Category: Art

In order to appreciate where you are, you need to learn how to look back. These words are something that we at Rove TV take seriously. Therefore, join us as we go on a thoughtful reverie. As art is something that is fully documented from start to finish, it is one of the more pleasurable things to look back upon. As more and more findings about art are published daily, it is easy to look back and see how far art has come.

We all started making art in the walls of caves and now we’re creating whole worlds within digital spaces. Today, we’re narrowing our look back into old exhibitions that Rove helped bring to life. Let’s get started!

Susan Smith-Pinelo

12^th April to 11^th May, year 2003

A video artist who has enjoyed exhibits in places like Studio Museum, her show comprises of grouped monitors/screens which showcase her video pieces. What accompanied them are photographs done in larger scale in order to relate but not directly connect with the exhibition. Each of the large photos can be considered stand-alone pieces for individual perusal in conjunction with the overall exhibit.

Her presentation of the female body opened up the discourse to how it was being used and utilize by rappers and other hip-hop videos. Smith-Penelo manages to deliver a double whopper of a commentary. She both manages to celebrate AND offer criticism regarding the language that urban music was delving into. It also helped to open the discourse regarding a woman’s body and what she may be inclined to do with it on her own terms.

ART BAND: A Night of Music and Art

24^th July, year 2003

This night was a great night for musical performances. The bands of Phoenix and the Shadow, Cheeseburger, Empire and several others were able to showcase their talents that night. They were also joined by several other artists like Brendan Cass with his paintings that carry more beneath the surface. Brian Belott makes use of cartoon citations and other mediums to bring together an overall iconic appeal.

Artist Melissa Brown made use of her various colored landscapes. Robert Reynolds challenged his capability on canvas. He does attempt to push the confines of his medium with all the idealism that you’d expect from an American.

Knox and Bernhardt

30^th November to 20^th December, Year 2003

Rosalie Knox held her first ever solo photography show. Her individual pieces have graced several publications all over the world. According to Knox herself, she liked to capture unusual and talented people in the crux of their lives. There something utterly poetic and startling terrifying about watching someone’s life through an outsider’s lens. While photography is one of the newer forms of art—which, at the time, was still being criticized—Knox had a way of finding art in the timing. She managed to harness the moment and bring them to life in her film.

Her images were touted to be within reach and amongst the grit of humanity. Knox’s show was entitled Shoot the Shit and with her subjects being anyone, it probably did not get more real and grit than that.

Katherine Bernhardt’s show was at Team Gallery. While not new to the whole solo show thing, she still brings a consistent freshness to the scene that can be appreciated by anyone who loves art. Her paintings had subjects that ranged from fashion to abstraction. It was a range that most people don’t try to put together. It was safer that way.

However, for Bernhardt, safe was boring. Her old pieces were commonly stand-alone pieces. However for this show, she tried to give it a more cohesive flow. Her paintings and collages while not in your face brought a simplistic beauty through its layering.

Gilmore and Merrick

15^th October to 15^th November, year 2003

Graham Gilmore went to the Emily Carr College of Art and Design. A painter with a knack for layered grids of color, he makes use of Masonite which has the surface covered with enamel. This helps to kee the colors seemingly halted in the middle of movement. Not satisfied with color, he also carves words unto the surface of his materials.

Gilmore is a fan of puns, as anyone would be able to tell with his piece entitled Boo Fucking Hoo. His other piece takes a page out of the book of alphabet soup. He interconnects bubbles which hold letters in the inside. Any words you may find connected to each other are coincidental—or are they? This is a great way to ensure that his piece is interactive and subject to the understanding of whoever views it. It’s a great a simple way to make his piece engaging.

Thom Merrick is from California. He has over 30 solo shows under his belt. His forte is making site-specific art installations. Often, they are at the request of curators. While he enjoyed the whole wildness of a drifter lifestyle, he has since settled in New York. Other than his installations, he also does masterful paintings which make use of clear layering in order to bring the image to life.

Most people who have met Merrick oft cannot believe that gentle sceneries of lush vegetation and animal life. His art has been described as daring AND naïve. Each arrangement achieves profundity and character through Merrick’s use of shadowing, disparities, and the tautness that exists between the stationary and the kinematic forms.

