Only Blue
Weekly Wrap:
This week I tried making collages after coming across an open call for blue paintings. I wanted to play. I made the collages to create images to work from in blue paint. They didn’t work out. Er, mostly they don’t look like I painted them. It’s a bit confusing to add to some already present confusion about artistic style. I don’t have a singular style. I make stuff all over the place, likely to my detriment but I enjoy it! Still, I can always recognize my hand in all the disparate work. These collage paintings I don’t see it. So weird. I decided to make an end of day and use up some of the extra paint on my palette. I did have to squeeze out more kings blue, mixing white, and a dab of scarlet lake so maybe it was not a true end of day and especially so considering the painting is blue and white. I skipped the collage for this one and instead it is a simple line drawing in paint. Thankfully it looks like I painted it. The artist is still home! I made another simple blue painting the following day that also feels like me. I’m not sure what happened with the collage paintings, perhaps they are simply not finished yet? Anyhow, it was still nice to push the paint around.
I also answered the first question in my workbook Art\Practice. The first prompt “What are three words you would use to describe your practice?” I answered with the words Structured Mess, Self Mirror, Material Memory. Doubling up on words I already feel like l’m failing the prompts! Now in the next prompt I have to I get to explain myself! It’s kind of odd that “explain yourself” always seems to proceed punishment. To my ears it sounds like accusations of doing things wrong, bad, poorly, differently. Screams of “You don’t make sense! Make yourself make sense!” I suppose it is not often we have opportunities to say who we are and what we are about. So, if one finds themselves in this scenario it would have been very clever to have formed words that approximate a truth or tell a good story ahead of time, wouldn’t it? I am now thinking that I can squeeze my double words to singles: Play, Reflect, Material. Am I already making more sense? Or am I saying nothing? Is this the point? Speak broadly, say nothing?
I saw a funny and timely meme today on jerry gogosian Instagram account: “Me trying to explain my art practice to my mother.” For what ever reason substack is saying the link does not exist so here instead is a link to jerrygogosian’s IG
Open call:
Deadline Aug. 6, 2024 11:59p ET
Fee: $20 for up to 6 submissions
Selected works to be included in the Cool Off exhibition at 140 Essex Street in the Lower East Side on view Aug 22-Oct 3 2024
“For this collection, we are seeking artwork that majorly represents blues or purples being the dominant color scheme. The collective pieces will contribute to evoking the greater feeling of “cooling” — a sensation we are all constantly seeking in the midst of long summer days; we want to inspire inner cool. We are more focused on building a space that is visually monochromatic, so artwork of all kinds of expression is welcomed.”