Three shows to visit this weekend

Works on paper

Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present Works on Paper: Richard Deutsch | Caio Fonseca | Regina Scully, an expected exhibition whose objective stands out in presenting a set of graphite and ink works on paper by sculptor Richard Deutsch, two gouache works on paper by Caio Fonseca and two unique works, as well as one Special selection of Regina Scully pigment prints. The sample will be available throughout February until the 29th.

Deutsch, an American sculptor, works primarily in the minimalist and expressionist genres although his work ranges from small table pieces to multi-story sculptures. He is widely known for his large-scale architectural and environmental projects. For its part, Fonseca is known for his lyrical and abstract paintings that explore the interaction of form and hue. Regina Scully has worked in different fields, from plastic arts to digital production.

Atomic color

Also at the Octavia Gallery, the audience can enjoy ATOMIC COLOR, a vibrant exhibition featuring a selection of notable works by Charlie Edmiston, Kurt Herrmann, and Greta Van Campen.

Colorful paintings with hard edges, large-scale murals and bold design graphics, lettering, and geometric shapes make up the essence of this colorful and exquisite sample. Figurative and abstract works, with sensory stimuli radiating throughout the entire color range, they give free rein through their designated space in the Octavia Gallery. Dare to experience ATOMIC COLOR, only available until February 29th.

Latin American art has been making some of the most significant contributions to contemporary sculpture. One could make the case that artists from Latin America have been making some of the most significant contributions to sculpture in contemporary art history for about half-century

Although Latin America is a kind of patchwork quilt, that is, with many isolated countries and with few communications with each other and despite the fact that in each country there are sometimes many regions comparable to many other countries, it may not be risky to say that in Latin American sculpture found a few common aspects over a hundred years.

Here are five great contemporary Latin American sculptors:

Fernando Botero – Colombia.

Botero is a Colombian painter, sculptor, and draftsman born in 1932 in Medellín. After spending several years in Europe, he established his residence in New York. He currently has residences in various parts of the world: Colombia, Paris or the Italian town of Pietrasanta are some of them. He is considered one of the most sought-after Latin American artists of the moment.

With unmistakable hallmarks, such as their voluptuous and disproportionate human bodies, their works are exhibited in the most important cultural Capitals of the world.

Carlos Regazzoni – Argentina.

Carlos Regazzoni was born in 1943. He is currently consecrated in France, where he lives half the year in the castle of Fontaine Française.

His sculptural work is characterized by being made with leftover tracks and pieces of disused wagons, hence he has earned the title of ‘alternative artist’.

Regazzoni has also worked with insects, almost always ants with which he decorated several posters of Libertador Avenue in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Retiro.

Francisco Narvaez – Venezuela

Narváez was born in Porlamar, Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta State, in Venezuela on October 4, 1905. His artistic proposal broke with the aesthetic schemes in force until that time. However, it did not make concessions of any order, creating for the first time in the country its own sculptural language, associated with national roots, exalting and also valuing the beauty of its ethnic elements.

Julio Larraz – Cuba

Larraz’s paintings and sculptures can be admired in all its expressive dimension. The conception and cleanliness of the space remove everything that can get in the way between the viewer and the artwork. The sum of all these attributes makes it a space that will revolutionize the exhibition dynamics of the contemporary art circuit.

Gabriel Orozco – Mexican

Mexican-born Gabriel Orozco incorporates a multitude of different media—from drawings to installations, to photography, sculptures. His aesthetic vocabulary is related to the artistic traditions of his native Mexico, and Marcel Duchamp’s readymades. The fragile relationship of everyday objects to one another and to human beings is Orozco’s principal subject and has inspired partly by Asian pictorial traditions and partly by the nuances of everyday perception.

Cornelis Zitman – Venezuela

Cornelis Zitman was born on November 9, 1926 in Leiden, the Netherlands. It came from a family of artisans and builders. At 21, he settled in Venezuela. Zitman made his work on the human figure, fundamentally feminine and Venezuelan.

The Zitman house was a space for creation and for expressing his personal interpretation of the surrounding reality. A place that became the center of his activity and his refuge, until he was surrounded by his “tribe”, which are all his sculptures and the works he did.

The sculpting of Julio Larraz

The dreamlike atmospheres and a surrealist imaginary are no stranger to Julio Larraz, much less for his work. His paintings of fantastic objects arranged in impossible circumstances, the use of bright colors contrasting with ethereal and nominal tapestries, and the exercise of allegories and symbolism in his work, have captivated a remarkable and loyal audience for more than three decades.