The Club in the Shadow

7^th September to 12^th October, year 2003

This exhibit brings to the front a collaborative installation made by Kim Gordon and Jutta Koether. The installation faces change and mutated through countless presentations and impromptu assemblies. It brought to light how various stimulation can provide varying experiences. It could be pleasant or intriguing to see how different people can end up experiencing different things despite being exposed to the same variables.

It was a thought provoking installation that certainly brought conversation to the forefront after it all.

We’re so glad that art continues to grow as time passes by!

The world of Art has always seemed like a bright and sparkly place. To be honest, it kind of is. However, this doesn’t mean it does not come without its pitfalls. Today, we discuss Kenny Schachter and his take on the world of art.

Kenny Schachter has had quite a hand at bringing art to the forefront. He has worked with the likes of Zaha Hadid in her 2008 exhibition. His resume can probably fill the length of this website. However, there is more to the man that what he has accomplished in the world of art. This talented art curator and art collector has spent a lot of his time discussing art and its many facets.

We’re not just talking about the many exhibitions or interviews he’s hand championing art and artists. Schachter has also spoken out about how the art world is rather fierce hotbed of corruption. One of the main reasons as to why the highly expensive art market continues to thrive is because it continues to go unregulated. There is no governing body that standardizes the prices or worth of art pieces. As such, galleries can dictate their own prices at their own convenience. Mostly, galleries do not list the actual prices of the pieces in the hopes that when a famous person was to bid, they can successfully raise the prices of all other pieces. However, this does not mean to say that they let just any famous person buy art.

In the past, even “famous clients” like Daniel Radcliffe was turned down from purchasing a particular piece of art. The explanation was that they were waiting for someone more prestigious to make a bid. Schachter has gone on to say that corruption has long been embedded in the art world. This was borne out of the sheer astronomical amounts of money involved.

It does not help that there is now a rather popular notion of laundering money through art collections. Many have discovered that with banks keeping a rather close eye on purchases, withdrawals, and deposits—it is ultimately easier to move money around with art.

Schachter alleged that museum trustees were part of the corruption as they made use of their insider understanding of future shows in order to give tipoffs regarding who would be big. This allows people to process their bids for a lower price—hold it until the price goes up—then sell it for the inflated worth. It is very much like a stock market where you set yourself up for success every time.

The way that it works is that those who hold all the keys only let those that they can gain from in through the door. It is something that can be pretty much likened to insider trading. If this was a formal business like a corporation, the feds would be on you so fast your head will spin. However, as the art world has no single governing body and continues to be unregulated, there is actually no one that can truly catch these perpetrators. Because, as the letter of the law sees it, there is no crime.

Schachter has even said that dealers could very much utilize the auctioning system to boost the prices, even planting accomplices to in the hopes of driving up bids of people interested in the piece. It does not help that it has been an often standard practice for certain pieces of art to be sold at a lower price than what was publicized.

Such practice allows publicity for both the artist and the gallery. Schachter has also voiced criticism for the massive uptick in the interest of celebrities, musicians, and even actors who all rabidly invest in contemporary artwork without really researching its value or what it does to the market. What happens is that they invest in art solely with the belief that the value of the piece will naturally inflate over time. However, that is not always the case. There are many reasons as to why that sort of mentality can fail.

It also does not help that a sort of “Oprah effect” takes place when fans finds out that someone they admire is into a particular art or artist. Instead of actually generating positive and organic growth for the artist, there is now a bubble that is created. There is now more pressure for artists to come up with more and more things. As such, they end up being commercialized and a sort of disconnect with their art happens.

Artist fatigue is real and this only damages the overall organic worth of the pieces that they create. When the artist’s ambition goes beyond the scope of their talent, that occurrence is never a good thing. This perspective is something that Schachter shares with everyone. As someone who has been a fixture in the art scene all over the world, he knows what he is talking about. He has gone on to discuss that there must be an attempt to build transparency in the world of art.

Far too long has artificial manipulation or false bids been at play. In more recent years, Schachter has taken up an interest with art fairs. He has gone on to explain that corruption is fairly endemic to humankind. He continues to speak out in order to offer a bit of transparency and he hopes that will draw people in instead of driving them away. Schachter emphasizes that there is still much to learn. Art, those that curate it and the artists must meet halfway.

