at humankind.  Yes.  That sounded deep ...well.  

I guess an artist goes deep to get real.  And I feel that I have it now.  The WHY.

But first. 

Let me tell you a story. 

Once upon a time there was a young human, and she had a cat. 

I say - she - but really...this was a cat who had a young human.  And to that young human she was so much more than a house cat...she was a dear friend and companion, a confidant, and a parent figure to me (I mean her).

There was communication between us (I mean ...them....oh never mind). 

Of course a cat doesn't have the capacity to communicate in the most common way humans do, by speaking.  But, then again, I didn't talk that much myself back then.

One day, while this cat was sleeping, I was...just a little bit with one index finger...moving the fur between the pads of her paws.  This would wake her up enough for her to shake her paw when what I was doing started tickling her.

Over and over I did this.  I was aware that I was "teasing an animal" but I was bored and it was amusing.  My face was very close to hers as I was lying right next to her as she slept.

Suddenly I was aware that she was very awake...my face was right next to hers and as I looked from the paw I was busy tickling to her face...I saw she was making eye contact  - big time.  I froze. 

In the next instant, she clamped her teeth on my nose!  Quite strategically. 

Imagine my surprise...

She had gently placed her top two teeth on top of my nose and bottom two teeth inside my nose (one bottom tooth fitting perfectly inside each nostril) and she was biting down just hard enough... not to hurt me... but to hold me there.  The unspoken threat was that - if I did try to move - I would indeed be hurt...and I understood this very well.

I did not move.  I did ask, politely, that she stop.  I told her "let go" ...I told her "no...bad cat..."
- quietly of course so as not to startle her. 

Her green eyes stared into mine.  They seemed to say, "I am very irritated with you right now."

Finally I said, "I'm sorry.  I promise I won't ever tickle your feet again." 

And I meant it quite sincerely.

She let go.  Licked a front paw, washed her face, laid her head down and went back to sleep.

So.  Why did I tell you this story?  Because.

How does an artist show who they are through their art?

It is because of this, and countless other stories I have, that I create the animals I create.

Because I have this belief:

I am not so very different as a human animal - to other non-human animals.

I believe animals have the same feelings humans have.  All the same. 

I believe we think about things differently, conceptualize things differently, have different types of belief structures, all perhaps more complicated...

I believe it is probably true that our intellectual capacity for reason and logic and knowledge is more advanced...at least in the way humans measure such things. 

But I believe that - in so many countless ways - we share so much more than we know.

My sculpture is not edgy and created to be "in your face" shouting. 

It is meant to communicate my social and cultural experiences with the animal world.

It is created with the aim of increasing mankind's respect for diversity.

By creating art of animals that are beautiful and expressive and have their own personal narratives, I am saying that we are animals not so very different from OTHER animal species.

And it's okay to think that I'm going all anthropomorphic on you.  As sort of an aside...have you ever seen pictures or film of a Vogelkop Bowerbird and his nest making habits?  Check out this video.  :)

From here, when we come to understand the similarities of purpose and emotion of the human and non-human animal....is it hard to back up and believe that we are absolutely not so very different from the other animals within our OWN species? ...

Ah.  There's an interesting thought.  I will hold on to that...that and the hope that you are having a fantastic day.

'Til tomorrow!
~Alex

Artist Reception Turpin Gallery

Another Fall Arts Festival Week has come and gone in Jackson Hole Wyoming.  Mark and I had a wonderful time and the trip to Turpin Gallery's new location was an experience we won't forget.

Some history about Turpin Gallery.  They were the first gallery to represent my work and it was Zach Turpin who gave me some very good advice.  "Put colorful patinas on your sculpture," he said.  So I did.  

This is an example, by the way, of an important role gallery owners and consultants can have in an artist's career.  They can be wonderful advisors and tremendous advocates for your work.  I'm not saying always take their advise.  But I always consider their thoughts and expertise.

Zach was once the dominate force and presence in the gallery at their previous location on Center Street.  Now his dad, gallery owner Ronnie Turpin, is at this new gallery location on 25 Cache Street. 

He is a sculptor as well and you can find him there sculpting his works, organizing shows, and helping collectors find the art they would most love to add to their collections from the many choices they have there at this beautiful new location.  

Fine Art expert and consultant Kiera Wakeman has stayed with Turpin Gallery for the move to their new location and I thank both Kiera and Ronnie for being such wonderful hosts while Mark and I were there.

Alex Alvis and Ronnie Turpin

One of my sculptures found new collectors over the weekend and I couldn't have been more thrilled to have been there to meet them and get to know them a little bit.

I started a new sculpture while I was there;  this sculpture is part of my Party Animal Series and is called "Magical."

It will be BIG!!  About 5' tall when finished and is a sculpture a horse (of course). 

working on "Magical" at Turpin Gallery - before reception

Alex with "Magical" model in hand explaining the creating process

The story for this sculpture is:  She (the horse...her name is Desiree...) has gone to a party and has chosen to wear a party hat in the shape of a unicorn horn!  Daisy feels very magical in her special party hat...so the name of the sculpture had to be "Magical" - what else?!

I will post photos of the progress of "Magical" from now until it is finished - at the latest - it will be done in pre-cast in February.

"Magical" travelling back to Colorado

Yes.  I will be selling only a few of this sculpture at pre-cast pricing!  This is a very unique thing for me to do.  It is an opportunity for my collectors to own a large Alex Alvis Sculpture at a very special price of $15,000.  There will only 3 of this very limited edition of only 12 sold for this dramatic pre-cast price - once it goes to the foundry - the price goes up!  A lot.


