ABN

Work of the Week: Jesus Arturo Gardea’s My Present, Right Now 1-19

March 30, 2012 By Jennifer Wood

Inspired by Keith Haring, Jasper Johns, Frida Kahlo and Jean-Michel Basquiat, there’s a dichotomy in the work of University of Texas at El Paso Fine Arts graduate Jesus Arturo Gardea, the result of his penchant for a childlike view of the world, coupled with the often-violent environment in which he grew up. The result is a body of illustrative works on paper and canvas that is simplistic yet emotionally-charged.

“I have always believed that children know more about art than anyone,” says Gardea. “To me, children’s art is the most honest, real and pure art that can ever exist. They paint in a natural way with total freedom. This is the reason why my art is created in a childish way. In my artwork I have created my own cartoon-like characters with human features.

“Living in El Paso, across from the most violent city in the world, Mexico’s Ciudad Juárez—where my closest friends and some of my family live—has created an impact on me,” Gardea continues. “Seeing decapitated bodies and daily shootouts on the streets every day has also influenced my violent and sometimes aggressive artwork. Most of the time I use colors straight out of the paint tubes, primary colors because they are bright, ordinary, playful and they are the first colors that we learn as a child. Sometimes my figures are armless or legless to represent torture, mutilation and madness. I play with sexual humor, [and] that is the reason why most of the time the figures [in my work] are totally naked. Also sometimes the characters wear masks; this represents the side that people show you sometimes, and the one that they really are [that] is hidden.”

Original work by Gardea is available exclusively at Santa Fe’s POP Gallery.

Filed Under: ABN, Work of the Week Tagged With: Frida Kahl, Jasper Johns, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jesus Arturo Gardea, Keith Haring, pop gallery, santa fe

Must-Have Apps for the Artistically-Inclined

March 30, 2012 By Rebecca Pahle

iPhones. iPads. Tablets. The variety of portable electronic devices out there—and the many artist-friendly apps available on them—make it so that you can be just about anywhere and never get caught flatfooted when inspiration strikes. Here are some of our favorites.

Adobe Color Lava ($2.99), Eazel ($2.99) and Nav ($1.99) for Photoshop
Working with Photoshop no longer means being tethered to your desk. With this trio of apps, a network connection between your iPad and computer is all you need to move custom color swatches and themes (Lava), digital paintings (Eazel) and other Photoshop images and tools (Nav) back and forth between your iPad and Photoshop CS5 in real time.

ASKetch ($1.99)
This iPhone- and iPad-compatible app is stripped of a lot of the bells and whistles commonly found in other drawing apps, making it the perfect tool for creating quick black-and-white sketches on the go. Its unobtrusive and easy-to-use design stays out of the way, allowing you to create without having to toggle endless menu options or deal with accidentally closing windows when your finger hits the the wrong part of the screen. A limited version of ASKetch, ASKetch Lite, is available free of charge on iTunes.

Palettes Pro ($5.99)
Palettes Pro makes it easy to create color palettes from wherever your iPhone or iPad will travel. Select colors from one of the app’s five color models, or pull a color from a Website or photo, and use it to create a custom palette, which can later be exported (to Photoshop or Illustrator) or shared via e-mail. Not yet sold on the whole “make color magic happen on your iPhone” thing? Download the free version, simply called Palettes, and give it a try before you buy.

SketchBook Pro for iPad ($4.99)
This digital sketchbook offers more than 60 built-in brushes for use in creating illustrations and drawings directly on your iPad. E-mail your creations directly from the app or export the image as a Photoshop document. No iPad? No problem! The app is also available in a mobile version compatible with iPhone and Android devices (Sketchbook Mobile, $1.99) and in a heavy-duty desktop version (SketchBook Pro, $59.99), available through Apple’s App Store. A more limited, free version of the app is also available.

To be Artist, ($24.99)
This desktop app focuses on the “business” side of the “art business,” giving artists an easy-to-use framework for organizing their inventory, contacts, invoices, price lists, awards and more. Because the sooner you get that paperwork sorted out, the sooner you can get back to creating more work to sell.

Filed Under: ABN Tagged With: adobe color lava, android, apps for artists, ASKetch, eazel, ipad, iphone, nav, palettes pro, photoshop, sketchbook pro, to be artist

Hitting the Walls in Miami’s Wynwood District

March 27, 2012 By Jennifer Wood

Kenny Scharf poses in front of his expanded mural, as part of Wynwood Walls. Photo by Martha Cooper

What happens at Art Basel doesn’t always stay at Art Basel. In 2009, in tandem with Art Basel Miami Beach, Goldman Projects’ founder Tony Goldman and Jeffrey Deitch, current director of Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art, debuted Wynwood Walls, an outdoor art park that featured a dozen murals created by some of the world’s most respected artists.