However, the political cartoonist has developed in more than one artistic discipline, demonstrating creative versatility following the nature and the language of his message. Provided with a sharp ingenuity and intellectual rigor Larraz has used sculpture as an alternative means of production.

Working from the essence of both everyday and unusual materials, Larraz’s sculptures are punitive comments about politics, identity, sociology, psychoanalysis, and the process of perception, exploring a gallery of objects that collide force and time between the limits of reality and the subconscious.

In each of these sculptures, the human mind is the eloquent protagonist. Reminiscent of movements such as dada works such as ‘The Sovereign’ (2017) seeks to explore the possibilities functions of the symbiosis of everyday objects arranged in unconventional situations.

The object is closer to a statement than to a pictorial style, ironic about its role in society. Even when playing with certain iconoclastic nuances, the object seeks new typologies for the sculptural work by forcing the limits of the aesthetic.

Julio Larraz manufactures specific facilities using materials such as bronze or aluminum but letting the form function as the driving force behind his sculptural compositions, which often recall organic structures, familiar and everyday objects, and even the human anatomy seen from the perception of classical greek sculpture

Symbols allow mediating between the visible and the invisible, the concrete and the abstract. Larraz, is not only one of the most representative artists of the neo-figurative painting panorama of the 20th and 21st century but also a gifted craftsman.

There are many ways to classify people. One of them is to distinguish those who see the landscape from those who transfigure it so that we see it differently. Larraz belongs to the second category, but in a very peculiar sense. He is a storyteller and a materializer of the confines of thought.

The theory of ‘how to make it’

Breaking into the art business can be a difficult task. Moreover, when you don’t have an overview of how the market works. Some emerging artists usually have little experience in sales or exhibitions and often struggle to find doors that open.

At first glance, it seems that the answer is simple and unique: networking. Knowing the right people will always be the master key in any item. By contrast, reach out to a gallery without prior notice and without invitation is a quick route to nowhere.

However, the true path is a bit more complex than that. So how can you start working with a reputable art gallery? Here is a list of some steps that can lead an artist to work with a successful showcase:

Explore the field.

Research what type of galleries best suits the style that characterizes your work. Analyze if this is a good complement to your work and level of experience. Remember that a gallery is not just a gallery, but represents the creative and communicational vision of someone’s subconscious. Take the time to study the movements that best suit certain galleries before you even think about submitting your work.

Gallerists are creative agents in themselves. They have strong interests and aesthetics. They are the best teachers to balance inspiration and rationality. Learn from them.

Connect with your gallery

For better or worse, the main way in which galleries choose artists is through relationships, so it is usual that the artist is first known and then supported by his work, although not always they will know someone who knows someone with influences on the ambit.

Hence, it is important that if you find a gallery whose style connects with your work, you develop a relationship with them, attend their events, sign up for their newsletter, and follow them on their social networks. Become known within their community as a supporter. This is the best way to put yourself under any gallery’s spotlight.

Study shipping policies.

Knowing the shipping policy of a gallery is easy. Check your website and see if it is published. If not, call them and ask. Or better yet, try visiting the gallery in person. If they say they don’t accept shipments, then you have your answer. Do not send your work anyway. If you accept shipments, follow their guidelines to the letter.

Boost up your work.

Many artists resort to the non-modest phrase: “My work speaks for itself” when it comes to promoting themselves before a gallery. The really advisable thing is to be interested enough in your own work, just to have a word about your own work, and thus, encourage others to get involved.

It should be noted that there is not a single formula for success, although putting into practice each one of these tips leads to a high possibility that your work can achieve an alliance with the gallery of your choice. Make sure your work is ready, that you have perfected your trade and you are showing the best you can do.

When art communicates identity

There are some obvious reasons why corporations buy art, but in the last few decades, the number of large corporations acquiring significant art has surprisingly increased in a sociological and cultural phenomenon. Corporate lobbies and board rooms are often graced with impressive art, but why? What’s the rationale behind this expense?

Corporate collecting has been around since 1959 when David Rockefeller decided that Chase Manhattan Bank should begin to buy art. Other banks followed his lead and started purchasing art pieces and create collections of their own. This market behavior derived from what is now a common feature in any prestigious company. In 2019, the largest corporate art collection in the world belonged to a bank — Deutsche Bank which owns over 70 000 pieces throughout the years.