"Magical" in progress back home at the studio

This sculpture will also have a beautiful signature patina suitable for outdoors once it is in bronze and I am considering having the original scanned and coated with a durable sealant so it will so it won't be destroyed when it is made into bronze.  It would be wonderful to be able to keep an original.

Ahhh.... It's so good to be home!

'Til tomorrow - hope you make some time in your Monday for magic!

~Alex

Inspiration Sunday

Good morning and welcome back!

I had a really amazing week last week and I look forward to sharing some of it with you.  But I will do that later on in the week.

For today...it's Inspiration Sunday and I have some quotes from artists for you that I hope you will enjoy!

It is surprising to me how many people separate the objective from the abstract.  Objective painting is not good painting unless it is good in the abstract sense. ~Georgia O'Keeffe 1887-1986

Nature contains the elements, in color and form, of all pictures, as the keyboard contains the notes of all music.  But the artist is born to pick and choose...as the musician gathers his notes, and forms his chords, until he brings forth from chaos, glorious harmony.  ~James Abbot McNeill Whistler 1834-1903

The grand and heroic draftsmen, then, had better be the models, though one's aim be far from heroic and grand.  With their august help one learns to lay one's traps and spread one's nets, to snare the subject matter of one's own intuition and life experience, however special and small. ~Isabel Bishop 1902-1988  (referring to Rubens, Michelangelo and Raphael)

That which is ugly in art is that which is false and artificial - that which aims at being pretty or even beautiful instead of being expressive.  ~Auguste Rodin 1840-1917
 
I admire the Spanish artists like Zurbaran and Cotan because they took solid things and gave them the incredible suggestion of spirit beyond.  ~Janet Fish 1938-

Janet Fish "Goldfish and Autumn Leaves"

The conflict for realization is what makes art, not its certainty, nor its technique or material.  I do not look for total success....I will not change an error if it feels right, for the error is more human than perfection.  ~David Smith 1906-1965

I work every day.  I work all day, I've never had a holiday.  It's all I really want to do.  It's what I'm here for....More and more, I'm just so grateful I was born an artist.  ~Jim Dine 1935-

I found one had to do some work every day, even at midnight, because either you're a professional or you're not.  ~Dame Barbara Hepworth  1903-1975

To achieve poetry in a piece of sculpture, one must know how to dream, how to draw the dreams, and how to see the interwebbed, interdependent dance of this beautifully colored energy field that we too bluntly call 'life' or 'world.'  ~Mark DiSuvero 1933-

Difficulty creates the opportunity for self-reflection and compassion. If we embrace what's happening, we are also embracing what is possible - and a road opens up for God to meet us halfway. - Suzan-Lori Parks 1963-

'Till tomorrow - I wish for you a Sunday full of embracing what is possible!

~Alex

Insomnia

"sigh" 

Hanging out in a hotel is not all that conducive to sleep for me. 

I am working on a sculpture at Turpin Gallery this week and I woke up with the thought that the horse I'm working on ...the feet are too big.

I started the design of this sculpture in the studio at home based on the form of it I had imagined, the little maquette I had made in clay after the imagining (so I wouldn't forget) and then settled on the size of the feet...using that as one of the units of measurement for the rest of the work.  This required the use of a 4-letter word.

Math.

Yes...the M word...

Yesterday, as I was working on forming the wire armature in our hotel room - before going to the gallery...I got three legs formed (leaving one to demonstrate the starting point in the process) and up to the shoulders and then started thinking about the back of the Subaru Outback we rented....

Specifically the size of the back of the Subaru and about how this sculpture would not fit in there if I kept this thing going at the height at which it was at the moment.  I hadn't attached the head yet and already it was at about 4'.

So I shortened it.  Scrunching the legs shorter by folding that wire around the area where the feet would be.

There.  That was better....
At least so it seemed in wire.  But here's that M word again.  You see...it's 22" horizontally from the horse's behind to his shoulders.  And, that really means - as far as the design goes - imagining things in design curves and golden rectangles as I tend to do (we all do, by the way; the forms that are all around us in nature are design curves in the golden ratio) - that now things are goofed up.

My thought upon waking at 2 was the remembering of looking at the feet of the sculpture before we left the gallery last night.

Too big.

The feet are too big.

What to do?

Well, just make them smaller.

Problem 1.
I don't want to.

Problem 2.
It isn't practical because of the way the armature base is made, where the feet are placed (make them smaller, they're going to be too far away from one another for the design), and...I don't want to.

Problem 3.
How shall I solve this problem?  Hmmmm.

I think I know what I will do.  We have to be able to get it home so it must fit in the car.  So.   

Essentially, the way I must see this is NOT that the feet are too big but that the legs are too short.  I imagine the lower part of the horse's legs ...the part below his knees in front and part of the upper and lower legs on the horses rear legs...will be foreshortened just for now.

I will not sculpt the knees ...as that would make the whole horse look too totally weird while I'm at the gallery...I will just keep them straight.  Yep.

I'll work on the rest of the body and neck and head while at the gallery...then when I'm back home I can add some length to the legs and make the sculpture the true approximately 71.2" high that it really needs to be. 

I will let you ponder the math on that one :)

Problem solved.
Ta Da!

I may be back tomorrow with another dilemma.

P.S.  A sculpture sold yesterday!  Little "Look!" 

But why not?  He is such a cutie! 

I love being present when a sculpture sells because it is so nice to meet my new collectors personally and get to know them a little bit.  I love that!

Tomorrow maybe more progress pics!
'Til then...hope you have a fabulous day.

~Alex

Monday in Jackson

Monday.  The beginning of my workweek in the town of Jackson, Wyoming.



It's going to be an excellent week, I can just feel it!

Hope you will have an excellent week this week too.



~Alex