More than two years later, the project continues to evolve under the direction of Goldman, the renowned entrepreneur, urbanist and community developer who has helped to revitalize New York City’s SoHo, Upper West Side and Financial District neighborhoods as well as Miami’s South Beach and Wynwood District.

“The vision behind Wynwood Walls has always been to create an international outdoor street/mural exhibition showcasing the world’s greatest artists working in the genre,” says Goldman. “We strive for a diverse representation of both American and international artists that encompasses everything from the old-school graffiti artists to the newest work being created around the world. The project has truly evolved into what my friend Jeffrey Deitch calls ‘a Museum of the Streets.’

“In 2011, The Wynwood Doors evolved into an outdoor street art portrait gallery,” continues Goldman. “The exteriors of the doors were ‘bombed’ or ‘tagged’ by well-known, well-respected graffiti writers and when you roll up the ‘doors,’ it reveals a gallery of figurative characters by international street artists.”

Wynwood Walls, located at NW Second Avenue, between NW 25th and NW 26th Streets, is free and open to the public. Visit www.thewynwoodwalls.com for more information.

Filed Under: ABN Tagged With: art basel, goldman projects, Jeffrey Deitch, kenny scharf, miami, tony goldman, wynwood district, wynwood walls

Playing the Art Market: Citibank Guides Collectors Through Section 1031

March 22, 2012 By Jennifer Wood

“Art is an investment” is a cliché for good reason. Because for some collectors, that Mark Rothko piece hanging above your desk is the creative equivalent of 10,000 shares of Apple stock purchased at the $6 mark. Just as other commodities are bought and sold, so too is art. When it comes to capital gains, the IRS sees no difference between the two. Unless you plan ahead!

Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code states that, “Whenever you sell business or investment property and you have a gain, you generally have to pay tax on the gain at the time of sale. IRC Section 1031 provides an exception and allows you to postpone paying tax on the gain if you reinvest the proceeds in similar property as part of a qualifying like-kind exchange.”

Investment property? Gain? Like-kind exchange?

“The simplest way to explain Section 1031,” says Citibank senior vice president David Gorenberg, “is to simply say that it’s like playing Monopoly with real properties and real money, and not paying taxes when you sell Pennsylvania Avenue to buy Boardwalk.

“To make it simple in the art realm: I have one artist hanging on the wall of my office today. I’m redecorating and that art no longer fits with the décor, so I’m going to sell it. It’s worth more than when I bought it, so that is a taxable event. If I do a 1031 exchange, not only can I roll the proceeds of the sale into the new art, but I can not pay the taxes and use all of the proceeds as opposed to the sale price minus capital gains tax.”

Complicated? Sure. Which is where the Citibank 1031 Exchange team comes in, and as early on in the process as possible. “They cannot hire us after they’ve sold the first piece, because the IRS regulation requires that we be involved before they touch cash,” says Gorenberg.

It’s also important to note that Section 1031 was established—and only applies to—business properties and investments. Which means that Picasso hanging in your beach house won’t cut it. “When you look at the vast majority of these transactions, they tend to be real estate-focused,” says Gorenberg. “Then a huge portion of what’s left is machinery, equipment and vehicles. It’s pretty easy to understand that you bought that pickup truck to haul lumber; when you’re talking about artwork, you’re not using the artwork as an asset in your trade or business per se, other than it’s decorating your conference room.

“We have to show that the art was held as an investment,” continues Gorenberg. “So simply hanging it on your living room wall does not necessarily make it an investment… But if it’s on the wall in your office, it’s clearly a business asset.”

The ability to prove these distinctions, should usage come into question, is yet another reason not to attempt to tread the Section 1031 waters alone.

“The two main things to keep in mind are that you can’t touch the cash proceeds of the sale along the way, so a neutral third party has to hold the cash,” says Gorenberg. “That’s where the role of the qualified intermediary comes in and that’s what we do. You also have timing restrictions within which you must complete the transaction. So if you sell your Rothko today, you have 45 days to identify what it is you’re going to be buying and provide a short list—typically up to three pieces—and you must complete that acquisition within 180 days.” At which point the taxpayer can defer up to 100 percent of the capital gains and depreciation capture that would normally be calculated at the time of the sale.

