arts. writing. culture.

Debating if I’m having fun or pulling my hair out while preparing for art shows…  I love what I do, so far be it for me to complain about it.  Still, the closer I get to any art show I do, the more I forget or add to my 5 “to do” lists I have floating around before the ensuing panic upon packing up the car.  “To Do” “Signs to Print” “Supplies to Bring” etc. etc.  Really, I love it.

The culprit?  This time it’s the Staten Island Museum of Art annual outdoors fence show on September 20^th.  I’ll be displaying and selling my photography and Etsy jewelry items.  Ribbon, supplies, photography prints, cello bags, mats, necklaces, chains, glue, envelopes and fabric have taken over my house.

I’m thinking of a quasi-autumn theme since the weather here in New York has sprung into Fall already.  Hopefully this means a show day that isn’t brutally humid and hot like last year’s show.  Black tablecloth, light wood/bamboo displays, autumn colored fabrics, coral (“salmon”) colored signage.

Decision made: To do what you love, there have to be a few “pulling your hair out” moments on the road there.  So yeah, I’m having fun

Wish me luck at the show!

How and why… and, seriously, how… can Annie Leibovitz, brilliant mind of our time, have encountered so much trouble in recent times?  I’ve been reading up on the photographer-elite’s recent financial and legal struggles through her whole ordeal and can’t help but be baffled.  With a powerhouse team like her and partner Susan Sontag, I rendered them untouchable.  Until now.  With Susan now no longer with us, it seems that Leibovitz’s life has taken a nosedive and I can only hope that she’ll recover swiftly.

Thank goodness for her, things are starting to look up.  After a grueling and all-but-life-threatening financial battle over a $24 million loan that held the rights to her work on a very fine line, a ruling several days ago stated that Annie Leibovitz remains the owner of her photography.  It is reported that she has extended the conditions on loan repayments to Art Capital Group.

From celebrities on magazine covers to artistic fashion shoots, countless iconic photographs can be attributed to Leibovitz including the Rolling Stone cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, taken the same day that Lennon was later killed.  And now more recently, being sued by 2 vendors, she was at a $700,000+ risk and forced to possibly forfeit the rights to her world-renowned catalogue of work, putting her further into debt.  After several years consisting of these financial issues along with the losses of her lifelong partner and both of her parents, things haven’t been looking up.

Still, the recent good news of her case and her Lifetime Achievement Award at International Center of Photography last year (and the fact that she can still create juicy controversy, even over a 15 year old) prove that she hasn’t been overlooked.  Now that’s talent.  A look at some of the culturally influential work of Leibovitz’s past.

*All credit and copyrights of the following images, of course, belong to Annie Leibovitz and are only displayed here to display her amazing catalogue of work!

Anyone who says that graffiti isn’t artwork because it’s done on the side of a building has another thing coming.  I, like many others, have been a long-time fan of the street artist known as Banksy.  Unfortunately, part of one of the artist’s famous murals was “accidentally” painted over in black this week by Hackney Council in London.

Acknowledged internationally, Banksy is prevalent in the streets of England where you can come across his beautiful artwork on your way to work that wasn’t there the day, or even night, before.  Controversial, political, cultural, yet always talked about.

Letters for permission to paint over this mural,  initially commissioned by British super-group Blur for their “Crazy Beat” single in 2003, were sent by the Council to the wrong address.  After receiving no response, they served an enforcement notice, allowing workers to paint without the required permissions from the owner of the privately-owned building.  Luckily, when Sofie Attrill noticed the mishap, workers were stopped in time to save part of the artwork.  It is unknown what will become of the remaining pieces or if there will be any attempts at restoration made.

Banksy, though thoroughly famed at this point, is still quite a mystery to fans and enemies alike.  The artwork of the anonymous artist started popping up throughout Bristol and London getting notice for both provocative subject matters and his unique stenciling techniques.  Some called it vandalism; some called it art.  And in some cases, contrary to the reputation of graffiti, no one had the heart to rid the streets of it. Working in the shadows of the night, his many times three-dimensional-looking projects are awe-inspiring and make you take a second look—either because it looks deceptively real or because it’s simply thought-provoking.

I always found his work to be quietly breathtaking.  My favorite:

Still getting used to this whole keeping-up-with-Twitter thing.  While I realize its worth and appreciate that it’s free publicity, I can’t help but notice that it appears to be a congregation of businessmen and –women promoting their own projects.  So I’m wondering how many people use the site who aren’t actively promoting their own business, blog, etc.?

I’ll admit:  I have 2 accounts and both are for my own websites.  @Wild_Magnolia for my Etsy shop and another for my Examiner.com column.  I do actively try to post about things I enjoy, share links of interest, Re-Tweet and ponder relevant thoughts (key here is “relevant.”  Let’s face it: no one cares what I had for breakfast.), but find it hard to constantly be updating on a regular basis (as some people do 8 or so times a day!).  I actually do find the site helpful, but a lot of what I click on are links from like-minded individuals and tips on marketing and publicity.  Still, it’s fun to browse around when I don’t mind it eating up my afternoon as I jump from one link to the next.

So let’s hear back from everyone:
Do you have a twitter account? If so, what do you use it for?  (feel free to include your @name with your comment!)
If you have a business, do you find that Twitter is a successful and worthwhile site to use?
If you don’t have a business or site to promote, how often do you actually click on the links that your followee’s post?

Curiouser and curiouser.

I’ll be attempting to keep up with this particular post in future months.  Every so often I will be posting a new list of the upcoming exhibits that museums in major cities across the US are opening (focusing on the list below).  Hopefully this will make you all aware of some great new art that’s coming your way and will inspire you to check some of it out!

Additional exhibits are welcomed in the “comments” section.  Better yet, if you make it to any of these shows, a short summary or review of the exhibition is welcomed as well!  We’d love to hear about them!

AUSTIN (Austin Museum of Art, Blanton Museum of Art)

BOSTON (Institute of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

CHICAGO (Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago)

LOS ANGELES (Getty Center Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art)

NEW YORK (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art)

[Read more →]

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