Rove TV continues to support Schachter and his frankness regarding the gray area in the world of art. While we view the issue with both eyes wide open, we are all hopeful that the disingenuous practices will eventually taper out. After all, everyone would be better off if art and the artists were given fair chance. Art brings so much to lives of many.

We are thankful that the like of Schachter continue to keep a weathered eye upon the horizon.

Is it really all that important to go to art school? This is a question that has often plagued budding artists. Today, we shall be digging into this thought a bit further. Since the concept art school came about, it has always been a sort of divisive topic. There are those that believe that you can go without it. There are also those that believe that any serious artist should go and get formal artistic education.

For a budding artist, a common issue with the topic of art school is the cost and WHO is going to pay for it. Most of the time, these are artists that are still living with their parents. While parents generally want what’s best for their kids would normally not be able to see the point of going to a formal art institution.

You see, it is always been sort of a stigma attached to art that it is something that you are either born with or not at all. It is something that you need to have inside you and not taught. After all, they argue that the likes of Leonardo da Vinci did not have any form of formal training. He only knew basic things like reading or writing. Yet, to this day he is hailed as one of the artistic masters of the world.

In order to really get into the thick of the argument, we should establish what art school is.

Let’s talk about Art School

Typically, this is an educational institution or a place where formal education regarding visual arts, fine arts, or performance arts are given. Courses vary in duration. However, it usually is as long as tertiary education which can reach up to two or four years. So in a sense, it is actually a college education that is tailored to fit those who are aiming to pursue arts as their profession.

A common discussion regarding art school is about whether or not it is truly necessary. However, that question is best answered by the person who IS actually going to undergo the formal education. The problem about this is that budding artists are often surrounded by people who do not understand the need for formal art training. They argument is always art is organic.

However, much like the discussion about food, there is now more options whether or not art is something that can be grown organically or something that can be taught. While we do believe that those who have an interest in art should pursue formal training only if they wish to do so. Art training isn’t easy. It’s something that you need to work up every day knowing that that is where you want to be. Here are some things to consider about art school:

Materials are expensive

If you’re an artist that makes use of visual arts, then you will know this in your bones. It is not cheap to come across suitable mediums for your art. Painters need easels, paints, brushes, and a space to do their work. Sculptors need to bring in their material, their tools, and also a space to work.

We emphasize space because there is often not that much freedom at where you can do your thing. Even young artists that have a rented apartment are often subject to the preferences of their landlord. No matter how carefully you try to create a space where you can work, it is often difficult to do so. This is why one of the first things that established artists do is to build their work studio.

Art school often provides their students with access to equipment that they would normally not be able to hold. This is particularly helpful for those who wish to sculpt or for those who wish to undertake applied arts.

The knowledge you get here is worth its weight in gold

Just how some people wish they were taught how to do taxes in school, the information that you learn in art school is something that you do not pick in “real world”. What a lot of people may not realize is that art majors are taught how to conduct business as well. They are taught how to budget, how to price their art, and do accounting.

They are also taught how to effectively market their art. Connections are borne from knowing people. In art school, the same person you might be working next to can be the next big thing and can help you with your own.

Art school also provides their students with critical instruction from those that have been established in their own art fields. While learning from your own mistakes is good, learning from the mistakes that have gone on ahead of you is even better. You get to enjoy the lesson without having to go through the hardship.

Artists are made to grow past their comfort zone.

You can always trust media to put a negative connotation on artists. They’re “moody” or “too sensitive” or “stubborn”. However, if you take away the artist from the picture, the three descriptions above can be used on anyone.

Those that go to art school will tell you that if they ever held thought that they could just sit in a corner and create it would be gone in the first few weeks. Art school is a community. Budding artists are taught to talk about their work and take criticism. Art school isn’t for the faint of heart.

Unemployable…?

One constant concern that is held by family members and even the artists themselves is getting employed after going to art school. There are actually a lot of jobs in the art world—people just don’t realize it. Digital artists are one of the highly paid jobs in the world right now. A lot of businesses are starting to learn the value of graphic artists.

What’s great about technology today is that it’s not that hard to transition from being a painter to someone who’s working on a digital art. Like all things, it just needs a bit of instruction and practice

There has always been a bit of a disagreement over the concept of art. Today, we delve a little deeper into the topic of art and its many little facets.

What is Art?