Concludes Gorenberg: “Because the transaction numbers are smaller in art than they are in real estate and other assets, so is the guidance from the IRS. So if you’re contemplating a 1031 Exchange, you should speak to your tax and legal advisors and should contact a qualified intermediary as early on in the discussion as possible.”

To learn more about Citibank’s 1031 Exchange Services, call (855) 253-1031, visit www.citibank.com or meet the team at Artexpo New York, beginning March 22nd.

Filed Under: ABN Tagged With: 1031 exchange services, citibank, collectors, david gorenberg, internal revenue code, IRS, section 1031

And Art for All… GE Capital’s Win-Win Luxury Financing Program

March 21, 2012 By Jennifer Wood

GE Capital's Regina Leadem

It’s a familiar scenario: You walk into your local big box electronics retailer and, while admiring the impossible-to-miss, state-of-the-art 3-D home entertainment system on display, one of the store’s helpful salespeople informs you that you can take that very same system home with you today and pay no interest until 2013…

Now imagine you’re at your local art gallery, pining for that impossible-to-miss new painting from your favorite contemporary artist: One of the store’s helpful salespeople informs you that you can have that one-of-a-kind piece hanging in your living room this evening, and pay no interest until 2013.

Though the financial terms differ from customer to customer, that’s the gist of how GE Capital’s Luxury Financing Program works. “We help businesses build by being competitive,” says Regina Leadem, GE Capital’s vice president of client development. “By being competitive with big box retailers, and by being competitive for the luxury dollar alone.”

A major player in the financing market since the 1930s, when the company began financing appliances for consumers, GE Capital has since expanded its presence into nearly 20 segments. The company entered into the luxury market more than 30 years ago, when it began offering financing for such items as bridal wear and jewelry. Though art has long been a part of GE Capital’s portfolio, the company really “started to make a foray into the art market around 2005 or 2006,” says Leadem. “It’s really then that we said, ‘Hey, there’s something out here…’ Last year, we decided to make much more of a statement in the market, because there were so many people reaching out to us.”

With more than a half-century of success behind them, GE Capital understands the importance of becoming true “partners” with each of its clients. “We do that not by saying, ‘We’re a bank, we’re giving you financing,’” notes Leadem. “We have marketing materials, we have training materials, we have WebEx training, we have point of purchase [displays] they can put in their stores to promote our program.” In short, GE Capital partners have access to the company’s eight decades of expertise in what drives consumer financing and big-ticket purchases. “We believe that better capital builds better businesses,” states Leadem.

Anthony Deljou, national sales director for Deljou Art Group (www.deljouartgroup.com), one of the world’s leading fine art retailers, has been working with GE Capital for nearly five years as a way to offer financing to his wholesale clients.

“Being able to purchase a painting today and not make a payment for the piece for up to six to 12 months is a definite advantage,” says Deljou. “In most cases, the gallery will sell the artwork long before they would ever have to pay for it.”

In addition to creating a convenient—and familiar—payment solution for the consumer, the program helps to create customer loyalty, turning browers into buyers and one-time buyers into full-time collectors. “For Deljou, the program offers immediate client loyalty as the luxury card that we set up for our client can only be used to purchase Deljou artwork,” adds Deljou. “We have been able to market the financing options into our brand.”
“We hear that a lot,” says Leadem of this repeat customer side effect. “It’s a great way to bring that customer back again and say, ‘I know you like this particular artist and we have more pieces.’ We’re really giving them a way to purchase these items and let customers get what they really want.”

Just as there is no typical art buyer, there is no one-size-fits-all set of financing terms, which apply to both deferred-interest payments as well as installment plans. Interest rates and payment schedules depend upon two things: A customer’s credit-worthiness and a merchant’s comfort level. “We are a bank,” notes Leadem. “We do have a fiscal responsibility not to over-lend, and we do have to look at someone’s ability to repay.” When it comes to payment terms, “It’s always up to what the merchant wants to offer,” she says. “So if you’re going to purchase $10,000 worth of art, it’s up to the merchant whether they want to offer you 12 months to pay for this or six months.”

What makes the program even more appealing to merchants and consumers alike is that the process is quick and easy; approval decisions are made almost instantly and funding is deposited into the retailer’s bank account within 48 hours. “The very first thing a merchant needs to be doing is selling,” states Leadem. “They like the fact that they’re not doing mountains of paperwork.” Research even shows that purchases made using a private label credit card are generally two times higher than one made with a traditional credit card—and that installment plan purchases are even larger.

