marketing Jacksonville

Last night, at the Contemporary Conversations event at MOCA Jim Draper made a great point, he said that artists are so desperate for exposure, they take just about any deal, no matter how raw. “We just want to be wuvved,” he kidded.

Though Draper’s comment hit a mark—most recently played out in the book: Picturing Florida, From the First Coast to the Space Coast, a pay-to-play tome billed as an art historical treatise, but that would more accurately be described as a catalogue—it wasn’t the take-away message of the night. The real kicker (supported by all four panelists: Sarah Crooks Flair, James Greene, and Tonya Lee) was that artists don’t make livings in Jacksonville. Even Draper, who has known a fair amount of fiscal success said that at the height of his sales, Jacksonville only ever made up for about 20% of his income.

So now its clear, artists: take your work and go forth! Use Jacksonville for those good things about the location/weather/etc…, but place your sites outside of the city limits. That, and be prepared to teach.

After all, as someone snidely commented afterwards, “Do you really want to be known as *the* Jacksonville artist?”

*pictured: an image from artist Anri Sala’s body of work on display at MOCA North Miami (because I liked the awkward incongruity of it), and a tiny round of cheese I snagged from one of my friends at the museum. If sharing snacks is not the core of community spirit, I don’t know what is.

MOCA JAX

Usually I am pretty good at forgetting to post things in a timely manner, however, MOCA Jacksonville is hosting a conversation this Thursday at 7 p.m. that takes a look at making art, and making a living as an artist in Jacksonville.

Contemporary Conversations: Making Marks and the Marketplace

This should be interesting, my intel suggests that people won't be pulling punches. Hope to see you there for an invigorating chat.

And this is worth seeing too

Richard Anuszkiewicz is considered one of the original founders of the Op Art movement, the style of painting in the second half of the twentieth century that explored the nature of color and visual perception through the use of simple linear forms and geometric shapes.

Anuszkiewicz’s (pronounced Ah-nuhss-KAY-vitch) print series Inward Eye consists of eleven serigraphs or silk-screened images on paper, each with individual folios. This series offers an interesting complement to art typically regarded as rational and scientific. Each image is accompanied by the words of the 1800s visionary poet and artist William Blake, whose imaginative views were counter to the rationalists of his day. In these selections, Blake’s principal argument is that divinity is humanity released from the limitations of reason. The process for doing this intensifies the bodily senses, allowing the physical world to be transfigured.

*On a personal note, I took a look at these works the other day, and they are really quite surprisingly lovely. Usually I tend to consign Op Art to the same pile I place psychedelic art in. But these works are kind of expansive, and though they clearly took a certain kind of rigor to compose and complete, they are not exhausting in any kind of way. Worth the $3.00 admission or whatever it is to get to the 3rd(?) floor during Artwalk.

Incidentally, this edition of the Inward Eye is a recent acquisition to its permanent collection. It was a gift from Lu Ann Bear in memory of Jack and Marcelle Bear.