A common definition of art is anything that depicts beauty. Over the years, this definition has shifted, expanded, and even been contested endlessly. The creation of art generally requires masterful skill that produces a particular aesthetic outcome. There has always been a somewhat unclear standardized definition of art.

Art isn’t just a single avenue. Anything that humans use to express their creativity is considered art: visual, liberal, design, crafts, or performance, and so many other things. As time goes on, newer and newer forms of art has emerged.

Depending on the era, the art that is most common varies. For example, classical art or renaissance saw a lot of painters and sculptors. The likes of Da Vinci and Michelangelo were all very prolific during this era. The post-renaissance happened around middle of the 18^th century. It was during that time wherein the sickness of “art snobbery” came to be. It was then that the concept of making art for art’s sake was established. However, critics have argued that even the likes of the great masters made art simply for the act of making art. It just so happened that they were commissioned to place their art in locations that were of great significant importance.

Art Classifications

Art is generally categorized into different groups. However, there still isn’t a clear or standardized composition to the groups. However, these are the ones that are generally acceptable ones:

Fine Arts

Fine Arts the topic that is often something that is heatedly debated. It is actually this that was under fire about “making art for art’s sake”. A common complaint was that fine art was often made without the concepts of functionality were not prioritized. Instead, it was more of a culmination of the artistic sense of the artist. These are the usual mediums of Fine Art:

Paintings

The various forms of painting fall under this category. What’s funny is that a large number of traditional and universally hailed pieces of art are paintings. So while it’s odd that a lot of criticisms about Fine Art include a discussion about functionality, it is also something that is hailed as THE pinnacle of art.

Sculptures

Sculptures are one of the other more established forms of art. It is also one of the earliest forms of art.

Visual Arts

Visual arts are one of the more modern forms of art. This is an art form that we get to enjoy because of technological advances. Some of the forms include photography, videography, and even environmental land art—which include topiaries and the like.

Decorative Arts

Ornamental art forms usually include glass, metal, and other textiles. If you’ve have a rug in your home, that counts as decorative arts. Other forms of decorative arts are tapestry, jewelry, and pottery. Since glass is considered to be decorative art, the massive stained glass designs you’ve seen in France fall under this category. Decorative arts are normally one of the more expensive forms of art.

Performance Arts

While most people consider performance art as a ‘modern’ type of art, it is actually got quite a history on it. Theater is actually considered a performance art. As you may know, theater has quite deep roots in the history of countries like France or England. Other forms of performance art would be dance. As you may know, Ballet is considered to be one of the greatest achievements of humanity. There have the establishments that are wholly dedicated to studying traditional or classical ballet. At the same vein, there are those that try to branch off and try their own take at dance.

Either way, it is something that people makes use of to convey emotions or stories.

Applied Arts

Applied arts take on a more utilitarian approach to art. They try to take function and form and unify it. You’ve probably seen couches or sofas that are considered works of art. Homes are now even considered art. Architecture is filed under applied arts.

Art definitely has a lot of different aspects to it and it will continue to evolve. This is one of the best things about art. Just as artists evolve and find their own mediums or avenues to express themselves, art itself will continue to change as well.

Processing Art

A lot of concern regarding the topic of art is that “who tells us what is art and what isn’t?”To help readers about this, we’ve narrowed down some pointers that can help you build your own definition of art:

Emotion

Art, regardless of form, should evoke emotion in you. Art makes you feel something in the depths of your being. While it doesn’t have to be anything groundbreaking or life-changing (sometimes it is), it just needs to be something that you feel. If you do not feel anything, then that isn’t the art for you.

What everyone should remember is that art is subjective. While it may not make you feel anything—thatdoes not invalidate the art piece itself. Instead, it would be best to try again with another piece. Don’t give up.

Introspection

Art makes you think. It doesn’t just make you feel. Even if it’s something as silly as “that color is interesting”, it should at least provoke thought. What’s even better is if it can make you parlay those observations into thoughts regarding other aspects of your life.

Aftereffect

What comes after is what is normally best. One you’ve looked at or experienced art, it would be important to determine if there have been any changes. You can either truly hate art or decide to take a break from it, or you could even feel like you want to experience more.

Art is a pretty good catalyst for massive introspection and decision making. Whether it is positive or negative, art has done its job.