At the end of the day, “GE Capital can help merchants build their business by closing more sales, improving cash flow and margins and, most importantly, enhancing satisfaction,” concludes Leadem. “Consumers can use their card for repeat purchases and merchants can message to those consumers, creating greater brand awareness and loyalty.”

For more information on GE Capital’s Luxury Financing Program, visit www.gogecapital.com/luxury or contact Regina Leadem at regina.leadem@ge.com. You can also visit GE Capital at International Artexpo New York beginning on March 22nd; company representatives will be on-hand and will also be sponsoring a VIP Trade lounge.

Filed Under: ABN Tagged With: Deljour Art Group, Financing Options, GE Capital Luxury Financing, Regina Leadem

Work of the Week: How Time Flies, by Abbie Kozik

March 20, 2012 By Jennifer Wood

At the heart of Abbie Kozik’s art are two points: One, there is beauty in resilience and survival. Two, to know beauty, we must experience what is ugly.

Kozik’s inspiration springs from the balance in nature between growth and destruction, beauty and ugliness. How Times Flies depicts the destruction-growth dichotomy of beetle kill.

Kozik, recently named one of ABN‘s Top 50 Emerging Artists of 2012, describes the mass destruction caused by the mountain pine beetle, saying, “Regions of forest land have been lost to this destructive force, yet wood that has fallen victim to beetle kill has a material strength, resilience and beauty that is unlike lumber from healthy pine. The destruction is shocking and messy and yet beautiful.”

She adds: “Events in nature are not random, but happen for a reason. In looking at our world, we have to ask, ‘‘What are we willing to see?’”

Visit www.abbiekozik.com to learn more about her work.

Filed Under: ABN, Work of the Week Tagged With: abbie kozik, emerging artist, how time flies

Work of the Week: Dogus Interruptus, by Jeff Leedy

March 5, 2012 By Jennifer Wood

Wait! This is ART! I’m not supposed to laugh, am I?

Yes you are, because this art is by well-known fine art humorist Jeff Leedy, who defines his work as “The collision of the Impressionists and The New Yorker.”

Leedy won a gold medal in the New York Society of Illustrators’ first Humor Show, beating out 3,500 international entries. He has been invited to exhibit at hundreds of festivals over the past 24 years, including the Sausalito Art Festival. His mission is to make people laugh through his art. Because he wants everyone to have access to his art, Leedy’s reproductions are affordably priced.

So don’t wait until you’re depressed to visit his Website, ArtThatMakesYouLaugh.com, or his Main Street gallery in Marble Falls, TX.

Filed Under: ABN Tagged With: art business news, Art That Makes You Laugh, Jeff Leedy, Work of the Week

Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts Experiences “The Pleasure Principle”

March 1, 2012 By Jennifer Wood

Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts has loaned two oil paintings—La Dialectique appliquée and Les Grands rendez-vous—and a 1950 sketch by renowned Belgian surrealist René Magritte to “The Pleasure Principle,” a traveling exhibition that just completed a run at the Albertina Museum in Vienna. Featuring 250 works from public and private collections throughout Europe, North America and Japan (many of them rarely seen), “The Pleasure Principle” represents the largest showing of Magritte’s work in the last two decades.

Known for his thought-provoking images, Magritte used such ordinary objects as green apples, bowler hats and pipes in unfamiliar contexts, giving new meaning to familiar things and challenging the viewer’s perception of reality. His work has been an inspiration to a diverse slate of artists, from Jasper Johns to Andy Warhol.

The Tate Liverpool exhibition focused on the inspiration for the artist’s style and featured drawings, collages and examples of the early commercial work of Magritte and rarely seen photographs and films. The Albertina exhibition retraced the artist’s progress in chronological order from his mind games to his pop culture-inspired “Periode Vache” and his later focus on mystery. “This exhibit brings a new level to Magritte,” says Tate Liverpool director Christoph Grunenberg. “He’s an artist you can rediscover.”

Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts has loaned prominent works by artists such as Marc Chagall, Sam Francis, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, George Tooker and Jean Dubuffet to major museums worldwide, including the Whitney Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, the Pompidou in Paris, the Royal Museum of Brussels and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, Kunstsammlung Nordrhien-Westfalen in Germany, The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art.

