post-vernissage

Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful comments and emails these past days, I love hearing from you all! You have told me that you are eagerly awaiting photos of the opening, and I promise they are coming very soon. Life is hectic these days as an artist and as a mother and grandmother, in a happy way. I’m slow because I need to try to correct most of the opening night photos that came out a ghastly green because of the digital camera’s interpretation of the strange mix of incandescent and mercury vapour lights in the gallery. On Friday, I also took some installation photos and have to download and likely colour correct some of these too. I might even have to reshoot some of these.

In the meantime, do read this excellent argument of conceptualist versus sensualist written by Mark Wladika of Newmark Confidential, from the view of “the patrons and supporters of art”. “Our task, our joy is the pure sensual relation to art. We get to simply look and feel and experience, with our brain put somewhere in the background.”

I can strongly identify with this argument as an artist, too. If I get too involved in “thinking” about what my work is about before I do it, I can get stuck with being too analytical or self-critical and not make the work. The key for me is to maintain the emotions and excitement of finding connections in ideas and images, that is, keeping the brain in the background. Later comes the critical analysis of the work and placing it in the context of a greater theme, and finding the right words to describe it. I guess that means that I’m not a conceptual artist, one who begins with the idea and the words.

P.S. Hey Chris/Zeke, if you are reading this – my email reply to you is being rejected as spam!! I want to let you know that I’m not ignoring your email. I tried to write that I love the word “vernissage” much more than “opening”, and yes, it went well, thanks!

November 20, 2005 in Being an Artist, Concepts, Recent Exhibitions by Marja-Leena