A corporation’s interest in art is most often to build a collection of elements, a get-together, that shapes a symbol and that symbol to be capable of adhering to the highest commercial standards, while it also must consider the needs and style of its corporate personality.

A piece of work may be very suitable for corporate collections if it can reach two or more of the following needs: Reflecting and Enhancing the corporate image of the company, fulfilling the percent-for-law requirements, being a great investment, being pleasing to the eye, and of course, improving the working environment and productivity by decorating workspace walls.

However, many of these things changed ever since. In the past, the selection of artworks was very much reliant on the desires of the CEO, even when art experts were a part of the process. The CEO purchased art that appealed to his or her taste and then kept it at the company’s headquarters, hidden from the view of the public and other employees.

Not only the company seeks out publicity regarding their collection, but pieces are usually be displayed within the premises so that visitors can see it. When art is properly presented it can create a talking point which opens up a window of opportunity for the company to discuss their involvement in the arts thus further boosting the corporate image.

As corporate collecting begin to take off in the late XX century the focus begun to change. Soon boards of directors and head of companies realized that the best way to use corporate collections is to embed them it into every part of the organization. Since many corporate interiors looked the same, artworks on the walls were used to separate companies from the competition. Also, artworks were used to create a statement and send it to clients.

A visually pleasing painting, sculpture or installation is there to start a conversation and show the clients that the company has a good taste. Investing in art exposes the capability of a dynamic company to follows trends. Buying works by young, rising artists is also seen as a great way to show off the philanthropic side of a business.

In words of cognitive neuroscientist Aracelli Camargo: “Any space without change can become un-stimulating with time.” Some updating in space location for the artworks will make the office more visually interesting and subsequently “more neurologically stimulating,” Camargo claims. By using art to make constant little changes, corporations can make people feel as if these work-orientated spaces are constantly evolving.

A comedic act of rebellion

So far, it’s certainly sure you have already heard about the banana duct-taped to a wall at an art fair in Miami. And maybe you so did the crowds, have created their own gestures. And you might already have a firm opinion about the hundred and fifty thousand dollar banana.

Let’s get the facts in front of us. A piece of work, titled ‘Comedian’ by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was presented at this gallery booth at Art Basel Miami, a fair which has been held since 2002. 

The following sequence demonstrates once again that fiction overcomes reality. First: Cattelan tapes a banana in the gallery of the Art Basel art fair: it was sold to a French collector for $ 120,000. Second: a guy named David Datuna, an American artist, walks towards the banana, takes it off the wall, peels it and eats it. And it is filmed. A happening has taken place, let’s say.

This brings us once again the controversy over what is a work of art and what is not. And for a greater degree of interest, this time we talked about two acts: the gesture of sticking the banana on the wall and, then, of eating the work.

Conceptual art arises in the second half of the XX. Take things from Dadaism and Surrealism, a phenomenon born as a reaction to the First and Second World War. The truth, say theorists, is that in this type of work, the object or event produced is not by virtue of its aesthetic qualities in the ordinary sense, but of the critical, paradoxical, provocative, controversial, sarcastic character that accompanies the act of proposing such a thing as a work of art.

The list of works of this type is endless. John Cage and his work of silence in 1952 (someone sits on the piano and plays nothing): the works of the Serbian Marina Abramovic (like the one who sat for 700 hours in a museum to look at the public); the Argentine Alberto Greco making chalk circles on passersby in Buenos Aires; Cuban Tania Bruguera, in 2009, sat at a table reading her reflections on political art while taking a gun and trigger as in a Russian roulette.

But the nature of ‘Comedian’ contrasts significantly with these examples. That is when the question is no longer “what is art?” but what is not? Therefore, the “idea” of a banana attached to the wall goes from being a work of art to becoming a meme, and so we come to: is it a meme, a conceptual work of art?

According to the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, art is an act of resistance against death, a defensive fact that aims to transcend the life of thought, the work of the human being, shape it in time and space. Then, in the case of memes, its existential moment would be the current moment and its fundamental geography would correspond to the cybernetic web.

The repetition of an idea is also a social, political and aesthetic manifestation of a historical-cultural context. In the past, conceptual works were born in a context of crisis and rebellion, but not as a passive reflection of them, but as refraction: actively building their own unique language in art.

As Ernst Gombrich put it, “every art history is not a history of the progress of technical improvements, but a history of changing ideas and demands”. So, stepping in 2020, the continuity of these provocative works implies a resignification of the current crises and political rebellions that caused them to be born?