Also one of America’s foremost publishers of contemporary fine art prints and sculpture, Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts and its Martin Lawrence retail galleries represent a number of today’s most popular artists from around the world, such as Philippe Bertho, Fanny Brennan, Robert Deyber, Erté, François Fressinier, Kerry Hallam, Liudmila Kondakova, Felix Mas, and others.

For more information, visit http://chalk-vermilion.com/index1.html.

Filed Under: ABN

Stephanie Paige Gets Connected

February 14, 2012 By Laurel Dammann

The interaction between humans and their surrounding world is a complex exchange of give-and-take. For artist Stephanie Paige, this relationship stems from an awareness of her connection with nature and her place within it. Using vibrant colors, expansive space and earthy textures, Paige creates art that is both humble and awe-inspiring, never failing to create a dialogue between the viewer and the world that exists around him or her.

One aspect of Paige’s work that stands as a powerful testament to her philosophies is the use of found materials. “What is interesting about adding found materials to my work is that in each found piece that I place is a representation of self” explains Paige, “Yes, this old rusted flywheel that I found on the side of the road is representing me or you.”

ABN caught up with this Southern California-based contemporary artist on the rise to discuss inspirations and aspirations.

Laurel Dammann (ABN): How would you define the relationship between your art and nature? What elements of the world around inspire you and your work the most?

Stephanie Paige (Sp): The relationship between my art and nature is all about feeling connected to the earth in a way that shows my respect and admiration for all the wonders of mother nature. The earth is where I feel grounded and feel supported. The ocean is where I let my emotions free and create. The sky is where I dream and I feel spiritually guided and the fire gives me energy and renewal. I am mostly connected to water because I am emotionally tied to my creations and enjoy discovering where it will take me.

ABN: Textures are a notably important part of your art, as are vast expanses of color and space. What do each of these elements mean to you as an individual element in a bigger piece? The three reacting together?

SP: The way I feel centered with my art is to have balance, and combining all these elements into my work gives me that sense of completeness. I spent the early part of my life as an artist that had to be perfect and exact with what I created and always having to fill every inch of the space with interest. Now my life’s journey as an artist and human being is letting go of that idea of perfection and “having it all.” I began focusing on moving toward simplicity, calmness and being at peace with what is.

ABN: You moved to Southern California in 1990. What is it about that specific landscape that inspires you? Do you feel as if the move changed your artistic direction and/or vision?

SP: After moving to Southern California from a small town in Michigan, I became instantly inspired by the landscapes with such varied textures from dry desert to the open vast oceans with all its wildlife, the skies amazing sunsets and sunrises and the tropical trees. Just in my backyard alone, I’m inspired by all the textures nature makes around here.

ABN: As an avid user of green mediums and found items in your pieces, what do you feel these materials add to the moods you seek to capture?

SP: What is interesting about adding found materials to my work is that in each found piece that I place is a representation of self. Yes, this old rusted flywheel that I found on the side of the road is representing me or you. I always place each found piece in the center to remind me or you to be centered and it also represents renewal of self, just like that old flywheel. Now using green materials is a more important aspect of creating because it is respecting the earth and gives me a sense of closeness with Mother Nature.

ABN: You write in your artist’s statement that your creations start with “play time” and include your practice of Metta. How do these methods affect your relationship with a piece, its process and its components?

SP: I first should tell you that when I step into my studio to create I am mediating and draw from my spiritual connection to the earth to be inspired. So “Play Time” to me is listening and feeling my way though my hand to find the path of each piece. Metta is a practice I do everyday for myself and to my loved ones and then to all beings everywhere. It gives me that connectedness I need in this world and provides me with a knowing that I am not alone and [that] I am you and you are me. When I create a piece of art, I feel that this feeling is put into the piece and it is meant for one specific person who is yet unknown. People have commented that when they saw a piece that they had to purchase, [they felt it was] made for them. That is a very rewarding, fulfilling moment for me as an artist.

ABN: What are you currently working on?

SP: I am currently experimenting with integrating more found materials. I recently did a wonderful piece called Rebirth, made with cut slats from old wine barrels. The barrels added real depth and texture to the work, bringing it all to life. I feel the barrels themselves have a story to tell, as I imagine the aging process, the labor not only spent to make the wine, but the all aspects of the time and love and patience that goes into all things that are worthwhile. It adds a timeless quality to my art that cannot be made any other way.

For more information, visit www.StephaniePaigeStudio.com.

Filed Under: ABN Tagged With: artist, found art, green, stephanie paige, sustainable

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